Travel inspires us to imagine and the American Field Service is a special catalyst. President Tara Boyce-Hofmann shares with No Show the spark that AFS-USA unleashes through the unlimited power of young minds to dream. To become global citizens. To question the ethics of borders and practice diplomatic dialog.

https://www.afsusa.org/
https://www.instagram.com/afs_usa

This time of year is known as RFP season, the glorious time when corporate America sends their travel planners to conferences like GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) to negotiate prices and with hotels for next year. A time of wonder and mystery!

If it were a company, the federal government would be the largest travel buyer of hotel stays in America, possibly in the world. And not by a little bit, it dwarfs the next highest which is believed to be Deloitte, BY TEN TIMES!

How does all of this work, who benefits, where's it going, and what does the General Services Agency have to do with it? Spoiler: a whole lot.

Isaac Collazo is VP of Analytics at STR, Smith Travel Research, THE global leader in hospitality data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. What does that mean? It means when it comes to hotel numbers, nobody understands them like Isaac, but what he really understands, Moneyball style, is the story behind the data.

We get into STR reports, what metaphor Isaac would use to describe the first half of this year, the future of extended stay, how a new U.S. president would affect the hotel industry, the difference between office vacancy stats and hotel vacancy stats, and a GREAT mystery question.

https://str.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tell-me-more-a-hospitality-data-podcast/

The airline industry. Brian Sumers lives it, he breathes, he speaks truth about it unlike anybody else. He is the founder and editor of The Airline Observer, a newsletter covering the global airline business. He's also co-host of The Air Show in which he discusses the business of the sky.

Brian talks with Jeff and Matt about shenanigans at Southwest Airlines, whether inbound flight traffic from China is ever coming back, saving Boeing, Jetblue's pivot, and the future of loyalty programs.

Every day David Eisen translates the avalanche of data and news about the hotel industry into something everyone, not just people in the business, but everyone, can understand. He joins Jeff and Matt to talk about the rise of partnerships among hotel management companies, the ever-multiplying number of hotel brands, and the impact of flashy stunts on loyalty programs.

https://hotelsmag.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-eisen/

CoralTree Hospitality's Arlene Ramirez and HotStats' Tanya Venegas help us untangle and understand the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), an essential tool that guides financial management and reporting across hotels. How it started, why hotels use it, and how it's staying up-to-date.

https://usali.hftp.org/
https://www.hftp.org/
https://www.hotstats.com/
https://www.coraltreehospitality.com/

The CEO and co-founder of Kalibri Labs on the (many) existential threats to the hospitality industry, Uber and Facebook as players in the travel business, the challenges and opportunities around loyalty programs, and the hotel revenue buzzword that needs to go away.

00:50 Existential Threats to the Hotel Industry
04:40 When Will Amazon Return To Travel?
10:40 Will Uber Be A Player Too?
17:00 Direct Bookings and Loyalty Programs Impact
25:30 Mystery Question

https://www.kalibrilabs.com/

Have you ever pondered the fate of your hotel soap after check-out? Shawn Seipler did, big time, and it launched him on an extraordinary mission to improve global hygiene. The Clean the World founder joins us to talk about how its Global Hospitality Program works with over 8,000 participants to upcycle soap and tackle some of the deadliest problems on the planet.

https://cleantheworld.org
https://www.instagram.com/clean_the_world/