For years, the hospitality industry has treated forecasting like a long-range weather report. We look at annual budgets and historical averages to decide how much to order for the next month, and we hope the food and beverage revenue hits its targets. But in 2026, the game has changed. Travel spikes don't just happen during holidays anymore; they come from last-minute group blocks, conventions booked with a week’s notice, and social media-driven surges that turn a quiet lounge into the city’s hottest dining experience overnight.
If you want to protect your food and beverage sales and maintain high guest satisfaction, you have to stop thinking about forecasting as a budgeting exercise and start seeing it as an operational discipline. This is about making better decisions under uncertainty to protect your margin and ensure every guest experience is flawless.
The Fallacy of the Long-Range Forecast
The past few years have taught us that the traditional "monthly forecast" is effectively a relic. When you rely on historical data alone, you're looking in the rearview mirror while trying to drive a car at eighty miles per hour. According to a 2025 CBRE report on hotel food and beverage, f & b revenue per occupied room rose by 3.8% in the first half of 2025, outperforming overall hotel revenue growth. This tells us that hotel guests are spending more on-site, but that spend is increasingly volatile.
In luxury hotels, the food and beverage sector often generates a massive chunk of total revenue, and yet the tools used to manage it are frequently decades behind the rooms department. While the revenue management team for rooms is adjusting rates every hour, many beverage operations are still ordering based on what they used last Tuesday. This gap is where profit dies. High food costs are a common challenge in hotel food and beverage operations, and they usually stem from a mismatch between prep levels and actual demand.
Decoding the Short-Term Signals
To win the short game, you need to look at signals that exist outside of your room revenue report. Modern hotel operations require a blend of data from your Property Management System (PMS), Point of Sale (POS), and the world outside your front door.
- The 72–120 Hour Window: This is your “strike zone.” Anything further out is a guess, and anything closer is a fire drill. Within this window, you can actually see the group events that just signed, the weather patterns that will drive guests into the bar, and the local festivals that will bring in the local community.
- The Social Media Factor: We cannot ignore a hotel’s social media presence in 2026. A single viral post about your chef’s table or a unique beverage offering can send a surge of non-residents to your door. A chef's table is an exclusive, interactive dining experience where guests watch and interact with chefs as they prepare food, creating memorable moments that are highly shareable online. This not only enhances the guest experience but also serves as a powerful marketing tool, amplifying the value of your food and beverage services when leisure travelers share their experiences online.
- Flight and Weather Disruptions: If you are an airport hotel or in a major hub, a thunderstorm three states away is a demand signal. It means more room service orders and higher beverage sales as stranded travelers seek comfort.
Bridging the Gap from Data to Revenue Management Action
Knowing a spike is coming is only half the battle; the real work is turning that signal into operational efficiency. When a corporate director looks at the books, they want to see financial success, but for the F&B manager, success looks like a kitchen that isn't drowning.
Inventory management is the lever that controls your beverage cost and food waste. Did you know that hotel kitchens waste 5%-15% of all food purchased? Most of this happens because of over-ordering during perceived spikes that don't materialize, or "panic prep" when a group arrives unannounced. By using a tighter forecasting window, you can adjust your par levels intelligently.
In limited service hotels, where beverage services might be scaled back, even a small spike in hotel food demand can break the system. Whether you offer room service or rely on a grab-and-go model, your production process must be elastic. This means having the ability to scale up your catering services for an impromptu meeting without blowing your labor expenses.
Understanding the Guest Journey and Guest Preferences
A major part of modern beverage sector management is understanding guest preferences. Gone are the days when a standard menu could satisfy everyone. Today, you’re dealing with dietary restrictions, guests requesting accommodations for a gluten free lifestyle, and a massive rise in demand for non alcoholic beverages.
Guests are increasingly seeking authentic local experiences, and hotels can meet this demand by offering local food and beverage options. Providing local F&B options not only enhances the guest experience but also helps hotels compete with local restaurants.
If your forecast tells you a health-conscious tech group is checking in, but you’ve only prepped for a heavy steak-and-potatoes crowd, your guest loyalty will take a hit. Service quality isn’t just about how fast the food arrives, but it is also about whether the menu items reflect what the guest actually wants. In 2026, giving guests what they need requires an entire guest journey approach.
- When you manage your own dining programs you’re looking at a segment that typically generates roughly 25% of your total revenue because F&B is no longer just a guest amenity but a primary driver of the bottom line. Offering a wide range of food and beverage options helps cater to diverse guest preferences and dietary needs.
- The Full Board Distinction: It is important to remember that FB (Full Board) includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while F&B refers to the entire Food and Beverage department. FB differs from Half Board (HB), which includes breakfast and dinner only, and All-Inclusive (AI) plans, which cover meals, snacks, and drinks throughout the day. Unlike All-Inclusive plans, Full Board typically does not include snacks or drinks, except for breakfast beverages.
- Pricing Power: Don’t be afraid of premium pricing for specialized experiences like wine pairings or a michelin starred restaurants style pop-up. If the demand is there, the guests will pay for the create lasting memories factor.
Showcasing local cuisine and authentic experiences through F&B can strengthen the hotel's brand, create memorable guest experiences, and support brand recognition and loyalty.
Turning Pain Points into Profits
Hoteliers often face the same three pain points: labor shortages, food waste, and inconsistent service. These are not just "part of the business," and they are symptoms of poor short-term planning. When you align your staffing and prep to actual demand, you stop paying for idle hands and start investing in great service.
