The hotel owner who went all-in on mental health in hospitality

Good morning. Today we’re looking at:

• On the podcast: What Alex Brown learned about mental health as a hotel owner and operator

• Strategy: How Airbnb’s CEO spends his time now

• Technology: Travel tech expands its reach to hospitality schools

• Investing: A forever-changed hotel industry finds a bit of normalcy

Let’s jump into it…

ON THE PODCAST

What I learned about mental health as a hotel owner and operator

with Alex Brown for the Hospitality Daily Podcast

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and there are few better to speak to both the challenges our industry faces and how to address them than Alex Brown, a hospitality management professional and hotel owner who transitioned to a career in substance use recovery support services.

On our podcast today, you're going to hear what Alex has learned about mental health and his advice for owners, operators, and hospitality leaders that want to take care of themselves and their teams.

In their words: “Guest wellbeing and employee wellbeing are more than intertwined - they’re one and the same.”

Listen now

STRATEGY

How Airbnb’s CEO spends nearly all of his time now

by Jason Calacanis with Brian Chesky on LinkedIn

What’s going on: Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, shares how he changed the way he runs the company to focus on product development and marketing - which he views as “joined at the hip.”

In their words: “We try to take the best of software development and the best in hardware development and put it into one practice.“

Watch now

TECHNOLOGY

Travel tech expands its reach to hospitality schools

by Derek Catron for Phocuswire

What’s going on: A classroom tech revolution, accelerated by COVID and partnerships with travel leaders, means more of today’s hospitality students are exposed to the latest gadgets and cloud-based systems and learn to be entrepreneurs as much as hotel or restaurant managers.

In their words: “There’s no strict line anymore between what’s real and what’s virtual. That line is gray now. It’s going to disappear soon.” - Richie Karaburun

Read now

INVESTING

A forever-changed hotel industry finds a bit of normalcy

by David Eisen for Hotels Magazine

What’s going on: The pandemic was an inflection point, and its impact is indelible on the hospitality industry: the way it operates, the way it functions, and the way customers engage with it. But according to investors speaking at the Bisnow Lodging Investment Summit, there is—finally—some reversion to dependability.

In their words: “Things are returning back to the way they were. There are changes in technology, but we are seeing a creep back to the status quo. What sticks and what doesn’t.” - Michael Blank, Principal at Woodmont Lodging

Read now