National Hotel Marketing Conference: Developments in Hotel Marketing 2025
At this year’s National Hotel Marketing Conference, industry leaders shared bold insights and strategies for 2025. In this episode, we explore how guest personas elevate experiences and integrated booking systems drive revenue. AI transforms personalisation and search, fuelling authentic marketing.A clear theme from this year’s conference is that hotels can inspire through storytelling and trust.Travel Market Life is one of FeedSpot's top Hospitality Podcasts and is produced by Urban Podcasts.
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Hoteliers' Voice - Testing AI Internally: Andre Doria from PortoBay
What’s fuelling travel and hospitality in 2025? I’m joined by experts Claire Steiner, Will Plummer, and James Clark to unpack insights from our last six episodes. From Instagram-driven bookings to new Labour laws, tech mergers, financial risks, and smart travel hacks, we’re diving into what’s shaping the industry.Giants like EasyJet and Jet2 are thriving as smaller operators falter amid mergers. Global tensions, trade tariffs, and shifting budgets are shaking up travel, yet spending is soaring. Is this hiding stagnation, or can niche players like eco-tourism startups shine? We’re also exploring tax hikes, remote work’s decline, and budget tips clients love.Travel Market Life is one of FeedSpot's top Hospitality Podcasts and is produced by Urban Podcasts.
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Hoteliers' Voice - Gregor Ritchie: The Future of Profitable Hotels
Gregor Ritchie, Director of Optimum Hotel Management and CEO of Luxury Leisure Group, has poured 18 years into keeping country house hotels alive with heart and soul. From his early days as a porter in a grand Stratford hotel, he’s fought to preserve these historic gems in a tough, ever-changing hospitality world, facing challenges like construction disputes for spa projects, pleasing high-net-worth owners, and tackling staff shortages amid rising costs.Gregor shares his hard-earned wisdom on what keeps these hotels thriving. He swears by a tight-knit management team, weaving tech into the timeless charm of human connection, and boosting income through spas, leisure breaks, and quirky bookings—without letting OTAs eat the profits. He reveals how a clever refurb can lift room rates by £50 without touching a bedroom and why high-value guests are the lifeblood of independents.Travel Market Life is produced by Urban Podcasts.
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A Review of International Hotel Tech Forum IHTF 2025
Hotels are racing into the tech age! AI makes check-ins fast and staff apps shine, while cloud tech is booming. Smart rooms? They’re not quite ready, and guests might not mind. At the International Hotel Technology Forum 2025, I sat down with leading voices sharing bold ways to boost bookings, simplify stays, and unlock data’s magic.Here’s their take:James Lemon from Stripe: Simple payments win guests’ hearts every time. Michael McCartan from IDeaS RMS: Smart marketing skyrockets your profits. Frank Wagner from ACT International: Cloud tech and data unlock huge gains. Carsten Wernetfrom SIHOT: Slick tools deliver seamless guest stays. Markus Mueller from Gauvendi: Sell rooms like Amazon—crafted for each guest. Expect top insights on how you can grow bookings, ease stays, and boost profits for your hotel.Travel Market Life is produced by Urban Podcasts.
Travel Market Life is a podcast focused on the travel, tourism, hotel and hospitality industry to address industry issues, digitalisation, technologies and systems, consumer trends, marketing and communications.
Ireland