LONDON, 23 March, 2026 – Forward of Impartial Lodging Day on 24 March, business knowledge suggests unbiased lodging suppliers are more and more turning to sensible AI instruments to enhance effectivity and keep aggressive in a extra demanding market.
The shift comes as PwC’s newest accommodations forecast says the UK resort sector enters 2026 with “a way of resilience and renewed confidence,” supported by sturdy worldwide demand, event-led journey and a gentle restoration in home leisure. PwC forecasts 1.5% RevPAR progress and 1.2% occupancy progress throughout the UK areas in 2026. However, it additionally factors to ongoing price stress, tighter margins and softer price progress, growing the necessity for operators to seek out new efficiencies.
In opposition to this backdrop, business analysis suggests unbiased operators are responding by adopting sensible, guest-facing AI instruments which are simpler to deploy, faster to ship worth and higher suited to agile working fashions than the extra complicated rollouts seen at bigger chains.
A survey of 1,485 accommodations throughout six European markets by the Institute of Tourism at HES-SO Valais-Wallis discovered that 41% of unbiased accommodations are already utilizing AI, and an additional 16% plan to undertake it. The research discovered independents are deploying guest-facing instruments, akin to content material era, chatbots, and assessment analytics, whereas chain accommodations lean in the direction of back-office purposes, together with income administration and predictive analytics.
The identical analysis additionally discovered that bigger and extra complicated resort teams battle with knowledge integration and organisational inertia as they attempt to scale AI throughout their operations.
This discovering aligns with wider business analysis from hospitality consultancy h2c. Its international research of 171 resort chains, representing over 11,000 properties, discovered that whereas 78% of resort chains are already utilizing AI, most initiatives stay experimental, and solely 7% have a company-wide AI technique. The report suggests chains face larger limitations to scaling AI as a result of integration challenges with legacy methods.
These findings present that unbiased operators are extra agile at adopting focused applied sciences that enhance effectivity with out dropping the personalised visitor experiences that set them aside.
That agility is central to Impartial Lodging Day, created by eviivo – a property administration system utilized by greater than 28,000 boutique accommodations, B&Bs, inns, trip leases and different lodging suppliers — to have a good time independently owned and operated lodging companies worldwide and their very important function in tourism and visitor alternative.
Victoria Thomson, Proprietor of Brambles of Inveraray, a boutique and luxurious lodging on the west coast of Scotland, stated: “Impartial properties like ours can transfer quick when new instruments emerge, and that’s what we’re seeing with AI. We have been fast to adapt new AI-powered visitor communication instruments able to instantaneous however curated responses, for each prospects and in-house visitors, and we’re excited to scale them up throughout different areas of operations. It’s a strong technique to work extra effectively whereas nonetheless holding the non-public contact that makes staying at Brambles of Inveraray so distinctive.”
Séverine Meyrueis, Proprietor of Kerkeys, an company specialised in supporting lodging homeowners in Provence stated: “We’re already seeing advantages from utilizing AI within the day-to-day administration of an lodging enterprise. It helps make bookings and communication with visitors a lot smoother, permitting homeowners and managers to organise themselves higher behind the scenes. The largest distinction is that homeowners spend much less time behind desks and extra time with their visitors, making certain their keep is as nice as doable.”
Ruth Whitehead, COO of eviivo, stated: “Impartial Lodging Day celebrates the vitality, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit that outline unbiased lodging. From boutique accommodations and B&Bs to inns and trip leases, these companies are formed by the individuals behind them, their ardour, persona and dedication to creating visitors really feel genuinely welcome. eviivo is proud to have lengthy supported the independents and championed the very important contribution they make to the hospitality business. They’ve all the time been agile and fast to adapt, and more and more, we’re seeing them embrace rising applied sciences like AI to function extra effectively whereas persevering with to ship the considerate and distinctive hospitality that makes unbiased stays extra particular.”
Picture credit score: Brambles of Inveraray
