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On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into two stories that have real implications for hotel operators heading into the fall.The conversation opens with what hotel CEOs are actually deploying with AI right now, from voice agents handling a meaningful share of front desk queries to digital twins being used for executive decision-making. Then Sarah and Steve get into Royal Caribbean Group's reported talks for a 50% stake in Sandals Resorts International and what a cruise line buying into a Caribbean resort brand would mean for the broader leisure travel landscape. Join us for their final episode on GMH!
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane recap sessions from Skift Global Forum that every STR operator should be paying attention to. First up is Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, who confirmed that Uber plans to add vacation rental content through its Expedia Group integration and that 80% of its hotel bookings already come from UberOne members — demand that bypasses Google entirely. Then the crew gets into Brian Chesky's commitment on stage to launching an Airbnb AI agent in 2027, which he called the most important product the company has ever built, and what that means for how STR listings get discovered and recommended going forward.
On this episode of Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Sarah Dandashy, Katie Cline, and Brandreth Canaley are on the ground at Skift Global Forum to unpack Airbnb's increasingly serious push into hotels and what it could mean for the balance of power in hotel distribution. Airbnb now has nearly 4,000 hotels using its new listing format, is reportedly charging some operators a 13% commission, and is funding a 15% guest credit as it tries to prove it can bring hotels incremental demand instead of simply shifting bookings away from Booking.com, Expedia, or direct channels. The bigger question: If Airbnb's endgame is eventually “hotels everywhere,” how different does it remain from the OTAs it once positioned itself against? Then the conversation expands beyond Airbnb into what Sarah and Brandy heard across day one of Skift Global Forum week, including conversations from the Creator Summit, Live Tourism Summit, and the broader themes shaping where hospitality and travel are headed.
On Monday's episode of Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley and Michael Goldin, recording from GuestyVal in Madrid, open with breaking news: StayTerra has acquired Gather Vacations, adding Hawaii, California, and Washington to its portfolio and surpassing 2,000 properties under management. Then they share their live session with Amiad Soto, CEO and co-founder of Guesty, recorded on stage at GuestyVal. Amiad announces Guesty's acquisition of Smily, its eighth acquisition to date, and makes the case that consolidation in the PMS space is only accelerating. He talks about Guesty's 65-plus AI agents live today, why what used to take a year to build now takes a week, and his belief that the best property managers of the future are not necessarily the biggest ones. He also shares why AI slop is really just human slop in disguise and what it actually takes to get great output from the models everyone is using
AI adoption in hospitality isn't just a technology problem — it's a management problem. In this bonus episode of Good Morning Hospitality, Wil Slickers sits down with Vered Raviv Schwarz, COO of Guesty, to unpack her “Hybrid 2.0” vision for teams built around humans and AI working together. They debate whether today's AI models are actually good enough, where operators should automate versus keep humans in the loop, how AI changes hospitality jobs, and why trust may determine how quickly the industry can adopt it. Plus, Vered shares how Guesty is already restructuring its own teams and workflows around AI.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into where hotel differentiation actually comes from. The conversation covers why creator content drives awareness but rarely converts to bookings and what hotels can actually do about it, how Marriott is wiring Bonvoy directly into corporate booking tools in a way rivals will have to match, what Starlink's cost structure means for how guests now think about hotel connectivity, and Dorchester Collection CEO Jennifer Fox's case that cookie-cutter luxury is the real threat to the category.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane get into three stories shaping where the STR industry is heading. Meta's AI is now completing travel bookings and the platforms it chose to integrate with tell a story of their own. Jamie Lane shares what is happening at AirDNA with their new dynamic pricing launch. And the crew looks at how short-term rentals are playing a surprising role in communities that traditional hospitality has largely left behind.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into where competitive advantage actually lives in hospitality right now.The conversation covers what great luxury GM leadership actually looks like, why banks are quietly becoming the most powerful loyalty players in travel, and whether a small collection of iconic independent hotels can genuinely out-earn the global brands.
