Research and Publicatons
The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) conducts applied research to optimize the interaction between humans, organizations, and technology. Within this context, the FutureHotel Innovation Network explores and develops forward-looking concepts, solutions, and technologies for the hotel industry of tomorrow. SHS is a proud research partner of the FutureHotel project, where we not only invest our research budget but also collaborate actively in conducting studies and developing practical use cases.
FutureHotel Studies
Studies with Free PDF Download
| Year | Title | Language | PDF Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | FutureHotel – Future Projections for 2035 (Whitepaper: Which Role will Hotels play ten Years from now?) | English | Download PDF (6.02 MB) |
| 2025 | FutureHotel – Hotels as Agents of Social Change (Towards a Framework for Assessing the Social Impact of Hotels) | English | Download PDF (1.62 MB) |
| 2025 | The Changing Role of Hotels (Hotels as Safe Spaces in Cities — Journal Article, Open Access CC BY 4.0) | English | Download PDF (717.68 KB) |
| 2024 | FutureHotel – the Hotel Service Ecosystem as an Opportunity Space for the Hotel of the Future (Whitepaper, English) | English | Download PDF (4.33 MB) |
| 2024 | FutureHotel – das Hotel Service Ökosystem als Chancenraum für das Hotel der Zukunft (Whitepaper, German) | German | Download PDF (4.36 MB) |
| 2023 | FutureHotel – Post Corona Hotel Era (The Influence of Current Trends on the Hotel of the Future and its User Groups) | English | Download PDF (1.93 MB) |
| 2023 | FutureHotel – Cospaces and Communities in a Post Corona Hotel Era (Opportunities and Scenarios for the Hotel Landscape) | English | Download PDF (3.72 MB) |
| 2023 | FutureHotel – Business Travel Events in a Post Corona Hotel Era (Opportunities and Scenarios for the Hotel Landscape) | English | Download PDF (2.92 MB) |
| 2019 | FutureHotel – Smart Hotel Room (Design of a Cognitive Hotel Environment) | English | Download PDF (13.1 MB) |
| 2017 | FutureHotel Spa- und Wellness-Erlebnisse (Ergebnisse der Gast- und Hoteliersbefragung zum Wellnesserlebnis im Hotel) | German | Download PDF (6.69 MB) |
| 2016 | FutureHotel Building 2052 (Visionen und Lösungen für das Hotelgebäude der Zukunft — German edition) | German | Download PDF (18.29 MB) |
| 2014 | FutureHotel Gastbefragung (Eine Erhebung zu innovativen Lösungen für die Hotelgäste im DACH-Markt) | German | Download PDF (50.22 MB) |
All studies published by the FutureHotel Innovation Network (Fraunhofer IAO), listed by year (newest first), with language and PDF availability.
The following studies are available exclusively via the Fraunhofer Bookshop or are only accessible through Google Scholar / institutional access. No free PDF download is provided.
| Year | Title | Language | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | FutureHotel – 360° Hotel Service Ecosystem Study (An empirical study from the FutureHotel Innovation Network) | English | Fraunhofer Bookshop (paid) |
| 2024 | FutureHotel – Business Potentials of Experience Based Booking and Selling (Evolution of the Attribute Based Booking Model) | English | Fraunhofer Bookshop (paid) |
| 2024 | FutureHotel – AI Application Potential Along Hotel User Journeys and its Business Opportunities (The Next Evolutionary Step in Hotel User Experiences and Hotel Business Productivity) | English | Fraunhofer Bookshop (paid) |
| 2023 | FutureHotel – Extended Realities. The Metaverse and its Potential for Hotel Business | English | Fraunhofer Bookshop (paid) |
| 2023 | FutureHotel – Token Economy. Use Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens for Hotel Business | English | Fraunhofer Bookshop (paid) |
| 2023 | Future Hotel Smart Guest Communication – Chancen digitalisierter Gastkommunikation entlang der Customer Journey (Book Article, published in "Digital Leadership im Tourismus") | German | Publisher (book chapter) |
| 2021 | FutureHotel – Employee Profiles (Berufsprofile im Gastgewerbe heute und in Zukunft) | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2020 | FutureHotel – Innovative Erlebnisse als Erfolgsfaktor für die Hotellerie | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2020 | FutureHotel – zukunftsfähige Arbeitswelten im Gastgewerbe | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2019 | FutureHotel – das intelligente Hotelzimmer (Gestaltung einer kognitiven Hotelumgebung — German edition of Smart Hotel Room) | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2017 | FutureHotel Baderlebnis 2030 (Visionen und Lösungen für das Hotelbad der Zukunft) | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2016 | FutureHotel Building 2052 (Visions and solutions for hotel buildings of the future — English edition) | English | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2015 | FutureHotel International Hotel Guest Survey (A survey on innovative solutions conducted with hotel guests from selected international markets) | English | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2014 | FutureHotel Small Medium (Situation und Perspektive der Individualhotellerie des 1-3 Sterne Segments im deutschsprachigen Raum) | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2011 | FutureHotel Hoteliersbefragung (Eine Erhebung zu innovativen Lösungen für die Hotellerie: Status Quo und zukünftige Entwicklungen) | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
| 2009 | FutureHotel Basics. Grundlagenwissen zur Hotellerie in Deutschland | German | Google Scholar / institutional |
All publications are hosted on Fraunhofer Publica. PDF links marked as "Download" provide direct access to the full document. Studies marked as "Fraunhofer Bookshop (paid)" require purchase; studies marked "Google Scholar / institutional" have no publicly available PDF but may be accessible via institutional library subscriptions.