67% of B2B Buyers Skip Sales Reps — Do Hospitality Trade Show Floors Still Pay?

A Gartner survey found 67% of B2B buyers prefer a purchasing experience without a sales rep, and 45% used AI in a recent purchase — figures that sit at the center of a new argument that the hospitality trade show exhibit hall has lost its buying function.

Jason Floyd of Floyd Hospitality Resources, who has attended hospitality trade shows for nearly three decades, raised the question this week while The Hospitality Show runs in Miami Beach. His position: buyers now build vendor shortlists with AI before they travel, so the exhibit hall is no longer where discovery happens.

The counter-evidence is real. HITEC 2026 sold out its exhibit floor and drew more than 6,100 attendees. Floyd's conclusion is not that events die, but that the large exhibit hall may. He would rather send a few senior sellers to focused conferences than staff a booth with 20 people, and he points to customer events as a growing line item, citing Gainsight data linking user-conference attendance to higher retention — while acknowledging that is correlation, not proof.

What does this change for operators buying technology?

For hotel and restaurant operators, the shift moves budget from booth staffing toward targeted events and retention-oriented user conferences. The buyer's research now happens before the badge is scanned, which raises a second question: what happens when AI curates what the buyer — or the guest — sees at all?

Jun Kwon of East Carolina University approached that question from the guest side, starting with a trip to Japan where AI connected restaurant recommendations to maps, reviews and transit in minutes. His subject is the restaurant that does not make the list.

The demand signal is growing. Deloitte's 2025 survey found 24% of respondents planned to use generative AI for holiday travel planning, up from 8% in 2023.

Yet Kwon is cautious about so-called generative engine optimization. A 2026 survey of the research found no technique with a stable effect on discoverability across platforms, and Google says many suggested GEO tactics do not work. His practical advice for restaurants: treat accurate hours, correct addresses, consistent listings and timely review responses as marketing work rather than admin.

Hotels asked to pick a role in guest wellbeing

A World Panel viewpoint, framed around Kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer — lays out three roles a hotel can take in guest wellbeing:

• The Servant and Decorateur — masks the cracks with comfort and sensory pampering.
• The Hammer — treats the body as a machine to be measured and optimized.
• The Golden Glue — aims for conscious restoration, helping guests put themselves back together as something better than before.

The question for the panel is which of the three a wellness offer is actually built around, and what it would take to move from treating symptoms to addressing what guests came to heal.

Owners and brand associations

Wayne West III of Newport Hospitality Group, a former chair of the IHG Owners Association, writes after attending one of three regional Summits hosted by the association. He describes it as a bridge between owners and the brand: the two sides share goals but sometimes differ on how to reach them and at what cost.

His instruction to owners is to treat association involvement as an investment in their business, alongside capital plans and cost control — and that it need not mean a leadership role. Attending a meeting or raising an operational concern others may share is a start.

Signals

• 62% of travel managers say their teams are understaffed, according to GBTA research with Cvent based on 270 travel managers. Business travel programs are absorbing risk, expense, payments and meetings responsibilities while also handling AI transformation.
• Wyndham added more than 40 luxury boutique hotels to Registry Collection through a partnership with HotelREZ, bringing Elegant Hotels of the World properties to Wyndham's 129 million Rewards members.
• Mandarin Oriental renamed its F&B function Restaurants, Bars & Experiences, appointed James Norman to lead it in Europe and the Americas, and counts 33 Michelin stars across its portfolio.
• An updated guide targets the EU's greenwashing rules. ETC, GDS-Movement and NECSTouR revised their practical guide to the EmpCo Directive so destinations, DMOs and event organisers can make evidence-based sustainability claims.
• Pertlink publishes a free AI tokenomics playbook with Hospitality Net on 5 November, a 30-page guide covering how hotels can track AI costs per guest across touchpoints.

People

Stephen Ho becomes Group President, Asia Pacific at Hyatt Hotels Corporation effective January 1, 2027, succeeding David Udell, who retires from the role at the end of 2026. Francis Desjardins was named Regional Vice President, Pacific Northwest and General Manager at Fairmont Pacific Rim. Tanja Münker takes over as Area General Manager at Grand Hotel Belvedere, a Beaumier Hotel, from 1 January 2027.

Properties

Fairmont New Orleans returned to the Crescent City as Fairmont's 100th hotel. Kimpton Al Rowda Doha opened in Qatar. Amàre Cancún, Curio by Hilton debuted, bringing the Mediterranean brand to the Americas, and Impression Isla Mujeres joined The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. IHG signed Holiday Inn Resort Sasan Gir in Gujarat's wildlife tourism destination.

The through-line for operators: whether the buyer is a hotelier shortlisting vendors or a traveler choosing dinner, AI now shapes the shortlist — and the week's data suggests the cheapest competitive response is still accurate listings and an owner's seat at the brand table.