Author
InnPractice & Accommodate Consulting
June 15, 2026
Winner & Losers: Owner plays for protecting ROCE through the 2026 cycle
InnPractice has launched the second paper in its Hospitality InnSights series, created in collaboration with our partners, Accommodate Consulting.
Our latest white paper explores the practical decisions hotel owners, investors and asset managers should be making now to protect returns through a more polarised market.
Following the launch of Returns Beyond RevPAR, this latest Hospitality InnSights paper builds on the conversation around what really drives owner value, shifting the focus towards Return on Capital Employed and the operational and investment decisions most likely to protect it.
The paper argues that 2026 is not simply another challenging year for hotel owners. It is a cycle that is splitting the market into two camps: those acting early to price in the pressure stack, and those waiting for more certainty and risking the cost of delay.
It identifies three major external pressures landing together across the year: the April business rates revaluation, the phased impact of employment law reform and a debt environment that remains selective despite some easing. Against that backdrop, the paper sets out a ranked playbook of eight owner actions for FY26, with the first four sitting in the highest impact band for incremental ROCE on capital touched.
Among the paper’s central themes is the idea that the headline trading recovery has largely done its work. Occupancy has recovered, but profit conversion remains under pressure, with payroll costs per available room significantly higher than pre-pandemic benchmarks. In that context, the paper challenges owners to look beyond revenue recovery and focus more sharply on capital discipline, labour structure, revenue mix, asset strategy and refinancing timing.
The paper is intended for hotel owners, investors, asset managers and development teams seeking a more disciplined framework for reading the 2026 cycle and acting within it. As the staged plan in the paper makes clear, the decision window is now.
Read the full white paper here: DOWNLOAD NOW
If you would like to discuss how the framework could apply to your asset or portfolio, contact us at graham@innpractice.co.uk