Artificial intelligence in tourism is moving into guest replies, accommodation content and sales workflows. For travel agencies, hoteliers, professional property managers, villa and apartment owners and campsites, the practical question is which tasks can become easier while keeping information reliable and the team in control.
How many European hotels use AI?
Artificial Intelligence in European Hotels: Adoption, Applications, and Barriers, by Roland Schegg of HES-SO Valais-Wallis, draws on responses from 1,485 hotels in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Switzerland. The online survey ran from January to April 2025; the report is dated June 2025. This article reviews those findings, rather than measuring adoption in 2026.
- 41% of respondents use AI.
- 16% plan to introduce it.
- 43% selected no AI use, separately from the planned-adoption category.
The final group should not be described as hotels that will never adopt AI. Croatia was not included, the sample is not representative of every European hotel, and Italian participants were mainly from Trentino. Response counts vary by question. Percentages therefore refer to respondents to the relevant question, not necessarily all 1,485 hotels. Multiple-choice answers do not add up to 100%.
How is AI used in hospitality today?
The report distinguishes technologies used by existing AI adopters from areas where respondents see future potential. Examples include generating guest communication, analysing reviews and managing rates. Using one tool does not mean a hotel has automated its entire operation or connected all its systems.
Drafting a guest reply is a sensible starting point. Staff check arrival details, parking information and house rules before sending it. Generated property descriptions should also be checked against actual facilities: polished writing is of little use if it promises a service that does not exist. The accommodation provider remains responsible for accuracy.
Which benefits do hoteliers identify?
On the question about experienced or perceived benefits, 76% selected time savings, 54% improved communication and marketing, and 51% operational efficiency. These are responses to the benefits question, rather than results restricted to hotels already using AI. They do not mean 76% fewer working hours or 51% lower costs. The report separately presents a benefit rating on a 1–10 scale among AI users.
Choose a measure you can verify in your own business: response time, manual entries per booking or conversations awaiting a reply. Record a baseline, include quality checks and compare similar periods. Useful automation makes work easier without shifting unresolved problems to guests or colleagues.
Why have some hotels not adopted AI?
The report highlights awareness of available solutions, implementation cost, technical complexity and integration with existing processes. These are respondents' experienced or anticipated barriers, rather than exclusively non-users' reasons. Request a demonstration of your own workflow instead of relying on a broad promise to solve administration.
Check who maintains the data, which channels are supported and how staff take over exceptions. Clarify access to guest information and how it is handled. Agree who checks replies, receives error reports and can pause automation. Even a capable tool can create extra work if responsibility is unclear.
Prioritising bookings, communication and automation
Respondents identify reservations (68%), marketing content creation (62%) and customer relationship management, or CRM (51%), as areas where AI could be most useful. These figures describe perceived potential, not the share of hotels already using those functions. Interest in reservations is not evidence of autonomous sales.
Reliable context connects these activities. An early check-in reply needs the correct reservation and a verified property status. An offer must match availability, rates and stay conditions. Connected systems give staff a stronger basis for responding; disconnected spreadsheets and repeated copying create more places for information to become outdated.
ChatGPT versus AI integrated into a PMS
A standalone ChatGPT conversation can help with writing and translation. It does not automatically have reliable access to your calendar, current rates or confirmed bookings. Staff supply context and verify the result. A convincing answer is not necessarily a correct business answer.
Integrated AI can use business-system data and connect a reply to a workflow, depending on implementation and permissions. Integration alone does not guarantee quality. Verify which data it reads, how current those data are and which actions it may perform. Complaints, sensitive situations and exceptions need a clear route to a responsible person.
What does this mean for agencies and holiday rental managers?
A hotel survey does not establish the same percentages for villas, apartments or campsites. Repeated enquiries, seasonal workload and coordinating several properties are nevertheless useful starting points for your own assessment. Agencies also need to consider owner obligations, task allocation and different property rules.
Consider a date change across a portfolio with multiple owners. The reservation, availability, guest notification and operations need to stay aligned. A faster message solves only part of the task. Agency automation should therefore begin by mapping the whole process: where information originates, who confirms it and where it is entered again. This is our practical recommendation, not an experimental finding from the study.
How does MyRent approach business automation?
MyRent connects a PMS, Channel Manager and centralised management of bookings, guests and operations. Distribution channels exchange supported data within each integration's capabilities. Analytics and reporting support business oversight. Connections to pricing tools such as PriceLabs should be distinguished from the AI Booking Assistant.
How MyRent Channel Manager connects distribution channels
Existing MyRent AI capabilities include guest communication through supported OTA messaging APIs, review replies and property description generation. The website AI Booking Assistant searches actual inventory, availability and current prices, then offers a route to a direct booking. It does not choose the optimal rate on the manager's behalf. Message automation depends on configuration and channel functionality; every message is not necessarily handled automatically.
Explore existing MyRent AI capabilities
Tourism digitalisation and competitiveness
Competitiveness is not a count of AI subscriptions. What matters is whether staff can keep information accurate, identify unanswered enquiries and process changes without unnecessary repetition. Start with one frequent workflow, involve employees and check the outcome before expanding. Preserve personal guest contact when a standard response is insufficient.
The future of tourism lies in smarter, more automated and efficient operations, rather than accumulating AI tools. The study indicates areas of interest but does not guarantee revenue growth or cost savings for an individual business. Match the available capabilities to your portfolio, team and working practices.
Source and next step
Data source: Roland Schegg, HES-SO Valais-Wallis, June 2025 report, pages 14–16, 31, 39–40, 51, 58 and 65, and questionnaire on pages 84–88. MyRent authored this professional interpretation; the researcher is not the author of the MyRent article. The cover is an original AI-generated editorial illustration, not a photograph of survey participants.
Original study by Roland Schegg, HES-SO Valais-Wallis (PDF, 2025)
Want to assess where automation could help your business? Bring a real booking, communication or operational example to a MyRent demonstration. We can walk through existing capabilities and the conditions for applying them to your workflow.
