The Future of Hotels: Creating What’s Next (The Future of Tourism, 15)

Book info: The Future of Hotels: Creating What’s Next (The Future of Tourism, 15) (Hardcover, 344 pages) – Channel View Publications, 2026. Language: English.

First book to focus on the future of hotels in a detailed, comprehensive and multidimensional way.

This book adopts a timeline approach to explore the future of hotels to 2050 through the lens of hospitality, design, education, workforce dynamics, disruption, innovation, technology and sustainability. It examines how these interconnected domains will shape guest experiences and operational models in the decades ahead.

Drawing on insights, led by the Professors of the Hotel Management School Leeuwarden, the research highlights the importance of strategic foresight and interdisciplinary collaboration in navigating emerging challenges. By integrating academic perspectives and industry trends, the work contributes to a deeper understanding of how hotels can evolve into adaptive, resilient and guest-centric environments.

Editorial Reviews Review Notwithstanding what historians might try to tell us, the story of the contemporary international hotel, by design, operations and culture, is very much mid-century American. So what does the future hold, as the hotel industry grapples with the consequences of climate crises as well as technological, social and cultural disruption? This book, a multi-perspective gaze into the future of hotels through the eyes of an array of authoritative authors, gives us a glimpse of some possible futures, and will be an invaluable resource for practitioners, planners, researchers and students. ― Tom Baum, University of Strathclyde Business School, UK

As the boundaries between technology, sustainability, and hospitality blur, The Future of Hotels challenges us to rethink what it means to serve, design, and innovate. Will tomorrow’s hotels be run by robots, shaped by green architecture but with hospitality still at its heart? This thought-provoking collection explores the competencies, disruptions, and educational shifts that will define the next era of hotel management. It’s an essential read for anyone ready to explore the unknowns of a rapidly evolving industry. ― Pawel Lewtak, General Manager, Polonia Hotel, Warsaw, Poland and First Vice President, European Hotel Management Association

This book of well researched and topical concepts will equip the leaders of tomorrow to create what's next for the hospitality sector. ― Terry Austen, Group General Manager & Hospitality Consultant, Perth, Australia

What stays with the reader is not futuristic language, but operational detail: task-specific automation, the infrastructure and workflow adjustments it assumes, and the data and integration work behind more granular pricing and personalisation. Taken together, the technology chapters offer a solid, practical basis for thinking about implementation – how these ideas can be built, integrated, and managed inside real hotel operations. ― João Pedro Portugal, Instituto Superior Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portugal, ROBONOMICS, The Journal of the Automated Economy 7, 92 About the Author

Hanneke Assen is Professor of International Hospitality Education, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands.

Elena Cavagnaro is Professor of Sustainability in Hospitality and Tourism, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands.

Erwin Losekoot is Senior Lecturer, Edith Cowan University, Australia (formerly Professor of Hospitality Studies, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands).

Ian Yeoman is Professor of Disruption, Innovation and New Phenomena, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands.