US Accommodation and Food Services Sector NAICS 72

Mar 8, 2026 - Locals Driving Non-Room Revenue

• Hotel operators are finding that local residents, not travelers, are becoming one of the most valuable and reliable demand segments, Hotel Management Magazine reports. Locals provide stable, repeatable non-room revenue that smooths volatility when leisure and business travel fluctuate. To court locals and drive non-room revenue hotels must: keep price points accessible so locals see the hotel as part of their everyday routine; design spaces that balance local foot traffic with guest expectations; and strengthen operational systems like reservations, flow, and staffing to manage higher local volume without compromising the overnight experience. Non‑room revenue sources, including food and beverage, coffee shops, wellness, events, and memberships, are critical for margin resilience. Hotels that integrate deeply into their neighborhoods through design, programming, and everyday utility create habitual local use that can be a durable revenue engine that’s independent of travel cycles.
• Restaurants are leaning heavily into high‑protein menu innovation as a strategy to regain traffic and appeal to health‑focused consumers, especially those using GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs, The Wall Street Journal reports. Chains across the fast casual, QSR, coffee, and burger segments are launching protein‑centric items such as chicken cups, protein‑infused dough, “protein pockets,” high‑protein milk drinks, and lettuce‑wrapped burgers. This shift helps restaurants tap into a fast‑growing consumer priority while justifying premium pricing on protein add‑ons. Because many offerings are simply re‑framed existing items, the trend provides a low‑risk, high‑margin way to drive visits. Operators are also using protein messaging to position themselves as better value, offering bowls or meat‑heavy options without bread or grains. While analysts question the trend’s longevity, protein‑forward innovation is currently one of the few levers helping restaurants attract health‑conscious diners and differentiate in today’s competitive, price‑sensitive market, according to WSJ.

• The Trump administration has moved to double the number of H‑2B guest worker visas this year, The New York Times reports. The addition of 65,000 seasonal worker visas eases staffing pressures for the US accommodation and food service sector, but fails to resolve long‑term workforce challenges in hospitality, which relies heavily on seasonal labor for housekeeping, food prep, cooking, and front‑of‑house roles. With hospitality businesses facing severe labor shortages, the expanded visa cap offers immediate relief by increasing access to legally authorized workers during peak seasons. This helps hotels, resorts, and restaurants operate at fuller capacity, avoid service cutbacks, and stabilize labor costs that have risen due to domestic worker shortages. However, the policy shift also highlights the sector’s structural dependence on foreign seasonal labor and exposes operators to future political volatility, since supplemental H‑2B allocations are discretionary and subject to changing immigration priorities.
• Producer prices for accommodations rose 1.5% in November after rising 1.7% in the previous November-versus-November annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment in the accommodation and food services sector rose 1.1% year over year in December, while the average industry wage increased 4% year over year in November to $19.93 per hour, a nickel shy of its record high in October, BLS data show. Minimum wage hikes by states in 2026 on the heels of hourly pay raises last year are driving the sector’s labor costs upward. Over the past decade, average wages at accommodation and food services have climbed 65.9%, higher than overall private wage growth of 49.7%.