2020 was not all bad. After all, it was the year we launched The Hotel Cast, a hospitality podcast series where we interview hospitality professionals that are on the top of their fields.
In our first year of existence, we recorded 11 episodes and people from 24 countries had tuned in to our Hotel Cast Podcast. We shared insights into leadership, hotel marketing, hotel service, hotel revenue, recruitment, and much more.
And we keep recording our hospitality podcast throughout 2021. In this piece, you will find a summary of each episode that you can listen to right here on this blog.
Here are the Hotel Cast Hospitality Episodes:
- Episode #1: The best practices in RM with Christoph Hütter
- Episode #2: The power of online review with Sarah Came
- Episode #3: Leadership with David Arraya
- Episode #4: The future of Hospitality with Michael McCartan
- Episode #5: Hotels’ adaptation with Glenn Haussman
- Episode #6: Hospitality recruitment with Jeremy Nichols
- Episode #7: Hospitality with Ai with Rita Jusztina Varga and Brendan May
- Episode #8: Commercial Teams & Tech with Shona Whitehead
- Episode #9: Reinventing yourself with Kyle Allison
- Episode #10: Iconic Hospitality with Calvin Stovall
- Episode #11: Housekeeping Role with Svetlana Udalov
- Epsidoe #12: Hotel review with Adele Gutman
- Episode #13: Hotel Technology Trends with Brendon Granger
- Episode #14: Luxury Travel with Marcos Toscani
- Episode #15: New Segments in Travel Demand with Pablo Torres
- Episode #16: How to Attract Talent in the Hotel Industry with Thomas Finn
- Episode #17: Commissions in Hotel Sales with Jutta Moore
- Episode #18: The Guest Experience That Drives Revenue with Craig Carbonniere
- Episode #19: Hospitality, Guest Experience & Conferences with Craig Sullivan
So get yourself comfortable, grab your headphones and get up to date about our industry. Press play!
Episode #1: The best practices in RM with Christoph Hütter
In this podcast, we talk about good practices in revenue management and the importance of the context to understand data with Christoph Hutter, a revenue strategy consultant with over 16 years of experience in the hotel industry.
As a data-driven Revenue Manager, Christoph believes that technology and Artificial Intelligence will cause a great impact on hotel revenue performance and the hotel business as a whole.
In this episode, we talk about:
- What are the right questions a Revenue Manager must ask (with practical examples);
- Which skills must a good revenue manager have;
- What a Revenue Culture is inside of a hotel.
Listen now:
Episode #2: The power of online review with Sarah Came
We all read online reviews before booking a room. In a world recovering from a pandemic, social proof is even more influential when people are unsure.
In the second episode of Hotel Cast, we chat with Sarah Came, GuestRevu’s Marketing Manager, about how to get the best of your hotel’s online reputation. and also:
- how hotels can make the most of the reviews;
- a general overview of the impact of the pandemic on hotel operations and bookings;
- how technology can help the post-pandemic hotel industry;
- tips of what hotels can do when they don’t have any new reviews
Listen now:
Episode #3: Leadership with David Arraya
“Leadership is about being a beacon of light where there is darkness”, says David Arraya, a global hospitality leader with several years of experience inspiring teams around the world and our guest in this Hotel Cast episode.
We discuss the tough challenges of leadership in times of crisis and more:
- the main characteristic of a good leader;
- What can leaders do for their teams in times of pandemic and social distancing;
- book recommendations about leadership;
- tips and strategies for leaders to deal with the stress that times of crisis bring.
Listen now to David’s great insights and tips:
Episode #4: The future of Hospitality with Michael McCartan
If there is a year where all predictions crashed and burned, the year is 2020. No one could anticipate that hospitality would be this way. But Michael McCartan can tell you what to expect in the future!
In this new episode, Michael McCartan, a Travel Tech Business Leader, tells us his predictions about the hospitality industry market and must-have techs. In this episode, we talk about:
- The new field of hotel distribution;
- Hotel strategies to gain market share;
- The opportunity for direct booking;
- Must-Have hotel technologies & McCartan’s favorite hotel techs
Listen to the full episode now:
Episode #5: Hotels’ adaptation with Glenn Haussman
Changes here, changes there, changes everywhere! The hotel industry is not the same.
In this podcast, Glenn Haussman, leading podcaster, talks about the ongoing hotel industry’s adaptation to the new normal that he is seeing in his last trips. As he says:
“Business will come back. Just remember: this is your opportunity to make those changes you may have been scared of before. This is the time to take risks.”
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why did Glenn choose the hotel industry;
- Guests’ new demands;
- Hotel’s adaptation (or not) to the changes;
- Good and bad examples of hotel operations.
