No Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Fear, money, and restrictions are a combustible mixture in any business sector, but in travel it can be a death knell for some businesses. The tariff situation is changing daily, and while the emphasis has been on physical goods, there is a growing shadow on tourism. Aran Ryan, Director of Industry Studies at Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company, talks about how trade wars negatively affect US travel, how tourism is already taking a hit, and what we can do to ride this out.

Regenerative tourism focuses on leaving places better than you found them, supporting local economies, preserving culture, and protecting the environment. How does that translate to street-level tourism? Does the term "regenerative" suffer from the same thing that plagues "sustainability"—where rhetoric is strong and the action remains weak? Travelers regularly rate sustainability as a top five criteria in making travel decisions, but their buying behavior tells a very different story.

Then again, there are huge upsides in rethinking everything about the way we travel, especially now. We look at what's working, what's not, and what's ahead.

Steve Rushmore can tell you everything, and I mean everything about your hotel. His "Rushmore Approach" for allocating a hotel’s total value is the stuff of lore, but how do you even begin to evaluate a hotel's worth? What are all the factors that go into it? What makes for a particularly difficult appraisal? Is the "income approach" really the best way to appraise a hotel? And is it true Steve can appraise a hotel in 60 seconds?

https://steverushmore.com/

When we fly, most of us have no idea what kind of plane we're on, we just get in and go. Travel and airline journalist Edward Russell tells us what kinds of planes dominate the U.S. market, why they dominate the market, how long planes stay in circulation, and the process for buying, selling, and regulating big ol' jet airliners. Plus: America's best small airport, one thing he'd change about the check-in process, and the biggest change facing the airline industry.

https://byerussell.substack.com/

Are "sensory inclusive" cities possible? Why do we take the basic UX of airports, hotels, and public spaces for granted? What's the report card on hotel and travel company marketing to LGBTQ+ audiences? What's the problem with carbon offsets? And why aren't more airports like PDX? Matt and Jeff solve mysteries and speak truths with JD Shadel, a London-based strategist, editor, and freelance journalist working at the intersection of tech and lifestyle, and you can read their recent work at:

https://www.cntraveler.com/contributor/jd-shadel
https://www.jdshadel.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jd-shadel/

Like a prophet emerging from the haze of the Arizona desert, our guest Holly Zoba leads hospitality brands to the promised land. She has decades of experience in hotel sales and marketing, and has founded, co-founded, or been essential to companies that are dedicated to educating generations of hotel professionals.

Her classes are THE gold standard of hospitality sales training, and we talk about how digital marketing is changing to meet new audiences, getting on board the AI train, new trends in customer loyalty, and the importance of carpool etiquette on snow days.

https://hotelbschool.com/
https://www.scoutsimply.com/
https://www.influencer-sales.com/
https://hsmaiacademy.org/team/holly-zoba-chdm/

Travel inspires us to imagine and the American Field Service is a special catalyst. President Tara Boyce-Hofmann shares with No Show the spark that AFS-USA unleashes through the unlimited power of young minds to dream. To become global citizens. To question the ethics of borders and practice diplomatic dialog.

https://www.afsusa.org/
https://www.instagram.com/afs_usa

This time of year is known as RFP season, the glorious time when corporate America sends their travel planners to conferences like GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) to negotiate prices and with hotels for next year. A time of wonder and mystery!

If it were a company, the federal government would be the largest travel buyer of hotel stays in America, possibly in the world. And not by a little bit, it dwarfs the next highest which is believed to be Deloitte, BY TEN TIMES!

How does all of this work, who benefits, where's it going, and what does the General Services Agency have to do with it? Spoiler: a whole lot.

Isaac Collazo is VP of Analytics at STR, Smith Travel Research, THE global leader in hospitality data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. What does that mean? It means when it comes to hotel numbers, nobody understands them like Isaac, but what he really understands, Moneyball style, is the story behind the data.

We get into STR reports, what metaphor Isaac would use to describe the first half of this year, the future of extended stay, how a new U.S. president would affect the hotel industry, the difference between office vacancy stats and hotel vacancy stats, and a GREAT mystery question.

https://str.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tell-me-more-a-hospitality-data-podcast/

The airline industry. Brian Sumers lives it, he breathes, he speaks truth about it unlike anybody else. He is the founder and editor of The Airline Observer, a newsletter covering the global airline business. He's also co-host of The Air Show in which he discusses the business of the sky.

Brian talks with Jeff and Matt about shenanigans at Southwest Airlines, whether inbound flight traffic from China is ever coming back, saving Boeing, Jetblue's pivot, and the future of loyalty programs.