5 Hotel Storylines CEOs of Hilton, Hyatt, and Other Top Brands Are Tracking Now

28.08.2023 - 07:03 / skift.com / Mark Hoplamazian / Sean Oneill / Chris Nassetta / Sheila Johnson

Can hotels exert more influence in policy-making? Where will future development growth come from? Is generative AI relevant to the hotel sector? These and other subjects will be top of mind for us as we interview top bosses at Hilton, Hyatt, Accor, and other hotel leaders on-stage at the Skift Global Forum in New York on September 26-28.

The hotel industry is enormously important to global growth, and the sector’s leaders ought to start acting like it — as Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali has long argued. The hotel and motel sector will create 126 million jobs between now and 2032, according to The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). That’s one in five new jobs worldwide.

Yet the hotel sector’s voice isn’t heard as loudly on the public stage as it should be given its weight. Hotel leaders have worthwhile things to say about travel visas, infrastructure, legal immigration, climate change, data security, taxation, overtourism, community relations, geopolitics, and urban housing regulation. Will they speak up more?

We’ll ask Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta what he’s advocating as chairman of the U.S. Travel Association.

Hotel groups have many possible sources of growth, but which ones are they prioritizing? We’ll ask Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, Raffles CEO Omer Acar, and Salamander Resorts’ Sheila Johnson.

Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt doubled down on extended-stay as a category this year with new brands. How much more room does extended-stay have to run?

Nassetta said this month that Hilton would focus on the midmarket because “that’s where the most money will be made over the next 10 or 20 or 30 years,” though the company won’t neglect luxury. IHG just rolled out a new midmarket brand, Garner.

Yet lifestyle and boutique hotels get all the buzz on social media and mainstream media, with tens of thousands of rooms planned in the coming years. Meanwhile, investors seem to get most enthused about a few dozen ultra-luxury brands, with Bulgari growing and Aman tripling in valuation.

Geographically, where’s the growth? Marriott placed at least one bet on Latin America with its City Hotels acquisition. Hilton plans 730 hotels in China over a decade. Blackstone, KKR, and Goldman are investing in Japan. Saudia Arabia and the UAE have massive ambitions.

Skift is leading the way in reporting the unfolding relationship between generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the travel industry. We’ll be asking what opportunities top execs see for the hotel industry.

Hotels have been using AI to inform how they set room rates for years. Yet the burst of interest in generative AI like ChatGPT has underscored other potential uses.

We’ll talk to hotels about where they see opportunities. Early possibilities include more