Vrbo just rolled out its largest-ever product launch, with 12 new products and features spanning advertising, pricing, promotions, payments, guest operations, and property management. On this episode of Good Morning Hospitality, Michael Goldin, Brandy Canaley, and Jamie Lane sit down with Tim Rosolio, VP of Vacation Rental Partnerships at Expedia Group, to unpack what the expansion says about Vrbo's strategy for the vacation rental market. They dig into Sponsored Listings and the economics of paying for premium search placement, new pricing and promotional tools, One Key member deals, Expedia package distribution, and whether AI-powered search is already changing how travelers discover vacation rentals. Tim also addresses concerns around hosts effectively buying their way up search results, Vrbo's new Host with Confidence program, and why Expedia continues investing in Escapia as the property management technology landscape becomes increasingly competitive. It's a look beyond the product announcements at how Expedia Group is building a broader demand, merchandising, and technology ecosystem around professional vacation rentals.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk are joined by Jason Gamel, President and CEO of ARDA, to talk vacation ownership, where the industry is headed, and what the data actually shows about owner satisfaction and sector health. From there, Sarah and Steve get into AI-generated video giving small hotel operators a marketing edge they never had before, why boutique hotel founders almost always sell and the ones who plan for it win, and Airbnb's appointment of a former Booking.com hotel executive and ex-president of Viator as its new Chief Business Officer. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down major shifts in travel distribution, pricing, and short-term rental strategy. The crew starts with Airbnb testing lower host fees for bookings generated through hosts' own links, with some reportedly seeing rates of 6% to 10% versus the standard 15.5%. The booking still happens on Airbnb, raising a bigger question around direct booking economics and channel mix. They also dig into an analyst estimate that Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) B2B room nights are way higher than Expedia Group's, Google completing hotel bookings inside AI Mode, and Delta Air Lines using AI-driven pricing to cut some fares by 20 to 40%. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down how demand is shifting across every segment of hospitality heading into Labor Day weekend. The conversation opens with the latest Labor Day travel data: cruise ports and national park gateways are topping the destination list, the K-shaped spending gap is narrowing, and 77% of Americans planned to travel this summer. From there Sarah and Steve get into how Harry Styles' Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. residency is moving NYC hotel demand in ways that look more like a major sporting event than a concert, what Generator's new CEO means when he says premium at £40 a bunk, and why Bernstein analysts are calling Airbnb's growth structural rather than transitory with shares up more than 25% since Q2 earnings. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On this bonus episode of Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Wil Slickers sits down with Dan Gaertner, CEO of VayKLife, to break the news that VayKLife has acquired Xplorie, bringing gear and amenities together with local activities and experiences under one platform for vacation rental managers. Dan walks through why the deal happened now, what the combined platform means for VRMs on day one, and why he believes pairing physical gear with curated experiences is one of the most powerful ways for property managers to differentiate in a market where AI is making every listing look the same. Backed by Fort Point Capital, VayKLife is betting that the guest experience layer, the bikes staged at the door, the $250 spending spree on local attractions, the dinner shows and golf tees, is where the next generation of five-star reviews and repeat guests actually comes from. Learn more at vayklife.com.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, and Michael Goldin are joined by Amy Kothari, the new CEO of StayTerra, to talk PE-backed STR consolidation, what the rollup model looks like when it actually works, and what it all means for independent operators. From there, the crew gets into Airbnb abandoning its decade-long build-it-yourself experience strategy and partnering with Tripadvisor instead, and closes with Expedia Group cutting eight senior executives in a single week as it reorganizes around AI and what that means for Vrbo hosts. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into how the hotel industry measures success, where capital is flowing, and who controls the information guests use to make decisions. The conversation opens with a new Skift analysis arguing that net unit growth, the metric every hotel brand has been racing to win for a decade, may have been the wrong measure all along. From there, Sarah and Steve get into Minor International's plan for a $1 billion hotel REIT spanning its NH Hotels & Resorts, Anantara Hotels & Resorts, and Minor Hotels assets, and what a major Asian-originated hotel capital raise signals about where global hospitality investment is heading. They also unpack Google's acquisition of Spirit Airlines' reservation data from bankruptcy to train its AI hospitality recommendations, and close with what the rise of creator travel content and Substack travel newsletters tells hotel marketers about where traveler trust actually lives now. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane each share the stat from Skift's State of Travel 2026 report that hit hardest for them, with Seth Borko, Skift's Head of Skift Research, joining to close with the bigger picture on where travel is actually heading. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into four stories about how hotels earn and protect their position right now. The conversation opens with IHG Hotels & Resorts taking a deliberately different approach to the owner economics conversation that Marriott International and Hilton started last week. While rivals cut fees and launched rebate programs, IHG is arguing that its eight-year technology overhaul is the real answer. From there, Sarah and Steve get into Google's new agentic AI inside Maps and hotel search and what hotel operators need to do right now to make sure their properties show up correctly. They also dig into Aman's decision to threaten a paying creator guest with police involvement, a video that reached 15 million views and became a case study in what happens when brand protection tips into brand hostility. And they close with how Spain built a full tourism strategy around a solar eclipse and what that model teaches hotels about manufacturing demand in slow periods. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down three stories about who is winning the race to control how travel gets discovered and booked. The conversation opens with Airbnb's Q2 earnings: nights and experiences booked up 9%, revenue up 11%, and 100 new features shipped in a single quarter using AI. Brian Chesky is calling it a compounding advantage that rivals cannot close easily. From there, the crew digs into why Expedia Group is doubling down on B2B, where gross bookings are growing at more than twice the rate of its consumer business, and what the Layla AI Travel Agent acquisition means for how vacation rentals get discovered inside bank and airline platforms. They close with Booking Holdings flagging Google AI Overviews on an earnings call for the first time and what it means when the biggest OTA in the world admits the search landscape is shifting underneath it. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into what the major brands are actually doing to keep hotel owners from walking. The conversation opens with Marriott International launching a rebate program for owners ahead of a $125 million credit card fee increase, and Hilton cutting fees across seven brands in the same week. Two of the biggest brands in hospitality both responding to owner pressure simultaneously is not a coincidence. They also dig into what Club Med's 12% revenue growth and 18% rate increase teaches any hotel thinking seriously about a premium pivot, and close with Hyatt's pipeline delays and what they mean for anyone underwriting mid-tier development right now. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more for GMH listeners!
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down three stories about how the STR discovery and booking funnel is being rebuilt from scratch. The conversation opens with Airbnb's next big move: tickets and a native wallet that would let guests store credits and spend across the entire Airbnb ecosystem. The crew digs into what a more financially sticky Airbnb means for hosts who built their businesses on the platform. From there, they get into Expedia Group's acquisition of AI trip planner Layla AI Travel Agent, which had already helped plan more than 135 million trips, and what it means for STR operators when the platform that distributes your listings now owns the AI layer that recommends where guests go. They close with Google's Q2 earnings and what AI Overviews appearing in more than 50% of travel queries means for how vacation rentals get discovered before anyone opens a booking platform. This episode is presented by StayFi. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners!
In this sponsored episode of Good Morning Hospitality, Wil Slickers introduces a conversation between Skift's Darren Frei and Elizabeth Mullins, President of Evermore Orlando Resort, about why human connection is becoming a bigger part of the hospitality and wellness travel conversation. Elizabeth explains Evermore's approach to relational wellness, how the resort was designed around togetherness, and why the company is working with social health expert Kasley Killam to shape guest experiences, employee culture, and long-term strategy. The conversation also explores what hotel, resort, and vacation rental leaders can learn from Evermore's model as travelers seek more meaningful shared experiences. This episode is presented by Evermore! 00:00 Show Intro00:24 Why Connection Matters01:53 Evermore Origin Story03:15 Interview Begins03:50 Relational Wellness Explained05:31 Designed for Togetherness06:54 Meet Kasley Killam: Leading social health expert08:50 Building Staff Connection11:17 Hotels Meet Rentals12:41 On Property Experiences15:20 Balancing Me Time16:27 Advice for Operators17:59 Measuring Success19:21 Closing Thoughts
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into four stories about where premium experience is being redefined across the industry. The conversation opens with a one-year check-in on what actually happened after Marriott International bought the citizenM hotels brand. The answer: 50% of CitizenM occupancy now comes from Marriott Bonvoy members and all of it is incremental demand. From there Sarah and Steve get into IHG Hotels & Resorts becoming the third major hotel group to launch AI search after Hilton and Marriott, with a detail every franchisee needs to hear: IHG is now asking hotel owners to upload floor plans, videos, and updated imagery or risk being invisible in AI-driven search. They also dig into why Travel + Leisure Co. paid $343 million for two timeshare companies and why the CFO said they bought the deals for 100,000 owners, not the resorts. And they close with Southwest Airlines signaling that lounges are coming, the latest step in the carrier's full premium pivot. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. StayFi helps short-term rental operators build direct guest relationships through branded wifi portals, email marketing, and guest data tools. Visit https://lnkd.in/giZWR52y to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane get into three stories about where the STR industry is headed now that the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States is behind us. The conversation opens with Airbnb's partnership with CarTrawler for car rentals in five countries, the latest step in Airbnb's quiet transformation into a traditional OTA. It already has homes, hotels, experiences, services, and airport pickups. The crew digs into what that means for hosts who built their business around a platform that was supposed to be different. They also run through the final World Cup numbers for STR operators: rate gains were real across host markets but occupancy told a different story, and hosts who priced too high too early paid for it. They close with the Freddy Effect and what a German tourist who fell in love with Waffle House, Inc. House and Buc-ee's, Ltd.'s teaches operators about authentic guest experiences and word of mouth that actually moves markets. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. StayFi helps short-term rental operators build direct guest relationships through branded wifi portals, email marketing, and guest data tools. Visit https://lnkd.in/giZWR52y to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dig into how hotels earn money and keep it. The conversation opens with Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta making the case that 28 brands is a data-driven strategy not sprawl, and calling out the hotel industry's default fix for unhappy guests: a pile of loyalty points at checkout. He says AI can catch the problem while the guest is still in the building. From there Sarah and Steve get into why Accor, Melia, and The Social Hub are circling student housing as a four-income-stream asset class, why micro-creators with under 20,000 followers are now driving real hotel bookings through affiliate deals, and close with Skift's Rafat Ali on the quiet reinvention of the hotel tax and the fight over who controls where that money goes. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. StayFi helps short-term rental operators build direct guest relationships through branded wifi portals, email marketing, and guest data tools. Visit stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley and Michael Goldin get into three stories making headlines across the STR industry. The conversation opens with Casago having sold nearly all of Vacasa's 32,000 units in just over a year, what the franchise model means for STR at scale, whether the Vacasa brand can become a real consumer platform, and how many units it actually takes to build a recognizable national STR brand. They also react to Airbnb paying $81.5 million for its first ever building in New York City, in the city where it is mostly banned, and close with Barcelona's pledge of not one tourist more and what the 2028 vacation rental ban means for operators watching overtourism regulation spread. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down who controls hotel demand and what it costs.Skift's Rafat Ali lays out the deal thesis nobody has written yet: why an Airbnb and Ennismore partnership could close the $2 billion gap in Ennismore's IPO valuation. From there, they get into Accor and H World International's plan to link 430 million loyalty members, what the official government data says about FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States inbound tourism, and the one earnings metric that will tell operators whether hotel profits are truly broadening when Marriott International, Hilton, and Hyatt report Q2 this week. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley and Michael Goldin break down three stories about who is building the next layer of travel distribution and what it means for STR operators. The conversation opens with a Skift scoop: Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) is forming a formal B2B unit bringing together Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline to take on Expedia Group, where B2B already grows at three times the rate of its consumer business. From there, Brandy and Michael dig into what Airbnb's hiring of OpenAI's first global VP of creative says about the company's bet that brand is its moat against AI flattening. They close with a Visa Economic Insights deep dive on the great wealth transfer — $8 trillion in inherited boomer wealth heading toward travel over the next 20 years, and what that means for who STR operators will be serving. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a week where the infrastructure of hospitality is being rebuilt from every angle.They open with the news of Mews cutting 15% of its staff and pointing to AI and what that means for hotel operators who depend on its platform. From there, the conversation digs into why extended-stay demand just hit a four-year high while the supply pipeline thins, a setup that could open real pricing power in 2027. They also unpack Hilton's new direct booking connection with Navan that bypasses GDS middlemen, and close with how British Airways, Delta Air Lines, and Cathay Pacific are wiring loyalty programs into concert venues and theaters and what hotels should be taking notes on. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley and Michael Goldin break down who is actually controlling the relationship between a traveler and a booking right now. The conversation opens with the race among Expedia Group, Booking.com, and Trip.com Group to become the trusted infrastructure layer for AI agents and what that means for STR operators who depend on Airbnb and Vrbo for distribution. They also dig into how Airbnb outreached Marriott International on FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States impressions while spending less, what Expedia's shoppable IShowSpeed video says about whether creator marketing actually converts, and what Cabo Verde's 800% surge in U.S. searches teaches operators about turning attention into bookings. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk are joined by Skift Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit to break down a question that is reshaping the hotel industry: is the brand still worth the price?Sarah Kopit joins for a special segment on her investigation into why hotel owners are quietly dropping the big brands as more than 1,200 franchise agreements expire by 2030. From there, Sarah and Steve dig into BWH Hotels' attempt to reverse years of room count decline by going upscale and overseas, Visa's new consumer travel portal that puts the payment network in direct competition with the banks it powers, and Sandals Resorts International's executive chairman shutting down sale rumors while committing $225 million to renovation at $1 million per key. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
Airbnb hosts and short-term rental operators are facing renewed questions around platform security after third-party research from Saily and NordStellar, cited in recent press coverage, claimed a sharp increase in Airbnb-related scam activity since 2023. In this episode of Good Morning Hospitality, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane discuss what account takeovers, fake listings, and guest trust concerns could mean for hosts and operators — while also noting that the underlying methodology behind the third-party data was not fully available in the coverage they reviewed. The hosts also discuss the broader travel distribution landscape, including why experiences-focused platforms like GetYourGuide continue to gain momentum while larger OTAs work to make experiences a more meaningful part of their businesses, and what Trip.com's cash position may signal about capital strategy in global travel. This episode is presented by StayFi & Bilt. If you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more about their special offer of 50% off for GMH listeners! And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a week where hotel brands are redefining what they actually are. The conversation opens with Hyatt's lifestyle chief, Amar Lalvani, making the case that the smartest brand strategy is sorting guests by taste rather than price point — and showing what that discipline looks like in practice, including killing a high-profile Miami project because the developer wouldn't listen. From there, Sarah and Steve dig into Marriott International's move into branded apartment rentals under the W Hotels flag, a genuinely new direction for a business that already commands 30% premiums over unbranded properties. They also unpack what week one of FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States data actually tells hotel operators, with RevPAR up 24% to 133% across host markets but occupancy down in six of nine cities. And they close with Carnival Cruise Line's Q2 earnings, which posted record revenue while trimming its outlook, and with what the Middle East conflict tells operators about building geopolitical risk into forward-booking strategy. