HN Originals

HN Podcast
Podcast Sales & Marketing

Hilton Grand Vacations COO Gordon Gurnik on Innovating Timeshare Experiences and Expanding Global Horizons

Hospitality Net recently had the opportunity to speak with Gordon Gurnik, COO of Hilton Grand Vacations, about the company's evolution, innovations, and future plans. Gurnik explained that Hilton Grand Vacations is a standalone public company closely affiliated with Hilton Worldwide, managing over 720,000 members across more than 200 properties worldwide. The company prioritizes team member investment to reduce turnover and maintain high service standards, supporting seamless guest experiences. Hilton Grand Vacations is positioned as the world's largest timeshare company, committed to evolving with market trends and delivering value through technology and memorable vacations.

Adam Mogelonsky in conversation with Gordon Gurnik
HN Original
Interview Sustainability

How Club Mahindra Quietly Solved Hospitality’s Biggest Plastic Problem

India’s hospitality industry is waking up to a silent pollutant: "Plastic". While many hotel chains are still searching for alternatives, Club Mahindra has already turned sustainability into action. Partnering with WAE, the brand has installed in-house Glass Bottling Plants (GBPs) across its resorts systems that purify, bottle, and reuse glass containers, completely eliminating the need for single-use plastic bottles.

Binita Singh in conversation with Henri Roelings
India
HN TV
Interview Sales & Marketing

Beyond Price: The Future of Hotel Upselling and Cross-Selling

In this insightful interview, Scott Dahl and Mercedes Blanco discuss the evolving landscape of upselling and cross-selling in the hotel industry heading into 2026. They highlight how traveler preferences have shifted away from just prices and views toward meaningful, personalized experiences, emphasizing the emotional story behind offers. Mercedes shares her extensive expertise in digital marketing and hospitality technology, underscoring the fast-paced integration of AI in enhancing guest experiences, marketing strategies, and direct booking channels.

Mercedes Blanco in conversation with Scott Dahl
HN Original
Opinion Article Sales & Marketing

Why your upsell strategy is failing: When digital & voice live in different worlds

Upselling should be a seamless part of the guest journey, elevating the experience for guests, while strengthening the bottom line. Yet many properties invest heavily in offers, scripts, and campaigns — only to see limited return. The root cause is rarely the quality of the upgrade itself, but the disconnect between digital browsing behavior and voice-channel conversations.

By Shira Wilkofsky, Marketing Performance Manager, Main Street Hospitality Group
HN TV
Interview Technology

Tech-Enabled Hospitality: Humanity, Innovation, and the Future Guest Experience

Jessica Gillingham, founder and CEO of Abode Worldwide, joins Simone Puorto for an engaging discussion about her recent book, "Tech-Enabled Hospitality." As a seasoned communicator with nearly a decade of experience in the hospitality and short-term rental technology space, Jessica explores the profound transformation underway in the industry, where technology is reshaping both operational delivery and the very nature of guest experiences. Her work brings together insights from over thirty-eight leaders in technology and hospitality, giving the book a rich, multifaceted perspective.

Simone Puorto in conversation with Jessica Gillingham
HN Original
Opinion Article Technology

How to Survive AI in 2026: Ten Coordinates for the Future of Hospitality

To write about the future is, inevitably, to be wrong about the future. I have repeated this for years, and yet, it remains the truest sentence I know. The mistake, however, is not a failure of prediction but a form of knowledge. We now inhabit a “post-postmodern”, almost “post-futurist” condition, a time in which tomorrow no longer stretches ahead as a horizon but hovers above us like a permanent update, endlessly refreshing itself. And although the Singularity that Kurzweil foresaw two decades ago has not yet fully arrived, his law of accelerating returns already permeates the present, altering our perception of time and possibility. Within this landscape, those of us who attempt to understand technology are no longer prophets, but rather cartographers of the impermanent, tracing transient patterns across the shifting topography of innovation. What follows, therefore, are not laws but coordinates, ten mutable constellations, ten subtle tremors that delineate the tectonic rewriting of business, technology, and meaning itself. Because the future, in the end, is no longer what it used to be.

