Hotel Owners at an AI Crossroads as Confidence and Growth Plans Hold Firm, Wyndham Owner Trends Report Finds

Rhea-AI Summary

Wyndham (NYSE:WH) released its second annual Owner Trends Report on Jan 26, 2026, showing widespread AI adoption among hoteliers alongside persistent execution gaps and sustained growth plans. Key findings: 98% of owners have begun using AI but only 32% have embedded it across most operations, while 73% want to do more but feel overwhelmed. Common AI uses are operational efficiency (64%), energy efficiency (54%) and revenue optimization (53%).

Owners remain optimistic: 90% are optimistic about 2026 and 95% about the next five years; 79% plan portfolio expansion over five years. Wyndham reports >5,000 hotels on Wyndham Connect with ~12 million guest interactions and measurable conversion and satisfaction gains.

Positive

• 98% of hotel owners have begun incorporating AI
• 64% use AI for operational efficiency; 54% for energy efficiency; 53% for revenue optimization
• 79% plan to expand their portfolio over the next five years
• Wyndham Connect adopted by more than 5,000 hotels with ~12 million guest interactions
• Average Wyndham Connect PLUS hotel reports ~200 bps direct voice conversion and 400 bps guest satisfaction improvement

Negative

• 73% of owners want to do more with AI but feel overwhelmed or unsure where to start
• Only 32% say AI is embedded across most aspects of their operations
• Top adoption barriers: 46% cite data privacy/security, 42% cite AI tool costs, 40% cite legacy integration challenges
• 57% require human oversight for AI to make operating decisions

News Market Reaction – WH

-1.12%

1 alert

-1.12% News Effect

On the day this news was published, WH declined 1.12%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Owners using AI: 98% AI embedded broadly: 32% Want more AI, overwhelmed: 73% +5 more

8 metrics

Owners using AI 98% Hotel owners reporting they have begun incorporating AI

AI embedded broadly 32% Owners saying AI is embedded across most operations

Want more AI, overwhelmed 73% Owners wanting to do more with AI but unsure where to start

AI for efficiency 64% AI adopters using it for operational efficiency

Expansion plans 79% Hoteliers planning to expand their portfolio over next 5 years

Optimistic 5-year outlook 95% Hoteliers optimistic about the next five years

Hotels on Wyndham Connect 5,000+ Hotels that have adopted Wyndham Connect platform

Tech investments $375 million Technology investments since 2018 supporting Wyndham’s platforms

Market Reality Check

Price: $83.96 Vol: Volume 1,781,965 is 64% a...

high vol

$83.96 Last Close

Volume Volume 1,781,965 is 64% above the 20-day average of 1,087,349, indicating elevated trading interest ahead of this AI-focused update. high

Technical Shares at $77.37 are trading below the 200-day MA of $81.39 and sit 31.57% under the 52-week high of $113.07, though still 11.79% above the $69.21 52-week low.

Peers on Argus

WH fell 1.09% while close peers like CHH, ATAT, H and IHG showed modest declines...

WH fell 1.09% while close peers like CHH, ATAT, H and IHG showed modest declines and HTHT ticked higher. With no peers in the momentum scanner and mixed moves, trading appears more company-specific than part of a broad hotels rotation.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Jan 22 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Jan 22	Portfolio expansion deal	Positive	-1.7%	Choctaw Casinos & Resorts affiliation adding nearly 2,000 rooms to portfolio.
Dec 16	Upscale hotel addition	Positive	+1.0%	Balfour Miami Beach joins Registry Collection Hotels, enhancing luxury offerings.
Dec 08	Resort opening	Positive	-0.9%	Opening of Wyndham Grand Udaipur Fatehsagar Lake, expanding India presence.
Dec 02	Executive move elsewhere	Neutral	+0.2%	Former Wyndham CFO appointed CFO at Jersey Mike’s, reflecting leadership mobility.
Nov 25	Brand regional debut	Positive	+3.2%	Baymont by Wyndham’s first Asia Pacific hotel opens in Kunming, China.

Pattern Detected

Recent expansion and branding news often reads positively but price reactions have been mixed, with both gains and pullbacks following similar growth-oriented announcements.

Recent Company History

Over the last few months, Wyndham has focused on portfolio expansion and brand elevation. Key moves include a multi-hotel affiliation with Choctaw Casinos & Resorts adding nearly 2,000 rooms on Jan 22, 2026, new upscale properties like Balfour Miami Beach joining Registry Collection Hotels on Dec 16, 2025, and international growth such as Baymont’s Asia Pacific debut on Nov 25, 2025. Price reactions to these generally positive developments have alternated between modest gains and declines, underscoring inconsistent trading responses to growth news.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement underscores Wyndham’s push to convert early AI adoption into measurable returns, w...

Analysis

This announcement underscores Wyndham’s push to convert early AI adoption into measurable returns, with 98% of surveyed owners using AI but only 32% embedding it broadly. Strong industry optimism—90% are upbeat on 2026 and 95% on the next five years—aligns with recent portfolio growth initiatives in prior news. Investors may watch how platforms like Wyndham Connect, backed by $375 million in tech investments, translate into efficiency, guest satisfaction and potential share performance over time.

