Hospitality Daily Podcast

In this episode, Ben Campbell, the President and CEO of Hospitality America, shares how he's navigating flat demand and rising costs by investing in data foundations and doubling down on both AI and human-led sales. You'll hear why he believes every piece of business has its own profitability, how his revenue management background shapes his strategy, and how the company's PEACH culture creates accountability and performance from the top down.This episode is brought to you with support from Actabl. Learn more about the products Ben mentions in this episode: ProfitSword and Hotel Effectiveness A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Valerie Ferguson, the former chair of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, shares why operations is the single function that defines your brand and determines whether guests come back. She explains how cleanliness, safety, and emotional connection form the foundation every brand depends on, and why she always hired for empathy over experience. Valerie also reveals how involving housekeepers and frontline staff in service design led to consistently higher guest satisfaction scores across every property she led. A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Valerie Ferguson shares why the guests experiencing your hotel now define your brand more than your marketing ever could. Drawing on nearly five decades at Hyatt, The Ritz-Carlton, Loews Hotels, and Disney, Valerie explains why online reviews have become the most important business driver in hospitality. A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Josiah Mackenzie shares the top takeaways he had from this year's Hunter Hotel Investment Conference. A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Valerie Ferguson, the former Director of Lodging at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and past Chairman of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, shares what she wishes she could have said earlier in her career about the tension between owner expectations and taking care of your people. Drawing on nearly five decades leading at hospitality companies, Valerie talks about the political pressure of owner meetings, why employee housing and fair compensation should be part of the development plan, and what it takes to fight the right battles in ownership conversations without losing your ability to inspire your team. A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Valerie Ferguson, an 18-year veteran of Hyatt Hotels, shares how Hyatt's culture of trust and creative freedom produced innovations, from coordinated amenities to club level.  A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Valerie Ferguson reflects on her leadership as General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta. She explains why community engagement played a central role in her leadership of the hotel and in building relationships across the city. Valerie shares how initiatives like volunteering with Project Head Start strengthened team pride, deepened empathy, and reinforced the idea that hospitality leaders serve their teams as much as their guests. Her perspective offers a clear reminder that strong hospitality businesses grow from strong connections with their surrounding communities.Listen to our episodes with Horst Schulze hereYou may also enjoy: Hospitality as an Engine for Generosity: How Humanitarian Hotels Operates with Excellence & Gives Away 100% of Profits - Chris GreenImpact Hospitality: How Hotels Can Build Community & Drive Change - Donte Johnson & Jason BassWorking With The LeBron James Family Foundation To Empower People Through Hospitality Skills Training - Stephan Bogardus and Tommy Ostrum, Graduate Hotels A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Nathan Woods, founder of Beloved Hospitality, returns to share how hospitality principles apply beyond hotels and restaurants. Drawing on ideas from Unreasonable Hospitality, he explains how leaders in industries such as insurance are rethinking customer relationships through a hospitality lens. Nathan breaks down how he teaches teams to see hospitality as a posture, not an industry, and why mapping the real customer journey reveals overlooked opportunities to serve people well. You’ll also hear how he’s building simple systems through his “Hospitality OS” approach to turn everyday interactions into meaningful moments and sustain the people whose work centers on serving others.More:Listen: AI Is Not the Threat to Hospitality. Artificial Hospitality Is. (Nathan Woods)Listen: Cultivating Heartfelt Hospitality - Nathan WoodsListen: From Track and Field to Treehouses: Lessons for Hospitality From Building Businesses In Other Industries - Nathan Woods, Bolt Farm Treehouse A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Nathan Woods, founder of Beloved Hospitality, joins the show to share his perspective that the real threat to hospitality is not artificial intelligence—it's artificial hospitality. Drawing from his own work experimenting with AI, Nathan explains why technology does not weaken human connection on its own. The real risk appears when we let systems replace care and attention for our guests.More:See Nathan's post on this on LinkedInRead Nathan's newsletter on thisListen: Cultivating Heartfelt Hospitality - Nathan WoodsListen: From Track and Field to Treehouses: Lessons for Hospitality From Building Businesses In Other Industries - Nathan Woods, Bolt Farm Treehouse A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

In this episode, Josiah Mackenzie speaks with Mark Fancourt, cofounder and principal at TRAVHOTECH, and a former senior leader across global hospitality brands and technology companies. Their conversation explores what hotel leaders often misunderstand about technology strategy. Mark shares why many hotels invest heavily in new systems but still struggle to translate those investments into operational results. The discussion centers on the foundational role of structured data, organizational discipline, and education in unlocking the real value of technology.Josiah and Mark also examine the excitement around artificial intelligence in hospitality but why AI alone will not solve operational challenges without the right data foundations in place. Along the way, Mark offers a candid perspective on the industry's long-standing technology silos and outlines what a more integrated, platform-driven future could look like for hotel operations.For hotel leaders focused on improving performance, the episode offers practical insight into how better data structure, stronger technology partnerships, and better-trained teams can turn existing tools into a meaningful advantage. A few more resources:If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestionsIf you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free.Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together.If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve!Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands