The hospitality industry’s “data problem”, which is often discussed, is not yet solved, according to a recent research report. It was based upon a survey of 250 IT decision makers in hotels around the world. The report is, How Top-Performing Hotels Turn Big Data Into Big WinsThe film was produced independently by Starfleet ResearchIBS Software has provided underwriting support to, the IT research arm of Starfleet Media, and is a leading provider of best practices content for decision makers in hospitality technology.
IBS Software Is a global SaaS solution provider for the Travel and Hospitality industry. Its iStay platform Cloud-native Hospitality Management System that integrates reservations, revenue, sales, distribution, marketing, loyalty and operations functions into a single system.
The findings show that only 24% of hotels have fully integrated their core systems—PMS, RMS, POS, booking engines, distribution platforms, and loyalty programs among them. Just 34% centralize guest data, 42% use disconnected systems, and 16% rely still on manual methods. If systems do not communicate, commercial and operational decisions can be delayed or made using incomplete information. This leads to missed revenue opportunities as well as inconsistent guest experiences.
Data Clarity: From Data Chaos
The research makes a clear distinction in the hotels that collect data versus those that convert it into actionable insights. Top-performing hotels—those reporting measurable gains in revenue, guest satisfaction, and operational efficiency—are far more likely to operate on fully integrated, cloud-native platforms that unify reservations, guest profiles, pricing history, and service requests into a single source of truth.
These platforms allow:
- Dashboards based on roles and real-time data for GMs (general managers), revenue leaders (revenue leaders) and frontline staff.
- Automated updates in all departments and channels is essential, as 20% of hotels still manage their inventory manually.
- Onboarding of new staff is quicker and more efficient, as opposed to the 80 percent of hotels which take longer than a full week to do so.
Payoffs are measurable. One large resort replaced its fragmented tech stack with a unified data architecture and saw a 22% increase in per-stay ancillary spend by launching automated F&B upsell campaigns tied to real-time occupancy and guest profile data.
Real-Time Insights & the Predictive Frontier
Nearly one-fourth of properties have no real-time insight into KPIs like occupancy, ADR or labor productivity. Top performers, on the other hand, provide live insights for every team, every shift. This allows them to:
- You can adjust your pricing in minutes to reflect demand fluctuations.
- Prioritize housekeeping based on the status of the room.
- Monitor IoT sensors to detect early maintenance interventions before guests’ comfort is affected.
The next frontier in intelligence is predictive. In the survey, 45% of respondents said they plan to invest in AI forecasting and decision-support tools within the year. However, only 15% use predictive models today for labor planning.
The opportunity is huge. A upscale urban hotel proactively targeted sales outreach and used predictive analytics in order to forecast meeting room demand. Event revenue increased by 27% quarterly.
Untapped Potential in Personalization
The report found that personalization, while widely acknowledged as a key driver of revenue and loyalty is underutilized. Only 32% integrate loyalty and engagement with their PMS or CRM. But those who do are seeing:
- Upsell conversion increases of 17–25%.
- Packages that are tailored to your needs can increase ADR and RevPAR.
- Enrollment in loyalty programs up to three-fold higher.
Personalization at scale is about going beyond static segmentation, to deliver dynamic experiences and offers based upon behavioral and context data. Disconnected systems make this difficult or impossible.
Seven steps to data-driven excellence
The report provides a roadmap to help hotels move from being data-rich to becoming data-smart.
- Audit and consolidate your tech stack.
- Centralize guest and operational data.
- Ensure that every employee has access to real-time information.
- Predictive analytics can be used to improve staffing, pricing or demand.
- Automate manual processes whenever possible.
- Every touchpoint can be personalized to engage guests.
- Improve data fluency throughout all departments
Why Now is Important
In an environment marked by rising costs and labor shortages as well as increasingly demanding customers, agility has been a crucial competitive advantage. Research shows that the hotels with the best results are those who can integrate systems, departments and customer touchpoints to create a cohesive, insight driven whole.
Download the full report
The findings of How Top-Performing Hotels Turn Big Data Into Big Wins You should go beyond the headline statistics. The report provides in-depth analyses, real-world examples, and a roadmap for unifying the systems, unlocking intelligence in real-time, and personalizing guest experiences at scale. The report also highlights the emerging trends of AI-powered data forecasting, cross-functional data-sharing, and predictive analytics that are reshaping hotels’ performance.
The report was independently produced by Starfleet Research, with support from IBS Software. now available for complimentary downloadThe hotel industry can benefit from the latest insights and best practices that will help close the gap in data-rich operations and data-smart ones.