Key Terms

artificial intelligence, ai-powered search, bps

3 terms

artificial intelligence technical

"Artificial intelligence has rapidly shifted from an emerging concept to a business imperative"

Artificial intelligence is the ability of computers and machines to perform tasks that typically require human thinking, such as understanding language, recognizing patterns, or making decisions. For investors, it matters because AI can enhance efficiency, uncover new insights, and enable smarter strategies, potentially impacting the value and performance of companies that develop or utilize this technology.

ai-powered search technical

"visibility across traditional digital channels as well as the rapidly evolving world of AI-powered search"

A software tool that uses artificial intelligence to read, organize and rank large amounts of documents and data so users can find the most relevant information quickly. For investors it acts like a smart librarian that not only locates needles in haystacks—earnings notes, regulatory filings, news and research—but also highlights patterns and signals that speed due diligence, idea generation and risk checks.

bps financial

"seeing nearly 200 bps improvement in direct voice conversion and 400 bps in overall guest satisfaction"

bps stands for "basis points," a unit equal to one hundredth of a percentage point (0.01%). Investors and analysts use bps to describe small changes in interest rates, yields, fees, or margins without confusing decimals — for example, a 50 bps move means a 0.50% change. Using bps makes it easier to compare and communicate tiny but meaningful shifts that can significantly affect bond prices, loan costs, or investment returns.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

Owners and developers embrace AI's next phase while optimism, brand loyalty and expansion plans remain at the forefront amid evolving market conditions

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Jan. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Artificial intelligence has rapidly shifted from an emerging concept to a business imperative for hotel owners—and now the focus is on adopting AI at scale. Findings from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' newly released, second-annual, Owner Trends Report show the industry has reached an AI inflection point: hotel owners and developers are embracing AI but are increasingly in need of greater guidance on how to convert early adoption into long-term returns.

Drawn from a comprehensive survey of hundreds of hotel owners and property developers across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean and representing a broad cross-section of the lodging industry across multiple brands and hotel companies, non-exclusive to Wyndham, the findings also reveal continued confidence in hospitality's long-term outlook, despite mounting pressure from rising costs, economic uncertainty and operational complexity. Amid these trends, owners are looking to established brands for reliable guidance, proven technology and long-term partnerships, especially as AI becomes an ever more integral part of hotel operations.

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"Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping hospitality—opening new opportunities while adding fresh layers of complexity. With years of early and significant foundational investment, Wyndham is well positioned to help hoteliers navigate this evolving landscape, offering not only the guidance they seek but also proven, scalable platforms that make it easier to apply AI where it matters most, helping turn innovation into real revenue, greater efficiency and stronger returns."

- Scott Strickland, Chief Commercial Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

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AI at Crossroads: Transforming Interest into Impact
Nearly all hotel owners (98%) say they have begun incorporating AI into their business, signaling that broad adoption of AI in hospitality is already here. While enthusiasm is high, execution remains uneven, with less than a third (32%) saying AI is embedded across most aspects of their operations and nearly three-quarters (73%) wanting to do more but feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start.

• AI Is Already Delivering Operational Value
  Of those owners and developers who have already adopted AI in some form, the common uses are for driving operational efficiency (64%), energy efficiency (54%) and revenue optimization (53%)—all areas with a direct impact on profitability.
• Untapped Opportunities in Design and Construction
  Asked about their plans for 2026, hoteliers most commonly (61%) want to see AI play a larger role in construction planning (e.g. assisting with permitting and zoning) followed by revenue optimization (30%).

The Vital Role of Brands as AI Reshapes Operations
As AI adoption accelerates and hotel operations grow more complex, owners and developers continue turning to brands as strategic partners to help vet, integrate and support best-in-class technology solutions. Nearly nine in ten hoteliers (89%) say working with a hotel brand is beneficial when it comes to incorporating AI into their business with more than a third (34%) deeming it essential.

• Perceived Barriers
  Asked to cite the top three factors keeping them from adopting more AI, hoteliers most commonly cite data privacy and security concerns (46%), costs of investing in AI tools (42%) and difficulty integrating AI with legacy systems and technology (40%).
• Not Yet Ready to Fully Let Go
  When it comes to AI making business decisions, hoteliers are mixed in their views of how much human oversight is required. Only two-in-five (40%) are comfortable with AI making operating decisions without human oversight while 57% require human oversight to be comfortable.
• Beyond AI: Continued Optimism with Plans for Growth
  Despite ongoing economic shifts and other pressures, hoteliers are entering 2026 with continued confidence in both the short and long-term trajectory of the industry—echoing similar sentiments shared in Wyndham's first Owner Trends Report last year. The vast majority (90%) say they're optimistic about 2026 while an even higher number, 95%, are optimistic about the next five years.
• Expansion Remains on the Agenda
  Nearly 8-in-10 hoteliers (79%) are planning to expand their portfolio over the next 5 years, a number virtually unchanged from last year's report, while 97% say they are open to joining or switching brands if the right opportunity presents itself.
• Loyalty as a Foundational Advantage
  Nearly two-thirds of hoteliers (65%) say a strong loyalty program is of great importance to their success, while top obstacles include operating costs, talent shortages and rising competition.
• Investing in the Guest Experience
  When it comes to investing capital, nearly a quarter of hoteliers (24%) will be prioritizing increased staffing in 2026, while others plan to invest in property improvements (20%), sales and marketing improvements (20%), technology investments (19%) and enhanced amenities (17%)—suggesting that even amid economic uncertainty, owners continue to prioritize service and the guest experience alongside operational efficiency and marketing.

