The staffing shortage is here to stay. And hotel operating models need to change.

The Swiss hotel market is performing well, but strong demand does not automatically mean strong profitability.

Rising personnel costs, higher operating expenses and a persistent shortage of skilled labour continue to put pressure on hotel operators.

That is why a recent point made by Andrea Jörger, Managing Partner Switzerland at Horwath HTL, is particularly relevant.

His assessment is clear: the skilled-labour shortage is here to stay.

If that is true, hotels cannot solve the problem simply by recruiting harder. They also need to rethink how they operate.

This is not just a staffing problem

Jörger argues that hotels need leaner processes and more consistent operating structures.

He specifically points to standardisable processes across the customer journey, revenue management and the back office as areas where digitalisation and AI can relieve employees and improve decision-making.

That does not mean removing hospitality from hotels.

Quite the opposite.

As Jörger puts it:

“Gastfreundschaft lässt sich nicht digitalisieren.”

Hospitality cannot be digitalised.

But many of the processes around it can be.

Reservations, repetitive guest communication, check-in processes, payments, pricing, distribution and administrative tasks increasingly do not require someone to be physically present at the property.

The real opportunity is therefore not to replace people, but to use them where they create the most value.

Standardise the process. Keep the hospitality human.

That may be one of the most important distinctions for hotel operators today.

A hotel employee's time is too valuable to be consumed by repetitive work that can be structured, automated or managed more efficiently elsewhere.

At the same time, technology alone is not the answer. Adding more systems without simplifying processes can create even more complexity.

The goal should be a leaner operating model: fewer manual steps, clearer processes, better use of data and more time for genuine guest interaction.

If skilled labour remains scarce, the question for hotels is no longer only:

How do we find more people?

It is also:

Which tasks actually need people on property in the first place?

The hotels that answer that question well will be better positioned to manage both staffing pressure and profitability.

Because the future of hospitality is not about replacing people.

It is about making much better use of them.

Source: Horwath HTL, "Erfolgsmodell Schweiz, Zwischen Boom und Herausforderungen," July 2026, published on Hotel Inside.

Want to find out which of your processes could realistically be outsourced? Get in touch for a free initial consultation.

www.hostz.io