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Currently, LLMs lack abundant images and material, such as images of the rooms and amenities, that customers generally demand when making hotel bookings, Kletzel said. When this is boosted, including by brands exposing their material to LLMs, that will be "a huge leap forward to getting consumers comfortable." Hotel guest loyalty and brand trust, meanwhile, has rapidly expanded in current years.

Beyond the guest experience, agentic commerce has the potential to move the method hotel business' customer service groups operate and are structured, Klein said. Yes," Klein stated.

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This year, several collection brands that introduced in 2025 will continue to expand. Additional new brand names and collaborations, especially in the way of life segment, will likely debut as well, according to hospitality specialists. In 2025, Marriott released two collection brand names: Series by Marriott, playing in the high end area in the U.S., and Outdoor Collection, exclusively focused on outside accommodations in locations near national forests, deserts, ski locations and coastlines.

Marriott's Outdoor Collection provides special lodgings in destinations near national parks, deserts, ski areas and shorelines.

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Hilton's Start Collection, specifically, has more than 60 hotels in the works across the U.S. and Canada, Kevin Osterhaus, president of way of life brands at Hilton, informed Hotel Dive. Outset is currently checking out possible new places in San Diego, Los Angeles and Virginia Beach, Virginia, along with markets in New Mexico and Colorado in 2026, Osterhaus said.

"Collection brands are appealing because they offer the finest of both worlds: Owners keep the unique DNA of their home, while opening international distribution, earnings management, commitment and support. Kevin Osterhaus President of way of life brands at Hilton From the visitor point of view, independent store hotels are preferable due to the fact that they use genuine experiences, Gabriel Perez, primary running officer of lodging at The Indigo Roadway Hospitality Group, told Hotel Dive.

Nevertheless, as for why the hotel companies are chasing after independents in the way of life segment, "it's not about the guests. It has to do with creating sub-brands within their own brand names to please financiers' needs and to please owner and designers' objectives," Perez stated. JLL's Davis echoed that sentiment, telling Hotel Dive that the industry is at the point of, if not past the point of, brand name saturation, as "public business [are] under a remarkable quantity of pressure for net system development." This, in turn, puts much more pressure on hotel companies "to develop brand names, micro brand names and subsets of brand names in order to broaden their footprint of existing assets," Davis stated.

Hilton's collection brand names' "distinct positioning and storytelling continue to drive interest throughout chain scales," Osterhaus stated. Series and Outdoor Collection, both conversion-friendly offerings, pertain to an ownership community and designers who "are continuously looking for ways to grow, and conversions represent a path for development," Molinary said.

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According to Osterhaus, "As long as brands are purpose-built and unique in experience and cost point, they add clarity instead of confusion." This year, Hilton plans to stay "extremely active in the lifestyle area through tactical collaborations, new signings and continuous growth of our existing brands," Osterhaus said. Molinary expects Marriott rivals to start supplying some kind of branding service in the outside area, particularly, as "it's a truly popular and growing space" with "a lot of interest." Another growing area is the luxury section.

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That trend is expected to continue in 2026 as luxury customers drive travel spending and hotel bookings amid a wealth bifurcation at play in the market. "High-net-worth tourists are anticipated to stay one of the most trusted drivers of international travel costs next year," Giray Boran, handling director of BLG Capital, informed Hotel Dive.