As demand for leisure hospitality continues to boom and interest in the sector continues to grow, investors are sharpening their focus to ensure a future of healthy returns.
Speaking at the Resort & Residential Hospitality Forum 2025, leaders stressed that long term value creation hinges on combining tech-enabled efficiency with human-centred service, strong connections with the local area as well as more discipline in operational and development choices.
AI and personalisation
Although AI has made a lot of noise over the past few years, experts stress it should be treated as a supplement, not a substitute as they emphasise that human interaction still anchors perceived value.
Zeus International CEO Haris Diganos notes that that AI’s true power lies in creating integrated ecosystems, not standalone tools. “The question is how we create an ecosystem where these tools work well with humans. AI should be in the back office, enabling authenticity and real hospitality at the front,” he says.
And Minor Hotels is doing just that, taking advantage of AI tools to streamline back-of-house workflows.
“AI means hotel teams can free time from administrative work and be more present with the guests”, Yuan Fang, senior VP development for Europe and the Americas at Minor Hotels says.
The sentiment is echoed by Elias Pikkujamsa, co-founder and CEO of Evergreen Capital who put it simply: “To create long-term value, the hierarchy is clear: it's human interaction and then AI and technologies in a supportive element. Technology should support, not overrun the human channel.”
While luxury hotels have long mastered bespoke attention, demand for personalisation is rapidly expanding across the midscale and upper-midscale segments. While personalisation is expected and provided as standard in the luxury segment, it starts to dwindle lower down the ladder.
And this is where experts say there’s opportunity, especially with AI lowering the cost of customised service, giving operators across the midscale and upper-midscale new avenues to create loyalty at scale.
Experience
If one theme dominated the discussion, it was this: guests increasingly travel to feel something.
Fang described traveller demand as “an exponential desire for unique experiences - strong emotions, adventure, nature and moments they can bring back and share.” For Minor Hotels, this means designing holidays that generate memories rather than merely delivering amenities.
For Evergreen Capital, whose developments include Arctic sites, experience goes even deeper, with Pikkujamsa noting the importance of the guest feeling like they have pure experiences throughout their stay.
“It’s not about fancy things. Often, it’s more simplistic things and small moments such as sitting by the fire or ice fishing. They want rooted and authentic experiences,” he says.
This ethos demands local engagement. Evergreen’s work involves direct collaboration with indigenous Sami communities to embed heritage and culture into the experience.
Diganos also highlights the importance of connectivity: not simply digital, but human and geographic, noting that resorts succeed when they exist as part of an ecosystem, linked to nearby villages, local experiences and community culture.
Guests increasingly choose hotels not only for design or facilities but for the sense of place and the people who shape it. “
The most important thing is when guests remember go back home and fondly recall a discussion they had with a local about the culture. That’s what stays,” he says.
And while guests don’t pick purely based on a pretty Instagram picture, Diganos says that design also holds great importance, stressing that resorts must operate like small cities with every element carefully placed.
“If facilities aren’t designed properly, they interrupt each other,” he warned.
And according to Fang, wellness is non-negotiable. For Minor Hotels, wellness has expanded into a full-spectrum proposition: sleep, food, beauty, longevity, and holistic wellbeing.
Yuan says: “It’s an elevation beyond relaxation. Instead, it’s a pillar.”
The investor lens
Across all speakers, capital discipline and operational resilience emerged as core areas of focus when it came to investor expectations as well as flexibility amidst changing tides, with Fang noting that generally speaking, ESG and sustainability are no longer optional.
She added: “Profitability and efficiency of the operations is very important as well as the agility to face economic headwinds. Choosing the right partner is key as well.”
Pikkujamsa, meanwhile, cautioned developers against cutting corners for short term gain. “Creating a high-end valuable product and asset itself will last over time and will be valuable in the future as well.”
He also highlighted real opportunity in creating a product that has the sustainability element embedded into the development, not just building within the space.
Diganos offered a financial engineering reminder: stress-test projects from the outset. “If the project is healthy on the downside, that means there is huge upside.”
Where next?
Asked where the next opportunity lies, Fang spotlighted the luxury segment, especially with branded residences, noting that in Europe and the Americas, around half of the pipeline includes branded residences.
Pikkujamsa meanwhile sees the nature-based luxury travel segment accelerating rapidly, supported by global travel patterns and rising demand for remote, restorative escapes.
For Diganos, emerging and under-the-radar destinations. He added that Greece remains a goldmine with many up-and-coming destinations and improving infrastructure, noting that the risk-return profile in secondary regions often surpasses established hotspots like Mykonos or Santorini.
When seeking to create a successful leisure development, the experts gave key advice.
The do’s include building the brand with the destination as opposed to on top of it, engage local communities as co-creators, ensure committed and aligned partners, and embed sustainability from day one. As for what not to do, they advised against replicating concepts blindly, delaying brand involvement and overlooking the importance of building a true ecosystem.
What’s clear is that the winners of the next cycle will be those who master the balance of being tech-enabled, human-centred, community-embedded as well as know how to create pure, transformative experiences. Those are the ones who will enjoy returns that endure.