Tune in and listen to the episode now:
Episode #6: Hospitality recruitment with Jeremy Nichols
The huge financial crisis caused by the pandemic affected millions of hospitality professionals who lost their jobs. That’s why we invited Jeremy Nichols, Florida’s Top Hospitality Headhunter, for a chat in this episode of Hotel Cast.
Jeremy shares with us:
- The one million dollar question: How can a candidate stand out in a recruitment process?
- Do and don’t in LinkedIn: ” Don’t post and ghost”, “Make yourself authentic”, “Just be out there”
- Which soft skills are the best to have as a hotel professional?
- How can a recruiter show empathy towards candidates?
If you are like millions of hospitality professionals looking for a new position, you should definitely listen to this podcast:
Episode #7: Hospitality with Ai with Rita Jusztina Varga and Brendan May
How can Artificial Intelligence in hospitality help you improve your results and customer satisfaction?
How many sales opportunities do you miss for taking too long to answer a potential guest’s request?
We invited two AI Experts from HERA by Hotel ResBot: Rita Jusztina Varga, Co-Founder, and Brendan May, Managing Director to help us reveal the benefits of adopting AI in the hospitality industry.
You will learn:
- What Artificial Intelligence actually is;
- Why AI should be used in hospitality and its different applications;
- The perfect team: humans and AI providing the best experience.
Listen to the full episode now:
Episode #8: Commercial Teams & Tech with Shona Whitehead
In this podcast Hotel Cast episode, we chat with Shona Whitehead, Managing Partner of Cogent Blue, on how hotels can optimize their sales performances and the gap between hotel commercial teams and techs.
We also cover:
- How today’s challenges are putting pressure on leaders to continuously optimize their hotel commercial performances;
- The best practices in hotel revenue management;
- The main differences between the commercial approach before, during and during the pandemic in the hospitality industry
In addition to being the Managing Partner of Cogent Blue, she is also a Member of the Institute of Hospitality, an active supporter of Hospitality Action, and regularly contributes to industry forums and events.
Don’t miss out on this episode:
Episode #9: Reinventing yourself with Kyle Allison
In this podcast episode, we chat with Kyle Allison who shares with us his passion for the hospitality industry and how he managed to reinvent himself during the COVID-19 crisis.
Like millions of hoteliers around the world, Kyle Allison suffered from the negative effects of the crisis. But that didn’t stop him to continue working with his passion: hospitality. He keeps his love for the industry burning as Managing Partner & Podcast Host at Hospitality, M.D.
In this episode, you will learn:
- how Kyle started in the hotel industry;
- his ups and downs in his journey as a hospitality professional;
- why he thinks “Hospitality is everyone’s business”
- his new adventure, The Hospitality, M.D., a hospitality podcast.
Put your headphones and listen to the full episode now:
Episode #10: Iconic Hospitality with Calvin Stovall
“In times when we feel so uncertain about everything, the key is to do what you can and be true to others and to yourself”, says Calvin Stovall in this hospitality podcast episode.
As the tough 2020 was heading to its end, we invited Calvin Stovall, Chief Experience Officer of ICONIC Presentations, to give good examples of what we can now for a better tomorrow in hospitality.
You will listen to:
- The importance of the mindset – keep the positivity;
- The importance of being real and creating real connections;
- How to stay motivated and motivate your team.
Listen to the full episode here:
Episode #11: Housekeeping Role with Svetlana Udalov
The Housekeeping Department has surely suffered the biggest impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Once a supporting section inside operations, now it has become the shining star in every hotel in the world.
That is why we invited Svetlana Udalov, CEO & Founder at HKeeper Global, LLC for a talk in the Hotel Cast Podcast about the many changes in hotel operations.
In this episode, you will learn:
- how technology can help the housekeeper experience
- the tight connection between technology and costs
- examples of what hotels can do to operate safely
- Svetlana’s advice for Housekeeping Managers
Listen to the full episode here:
Episode #12: Hotel review with Adele Gutman
In this episode of Hotel Cast, we chat with Adele Gutman, founder of Aspire Reputation, about hotel marketing and how hotel reviews can get you from good to great.
“These tiny touches add up to the big results”, says Adele Gutman, one of the Top 25 Extraordinary Minds by HSMAI in Hospitality Reputation Marketing and the host of the podcast: Hospitality Reputation Marketing: Get Great Reviews.
In this episode of Hotel Cast Podcast, we chat about:
- Adele’s amazing career in hospitality, her impressive awards and results;
- How hotels can optimize team engagement to continually improve service excellence;
- Adele’s thoughts regarding hotel technology;
- Hotel marketing trends
Listen now to Adele’s practical methodology on how to “Inspire Five Stars” and her tips on how to optimize team performance:
Episode #13: Hotel Technology Trends with Brendon Granger
“If the management team is not behind the product and educate the staff, and the staff doesn’t feel comfortable, then the guest won’t use it”, says Brendon Granger, Hotel Tech Expert and Chief Experience Officer at Technology 4 Hotels, about hotel technology.
