Industry experts predict key hospitality trends for 2025
January 8, 2025
In this special episode of Hotel Moment, Karen Stephens, CMO of Revinate, discusses emerging trends for 2025 with a stellar lineup of industry leaders and previous guests, including Aaron Miller from Highgate, Carlo Del Mistro from Ennismore, Shawn Jereb from Montage International, Emily Goldfischer from hertelier, and Marc Winchell from Pacific Hospitality Group. These experts share their predictions on everything from the resurgence of hotels to hyper-personalization, group bookings, and workplace flexibility, offering valuable insights into what's shaping the future of hospitality.
In this forward-looking episode of Hotel Moment, host Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer at Revinate, brings together insights from industry leaders to explore key trends that will shape hospitality in 2025. The episode features perspectives from:
- Aaron Miller, VP of CRM and Digital at Highgate, discussing the return of hotels and the evolution of guest experiences
- Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer at Ennismore, sharing insights on hyper-personalization and the future of loyalty programs
- Shawn Jereb, SVP of Revenue Management & Distribution at Montage International, examining group booking trends and pricing strategies
- Emily Goldfischer, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of hertelier, addressing workplace flexibility and hiring trends
- Marc Winchell, Corporate CRM at Pacific Hospitality Group, exploring CRM development and direct booking strategies
These conversations provide valuable insights into different approaches to guest engagement, loyalty, and revenue generation in today's evolving hospitality landscape.
If you would like to tune in to these guests’ previous episodes, please follow the links below.
- Aaron Miller: No missed opportunities — prioritizing a data collection practice for every property
- Carlo Del Mistro: “Dis-loyalty” — Ennismore’s unconventional approach to guest loyalty
- Shawn Jereb: Approachable luxury without losing touch with guests
- Emily Goldfischer: Women adapt technology to be hospitality’s problem-solvers
- Marc Winchell: Stop losing loyal guests and take control of the guest journey
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.
Connect with Aaron Miller here:
Connect with Carlo Del Mistro here:
Connect with Shawn Jereb here:
Connect with Emily Goldfischer here:
Connect with Marc Winchell here:
Connect with Karen here:
Follow the podcast here:
Episode Highlights:
[02:34] The return of hotels - Aaron Miller emphasizes that "hotels are back," noting a significant shift in travel patterns where the lines between business and leisure travel have blurred. He observes increasing demand for traditional hotel amenities and services, especially in the resort sector, indicating a strong return to hotel experiences. Aaron also discusses the challenge of balancing comprehensive property information with user-friendly website design, emphasizing the importance of presenting content in an easily digestible format.
[08:06] The evolution of luxury and personalization - Carlo Del Mistro outlines three key trends for 2025: a redefined concept of luxury focusing on self-improvement, the advancement of hyper-personalization through AI, and the transformation of loyalty programs. He highlights how 2025 will see AI moving beyond experimentation to practical applications, enabling real-time customization of promotions and offers based on user behavior.
[10:30] Group business and rate trends - Shawn Jereb identifies strong group business as a continuing trend into 2025, with exceptional group pace already evident. He notes ongoing pressure on rates due to economic factors like inflation, observing increased interest in entry-level offerings and package promotions. This insight suggests a strategic shift in how hotels approach pricing and package development.
[12:20] Workplace flexibility and hiring - Emily Goldfischer emphasizes flexibility as the key hiring trend for 2025, both from employer and employee perspectives. She advocates for adaptive work arrangements, such as remote work options for non-customer-facing roles, highlighting how flexibility will be crucial for attracting and retaining talent in the hospitality sector.
[13:39] CRM and direct booking strategy - Marc Winchell shares his vision for 2025, focusing on building a sophisticated CRM system he describes as a "Ferrari." He emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology for enhanced personalization and improving the guest experience, particularly through loyalty programs and direct booking initiatives.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:36 - Playing futurist for 2025
02:34 - Aaron Miller on hotels being back
03:27 - Balancing website content with user experience
06:14 - Using personalization effectively
08:06 - Carlo Del Mistro on luxury redefined
10:00 - Shawn Jereb on group business trends
11:12 - Location-specific experiences
12:20 - Emily Goldfischer on workplace flexibility
13:39 - Marc Winchell on CRM development
14:37 - Looking ahead to direct bookings
15:27 - Outro
00:36 - Playing futurist for 2025
02:34 - Aaron Miller on hotels being back
03:27 - Balancing website content with user experience
06:14 - Using personalization effectively
08:06 - Carlo Del Mistro on luxury redefined
10:00 - Shawn Jereb on group business trends
11:12 - Location-specific experiences
12:20 - Emily Goldfischer on workplace flexibility
13:39 - Marc Winchell on CRM development
14:37 - Looking ahead to direct bookings
15:27 - Outro
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here.
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.
Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.
If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:
- Innovation in hospitality technology
- Guest experience transformation
- Revenue optimization strategies
- Emerging industry trends
Check out the three most downloaded episodes: