QuestCast

The current economic crisis, resulting from heavy-handed mitigation efforts aimed a stemming the spread of the Coronavirus, has left companies (particularly in the travel sector) scrambling to fundamentally rethink every aspect of their business. Technology transformed how companies use loyalty marketing to stimulate demand and brand love. What will change in light of recent events?Are loyalty programs and loyalty tech more or less relevant in a downward economy. What can we learn from past recessions? As brands move past short-run recovery efforts, how will technology change the long game in loyalty?

On this episode of QuestCast, I speak CEO Ed Carey and Chief Revenue Officer John Paragine over at AudienceTown.com about the state of digital advertising in real estate, and how owners and managers can improve the way they target specific buyers and renters through programmatic advertising

On this episode of QuestCast, I speak Massimo Noja de Marco, Founder and Chief Concept Officer at Kitchen United, a kitchen-as-service provider (also referred to as ghost or virtual kitchens) now expanding rapidly throughout the United States. The company raised Series B round of $40 million from RXR Real Estate to expand into New York and other regions. RXR led the funding round along with GV, the venture capital arm of Alphabet. Mostly chain restaurants use off-premise kitchens to serve their growing delivery business and the exploding off-premise dining market. Marco talks about the trends pushing the category’s rapid growth, what restaurant managers are looking for in a off-premise kitchens, and how the rise of delivery services like UberEats and Seamless are transforming the way we eat, work, and play.

On this episode of QuestCast, I speak with Eric Voyles at TexAmericas Center in Texarkana, a rural region bordering Texas and Arkansas. Eric walks us through the economic history of the region, how visitor attraction fits into the overall economic growth formula for the community, and how to leverage nostalgia to connect place with future generations.

Danny Forster & Architects is the lead design firm on the Marriott AC Hotel New York NoMad currently under construction and is set to be the world’s tallest modular designed and constructed hotel. On this episode, I speak with Danny to discuss the finer details of modular as a new paradigm in high-rise hotel development in urban settings, the economics of modular, the advantages and limitations of modular, where the development process is different, and changing roles in the hotel development process.

The membership model is a trend in hospitality and travel more generally, but what does it really take to go members only? Scale, distribution, brand, product? On this episode of QuestCast, we have Emmanuel Guisset founder and CEO of Outsite, a boutique co-live / co-work brand now focusing on growth and exclusivity. Emmanuel gives us the rundown of the Outsite business model, how they’ve managed to evade capture by the OTAs including Airbnb, and how to leverage “small” as a strategic advantage in hospitality.

On this episode of QuestCast, we speak to Andrew McConnell CEO at rented.com, a vacation rental market data & consulting based out of Atlanta, Georgia - to get a pulse on where the smart money is going in terms of second-home and investment property buyers looking at the various options between more traditional vacation rental markets and city markets. Urban-market focused property management brands like Sonder and Lyric are raising big institutional investment rounds, but Andrew sees places like Pigeon Forge, Tennessee better long-term investments for individual buyers.

Today I’m joined with Greg Abbott, Practice Head for the travel vertical at DataArt, to talk about how companies should think about distributed teams in terms of managing culture, expectations, and productivity across geographies and time zones. Mobile and cloud computing has given the modern enterprise more flexibility in how it structures its workforce. With that come opportunities and challenges.

Today I’m joined with Greg Abbott, Practice Head for the travel vertical at DataArt, to talk about how companies should think about distributed teams in terms of managing culture, expectations, and productivity across geographies and time zones. Mobile and cloud computing has given the modern enterprise more flexibility in how it structures its workforce. With that come opportunities and challenges.

On this episode of QuestCast, I chat with Jared O’Toole from Under30Experiences, an outbound tour operator out of Austin Texas that organizes group travel experiences for younger demographics, about the psychology of the solo traveler and how group dynamics play out during their organized adventures to trendy international destinations. We discuss optimal group size, motivations for solo travel, marketing to the solo traveler, and the bonds and relationships that form during their trips.

On this episode, I speak with Jared Bacher Executive Vice President at Visit Pittsburgh, to better understand the various layers of local government, and how different interests can - or even should - work together to promote destinations to both visitors and business entities.

Certain co-living brands want to address the gap in affordable residential housing in expensive urban rental markets like New York. On this episode of QuestCast, we speak with Brian Lee, senior director of real estate at Common, one of a handful of co-living brands now operating in New York and beyond, about how policies could change to clarify co-living as a recognized real estate asset class. The city recently issued a request for information called ShareNYC, which aims to explore the co-live concept as a potential instrument to grow affordable housing stock. Looser housing policy will further blur the lines between traditional residential housing and hospitality.

On this episode of QuestCast, I chat with Maciej Markowski the founder and CEO of SpaceOS, an office space management software solution that “creates digitally native workplaces that connect and communicate with their tenants.” Here, we walk through WeWork’s astronomical valuation, talk about the differences between the different players, and look to the future of flexible real estate particularly with respect to technology and the implications for hospitality.

On this episode of QuestCast, The Visitor Economy Podcast, we hear from Chris Bledsoe the co-founder of Ollie, a leading all-inclusive coliving brand currently operating properties in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Pittsburgh, with a substantial pipeline planned for 2019. Institutional money is starting flow into this emerging real estate class that has seen explosive success with younger urban professionals. Chris walks us through the concept and economics of the coliving model, and talks about the role of technology and how it sets to transform the residential real estate sector.

I’m joined with John Boyd of the Boyd Company, a Princeton, New Jersey site selection consultancy, to discuss how large enterprises decide where to invest and grow their presence. We break down the Amazon decision and cover emerging commercial real estate trends, and highlight some of the hot development zones in and around the New York metropolitan area.

I’m joined with John Boyd of the Boyd Company, a Princeton, New Jersey site selection consultancy, to discuss how large enterprises decide where to invest and grow their presence. We break down the Amazon decision and cover emerging commercial real estate trends, and highlight some of the hot development zones in and around the New York metropolitan area.

On this episode of QuestCast, we talk to Jon Orcutt a former policy director for the New York City Department of Transportation and now communications director for Bike New York, to understand the state and future of micro-mobility. Jon was part of the planning process with the Citi Bike program and now shares his perspective on its trajectory in line with growing competition between Uber and Lyft for the massive urban mobility market.

On this episode of QuestCast, we talk to Paul Goodman, Head of Consumer over at Mapbox, a digital mapping API and developer platform that powers numerous consumer applications including SnapChat, Tinder, the Weather Channel, Lonely Planet, and others. I talk to Paul to better understand how maps have evolved beyond basic navigation, and how they are transforming interactions between brands and consumers.

On this episode of QuestCast, we talk to Paul Goodman, Head of Consumer over at Mapbox, a digital mapping API and developer platform that powers numerous consumer applications including SnapChat, Tinder, the Weather Channel, Lonely Planet, and others. I talk to Paul to better understand how maps have evolved beyond basic navigation, and how they are transforming interactions between brands and consumers.

On this episode of QuestCast, we talk to Rama Poola, founder and CEO of SkyHi, an air travel club that, for a monthly fee, allows members to buy flights at low fixed rates up to ten days in advance of the flight. The company was selected by accelerator Techstars Mobility last July for its 2018 class. Rama gives us a rundown of the model, what’s in it for the user and for the airline.

Facebook wants to do more than just social media. It’s most recent push into e-commerce should help brands convert their sponsored content better. However, as we discuss on this episode, the travel category is unique with some challenges when it comes to enabling user generated content as the shopping window. On this episode we’re joined with Eric Shepard, co-founder and CEO of Trill Travel, a travel shopping platform that converts user generated content from Facebook and other channels into bookable experiences.