In this episode of Hotel Cast, we chat about hotel technology trends in 2021 and the impact of the pandemic in the adoption of technologies in hospitality both for hoteliers and guests with Hotel Tech Expert, Brendon Granger.
You will learn in this episode:
- Brendon’s career in the hospitality industry;
- The adoption of technology by guests;
- The chain management of hotel technology;
- The importance of using the right technology for the right problem;
- Hotel technology trends
Listen to the episode here:
Episode #14: Luxury Travel with Marcos Toscani
“The luxury market is used to give what people want”. In this episode of the Hotel Cast Podcast, we chat with the Hotel Expert, Speaker, Mexico’s Luxury Travel Ambassador and Director of Experto en Hoteles, Marcos Toscani, about the luxury segment and hotel social media.
During our chat, we discuss:
- the Experto en Hoteles project;
- new big hotel brand openings in Mexico;
- how the pandemic impacted (or not) the luxury segment;
- the importance of social media for hotels as a two-way communication channel;
- mistakes and tips when managing hotel social media;
- his role as Mexico’s Luxury Travel Ambassador
Listen to the episode now:
Episode #15: New Segments in Travel Demand with Pablo Torres
How can hotels bring more money to the table? “Maximize your space.”, says Pablo Torres.
In this episode of Hotel Cast, we chat with Pablo Torres, Hospitality Expert, about new travel demands and best practices in revenue management. As we know, Revenue Managers are being put on the spot — everybody is looking at them. So we chat with Pablo about:
- The types of new segments in travel demand that are emerging
- The fundamentals of good Revenue Management
- Best practices/ strategies in Revenue Management
The expert explains that in hotels where both technologies and humans are used in Revenue Management, associates can focus on doing more valuable tasks and make better decisions based on real data.
Check out Pablo’s valuable insights, tips, and examples here:
Episode #16: How to Attract Talent in the Hotel Industry with Thomas Finn
How can hotels attract professionals back to the industry?
This is one of the questions we ask Thomas Finn, a UK industry leader in Revenue Management & Commercial Analytics recruitment and Managing Director at Edwards and Finn, in this episode of Hotel Cast. In this episode, we chat about:
- Thomas Finn’s background and business
- The current recruitment landscape
- How to attract professionals back to the hospitality industry
- How to engage with new talent to cultivate the next generation of hotelier
- What fundamental skills will be desired in a post-pandemic market
Listen to what Thomas Finn has to say:
Episode #17: Commissions in Hotel Sales with Jutta Moore
“Don’t oversell”, advises Jutta Moore, Revenue Management Consultant and Director of Moore Hotel Consulting in this episode of Hotel Cast.
What is good and bad in working with Sales commission in the hotel industry? What are the best practices?
In this conversation, we cover:
- Technology: How to get the best results from it;
- Skills: What abilities a Reservation agent and a Sales person should have;
- Training and Empowerment: What the best Sales strategies are;
- Commissions: How to structure them – measurable and achievable
Listen to Jutta’s tips here:
Episode #18: The Guest Experience That Drives Revenue with Craig Carbonniere
“Look at your local experience.”
“Develop the content on your website.”
In this episode of Hotel Cast, we talk with Craig Carbonniere, Senior Director of Sales at Milestone and a hotel industry veteran, about how to improve the guest experience and increase the revenue of a hotel. Valuable tips were given during our chat.
We also talk about:
- What’s new in Guest Experience pre, during, and after the stay
- Where guests are spending money
- How to increase revenue
- How to use the marketing teams to attract potential guests
Find out Craig’s insights now:
Episode #19: Hospitality, Guest Experience & Conferences with Craig Sullivan
In this episode of our Hotel Cast Podcast, Craig Sullivan talks about hospitality, guest experience, and the beginning of in-person conferences in the industry.
Craig Sullivan is the Founder and President at CLIC, California Lodging Investment Conference, and is recognized as an expert in California hospitality, lodging, investment, and commercial real estate development.
We also talk about:
- education in the hospitality industry
- the importance of making the guest feel safe and comfortable
- the importance of following online trends
- the guests experience in your hotel
- Upcoming in-person hospitality events
At the end of the episode, Craig surprises us with an exclusive invitation for the upcoming event organized by CLIC. You really need to listen to the episode to find out about the exclusive discount!
To Be Continued…..
These were the episodes recorded so far. But that it’s not all folks! We are already recording new episodes with new amazing experts.
Stay tuned and follow Hotel Cast on Spotify so you don’t miss anything.