Long Live Lodging is launching a new podcast this Thursday, March 18.
NextGen in Lodging is an organization founded in 2020 by mid-career hospitality professionals with a goal to connect and share new streams of thought and innovation that will revolutionize the hospitality industry in the post-pandemic era.
NextGen in Lodging Episode 01 celebrates Women’s History Month in a conversation with industry entrepreneurs including three self-starters carving unique paths in the hospitality industry. Their ventures encompass hotel investment, management and education. The entrepreneurs tell how they altered business strategy and professional goals amid the coronavirus crisis. NextGen in Lodging co-host Davonne Reaves leads the conversation with Purvi Panwala of Panwala Property Management Corp. and CRC Construction Corp; Andrea Aguilar of Typsy and Preshift; and Kendra Plummer of Elise Capital.
Ginny Morrison of Evanston, Illinois, is a 33-year veteran of Spire Hospitality, a hotel management company with a portfolio that spans coast-to-coast. As vice president of sales and marketing, Morrison saw the coronavirus pandemic decimate the meetings business. More than a year later, she’s witnessing a comeback as small-meeting planners are actively booking events for the last half of 2021 and beyond. As public health agencies expand COVID-19 vaccination programs across the U.S. and states ease up on public-gathering restrictions designed to keep the virus at bay, the hotel industry is seeing small meetings begin a comeback. In Episode 317, Long Live Lodging covers the state of the small-meetings sector and how hotels can grab their share of the meetings business during and post-pandemic. This report is part of our ongoing coverage about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the hospitality industry.
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.