 

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"This year's report shows once again the overwhelming confidence hoteliers have in the long-term resiliency and proven ROI of our industry. The results also underscore improving market conditions, with 61% of hoteliers seeing easier financing and a near even split when it comes to interest in new construction versus conversion opportunities. Taken together, the findings point to a market where Wyndham's scale, experience and platforms help create a real advantage, supporting owners' growth decisions while driving value through every phase of the cycle."

- Amit Sripathi, Chief Development Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

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Embedding AI into The Wyndham Advantage
As AI reshapes the hospitality landscape, Wyndham is helping set the pace, turning innovation into real, measurable results for franchisees. Through solutions like Wyndham Connect, the Company's industry-leading guest engagement platform, and Wyndham Connect PLUS, an advanced version of the platform with expanded capabilities, hotels are embedding AI across nearly every stage of the guest journey—from automated messaging and mobile check-in to dynamic upsells, voice assistance and more. To date, more than 5,000 hotels have adopted Wyndham Connect, logging nearly 12 million guest interactions, with the average hotel on Wyndham Connect PLUS seeing nearly 200 bps improvement in direct voice conversion and 400 bps in overall guest satisfaction.

Beyond guest engagement, Wyndham continues to leverage both new and existing partnerships with leading technology providers—such as Google, Amazon and others—to strengthen hotel visibility across traditional digital channels as well as the rapidly evolving world of AI-powered search. In doing so, the company is helping franchisees stay ahead of shifting consumer behavior, with the goal of capturing demand wherever and however guests choose to book, both today and in the future.

Together, these efforts reinforce The Wyndham Advantage, Wyndham's comprehensive franchisee value proposition uniting marketing, technology, global distribution, revenue management and operational support into a fully integrated ecosystem built around owner success. Fueled by more than $375 million in technology investments since 2018 and strengthened by Wyndham Rewards, the industry's #1-rated hotel rewards program as named by readers of USA Today, it gives franchisees the scale, tools and confidence to help compete more effectively, innovate faster and build lasting long-term value in an increasingly complex hospitality marketplace.

Wyndham's second annual Owner Trends Report is available for download here. For more information, including franchising opportunities, visit www.wyndhamdevelopment.com.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of franchised properties, with approximately 8,300 hotels across approximately 100 countries on six continents. Through its network of over 855,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 25 hotel brands, including Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Microtel®, La Quinta®, Baymont®, Wingate®, AmericInn®, ECHO Suites®, Registry Collection Hotels®, Trademark Collection® and Wyndham®. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers approximately 121 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com.

Survey Methodology
Managed by Wakefield Research, the Wyndham Survey was conducted among 325 Hotel Owners & Hotel Property Developers across multiple brands and companies, non-exclusive to Wyndham, with minimum seniority of VP+, in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, between November 24th and December 4th, 2025, using an email invitation and an online survey. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 6.2 percentage points for the total data, 6.9 percentage for the U.S., 9.8 for Canada, and 19.6 percentage points for the Caribbean, from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

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SOURCE Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

FAQ

What did Wyndham (WH) report about hotel owner AI adoption on Jan 26, 2026?

Wyndham reported 98% of owners have begun using AI, but only 32% have embedded it across most operations and 73% want to do more but feel overwhelmed.

How is AI currently delivering value for hotel owners according to Wyndham (WH)?

Owners most commonly use AI for operational efficiency (64%), energy efficiency (54%) and revenue optimization (53%), all tied to profitability.

What growth plans did Wyndham (WH) say owners have for 2026 and the next five years?

Wyndham found 90% of owners are optimistic about 2026, 95% about five years, and 79% plan portfolio expansion over the next five years.

How widespread is Wyndham Connect adoption and what impact does Wyndham (WH) report?

Wyndham reports more than 5,000 hotels on Wyndham Connect with ~12 million guest interactions; Wyndham Connect PLUS hotels show ~200 bps lift in direct voice conversion and 400 bps in guest satisfaction.

What are the main barriers preventing broader AI adoption cited in Wyndham's Owner Trends Report?

Top barriers are data privacy/security (46%), costs of AI tools (42%), and difficulty integrating with legacy systems (40%).