IDeaS, a SAS company, has published its outlook for what commercial hospitality teams will need most in 2027. Rather than relying only on models, the company combined conversations with hoteliers, technology partners and industry experts with a pulse survey of hospitality professionals.

Respondents were asked which capability will matter most for commercial teams looking ahead to 2027. Better profitability management led at 30%, but the rest of the answers were spread across faster decision-making, greater confidence in decisions, easier-to-use technology, stronger cross-team coordination and better market visibility. IDeaS treats that spread as the story: there is no single headline priority for next year.

Why the spread matters

A multi-property commercial leader may put speed first. A hotel working through organisational silos may put alignment first. A team experimenting with AI may care most about whether it can trust and act on recommendations. IDeaS argues these priorities pull on one another: profitability depends on better decisions, speed only helps when teams are confident they are moving the right way, and market visibility only creates value when it leads to action.

Confidence as the common thread

Behind the varied answers, IDeaS sees one shared need: confidence to act when an opportunity appears, to stand behind a technology-driven recommendation when asked why, and to stay the course when pricing moves differently from competitors. Confidence also means knowing teams share the same commercial goals and that expertise is not locked with a few power users.

Readiness over perfect foresight

The company notes the irony of publishing predictions in an industry built on forecasting. Forecasts change as new information arrives. The hotels best prepared for 2027, it says, will not be those that guess every twist correctly, but those with the information, technology, processes and people to recognise what matters and decide with confidence. That thinking underpins IDeaS' 2027 Hospitality Technology Predictions report, which focuses on five shifts already taking shape rather than one transformative bet.

A German-language version of the article was published on 5 November 2026: Mit sicheren Entscheidungen in die Zukunft.

Originally published by IDeaS: Meeting the Future with Confidence: What's Top of Mind for Hospitality Leaders in 2027