Industry experts predict key hospitality trends for 2025

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:

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.

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[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

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.

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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:

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