Research & Innovation: Shaping the Hotel of the Future

At SHS (Swiss Hospitality Solutions), we believe that true industry leadership requires looking beyond the immediate horizon. While operational tactics and 5-year business plans are essential for current success, long-term resilience demands a strategic understanding of what comes next. That is why we actively invest in and collaborate on pioneering research to explore what lies beyond the 5-year business plan.

Our research initiatives are designed to support investors, developers, and hotel operators in making informed, forward-looking strategic decisions that future-proof their assets and business models against upcoming technological and societal shifts.

Exploring the Future of Hospitality

Through rigorous scientific methodologies, trend analyses, and real-world laboratory testing, our research explores the most critical dimensions of tomorrow's hospitality landscape. Our current focus areas encompass:

1. Resilient Future Hotel Worlds

The recent geopolitical uncertenties and socio-economic shifts alter travel behaviours and spatial needs. Our research investigates the new roles hotels must adopt within their communities. We explore innovative hybrid business models, new living concepts (such as co-living and serviced apartments), evolving hotel typologies, and the next generation of bonus and loyalty programmes that resonate with changed consumer values.

2. New Work in Hospitality

The hotel industry faces unprecedented challenges in talent acquisition and retention. We analyse concepts and solutions for sustainable working environments within hospitality. This includes understanding changing employee demands, developing contemporary incentive models, and designing workspaces that foster both productivity and wellbeing.

3. The Smart Hotel Ecosystem

The integration of technology is no longer optional; it is foundational. We research the connected, sustainable hotel of the future. This involves evaluating digitalised services, assessing the integration of complex operational systems, and designing practical use cases for AI, robotics, and smart room technologies that enhance the guest experience while optimising operational efficiency.

4. Robotics & Automation

As labour shortages persist and operational costs rise, robotics and automation offer transformative solutions for the hospitality sector. Our research investigates the deployment of service robots, automated check-in systems, and AI-driven back-of-house operations. We evaluate their impact on service quality, economic viability, and the delicate balance between high-tech efficiency and high-touch hospitality.

5. Sustainability & Digitalisation

Sustainability and digital transformation are deeply intertwined. Our studies focus on smart digital strategies that help hotels meet and exceed sustainability standards. We explore methods for measuring ecological success, realising sustainability potentials through digitalisation, and translating innovative, green solutions into everyday hotel practice.

All our core research is scientifically backed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO), a globally recognised, neutral scientific institution dedicated to optimising the interaction between humans, organisations, and technology.

SHS is proud to participate as an active partner in the FutureHotel Innovation Network, a joint research project led by Fraunhofer IAO. As one of the selected project partners in the current research phase, SHS not only contributes research funding but actively shapes the research agenda. We collaborate closely with Fraunhofer scientists and other industry leaders—including apaleo, Explorer Hotels, Schani Hotels, Europa-Park Resort, and Park Inn by Radisson—in regular project meetings and workshops to develop and evaluate practical, trend-setting use cases for the hospitality industry.

By bridging the gap between rigorous academic research and practical hotel operations, SHS ensures that our clients and partners are always equipped with the insights needed to navigate the future with confidence.