1001: Hospitality's 2025 Reckoning — And What Comes Next in 2026

We got something cool for episode 1001!

Props to Katie Cline at the Skift Suite Success: Masters of Hospitality
podcast for this one. I joined an end-of-year roundtable with some of the most thoughtful voices in hashtag#hospitality media to reflect on what actually mattered in 2025 and what could reshape 2026.

Huge thanks to everyone who brought real perspective (and disagreement) to the table:

🎙️: Katie Cline — Suite Success
🎙️: Josiah Mackenzie — Hospitality Daily
🎙️: Zach Busekrus — Behind the Stays
🎙️: David Millili & 🎙️Steve Carran — The Modern Hotelier

On hashtag#NoVacancyNews, I focused on two things that kept showing up in every conversation this year — and won't go away in 2026:

• the confusion and overconfidence around AI, and
• the growing economic bifurcation between ultra-luxury and everyone else.

I also shared why I think profitability pressure, critical thinking, and realistic expectations will define the next cycle — and why hospitality needs to stop parroting talking points and start asking harder questions.

A big thanks to Actabl — Actabl gives you the power to profit. Visit Actabl.com.

What this roundtable covers:
🧠: Where hashtag#AI helps — and where the industry oversells it
💰: Why protecting profit mattered more than top-line growth in 2025
🏨: The growing gap between ultra-luxury and the rest of the market
🤝: Why loyalty programs face an identity crisis
🎤: Why conferences, panels, and media need real voices — not scripts
🔮: What each of us sees coming in 2026 (and what worries us)

Question for you:
Which 2025 trend do you think hoteliers misunderstood the most heading into 2026?