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more. And if you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down three platform moves that sound host-friendly on the surface but deserve a much closer look. The conversation opens with Airbnb's first fintech product — a cancel-for-any-reason feature that auto-enrolled hosts without requiring an opt-in. Hosts still get paid, but still have to scramble. From there, the team unpacks what one week of FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States data actually tells operators about pricing strategy for the knockout rounds, with RevPAR up across all host markets but occupancy down in six of nine. They close with American Express's $700 million acquisition of TheFork and why dining reservations might be the next front in the battle for the guest relationship. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more. And if you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Steve Turk and guest host Katie Cline break down a week where consolidation is happening at every layer of the hotel industry at once. The conversation opens with NORWEGIAN AIR UK LIMITED's $843 million bet to acquire Nordic Leisure Travel Group AB Group and own the entire travel value chain from flights to hotels. The number that explains the deal: NLTG's owned hotels are 25% of its holiday volume but 60% of its gross profit. From there, Steve and Katie dig into IHG Hotels & Resorts' CEO, making the case that eight years of tech investment is finally showing up in franchisee margins, and close with RealTime Reservation's acquisition of STAY and what unified ancillary revenue tech actually means for total RevPAR. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more. And if you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down where STR demand is actually coming from right now and who controls the guest relationship as platforms make their next big bets. The conversation opens with the FIFA World Cup 2026™ - Canada, Mexico and the United States booking story every operator in a host market needs to hear. Hotels priced up and set minimums and the surge has not arrived the way anyone expected. Short-term rental bookings tell a different story, with host market reservations more than doubling since April. From there, the team digs into Vrbo's launch of sponsored listings and what a paid visibility layer means for independent hosts, and closes with Brian Chesky's bet that creators are Airbnb's next big Experiences opportunity and what that means for the operators already building businesses on the platform. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more. And if you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down why hotel AI is stuck on the wrong side of the ledger and what it will take to flip it. The conversation opens with Mews founder Richard Valtr making the case at Skift's Data and AI Summit that fragmented hotel data is the reason AI keeps cutting costs instead of driving revenue. From there Sarah and Steve dig into what Apple's rebuilt Siri means for how guests will find and interact with travel, Alaska Airlines' bet that Starlink wifi is a better loyalty driver than points for basic economy travelers, and why Delta Air Lines is expanding American Express card benefits without raising fees while every competitor goes the other direction. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more. And if you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more.
Independent hoteliers are under pressure from every direction, and now there's an AI mandate on top of it all. Wil sits down with Adam Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, to cut through the noise. Adam's argument: most operators aren't failing because they lack effort or the right tools. They're failing because they haven't defined the problem, and they're sitting on fragmented data that makes even the best AI useless. The takeaway: AI isn't the strategy. Better questions, better data, and better decisions are. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds. Connect with Cloudbeds at https://www.cloudbeds.com/gmh, and you can subscribe to Adam's newsletter here: https://www.cloudbeds.com/newsletter/ 00:00 Meet Adam Harris 01:37 The Operator Squeeze 04:04 When Tech Becomes a Burden 07:25 AI Starts With Questions 08:37 Deterministic vs Probabilistic 12:24 Cleaning Up Hotel Data 13:49 Cloudbeds Signals In Action 16:35 Autonomous Coding And Caution 18:21 Future Of Hospitality Systems 21:55 Closing Takeaway
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down what AI is actually doing to travel economics and operations right now. The conversation opens with a story that stops you in your tracks: one traveler used Claude to run 881,076 searches on Etihad Airways to find one flight. The infrastructure cost of that search exceeded the commission. From there, the team digs into Brian Chesky's move to build an AI lab outside of Airbnb and what it signals about the platform's AI strategy, before closing with a look at what real AI adoption looks like at scale through Evolve's playbook of deflecting 60% of guest inquiries without human intervention. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more. And if you're leaving direct bookings on the table, StayFi turns your wifi into a guest relationship engine. Visit https://stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality/ to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a week where ownership, distribution, brand strategy, and climate risk all moved at the same time. The conversation opens with two billionaires making moves on the Las Vegas Strip in the same week. Tilman Fertitta agreed to buy Caesars Entertainment for $5.7 billion while assuming nearly $12 billion in debt, and Barry Diller is preparing an $18 billion bid to take full control of MGM Resorts International. From there Sarah and Steve dig into a ten-year look at whether the direct booking fight actually paid off for hotels, Hilton's new Undergraduate brand targeting smaller college towns, and how sargassum seaweed is now showing up directly in Caribbean hotel occupancy numbers. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down a week where the infrastructure of hospitality is being stress-tested from every direction. The conversation opens with a sobering security story: scammers are using real guest reservation data to launch highly targeted phishing attacks, with at least 350 hotels and vacation rentals across 50 countries already caught up. From there, the team digs into Mews and SiteMinder's new native integration, which is designed to break down the data silos holding hotels back from AI adoption, and closes with Expedia Group's partnership with IShowSpeed and what it signals about where Gen Z travel discovery is actually happening. This episode is presented by Cloudbeds & Bilt. Visit cloudbeds.com/gmh to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a week where three big stories all pointed at the same shift: the distribution, loyalty, and infrastructure layers of hospitality are all getting reshuffled at once. The conversation opens with Airbnb naming Andrea D'Amico, an 18-year Booking.com veteran, as its new VP of Hotels, and what that hire says about how seriously Airbnb is coming for the boutique and independent hotel market. From there, Sarah and Steve dig into why boutique brands like Room Mate Hotels are running out of room on loyalty, and what the SpaceX IPO filing reveals about how deeply STARLINK has already embedded itself into travel's connectivity infrastructure. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this special holiday episode of Good Morning Hospitality, Brandy Canaley and Michael Goldin unpack one of the biggest shifts happening in travel right now: AI-powered booking. Joined by Jason Cincotta, founder of Kismet, the conversation breaks down Google's new push into agentic hotel booking, what it means to become “AI-bookable,” and why independent hotels and vacation rentals may need to rethink how they show up online. The episode also dives into Airbnb's massive Summer Release, including boutique hotels, AI-powered review tools, airport pickups, grocery delivery, rental cars, and the company's expanding push toward becoming a full trip platform. Michael and Brandy debate whether Airbnb's latest features are meaningful product evolution or just great PR, while also exploring how AI could reshape direct bookings, loyalty, and the future of travel planning. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
In this special GMH Bonus episode, Jamie Lane sits down live in San Francisco with Airbnb Chief Business Officer Dave Stephenson following Airbnb's 2026 Summer Release event. The conversation breaks down Airbnb's biggest updates, including expanded hotel distribution, new AI-powered search and personalization tools, rental cars, airport pickups, grocery delivery partnerships, and the continued push into experiences and services. Jamie and Dave also dive into Airbnb's growing hotel strategy, why the company believes boutique and independent hotels are a major opportunity, and how Airbnb may have quietly created one of the most powerful loyalty flywheels in travel through hotel booking credits tied to future home stays. They also discuss how AI is reshaping the Airbnb experience, from personalized listings and review summaries to smarter trip planning and guest discovery, plus what these updates could mean for hosts, operators, and the broader OTA landscape moving forward.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a question every operator is quietly asking right now: how do you build a real edge when there is no moat? They open with the NYC labor deal that just reset the national benchmark, with housekeeper pay crossing $100K a year by 2034, and Hotel and Gaming Trades Council now setting the bar for union negotiations in every major market. From there they dig into Peregrine Hospitality's bet that operational discipline is the only real competitive advantage in hotels, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority's push to double its room supply by 2030, Brand USA's new fact-checking platform trying to win back international travelers ahead of the World Cup, and how one small hotel group is still financing solar after federal clean energy tax credits got wiped out. