As the hotel dining industry looks ahead to 2026, the accessibility of artificial intelligence, cautious consumer spending, and anticipation on the impact of agentic commerce are compelling operators to make more strategic and enduring decisions about revenue optimization and associated technology platforms. These decisions are dictating how brands secure guest loyalty, run efficient food and beverage outlets and compete for non-resident diners.
There are several areas that I see hoteliers prioritizing for hotel dining:
Driving Revenue Growth through F&B
Oracle Restaurants’ is continuing to see hotel brands prioritize and optimize their food and beverage offers to maximize revenue. Whether this is through creative use of common spaces, enhancing self-service assortments and access, or simply by helping ensure their food and beverage outlets are competitively ranked online against standalone restaurants, a focus on driving F&B can offset potential plateaus in room revenue. Particularly in the face of cautious consumer spending and continued competition from short-term rentals, hotel brands have an opportunity to differentiate F&B offers by pairing them for example with day-spa experiences for a mini getaway, something a short-term rental can’t match.
Unified Omnichannel POS
Operationalizing a more deliberate and strategic focus on F&B as a revenue driver means hotel dining services must extend beyond the primary restaurant, bar, or guest room. It branches out to amenity spaces for added convenience, pop-up social gatherings and off-premises orders. To effectively manage a multi-channel F&B operation, a unified point-of-sale is required to ensure customers consistently enjoy smooth, easy experiences no matter how they order or interact with a hotel dining service.
Through our work with brands around the world, we've witnessed how consolidating POS environments dramatically streamlines operations. Unification allows finance and revenue management teams to turn data from disparate sources into actionable insights, and marketing teams to deliver personalized experiences at scale. It allows brands to rapidly adopt new menus for seasonal specials or events, adapt to supply chain fluctuations, and identify emerging culinary trends across regions.
Pricing Strategies
In concert with the above, we’re seeing an increased focus on proactive, iterative pricing strategies that optimize top and bottom-line performance. Peak trade moments, when executed well, can generate double-digit lift on individual items, categories, and revenue centers as a whole. With a unified platform that provides the ability to take pricing information from other systems, including AI-embedded systems and execute those changes across sophisticate hierarchies in real-time, finance and revenue management are empowered to put pricing elasticity strategies into practice, at scale. With on-property web-based menu management tools, F&B managers can quickly change menu item availability and pricing on the fly as needed, all while maintaining a single source of truth.
Ubiquitous Loyalty, Embedded Payments
Operators are increasingly adopting loyalty solutions that are seamless and integrated directly into POS systems and digital wallets. These systems benefit guests and restaurant operators alike by removing friction and providing better offers that customers want to redeem. Coupled with embedded payments, marrying card alias data with purchase behavior and loyalty insights gives brands the ability to better identify and serve the right offer at the right time. For operators, they’re seeing clearer engagement data and faster rewards, but also a new level of guest connection. The result is a loyalty ecosystem that adapts as guest habits evolve.
Connected Experiences, Open Ecosystem
When a brand brings restaurant and hospitality technology platforms together, staff have all the information they need in real-time about guest stay, preferences, packages and more so that they can deliver a differentiated experience, without being overwhelmed with too much information. The hospitality technology ecosystem is thriving with innovation and requires an open, API first approach. With this flexible approach, brands can rapidly test new tools, partner with third-party vendors, and adjust to new operating models. We are witnessing how these swift integration capabilities have enabled brands to effectively navigate shifts in business demand.
Embedded AI at Every Stage
We believe the industry’s future will be shaped by embedding AI capabilities that can deliver measurable business value. AI and natural language features are quickly becoming standard across technology systems within hotel dining establishments, significantly reducing training time and simplifying daily tasks for hotel restaurant managers. Operators are looking at embedded AI in their staff-facing tools to help accelerate onboarding, reduce training costs, and even suggest new menu items after analyzing guest behavior. For patrons, AI enhancements can streamline tasks like placing in-room dining orders or receiving answers to queries about dietary restrictions, all of which can help boost loyalty.
Automated, Data-Driven Kitchens
As back-office systems become more automated, dining operations can effortlessly sync food and beverage inventory, optimize production schedules for peak service hours and integrate accounting to ensure front-of-house and operations are aligned. Vision AI can monitor food safety and storage conditions, while robotics handle repetitive, time-consuming tasks, freeing staff to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional customer experiences.
Security and Compliance at Global Scale
As guest data grows in volume and sensitivity, brands won't just be selling rooms and meals; they’ll be trading on trust. Guests will increasingly gravitate towards brands that demonstrate a commitment to robust secure architectures. When data security is woven into the fabric of every operation, brands win loyalty beyond serving great food alone.
The Digital Transformation Continues
Propelled by generative AI and the impending rise of agentic commerce, hotel dining technology will increasingly become critical to connecting merchants with innovation. As we move into 2026, the brands that excel will be those that use technology to empower their people, personalize the guest journey, and operate with agility and trust. Our team is proud to partner with leaders who are redefining hotel dining experiences.
Amber Trendell is senior director of market strategy at Oracle Restaurants.