The Hospitality Show, now in its second year, will take place at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio from Oct. 28-30. The Show will bring together 5,000 attendees and promises to drive profitability for owners, operators and hospitality innovators through dedicated content, extensive networking and 400+ operations and technology vendors.
In this installment of The Hospitality Show Speaker Q&A, we catch up with Jennifer Barnwell, president of Curator Hotel & Resorts.
What do you think is the biggest challenge for the industry currently?
One is related to the loss of your own room inventory given what some of the third party booking sites and wholesale channels have been doing in terms of redistributing inventory on questionable channels at low rates. Properties need to be able to control their inventory and pricing as well as their story.
Another challenge is maintaining, or even increasing profitability. The costs of essential components for hospitality operations—like goods, labor and technology—continue to climb. However, the recent first interest rate cut has offered some welcome relief.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2024?
There are a couple—consolidation and a proliferation of all-in-one solutions (or many components-in-one solutions).
- We've seen significant consolidation with big brands acquiring independent hotels and forming partnerships or associations with indie groups.
- There has also been consolidation in terms of companies buying other companies, mainly in the tech space.
- On the vendor side, many companies are broadening their offerings to provide multiple services. For instance, a POS system might now offer credit card processing, and a PMS might include booking engine capabilities.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry this year?
There’s a tremendous opportunity for the hospitality industry to harness AI for handling repetitive and administrative tasks, freeing up team members to focus on more meaningful aspects of the guest experience. In addition to technological advancements, another key opportunity lies in crafting unique, tailor-made experiences that elevate leisure travel. We recently introduced our Curated Experiences initiative, which connects us with travelers seeking out-of-the-box, bespoke moments. These experiences are designed to meet the modern traveler’s desire for distinctive and memorable adventures.
What can owners and operators expect to take away from your session at this year’s The Hospitality Show?
I’m looking forward to a lively discussion with colleagues from Oracle, Choice, AWS and Sabre. We’ll be discussing what we see in the AI space, collaboration and consolidation, the health of the industry and other industries we can learn from.