📌 Hospitality SWOT Analysis

Comprehensive Guide for Hotel, Restaurant, and Hospitality Professionals 2026 Edition

🌞 Hello and Welcome To Hospitality Marketing Insight, I’m your host, Dawn Gribble, and this week we’re exploring how you can run a SWOT analysis to set up for success in 2026.

📄 On the Menu

• What is a SWOT Analysis?

• Why is a SWOT Analysis Important?

• How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis

• SWOT Analysis Workshop Plan & Agenda

• Strengths List

• Weaknesses List

• Opportunities List

• Threats List

• Creating an Action Plan

Each SWOT List contains suggestions for Brand, Financial, Products & Services, Company Culture, Customers, Competitors, Digital, Marketing, and Resources & Capabilities.

Let’s Check In ☕

---

What is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT analysis identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

By examining these four areas, you can gain a better understanding of the internal and external factors that may influence your success, which can be both tangible and intangible.

• Strengths are your business’s positive characteristics. Strengths include a solid customer base, a unique product offering, or a positive brand image.

• Weaknesses are the areas of your business that can be improved. Some weaknesses could include outdated technology, limited resources, or a lack of customer data.

• Opportunities are external factors that could help your business succeed. This could include new markets, emerging technologies, or changes in consumer behaviour.

• Threats are external factors that could negatively affect your business. Examples of threats include a new competitor entering the market, regulatory changes, or an economic downturn.

---

Why is a SWOT Analysis important?

A SWOT analysis is essential to any hospitality business, providing a comprehensive overview of strengths and weaknesses.

Future strategies can also be shaped based on identifying opportunities and threats.

For example, if a hotel’s strength is its location, then the management can look at ways to capitalise on this strength and develop strategies to attract more customers.

If a restaurant lacks effective customer service, strategies can be implemented to enhance it and increase customer satisfaction.

A SWOT analysis is also helpful for staying ahead of the competition. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the competition, hospitality professionals can develop strategies to outsmart them.

---

---

🏨 How To Conduct a SWOT Analysis

When conducting a SWOT analysis, it is essential to have the right team in place to ensure the most comprehensive and accurate results.

This team should include a variety of stakeholders from all levels of the organisation, including executive leadership, middle managers, and frontline staff. This will provide a well-rounded view of the organisation and help to identify strengths and weaknesses that may have yet to be considered.

The frequency of a SWOT analysis will depend on the size and complexity of the organisation and the purpose of the analysis.

A SWOT analysis can be conducted for several reasons:

• To create an effective and efficient business strategy

• To evaluate the performance of the hotel’s marketing and sales efforts

• Identifying potential expansion or diversification opportunities

• To launch a new product or service

• To determine the feasibility of new projects or initiatives

• Preventing potential problems by making informed decisions and taking proactive measures

A marketing SWOT analysis should be conducted at least once a year, but more often may be recommended for larger organisations. SWOT analysis can also be conducted more frequently to monitor organisational changes or plan for upcoming initiatives.

When researching information to include in the SWOT analysis, it is essential to consult both internal and external sources. Internal sources should include any data or metrics available within the organisation, such as financial statements, customer feedback, and employee surveys. External sources include data from competitor organisations, industry trends, and market research.

📌 Reports to Gather

• Financial Reports

• Staff Turnover

• Brand Bible (Vision, Mission, Values)

• CRM Reports

• Email Open-Rates

• Newsletter Subscribers

• Conversions

• Ratings & Reviews

• Loyalty Members

• Sales Reports

• Google Analytics

• Website Traffic

• Search Engine Performance

• Social Listening

• Media Mentions -Paid & Earned

• Social Media Reach & Engagement

• Customer Service Response Times

• Backlink Partners

• Occupancy Rate/Covers

📊 Metrics

• Average daily rate

• Sales circle length

• Event Activity

• Web traffic percentage of direct bookings

• Percentage of occupancy

• Revenue per available room

• Customer feedback, comments on social media, online reviews, and

• feedback.

• Revenue and forecasting

• Market Share Index

For hotels, metrics to include in the SWOT analysis are occupancy rates, average daily rates, revenue per available room, and customer satisfaction scores.

For restaurants and food or beverage products, key metrics include customer traffic, average ticket size, sales of menu items, and customer feedback.

---

🕵️ How to Monitor Opportunities & Threats

Monitoring opportunities and threats is crucial for any hospitality business to stay ahead of the curve. Here are some ways to keep on top of things:

• Subscribe to hotel trends and newsletters to stay up-to-date with industry news and emerging trends.

• Subscribe to industry-related blogs and forums to get insights into what’s happening in the hospitality industry and what your competitors are doing.

• Use social listening tools to monitor what people say about your brand and your competitors on social media.

• Keep a tab on your competitor’s websites to see what they’re offering and how they’re marketing themselves.

• Turn on Google Alerts for hotel-related keywords to get notified when something newsworthy happens in the industry.

By monitoring for opportunities and threats, you can make informed decisions to help your hospitality business stay ahead of the competition.

---

Here’s an agenda you can use with your team for SWOT analysis.

✅ SWOT Analysis Workshop Agenda

I. Introduction

• Welcome and introductions

• Explanation of SWOT analysis and its purpose

II. Understanding the Company

• Presentation of the company’s history, mission, and current goals

• Overview of the company’s products/services and target audience

III. Strengths

• Brainstorming session to identify the company’s strengths

• Discussion and analysis of strengths

IV. Weaknesses

• Brainstorming session to identify the company’s weaknesses

• Discussion and analysis of weaknesses

V. Opportunities

• Brainstorming session to identify potential opportunities for the company

• Discussion and analysis of opportunities

VI. Threats

• Brainstorming session to identify potential threats to the company

• Discussion and analysis of threats

VII. Action Planning

• Recap of SWOT analysis findings

• Brainstorming session to identify potential actions to take based on the SWOT analysis

• Discussion and prioritisation of actions

• Assignment of responsibilities and timelines for action plan implementation

VIII. Conclusion

• Summary of key takeaways from the Workshop

• Closing remarks and next steps

❓ Questions to Ask in the Workshop

Strengths

• How is your business unique?

• How do you attract customers?

• Is there anything you are already doing well?

• Which services do you provide?

• What makes your business unique?

• How do you make your business profitable?

• What are your resources?

• How do you measure your performance?

Weaknesses

• What are the factors that are preventing your business from achieving its full potential?

• Is there a skill or resource gap?

• In what ways are your competitors better than you?

• How have your customers been disappointed?

• Does the budget have any limitations?

• Is your service up-to-date? (facilities, website)

• How do you measure your performance?

• How well are your strategies working?

Opportunities

• How can you capitalise on market and industry trends?

• Based on your skills and resources, what trends can you tackle?

• What new markets might you explore?

• Is there a new customer base you can reach out to?

• Do you offer any on-demand services?

• Is there a need for new technologies, better software, or better integrations

• How can you improve customer satisfaction?

• Can you implement strategies to increase revenue, drive direct bookings, and expand the customer base?

Threats

• How can external conditions affect your performance?

• Are there any changes in the industry?

• What changes are you seeing in your guests?

• Has the market share shrunk?

• Do you have to comply with any government regulations?

• Are there any potential competitors?

• How prepared are you for natural disasters and pandemics?

• Do you have a plan to prevent data breaches or cyberattacks?

Hospitality SWOT Lists

These are some of the most common Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in the hospitality industry to help you get started.

Each SWOT List contains suggestions for Brand, Financial, Products & Services, Company Culture, Customers, Competitors, Digital, Marketing, and Resources & Capabilities.