LODGING LEADERS
026 | Redefining the Technology Toolbox with Mark Lewis-Brown
LODGING LEADERS
Mark Lewis-Brown is a hospitality industry veteran with 25 years of experience in online distribution, hotel operations and airline sales. He’s recognized as a visionary for product development, client services and marketing efforts at Vertical Booking, Centric Hospitality Group and Genares.
Mark founded InnPoints in 1995, giving independent and boutique properties the chance to establish a loyal client base and compete with the major hotel chains through a frequent stay program. One year later, the company merged with Bed&Breakfast Direct to form InnPoints Worldwide, an electronic reservation distribution and marketing company. After fifteen successful years of developing reservation technology and services including Qube Hotels and StayCredits, Mark played a key role in the creation of Centric Hospitality Group, designing a powerful parent company for InnPoints Worldwide and long-time partner CARINO Hotels and Resorts.
Prior to founding InnPoints, Mark owned and operated several successful lodging properties in Salt Lake City, UT and Albuquerque, NM and spent 13 years at Delta Airlines.
In This Episode, Mark Talks About:
- how his experience with the GDS (Global Distribution System) in the airline industry early in his career inspired his applications of it in the hospitality space
- how owning and operating a bed and breakfast led to the vision of his company, InnPoints.
- his entrepreneurial journey with InnPoints – from inception to sale, and the many stages in-between
- why he chose to join Vertical Booking, leading their expansion of services in the United States as President of Vertical Booking USA
- the various pieces of technology required to connect hotels to the world, from the PMS, to the CRS, the GDS and the OTAs, and how he manages to tie them all together to make running a hotel a whole lot easier
Resources & Links
- Email: mark.
lewisbrown[at]verticalbooking. com - Mark on LinkedIn
- Mark on Facebook
- Verticalbookingusa.com (U.S. site)
- Verticalbooking.com (Internal site)
LODGING LEADERS
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341 | One Big Happy: Travel survey reveals how hotels can attract families
Rainer Jenss of Nyack, New York, founded the Family Travel Association seven years ago to help parents and caregivers introduce children to the world through travel, whether that’s a yearlong trip around the world that Jenss and his family took or a weekend getaway to a nearby destination. To help the travel industry gauge what parents want when they take their kids on vacation, FTA conducts an annual study. The U.S. Family Travel Survey 2021 reveals the shift in mindset the COVID-19 pandemic has created in families planning a trip over the next 12 months. Hoteliers use can use the information to generate business and boost their strategies to recover and sustain business now and other the coming months.
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340 | New Glass Ceiling: Industry leaders work to shatter barriers for women hotel owners and investors
Whether they’re new to the concept or they’ve worked in lodging for years, women are an emerging force in hotel development, investment and ownership. Several industry leaders are making significant strides in building programs that encourage and support women interested in becoming hotel owners and investors. This report examines new projects and updates the status of existing efforts by industry leaders to recruit women as owners and help them hurdle barriers such as critical access to capital.