AI and the growing travel market with Booking.com's Olaf Belgraver

Host's Ritz-Carlton Naples property took nine months to renovate after Hurricane Ian, but when hurricanes Milton and Helene hit, the hotel was able to reopen in just nine days thanks to all its resilience renovations. 

STR's Jesper Palmqvist joins the podcast for our monthly check-in on the Asia Pacific region, diving into what makes that part of the world's two key growth markets - Japan and India - so different despite their similarly strong growth. Across the rest of the region, hoteliers are facing a difficult budget season.

Olaf Belgraver from Booking.com discussed recent consumer travel trends as the global industry continues to grow.

Pyramid Global Hospitality's Senior Vice President of Revenue Management Lori Kiel joined the podcast during the recent Hotel Data Conference in Nashville to talk about the various challenges facing revenue strategy, including long-term headwinds for international travel and how forecasting and budgeting are impacted by a volatile economy.

Sage Hospitality Group's Priya Chandnani joins the podcast live at the Hotel Data Conference in Nashville to talk about how revenue managers are faring in an increasingly difficult environment and how there's still room for innovation.

Bryan Wroten and Trevor Simpson from CoStar News Hotels speak with STR's Hannah Smith about their impressions from the second day of the 2025 Hotel Data Conference.

The CoStar News Hotels team, along with STR's Kelsey Fenerty, talk about their top takeaways from the first day of the 2025 Hotel Data Conference in Nashville, including a revision to the full-year forecast for the U.S. hotel industry.

Growth is finally slowing after a years-long stretch of outsized growth for Japanese hotels, but STR's Jesper Palmqvist notes the country is still enjoying strong performance and remains the success story across the Asia Pacific region.

Benjamin West founder Alan Benjamin joins the podcast to talk about the issues facing procurement for hotel companies, which remains challenging with shifting tariffs impacting the costs of goods.

Mark Skinner, principal with The Highland Group, joins the podcast to dissect supply-demand dynamics for extended stay hotels and why there hasn't been an explosion of new supply despite outsized brand and investor interest.