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New Research Highlights Gap Between Data-Rich and Data-Smart Hotel Operations – Image Credit Starfleet Research
A new research report, based on a global survey of more than 250 hotel IT decision makers, reveals that the hospitality industry’s much-discussed “data problem” is far from solved. The report, How Top-Performing Hotels Turn Big Data Into Big Wins, was independently produced by Starfleet Research, the IT market research arm of Starfleet Media and a leading source of best-practices content for hospitality technology decision makers, with underwriting support from IBS Software.
IBS Software is a global provider of SaaS solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Its iStay platform is a cloud-native hospitality management system that unifies reservations, revenue, operations, sales and distribution, marketing, and loyalty functions on a single system to support the entire guest journey.
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% manage guest data centrally, while 42% rely on disconnected systems and 16% still depend on manual methods. When systems don’t communicate, operational and commercial decisions are often delayed or made with incomplete information, leading to missed revenue opportunities and inconsistent guest experiences.
From Data Chaos to Data Clarity
The research draws a clear distinction between hotels that simply collect data and those that turn it into actionable insight. 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 enable:
- Real-time, role-based dashboards for GMs, revenue leaders, and front-line staff.
- Automated updates across all channels and departments, critical given that 20% of hotels still manage inventory manually.
- Faster staff onboarding and streamlined workflows, in contrast to the 80% of hotels that take more than a week to fully onboard new hires.
The payoff is 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 and the Predictive Frontier
Nearly one in four properties lack real-time visibility into basic KPIs such as occupancy, ADR, and labor productivity. Top performers, by contrast, push live insights to every team and shift, allowing them to:
- Detect demand surges and adjust pricing within minutes.
- Reroute housekeeping priorities based on live room status.
- Monitor IoT sensors for early maintenance intervention before guest comfort is affected.
The next frontier is predictive intelligence. The survey found that 45% of hoteliers plan to invest in AI-powered forecasting and decision support tools within the next year, yet only 15% currently use predictive models for labor planning, even though nearly half cited labor costs as their top operational challenge.
The opportunity is significant. An upscale urban hotel used predictive analytics to forecast meeting space demand and proactively target sales outreach, boosting event revenue by 27% quarter over quarter.
The Untapped Potential of Personalization
While personalization is widely recognized as a driver of both revenue and loyalty, the report finds it is still underutilized. Only 32% of hotels integrate loyalty and engagement data with their PMS and CRM. Those that do, however, are seeing:
- Upsell conversion increases of 17–25%.
- Higher ADR and RevPAR from tailored package offerings.
- Loyalty program enrollments up to three times higher.
Personalization at scale means going beyond static segmentation to deliver dynamic offers and experiences based on behavioral and contextual data, which is something disconnected systems make difficult or impossible.
Seven Steps to Data-Driven Excellence
The report outlines a practical roadmap for hotels to move from data-rich to data-smart:
- Audit and consolidate the tech stack.
- Centralize operational and guest data.
- Deliver real-time insights to every role.
- Deploy predictive analytics for staffing, pricing, and demand.
- Automate manual processes wherever possible.
- Personalize guest engagement at every touchpoint.
- Build data fluency across all departments.
Why This Matters Now
In an environment shaped by rising costs, labor shortages, and increasingly demanding guests, agility has become a critical competitive advantage. The research shows that hotels pulling ahead are those that can connect systems, departments, and guest touchpoints into a cohesive, insight-driven whole.
Download the Full Report
The findings in How Top-Performing Hotels Turn Big Data Into Big Wins go far beyond headline statistics. The report offers in-depth analysis, real-world case examples, and a detailed roadmap for unifying systems, unlocking real-time intelligence, and personalizing the guest experience at scale. It also highlights emerging trends in AI-powered forecasting, predictive analytics, and cross-functional data sharing that are reshaping hotel performance.
The report, independently produced by Starfleet Research with underwriting support from IBS Software, is now available for complimentary download, giving hotel leaders the insights and best practices they need to close the gap between data-rich and data-smart operations.
