Confidence Enduring Among European Accommodations but Skill-Gap Concerns and Industry Division Loom

• 63% of European accommodations expect positive business development in the coming six months. 62% plan to maintain existing levels of investment
• 47% of European accommodations cite a lack of necessary skills or experience as a core barrier to hiring
• Three in five cite high implementation costs (61%) and integration complexity (58%) as the biggest challenges to technology adoption
• 53% of accommodations report a lack of technical expertise in their teams as a barrier to the adoption of digital technology and AI

AMSTERDAM — Today, Booking.com, released the fifth edition of its European Accommodation Barometer, featuring insights from 1,160 travel accommodation executives across Europe on the current outlook, opportunities and challenges facing the industry.

This year’s report, developed in partnership with Statista, paints an optimistic picture heading into the 2025 peak travel season, though independent and alternative accommodations continue to face greater headwinds across key areas including hiring for specialized roles, staff upskilling and digital technology adoption.

Positive sentiment and stable investment across the industry

Even in the face of geopolitical and macro-economic uncertainties, almost two-thirds of European accommodation operators (63%) share a positive business outlook for the coming season – nearly matching last year’s record high (65%) and far exceeding the low point of 38% in 2022. However, confidence is uneven across regions: Southern Europe (Croatia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal) is particularly upbeat, Central Europe (Austria, France, Germany, Poland) is more subdued, and Northern Europe (Nordics, Ireland) falls somewhere in between.

Continuing the trend observed in last year’s Barometer, this economic optimism aligns with most accommodations (62%) planning to maintain a steady course of investment in the coming months. However, chain hotels indicate more proactive investment strategies than small/medium accommodations and those with a lower star rating, which lean towards more conservative plans.

Specialized staffing and upskilling challenges persist

With an operationally busy period ahead, hiring needs are front of mind. On average, European hotels plan to hire 3.59 employees over the next 12 months. This number varies significantly between independent and chain hotels. Independent hotels plan to hire 2.72 employees, while for chain hotels the number rises to 5.85.

According to the research, while respondents indicated that relatively low-skilled, seasonal roles are easier to fill, the opposite is true for hiring skilled senior roles (e.g. general management, sales, marketing). High salary expectations (56%) and challenges with work-life balance (52%) in the industry were noted as the largest barriers contributing to the challenge of finding staff.

47% also cited a lack of necessary skills or experience as a significant barrier to successful recruiting. Taking a risk on under qualified or less experienced candidates is equally unappealing due to the high costs associated with training and upskilling initiatives - a hurdle shared by all property sizes, as well as a lack of managerial capacity to oversee them.

Across Europe, the skills gap hits particularly hard for small and independent accommodations, which lack the training resources available to chains. In fact, 17% of all independent properties do not offer any training at all while the same is true for only 2% of chain properties. Additionally, while chains are more likely to work with external training providers (49%), as well as offer online training programs (42%), the contrast is stark for independent businesses (29% and 24%, respectively).

Digital technology and AI adoption – a growing digital divide

Many European accommodations recognize the potential benefits of AI for their business, particularly in the areas of marketing (66%), customer service (63%) and revenue management (61%). But challenges continue to hamper adoption, with three in five citing high implementation costs (61%) and integration complexity (58%) revealed as the biggest obstacles.

In correlation with the industry-wide skills gap (particularly for managerial roles), 53% of accommodations report a lack of technical expertise in their teams as a barrier to the adoption of digital technology and AI. For smaller properties, these drawbacks may greatly outweigh the benefits, given the upskilling challenges and lack of access to training resources. This gap underscores a growing digital divide, with smaller accommodations at risk of missing out on the tools that can support competitiveness and future success.

We’re pleased to see that the fifth edition of the European Accommodation Barometer reveals such a confident outlook heading into peak season, but also recognize the challenges the industry is up against. Through this research, we aim to reinforce our commitment to listening closely to what’s top of mind for accommodations across the region, elevating their perspectives and promoting stronger cross-industry collaboration. Carlo Olejniczak, VP & Managing Director, EMEA at Booking.com

Methodology

The survey was conducted by Statista between February 24 and April 22, 2025, through telephone interviews. A total of 1,160 executives and managers from the European travel accommodation sector participated, with 80 respondents interviewed from each of the following countries and regions: Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the Nordics (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland), Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Additionally, 200 respondents were included from the rest of Europe, covering Romania, Belgium, Czechia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Slovakia. For the UK report specifically, a sample of 200 UK accommodations were interviewed during the survey period. For comparative purposes, the 2024 data draws from the 2024 European Accommodation Barometer, which took place between February 6 and March 22, 2024, with a sample size of 920 respondents. The 2023 data is based on the Summer 2023 European Accommodation Barometer, conducted from March 28 to May 15, 2023, also with a sample size of 920 respondents. Finally, the 2022 data is derived from the 2022 European Accommodation Barometer, held between August 15 and October 21, 2022, with a sample size of 1,000 respondents.