Consider the hospitality business as a series of social interactions. Whether it is community interaction at the bar or a family enjoying a hospitality food spread, the goal is customer satisfaction. Research from Cornell University suggests that guest satisfaction in hotels is more closely tied to F&B quality than many GMs realize. Your dining and bar programs are the true heartbeat of the stay and they carry so much weight because a guest’s sense of comfort is almost always tied directly to the quality of their last meal.
To meet guest expectations, you might need to pivot your menu offerings on the fly. Maybe that means adding eco friendly packaging for increased delivery services or implementing mobile ordering as an add on amenity to reduce the load on your waitstaff. Every small adjustment boosts revenue and protects your food and beverage operations.
Sustainability in F&B: Balancing Demand with Responsibility
Sustainability is no longer a buzzword—it’s a core expectation in the food and beverage sector, especially as guests become more conscious of their environmental impact. For hotels, weaving sustainable practices into food and beverage operations isn’t just about doing good; it’s about boosting guest satisfaction, reducing costs, and strengthening your brand in the hospitality industry.
Start by tackling food waste head-on. Smart inventory management and supply chain optimization can dramatically cut down on excess, ensuring that your kitchen only preps what’s needed for the next 72 hours. This not only minimizes food waste but also streamlines labor expenses and improves operational efficiency. Eco friendly packaging is another win-win: it appeals to eco-conscious guests and supports beverage services like delivery and grab-and-go, all while reducing your environmental footprint.
Sourcing locally is a powerful way to support the community and enhance your menu’s appeal. Guests increasingly value transparency and authenticity in their dining experience, and local ingredients can set your hotel apart. Technology also plays a pivotal role—modern inventory systems and data-driven forecasting help you align purchasing with real-time demand, keeping both costs and waste in check.
By making sustainability a pillar of your food and beverage operations, you not only meet guest expectations but also position your hotel as a leader in the hospitality industry. The result? Higher guest satisfaction, a stronger brand reputation, and a more resilient, efficient operation.
Beverage Sector Considerations: Beyond the Plate
The beverage sector is a powerhouse for food and beverage revenue, and a well-crafted beverage program can be the difference between a good and a great guest experience. To maximize beverage sales, hotels need to go beyond the basics and offer a diverse range of beverage offerings that cater to evolving guest preferences.
Today’s guests expect more than just standard drink menus. Non alcoholic beverages, craft cocktails, and locally sourced wines and beers are in high demand, especially among younger travelers and health-conscious guests. Luxury hotels can leverage premium pricing for exclusive wine pairings, rare spirits, or curated tasting events, creating memorable experiences that drive revenue and set the property apart.
Partnering with local beverage suppliers not only supports the community but also adds authenticity to your beverage services. Unique offerings—like a signature cocktail featuring local ingredients or a rotating craft beer selection—can become a talking point and a reason for guests to return.
Understanding guest preferences is key. Use data from your POS and guest feedback to tailor your beverage operations, ensuring your menu evolves with trends and guest expectations. By focusing on beverage revenue, customer satisfaction, and applying tips to increase bar sales, hotels can turn their bars and lounges into vibrant, profitable hubs that enhance the entire guest journey.
Food and Beverage Trends: Staying Ahead of the Curve
Staying ahead in the hospitality industry means anticipating and adapting to the latest food and beverage trends. Today’s hotel guests expect more than just a meal—they want an experience that reflects their lifestyle and values. That means offering gluten free, vegan, and other dietary-friendly menu offerings, as well as innovative dining experiences like chef’s tables, pop-up events, and interactive cooking classes.
Your social media presence is a powerful tool for showcasing these unique experiences and engaging with guests before, during, and after their stay. Highlighting your food and beverage services online can spark interest, drive revenue, and encourage repeat business.
Revenue management is just as important in food and beverage operations as it is in rooms. By analyzing your business mix and understanding which menu items and beverage offerings resonate most with your guests, you can optimize pricing, reduce waste, and boost total revenue. Flexibility is key—be ready to pivot your menu or introduce new experiences based on guest feedback and emerging trends.
Ultimately, the goal is to create lasting memories that shape guest satisfaction and loyalty. By staying agile and trend-aware, your hotel can deliver exceptional food and beverage experiences that keep guests coming back—and talking about you long after they’ve checked out.
The WISK Solution: Automation for Modern Food and Beverage Operations
If all of this sounds like a lot of manual math, you're right. Doing this in a spreadsheet is "spreadsheet hell," and it leads to food sensitivity errors and missed beverage offerings. For a straightforward breakdown and planning aid, see how many ounces or shots are in a 750ml bottle with WISK's guide. This is where WISK comes in.
WISK was built to handle the chaos of the beverage operations and the food and beverage department as a whole. Instead of guessing your beverage revenue for the weekend, WISK integrates directly with your POS and PMS to give you real-time visibility. It helps you:
- Stop the Leakage: Track every drop and crumb to ensure your beverage cost stays where it should be.
- Forecast with Precision: Move away from "gut feelings" and use actual data to drive revenue and increase food sales.
- Optimize Ordering: WISK tells you exactly what to order based on your 72-hour demand signals, so you can avoid stockouts and minimize food waste.
In a world where many restaurants within hotels struggle to stay profitable, WISK provides the operational efficiency needed to turn a cost center into a revenue generation engine. It allows your team to focus on giving guests a dining experience they'll talk about on social media, rather than counting bottles in a dark basement.
Final Thoughts: Making the Pivot
The next time a travel spike hits, you don't have to be the manager who is apologizing for a limited menu. You can be the one who saw the signal, adjusted the prep, and turned a surprise surge into a record-breaking night for food and beverage revenue.
Modern hotel success isn't about having a perfect annual plan; it is about having a perfect 72-hour execution. By bridging the gap between your data and your kitchen, you ensure that every hotel food order and every room service tray contributes to your financial success.
