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 installment of Advisory Board Q&As, we catch up with Rachel Humphrey, founder of the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance.
What do you think is the biggest problem for the industry currently?
Humphrey: Labor challenges continue to dominate the conversation this year. If we are going to attract and retain talent, we need our industry to reflect the communities we serve at all levels, especially in leadership. We continue to see a lack of diversity at the more senior levels of the hospitality industry. All together, we can become the industry that leads the way in reflecting a diverse workforce which more closely resembles our nation’s population and our guests. By doing so, we will become the industry in which everyone wants to have a career.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2024?
Humphrey: While not necessarily new in 2024, I still believe technology in all forms will continue to affect the industry year after year. The pace of technology innovation and relevance is so fast, the hospitality industry traditionally is slow to adopt any type of change but especially in technology, and the cost of constantly pivoting, updating, and trying to play catch up impacts every aspect of the industry.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry this year?
Humphrey: I hope the hospitality industry’s biggest opportunity this year is to elevate more women into leadership roles at corporations, the property level, and in hotel ownership. If we see businesses making intentional efforts at hiring, retaining, promoting, succession planning, and showcasing female leaders, we are certain to see some much-needed progress in this regard.
What do you think the industry's biggest accomplishment has been in the past year?
Humphrey: While not at the levels we should be yet, we are seeing greater intentionality by hospitality industry conference organizers in sourcing diverse speakers across all conference stages. This is an important aspect of reflecting our breadth of expertise in our industry, elevating careers, showcasing diverse voices, and providing the greatest value for attendees. I am proud of the impact the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance is having in this area, and hopefully we’ll see this continue to be an industry-wide focus with noticeable results.
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
Humphrey: It is always great to connect in person with industry leaders. It really helps further develop relationships I already have and continue to build new ones. I’m also looking forward to seeing the speaker/panel composition and hopefully hearing from some incredible new voices we haven’t heard from before.