Designed to tackle the hospitality industry’s challenges head-on and illuminate the path towards innovative solutions and a better guest experience.

310+

Cities

21000+

Properties

700+

Brands

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The State of Distribution has Changed

Our annual State of Distribution report is the hospitality industry’s most comprehensive commercial-performance benchmark, produced by HEDNA, RateGain and NYU’s Tisch Center of Hospitality. Drawing on fresh surveys with 700+ hotel brands worldwide, the 2025 edition maps the intertwined realities of Sales & Marketing, Distribution and Revenue Management across every hotel segment.

What’s new this year?

  • 2024 zeroed-in on geography—how commercial trends diverged by region.
  • 2025 pivots to function—revealing how priorities, pain-points and tech adoption differ inside Distribution, Revenue, and Marketing teams.
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Independent Hotels
Mid-size Hotel Chains
Large Hotel Chains

  • Large International Hotel Chain:

    100+ properties, with presence in multiple countries

  • Regional or Mid-size Hotel Chain:

    Less than 100 properties, with presence in a specific region or few countries

  • Independent Hotel:

    Less than 7 properties concentrated within one country

Marketing
Sales
Distribution
Revenue Management
How do the
priorities &
problems vary
by hotel size

Large
International
Hotel Chains

01

Large International Hotel Chains

Hotel Teams Are Contracting. 'One Tech Stack' Mantra Rules.

49% Hotels confirm decrease in distribution teams
#1 Integrating disparate technologies to reduce vendors is #1 investment priority
73% Hotels find it difficult to market to corporate travelers
82% Hotels find it hard managing multiple vendors and having disparate data across sources
71% Hotels want to reduce efforts in updating & managing ARIs
73% Hotels want to reduce efforts in tracking travel intent

Mid-sized
Regional
Hotel Chains

02

Mid-sized Regional Hotel Chains

Staffing is an Issue. But Marketing Teams are Expanding.

63% Hotels confirm decrease in distribution teams
40% Hotels confirm increase in marketing & sales teams
#1 Factor impacting the hotel technology decision is Data Governance & Residency
89% Hotels find it hard managing multiple vendors and having disparate data across sources
67% Hotels want to reduce efforts in updating & managing ARIs
79% Hotels find it hard tracking travel intent & demand

Independent
Hotel
Properties

03

Independent Hotel Properties

Hotel Teams are Expanding, Led by Marketing.

48% Hotels confirm increase in team sizes
53% Hotels confirm increase in marketing & sales teams
90% Hotels find in understanding new marketing channels
81% Hotels find it hard tracking travel intent & demand
87% Hotels want to reduce efforts in updating & managing ARIs
67% Hotels find it hard managing multiple vendors and having disparate data across sources

Hear from the Experts

Klaus Kohlmayr
Klaus KohlmayrChief Evangelist & Development Officer
IDeaS Revenue Solutions
"What we see now is that more data is being aggregated from more sources which requires even more analytical firepower to turn into trustworthy decisions. Hotels want more automation across the entire commercial platform stack so the Revenue Managers can focus on strategy and long-term decision making instead of manual, tactical work."
Leigh Silkunas
Leigh SilkunasFounder & CEO
1AX Consulting
"Even with decades of innovation in distribution, revenue management, and marketing tech, hoteliers—no matter the brand size—are still spending 6 to 8 days each month just pulling reports. I’m eager to see the industry evolve to a place where data is centralized and reporting is seamless. That’s when we’ll unlock the real value: more time for insight, strategy, and creativity."
H-Anthony Gambini CHBA
H-Anthony Gambini CHBAFounder & CEO
Premiere Advisory Group
"If we want technology to scale our operations effectively, we must invest in the people behind the tools. Too often, we see hotels deploy new tech but fail to fully leverage it due to a lack of internal training and support. Talent without enablement limits ROI—and vice versa."
View All Contributors

Technology Adoption

Hotels prioritize tech that helps optimize revenue and distribution.
Generative AI and analytics tools are low on the adoption scale for hotels across the board.

Factors for Hotel Tech Decisions

Data residency & governance is now one of the top factors for all sizes of hotels. Recent acquisitions and partnerships make integration of technology with existing tech stacks as the most important factor for large hotel chains. ROI is among the top 4 factors only for large chains now.

Integrations with existing tech-stack #1
A clear ROI #2
Data governance & residency #3
Cloud Technology (vs. on-premises) #4
Integrations with existing tech-stack #1
Ease of implementation #1
A clear ROI #2
A clear ROI #2
Data governance & residency #3
Ease of use on desktop and mobile #3
Cloud Technology (vs. on-premises) #4
Integrations with existing tech-stack #4
Ease of implementation #1
Integrations with existing tech-stack #1
A clear ROI #2
A clear ROI #2
Ease of use on desktop and mobile #3
Data governance & residency #3
Cloud Technology (vs. on-premises) #4
Cloud Technology (vs. on-premises) #4

Manual Reporting Load

The hotel industry is sitting on a goldmine of data — and wasting it.
80% still spend up to two work-days each week on manual reports.
Fewer than 20% invest in reporting tools

Time Spent in Generating & Analyzing Reports
18.70% 58.02% 23.28%
1–2 Days / Month
3–4 Days / Month
5–8 Days / Month
Investments in Reporting Tools
Website Analytics like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, etc.
11.92%
Analytics tools like Looker, Tableau
5.52%
Time Spent in Generating & Analyzing Reports
14.42% 58.65% 26.92%
1–2 Days / Month
3–4 Days / Month
5–8 Days / Month
Investments in Reporting Tools
Website Analytics like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, etc.
10.85%
Analytics tools like Looker, Tableau
4.65%
Time Spent in Generating & Analyzing Reports
16.46% 62.03% 21.52%
1–2 Days / Month
3–4 Days / Month
5–8 Days / Month
Investments in Reporting Tools
Website Analytics like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, etc.
15.60%
Analytics tools like Looker, Tableau
3.67%
Time Spent in Generating & Analyzing Reports
26.09% 54.35% 19.57%
1–2 Days / Month
3–4 Days / Month
5–8 Days / Month
Investments in Reporting Tools
Website Analytics like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, etc.
12.20%
Analytics tools like Looker, Tableau
4.07%

Reducing Efforts & Automation

Tracking travel intent

Optimizing paid campaigns

Generating and analysing reports

Independent Hotels
Mid-size Hotel Chains
Large Hotel Chains

Managing rate types across channels

Identifying new demand channels

Updating rate packages across all properties

Monitoring rate parity

Independent Hotels
Mid-size Hotel Chains
Large Hotel Chains

Updating rate packages across properties

Updating images & descriptions across channels

Creating and understanding reports

Identifying new demand channels

Independent Hotels
Mid-size Hotel Chains
Large Hotel Chains

Get Answers to Address Key
Questions in Hospitality

How are team sizes changing?

How are technology budgets evolving?

What are the teams struggling with?
How do hotels make technology decisions?
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Our Leaders

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