We’re trying something different today.
We’ve teamed up with a group called Next Generation in Lodging, a diverse team of mid-career hospitality professionals who want to have significant input into the future of the hospitality industry.
We’ve worked with them to produce and provide a platform for a panel discussion about diversity and inclusion in the hospitality industry.
We featured the Next Generation in Lodging co-founders in episode 275 that reported on the hacking of their Inclusion is a Unicorn Part 1 webinar on Zoom. We also explored the social awakening taking place throughout the country and the manifestation of inequality in the hospitality industry.
Today, we’re bringing you Inclusion is a Unicorn Part 2.
The returning panelists are Ashli Johnson, assistant dean at the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management in San Antonio, Texas, and founder of Hospitality Leaders of Today, a non-profit dedicated to identifying and developing minority leaders; Tejal Patel, founder, president and CEO of Neem Tree Hospitality in League City, Texas; and Aron LeFevre, director of human rights for World Pride: Copenhagen 2021.
The conversation is rich with honest sharing on issues the industry might view as sensitive or uncomfortable.
Resources and Links
The Hunter Hotel Investment Conference will be the industry’s first large event to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. The Atlanta event will be a hybrid format of in-person and virtual access, also an industry first. Lee Hunter, chairman of the conference, knows the level of expectation is high among other conference planners as well as industry professionals eager to network after more than a yearlong hiatus. Episode 316 of Lodging Leaders podcast features Hunter as he tells what it takes to re-launch the industry’s conference circuit amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The coronavirus crisis has dramatically altered the traditional competitive set most hotels use to benchmark their business performance. During the pandemic, properties have reduced services; they’ve closed either permanently or temporarily; or they’ve transitioned to alternative uses by contracting out to essential travelers or social agencies in search of housing. Episode 315 explores the genesis of the hotel industry comp set and how the COVID-19 outbreak has changed the strategic business tool. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.