Hotel IT Budgets in 2026: Why the Industry Is Still Playing Catch-Up

3.9% of revenue. That's what the average hotel in Germany currently spends on IT. On its own, that number doesn't say much. Put it next to the SME average of 5.8% and suddenly a quiet statistic turns into a loud message: hospitality is systematically underinvesting in its digital infrastructure. And that gap has consequences that show up in guest reviews, operational breakdowns, and missed revenue.

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What the numbers actually say

The DaPhi Connectivity Study 2026, now in its sixth edition, analysed 178 hotels and evaluated more than 600 datasets. On IT budgets, the picture is clear. Hotel spending has risen from 3.2% of revenue in 2018 to 3.9% in 2026. That's a 20% increase. But over the same period, the SME average climbed from 4.8% to 5.8%. The gap hasn't closed. It's held steady at roughly two percentage points.

That means while other industries have been systematically upgrading their digital infrastructure, hospitality is moving in the right direction but not fast enough. Underinvesting today means paying for it later: through outages, security incidents, and guests who turn their frustration into one-star reviews.

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Hotel IT budget: the spread behind the average

What makes the data particularly interesting is what sits behind the average. The variance between individual properties is significant. Some hotels invest less than 2% of revenue in IT, while others already exceed 5%. These aren't small differences. They represent fundamentally different operating philosophies. A hotel at 2% is typically running ageing hardware, reactive support, and an IT setup that stopped scaling years ago. A hotel at 5% has defined processes, proactive monitoring, and a partner who picks up the phone at 11pm when the check-in terminal goes down.

Think of it like maintaining an old car. Skip the servicing for years and eventually one repair costs more than a decade of maintenance would have. IT is no different.

Why 78% of hoteliers plan to spend more

Perhaps the most striking finding in the study: 78% of hoteliers plan to increase their IT budgets this year. That's not a small signal. That's a clear industry shift. The question has moved from whether to invest to how to invest wisely.

Because budget alone doesn't solve anything. Money directed at the wrong infrastructure leaves you with expensive hardware that doesn't communicate, an internal team that's out of its depth, and the same problems as before, just with a bigger invoice. What actually makes the difference is strategic planning, clear priorities, and ideally an external partner who knows the hospitality sector well enough to know where the real pain points are. The Friday night WiFi failure, the PMS that won't talk to the booking engine, the data protection question that nobody prepared for.

What well-spent IT budget actually achieves

The study makes the connection between IT investment and guest satisfaction explicit. Hotels that score well on WiFi, one of the most visible indicators of functional IT, also score better overall. Hardly any property with weak connectivity manages an overall Booking.com rating above 8.0. That's not a coincidence.

Here's the thing: IT investment isn't purely a cost question. It's a revenue question. A hotel that allocates an extra half a percentage point of revenue to solid infrastructure and reliably earns better reviews is, in the long run, ahead financially. DaPhi helps hotels make exactly that calculation, through managed IT services and strategic IT consulting grounded in real data from 178 analysed properties.

The comparison that should prompt action

A company in retail, manufacturing, or professional services spends around 5.8% of revenue on IT. A hotel spends 3.9% while running infrastructure that operates 24 hours a day, serves guests from dozens of countries, handles data privacy requirements, and must integrate with a dozen third-party systems simultaneously. The mismatch between operational complexity and IT investment is hard to ignore.

The good news: the trend is turning. More budget, more awareness, more hoteliers who understand that IT isn't a necessary evil but a lever. Those who close the gap now have a real competitive advantage over properties still waiting.

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FAQ: IT budgets in hospitality

How much should a hotel spend on IT?

According to the DaPhi Connectivity Study 2026, hotels in Germany spend an average of 3.9% of revenue on IT, compared to an SME average of 5.8%. Aiming for at least 5% is advisable to maintain a stable, secure infrastructure. Staying significantly below that level increases the risk of outages, security vulnerabilities, and a guest experience that ends up reflected in ratings.

Why has hotel IT budget historically been so low?

Hospitality has long treated IT as a pure cost item rather than a strategic investment. Many properties grew organically, added systems over time without an overarching IT strategy, and never fully professionalized their digital infrastructure. The industry's strong focus on personal service also meant technology stayed in the background. That's changing, but the catch-up need is real and measurable.

What happens when hotels underinvest in IT?

Insufficient IT budgets typically result in ageing hardware, poor system integration, and reactive support. Problems get fixed only after they occur, not before. The consequences include outages at the worst possible moments, an overstretched team without IT expertise, and guests who share their frustration on review platforms. Over time, weak IT infrastructure becomes a material revenue risk.

Which IT tasks should hotels outsource?

According to the DaPhi study, cyber security (76%), monitoring (51%), and managed workplace (47%) are the most commonly outsourced areas. These are precisely the functions where in-house expertise is rarest and where mistakes are most costly. An external managed service provider handles these professionally, often at predictable costs that an internal team simply cannot match.

How should a hotel plan its IT budget?

Start with an honest inventory: which systems are running, which are outdated, where are the security risks? From there, priorities can be set: infrastructure, connectivity, security. Structured IT consulting helps direct budget where it has the greatest impact, rather than spreading it evenly across all areas without a clear strategy.

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Stop saving, start winning

The gap between hospitality and the SME average on IT spending is real, but it's closing. With 78% of hoteliers planning to invest more, this is more than a trend: it's an industry waking up. Those who plan carefully now and direct budget where it actually works will have a measurable advantage over properties still running on borrowed time. If you want to know where your property stands and what's worth tackling first, DaPhi is happy to talk. No buzzwords, just data.