The Future of Hospitality: Getting the Balance Right Between People and Technology

Hospitality is changing faster than most of us realised it would, says Marc Saunders,

Marketing Director, Dominus Hospitality.

A few years ago, mobile check-ins and chatbots felt like experiments. Now they’re just part of everyday life. Guests have already adapted - they research trips on their phones, use digital keys, chat to automated assistants and check out without ever going near a reception desk. None of this is futuristic to them; it’s simply convenient.

At the same time, the industry is wrestling with challenges that aren’t going away any time soon. Labour shortages are now a permanent feature, wage pressures keep rising, and guests expect personalisation and speed at every turn. The old model - lots of people doing lots of manual tasks - isn’t sustainable anymore. We need a different approach, one that doesn’t lean entirely on technology but doesn’t fight it either.

Technology as a Support System, Not a Replacement

There’s a common fear that technology is coming to replace the people who make hospitality special. I don’t share that view. What I see is technology stepping in to take care of the repetitive tasks that never needed human involvement to begin with. It removes friction, cleans up the boring bits and lets teams focus on the moments that truly benefit from human presence.

Digital tools can handle form-filling, routine questions, scheduling, payment flows and simple requests. They can push updates automatically, share information across departments and help staff understand guest preferences without digging through files. This doesn’t diminish hospitality; it actually gives it room to breathe. When teams aren’t bogged down in admin, they can talk to guests, anticipate needs, solve problems properly and add the little touches that make a stay memorable.

Raoul Pal and the Rise of AI Agents

Zooming out, this shift fits into what Raoul Pal describes as the “Exponential Age” - a period where AI, automation and digital agents rapidly increase productivity across every sector. His view is that AI agents will take on the kind of work we used to hand off to junior staff: basic research, admin, coordination and the repetitive tasks that fill a surprising amount of the working day.

When you apply that thinking to hospitality, the opportunities are obvious. AI agents can handle a large share of guest messaging, arrange simple services, recommend experiences and keep the operational wheels turning quietly in the background. They won’t replace the empathetic, nuanced work humans do, but they will absorb the friction and clutter that stop teams from delivering their best. It’s not about removing people; it’s about redesigning roles so staff work alongside intelligent tools rather than drowning in manual processes.

Dubai’s Contactless Check-In Shows the Direction of Travel

If you want a clear example of where all this is heading, look at Dubai’s new city-wide contactless hotel check-in system. Guests complete identity and biometric verification once, and from then on they can skip the reception desk entirely. They simply authenticate, walk in and head straight to their room.

For me, this isn’t about technology for its own sake - it’s about removing friction from a moment that adds no value when handled manually. No guest enjoys queueing with their passport in hand. And no staff member dreams of spending their day copying numbers off documents. Dubai’s approach recognises that arrival should feel smooth and welcoming, not administrative. It frees staff to do what they’re actually there for: hosting, helping and human connection.

Where Humans Still Matter Most

Even with all this innovation, there are areas where technology simply cannot replace people. When emotions run high - missed flights, special occasions, complaints, unique requests - a human being makes all the difference. The ability to read a situation, adjust your tone, make a judgement call or offer a small but meaningful gesture is not something a bot can replicate.

Creativity, local knowledge, empathy and instinct will remain at the heart of hospitality. The key is to make sure staff are spending their time on these moments rather than being tied to tasks that machines can do more efficiently.

The Real Future: Humans and Technology, Not One or the Other

The sweet spot for the future is a hybrid approach: technology for the simple, repeatable, transactional touchpoints, and people for the moments that truly shape the guest experience. Think of the technology stack as the operating system, and your team as the interface guests actually remember.

Get that balance right and hospitality becomes more sustainable, more efficient and actually more human where it counts. This isn’t the end of hospitality as we know it; it’s the evolution of it - powered by technology, but defined by people.

As the industry steps into this next chapter, the real opportunity isn’t in choosing sides between people and technology - it’s in designing a world where both elevate each other. The hotels that thrive won’t be the ones that automate everything, nor the ones that cling to old habits out of fear. They’ll be the ones brave enough to rethink what hospitality can be: human where it matters, digital where it helps, and seamless everywhere in between. If we get this right, we won’t just keep up with guest expectations - we’ll set a new global standard for what great hospitality feels like in the modern age. And in that future, technology isn’t the star of the show. People are. Technology simply gives them the stage they deserve.