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MarketScale Hospitality 01/30/19: Making Things Affordable & Sustainable

What matters most to guests when they’re traveling? That has been an important question for those in the hospitality industry for a long time. The answer has changed over the years but the idea has remained the same. Hotels and restaurants aim to provide the best experience for their guests. On today’s episode of…

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MarketScale Hospitality 01/30/19: Making Things Affordable & Sustainable

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What matters most to guests when they’re traveling? That has been an important question for those in the hospitality industry for a long time. The answer has changed over the years but the idea has remained the same. Hotels and restaurants aim to provide the best experience for their guests. On today’s episode of the MarketScale Hospitality Podcast, we take a look at two of the most important factors for industry: affordability and sustainability.

The Traveling Family

The vast majority of family travel is simple, according to veteran travel expert Rainer Jenss, president and founder of Family Travel Association. Irregardless of income, families want value and affordability and the industry is responding with specific products and offerings to fill that need. Jenss sits down with MarketScale’s Maggie Shein to discuss what today’s traveling family looks like (hint: it’s not what you may think), as well as specific travel behaviors and desires of this niche.

Farm-to-Table Demand Evolves to Hotel-to-Table

In the pilot episode of Portlandia, an IFC show that mocks the hipster culture of Portland, Oregon, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein want to know precisely where their meal came from and travel to talk to the farmer who raised their chicken named Colin before they eat it. “The chicken you’ll be enjoying tonight. Here are his papers. The chicken is a heritage breed, a woodland-raised chicken that’s been fed a diet of sheep’s milk, soy, and hazelnuts,” the waitress says.

Maybe it’s an exaggeration but in the past decade, the demand for hyperlocal, farm-to-table dining has grown from a trend to an expectation. Now farm-to-table has gone a step further: Hotel-to-table, you might call it. With gardens and a few steps from their kitchens, they infuse an authentic sense of place into their cuisine and eliminate “food miles” in an effort for sustainability.

“It’s more than a trend, it’s a market cycle and as a result there’s a maturation to the process,” says Loren Gray, founder of the Hospitality Digital Marketing show and former restaurant owner turned consultant. “They’ve invested in rooftops to offer a sustainable variety of unique things they can feature for their menu.”

Gray explores the way “hotel-to-table” is changing what the local farming industry grows and even where it’s grown.

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Leonardo Hotels rebuilds its development team to absorb 28 new hotels in 2026

Leonardo Hotels rebuilds its development team to absorb 28 new hotels in 2026

About 20 properties from the former Revo portfolio are among the 28 hotels Leonardo Hotels Central Europe expects to add in 2026. The high volume of parallel work was one of the major reasons for the team changes. New development leads for the Nordics, Italy and Central Europe show where the group plans to buy and grow.

  • 01Leonardo Hotels Central Europe is running a heavy load of hotel projects in parallel: 28 new hotels in 2026 plus roughly 30 older conversions and renovations, with several advanced new builds set to launch next year.
  • 02In the Nordics, the stated preference is for existing hotels in capital cities that can move into one of Leonardo's seven brands relatively quickly, through purchase or lease.
  • 03Partnership IV is expected to total €800 million to €1 billion; Partnership III had reached €542 million by January 2025, and Leonardo expects around 20 acquisitions in 2027.

Oct 9, 2026

Spire Hospitality puts hotel IT, forecasting and AI under one executive

Spire Hospitality puts hotel IT, forecasting and AI under one executive

Spire Hospitality launched a Strategic Asset Performance division on Sept. 30, led by newly promoted SVP Shozib Khan. He now oversees IT, financial planning, hotel systems, hotel resources and transitions, brand resources, AI strategy and owner partnership. The org chart is the news. For hotel owners, the test is whether earlier forecasts become earlier action at their properties.

  • 01Spire says the challenge is tying data to decisions and execution, even as hotel firms have more data and technology than ever. The new division’s test is whether it helps flag opportunities sooner and act before month-end reporting.
  • 02The most concrete lever for owners is executive oversight for selected hotels that need extra attention. What triggers that oversight decides when senior help reaches a given property.

Oct 7, 2026

AI Hospitality Group aims for 500-basis-point margin gains in six months

AI Hospitality Group aims for 500-basis-point margin gains in six months

AI Hospitality Group, a Dallas startup led by former Remington Hospitality CEO Sloan Dean, launched with $7.5 million to manage hotels using AI agents instead of selling software. It targets at least 500 basis points of gross operating profit margin within six months of taking over a hotel. Owners would judge it on the P&L.

  • 01AIHG sells hotel AI as a management contract, taking over the P&L instead of selling software.
  • 02At least 500 basis points of gross operating profit margin within six months is AIHG’s stated target, a benchmark owners can audit.
  • 03The results so far come from three California design-partner hotels. The signal to watch is the first signed management agreements beyond those partners, and what those properties report at the six-month mark.

Oct 7, 2026

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