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, 2024. 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 Q&A installment, we catch up with Michael Morton, senior vice president of brand management and member services, BWH Hotels
What do you think is the biggest problem for the industry currently?
Morton: The cost of operating a hotel profitably continues to be a major issue in our industry as we’ve seen costs continue to increase across labor, insurance, property taxes, utilities, and other areas. Additionally, the insurance market has become more challenging. There are fewer property and casualty insurance carriers covering the hospitality market, and exclusions for A&B and A&M are becoming more common and extremely expensive to remove, resulting in excessive insurance premiums. As an industry, we should unify as an “association” and lobby our governmental officials to put pressure on the insurance industry to provide cost effective insurance for our hoteliers in every state and Canadian province.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2024?
Morton: Artificial intelligence and machine learning are two of the biggest trends that we’ve seen affect the hospitality industry and hotel operations in 2024. We are seeing opportunities to become more efficient, personalize the guest experience, and reduce operating costs through technology enhancements throughout the guest journey. The possibilities are endless, from AI-driven travel discovery and destination recommendations to trip planning with generative AI, automated check-in, and on-property messaging.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry this year?
Morton: Mergers and acquisitions continue to be an area of great opportunity in the industry. BWH Hotels has a rich balance sheet and a 77-year history of stability. Our last acquisition, WorldHotels, has proven to be very successful for both WorldHotels owners and BWH Hotels. Some of those successes include increasing our soft brand footprint and rewards program. Today, we are very open to acquiring a complementary brand. Additionally, recent industry forecasts suggest a shift in travel demand across many segments of the lodging industry. Monday through Wednesday business travel continues to grow; however, leisure demand on weekends is softening. The volatility over the upcoming elections will also have an impact on travel. Our ability to course-correct and quickly reconsider our property occupancy and rate yield strategies is a priority.
What do you think the industry's biggest accomplishment has been in the past year?
Morton: I am proud of our global industry for embracing sustainability and proactively looking for ways to meet the changing expectations of our guests. As part of BWH Hotels’ Earth, People, Community initiative, we have partnered with Green Key Global as our preferred partner of certification for sustainable hotel operations in North America, with all our properties around the world required to achieve sustainability certification. BWH Hotels is the first major brand that will require all properties to achieve the Green Key Global certification in the United States and Canada.
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
Morton: I am excited to attend another incredible year of The Hospitality Show. This year, I will be participating on the ‘Green to Gold: Sustainability as Profit’ panel where my industry colleagues and I will be discussing the economic benefits of sustainable practices in the industry and how enhancing your environmental footprint can ultimately drive revenue. I’m looking forward to being a part of such an important conversation and sharing how BWH Hotels is working with our hoteliers to enact meaningful change that helps shape a brighter future for generations to come.