The first of its kind, The Hospitality Show is a bold new event for the entire hospitality ecosystem with one shared goal: operating hotels efficiently and profitably. Brought to you by The American Hotel & Lodging Association and Hotel Management, the event will bring together top industry leaders, senior executives of hotel brands, owners, operators, management companies and procurement specialists—and their teams—to discover, network and drive profitability.
Business accelerates when the right people are in the room, and this new weekly series of advisory board interviews goes 1:1 with the industry’s best and brightest as they build the inaugural event to be held June 27-29, 2023 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
In this installment, we catch up with David Goldstone, EVP and chief sales officer at World Cinema.
What issues are currently causing headaches for the industry?
Goldstone: There are numerous issues currently causing headaches with supply chain at the top of the list followed closely by cybersecurity and staffing/labor shortages, which have become a huge global issue.
What will it take for those issues to smooth out and when do you anticipate that will happen?
Goldstone: With global political unrest being the main factor coupled with the lack of raw materials and rising fuel and energy costs, all three issues are going to have to eased and resolved. Our industry is going to have to show potential employees that we are long-term industry employer where careers can be life-long—starting from busboy or girl all the way to the corner office. As far as security is concerned, we as an industry must increase our security “hygiene” by updating software coupled with intense training on what to look for to protect our systems, staff, and customers.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2023?
Goldstone: Hyper-personalization, bleisure and hotel workspaces changing to consider the growing global “work from home” generation following COVID. AI – especially as related to language chatbots adept at imitating human conversational versatility.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry as we make our way through 2023?
Goldstone: Personalized relationships across the entire industry coupled with the pre-COVID travel numbers making the outlook for 2023 one of the greatest in our industry.
What do you think the industry’s biggest win this year will be?
Goldstone: The occupancy numbers with travelers returning to pre-COVID numbers.
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
Goldstone: Connecting with industry leaders across numerous departments from operations, technology, and executive management to discuss existing business but more importantly what new technologies are being looked at over the next three to five years. I am also looking forward to the interaction between hospitality and allied industries such as the airline industry that is so critical to our business.