Australia, 2026, and hospitality: What’s actually changing?

In this strategic episode of Hotel Moment, Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA at Revinate, teams up with Nick Ellis, Country Director Oceania & Indonesia and Enterprise Director SE Asia at Revinate, to translate the five major 2026 hospitality trends into practical applications for Australia's unique market. Dylan notes that showing up to Australian hoteliers with decks of global best practices causes immediate tune-out because the market needs specialized treatment, while Nick acknowledges that if something sounds great on deck but doesn't work during busy Sunday morning checkout with short-staffed front desks, Aussie hoteliers sense it immediately.

What you'll learn:

Australia's commercial savvy personalization: With some of the planet's highest labor costs and unusual hotel mix from 500-room CBD towers to remote resorts, Australian hoteliers use personalization not for fancy subject lines but commercial necessity to drive direct bookings, encourage on-property spending, and make loyalty feel like genuine relationships rather than point spreadsheets, setting properties apart from competitors fifty meters down the street.
The jigsaw puzzle problem and CDP solution: Nick shares his GM pet hate where every guest handed every staff member tiny jigsaw puzzle pieces of preferences, but no one assembled complete pictures to create experiences — emphasizing the sweet spot of using data before arrival and during stay rather than three weeks later. Customer Data Platforms provide practical Aussie solutions with one clean guest profile connected through APIs, allowing hotel groups to change stack parts without collapse while surfacing insights so bartenders know favorite drinks and front desks greet returning guests with "We've got a piña colada waiting for you."
Real-time data's critical importance: Real-time data matters more in Australia because conditions change instantly with massive population on tiny pinheads, where concerts sell out cities within hours and surprise US Navy aircraft carrier harbor visits fill hotels completely within two hours at lead-in rates. Nick's GM story demonstrates how reviewing performance after checkout means missing revenue optimization opportunities, with real-time updates ensuring teams react with context rather than guessing, enabling bar supervisors to know hourly sales warranting current staffing and profiles firing book direct emails every time OTA guests check out.
Privacy and personalization moving in tandem: Recent top-tier Australian companies and government agencies appearing on news front pages because of data breaches make privacy front-page concern where Aussies don't mind sharing information as long as it's clear why while maintaining control and understanding usage. At Revinate, privacy and personalization move in tandem where getting one right while ignoring the other causes guests to notice negatively because no one does business with brands they don't trust, requiring technology decisions considering both elements together.
Connected systems for employee and guest experience: The move from isolated guest communications to full journey orchestration matters because guests think in experiences not systems, while hotels still stitch together different platforms for email, messaging, feedback, and loyalty. With staff quality and availability representing Australia's biggest hospitality challenges beyond even labor costs, connected tools and easy tech create smoother experiences teams enjoy where smoother means more efficient and efficient means profitable, making employee experience equal guest experience importance.

Throughout the conversation, Dylan and Nick emphasize that Australian hoteliers don't need to chase every trend or add more tools or systems that almost integrate, but need better connections, better timing, better guest experiences feeling joined up, teams feeling connected to tech and guests, with connectivity and timing as central themes.

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Episode Highlights

[00:00] Australia's commercial savvy necessity - Nick Ellis opens with market reality: "In Australia, we're commercially savvy, we have to be with the high cost of doing business in Australia. So personalization, we use it to get guests to book direct, knowing what they're going to buy, encouraging spending while they're on property."

[04:54] The jigsaw puzzle problem - Nick describes his GM frustration: "Every guest we had in our building would hand every single staff member a little tiny piece of that jigsaw puzzle of who they were and what they loved and what they were looking for. And everyone had these tiny little jigsaw puzzles, but no one had that complete picture and was able to put them all together and create that experience. There's such a sweet spot around using that information before arrival, during the stay, not three weeks later."

[07:11] CDP as Aussie solution - Nick gets excited: "It's so exciting for me as a career hotelier slash tech nerd. It's just practical, it's flexible, it's powerful, no unnecessary drama. I'd call it a bit of an Aussie solution. Hotel groups who run multiple properties, it means you can change parts of the stack in and out without everything falling over. Being able to surface those insights that you're collecting, it's such an awesome opportunity for hotels to really understand the guests, but then also deliver on it."

[08:36] The aircraft carrier story - Nick shares revenue lesson: "I was a GM leaving a hotel at 5 p.m. and we were sitting at 30% for the evening. Two hours later I get an automated email saying we had now sold all inventory. I walked in the next morning like, 'What happened?' Turns out the US Navy had parked an aircraft carrier in the harbor and the entire city had filled within two hours. We sold every room at lead-in rates. The bosses were like, 'Why didn't anyone react? Why didn't anyone yield?' That cost us a lot of money. If you're reviewing the performance after checkout, you've missed the opportunity."

[12:18] Real-time context for teams - Nick explains operational shift: "When you've got real-time updates happening, it just means your teams aren't guessing. They're reacting with context. You employ all these people throughout your business who are sort of best in what they do, but at the end of the day, unless they've got the picture of what's happening at the time, they're just making a decision with a little limited piece of a puzzle."

[14:52] Employee experience equals guest experience - Nick emphasizes priorities: "The biggest challenge to doing hotels in Australia is the cost of labor, but first and foremost, before that, it's where the team coming from. The quality and availability of team. That value proposition and becoming an employer of choice is more critical now than ever. Employee experience is just as important as guest experience. When the tools are connected and the tech is easy and the experience feels smoother, the team enjoy it. Smoother means more efficient and for hotels, efficient means profitable."

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro
03:49 - Personalization as commercial necessity in Australia
05:17 - The jigsaw puzzle problem with guest data
07:11 - Customer Data Platforms as practical foundation
08:36 - Real-time data and the aircraft carrier story
11:50 - Privacy as front-page concern in Australia
13:40 - Guest journey orchestration and connected systems
16:36 - Wrap-up and 2026 benchmark report preview