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Wil Slickers, Michael Goldin, Brandreth Canaley, and Jamie Lane break down why Airbnb, Uber, and TikTok are all making the same bet at the same time and what it actually means for operators. Plus: travel costs are running double inflation, and most hotel brands have more than one Gen Z problem. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down a growing debate across the hotel industry: are brands mistaking temporary strength for long-term stability? From luxury demand and premium travel to pricing power and loyalty, the industry may be more vulnerable than executives want to admit. They also explore why Hilton and Marriott International CEOs cannot agree on what kind of economy the industry is actually in, TikTok's new push into turning travel videos into bookable inventory, and OpenAI's latest move to operationalize AI deployment across travel companies through the team behind Virgin Atlantic's AI concierge. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Wil Slickers, Michael Goldin, Brandreth Canaley, and Jamie Lane break down what Airbnb's latest product and earnings commentary reveal about the future of travel platforms. The conversation centers on Brian Chesky's push toward blending hotels, homes, services, and experiences into a more adaptive marketplace, signaling how Airbnb is positioning itself for an AI-driven future of travel discovery and planning. The team also unpacks Airbnb's expanded partnership with Delta Air Lines, which now includes Experiences and Services alongside stays, while also touching on what earnings season is revealing about AI adoption and infrastructure across the broader travel industry. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On today's GMH Hotels, Katie Cline and Steve Turk unpack mixed earnings from Hyatt, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Choice Hotels International, plus growing concerns that World Cup hotel demand is falling short of expectations in host cities. They also discuss Accor's mysterious activist investor situation and what the $6.3B Amex GBT acquisition says about the next wave of travel consolidation. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Wil Slickers, Michael Goldin, and Brandreth Canaley celebrate the show's 500th episode and break down how travel platforms are expanding beyond booking and competing for the full traveler relationship. The team starts with Uber adding hotel booking through a new partnership with Expedia Group, with Vrbo rentals expected to follow, marking Uber's biggest move yet into travel. They also unpack signs that Airbnb is pulling more host community engagement onto its platform, reinforcing a shift toward a more integrated ecosystem. The episode also touches on how OTA leaders are thinking about AI, trust, and the evolving role of platforms in shaping how travelers discover and book trips. This episode is presented by Plusgrade & Bilt. Visit plusgrade.com to learn more. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On this week's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast: Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down Hilton's latest push into AI with its upcoming ChatGPT app and evolving “Select” deals strategy, and how the company is positioning itself more like a platform that controls pricing, distribution, and guest engagement. They also explore Hilton's continued expansion of lifestyle and luxury brands across Asia-Pacific, the shift in ultra-luxury hotels toward curated guest communities, and how budget airlines are now in talks over a $2.5 billion bailout as financial pressure builds across the travel sector. This episode is presented by Vrbo & Bilt. Visit vrbo.com/goodmorning to learn more about how you can earn OneKeyCash for each eligible property you list. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Michael Goldin, Brandreth Canaley, Jamie Lane, and Wil Slickers are joined by Sean O'Neill, Senior Hospitality Editor at Skift, to break down a major strategic shift in the short-term rental space. onefinestay is pulling back from hundreds of urban rentals to focus on ultra-luxury homes and high-end leisure destinations, signaling a broader move toward fewer, higher-quality listings as operators rethink where margins and demand are strongest. The team also unpacks new data out of New York City showing that 27% of approved short-term rental listings are now operating illegally, highlighting the ongoing tension between regulation and enforcement even after strict laws were put in place. The episode wraps with a look at ChatGPT introducing cost-per-click ads, a shift that brings AI platforms directly into the same performance marketing model that powers Google and OTAs today, raising new questions about who controls travel discovery and demand. This episode is presented by Vrbo & Bilt. Visit vrbo.com/goodmorning to learn more about how you can earn OneKeyCash for each eligible property you list. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to joinbilt.com/gmh to learn more.
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