By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net
HN Podcast
Podcast Sales & Marketing

Health Is the New Wealth: How Equinox Hotels Is Redefining Luxury Through High-Performance Living

This interview with the visionary Chris Norton, CEO of Equinox Hotels, explores how the brand is redefining modern luxury hospitality through a foundation of health, wellness and high-performance living. His team's leadership is helping make Equinox Hotels a platform for a new generation of travelers who prioritize longevity and vitality by looking for those brands that can meet this lifestyle. Health really is the new wealth. With the utmost attention to detail with the development and launch of the brand's first hotel in New York, Equinox Hotels is creating experiences that elevate guests' physical and mental well-being across every single in-room and onsite amenity.

Adam Mogelonsky in conversation with Christopher Norton
HN Original
Interview Sales & Marketing

Redefining Loyalty: Accor's Kerry Healy on Personalisation, Technology and Human Connection

As Chief Commercial Officer for Accor’s Premium, Midscale & Economy Division across the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, Kerry Healy oversees some of the most diverse and fast-evolving hospitality markets in the world. In this exclusive interview, she discusses how Accor is harnessing data and AI to deliver hyper-personalised experiences at scale—without losing the human touch. From redefining loyalty beyond points and perks to embedding emotional connection and cultural relevance into every stay, Healy shares how Accor’s vision for hospitality blends innovation with authenticity to create meaningful, lasting relationships with guests.

Henri Roelings in conversation with Kerry Healy
HN Original
Opinion Article Human Resources

Interview: What Ocean Wisdom Can Teach Hospitality Leaders - A Conversation with Professor Ioannis S. Pantelidis

In a world where hotels, restaurants, and tourism organisations face unprecedented complexity - from digital disruption to climate challenges - Professor Ioannis S. Pantelidis of Ulster University invites us to look beneath the surface. His latest work, REEF: Transformational Leadership, draws on lessons from the ocean’s most adaptive ecosystems to inspire a new form of leadership - one that is rhythmic, empathetic, and resilient.

By Ioannis S. Pantelidis and Henri Roelings
HN Original
Opinion Article Technology

Predicting the Present: When AI is the new UI

Two years ago, when my book "We Are The Glitch" came out, I wrote something that felt more like a provocation than a prediction. At the time, the idea that platforms like Expedia Group or Booking.com could live inside a conversational interface sounded speculative, even poetic. And yet, this week, with OpenAI announcing native apps within ChatGPT and naming those very brands among the first integrations, that line between vision and reality has vanished.

By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net
HN Podcast
Podcast Sales & Marketing

Building the Future of Hospitality: An Interview with Niko Karstikko, Co-Founder & CEO of Bob W

This interview features Niko Karstikko, the Co-Founder & Group CEO of Bob W, an innovative hospitality company blending the comfort and consistency of hotels with the authentic local experience and affordability of short-stay rentals, designed for modern, tech-savvy travelers who mix business and leisure stays. Founded in 2017-2018, Bob W operates in commercial properties under appropriate legal frameworks and emphasizes scalability, flexibility, and sustainability through technology - such as app-enabled self-service amenities, partnerships with local gyms and restaurants, and a tech stack for guest and operational services. Their average stay length is about 4 nights and they have expanded across 19 cities in 11 European countries

Niko Karstikko in conversation with Adam Mogelonsky
HN Podcast
Podcast Sales & Marketing

Beyond Luxury: Ori Kafri’s Vision of Human-Centered Hospitality at J.K. Place

Ori Kafri introduces J.K. Place as a family-founded boutique hotel brand that defines "boutique" not by design trends, but by personal, tailor-made hospitality. With three intimate properties in Capri, Rome, Paris, and soon Milan, each averaging around 30 rooms, Kafri describes the brand"s essence as creating "homes" rather than hotels - spaces where guests feel personally known and individually cared for. He contrasts J.K."s approach to larger hotel chains, which he likens to luxury fashion houses, while J.K. Place aspires to be the "tailor-made suit" - a bespoke experience built through genuine human connection.

Ori Kafri in conversation with Adam Mogelonsky
HN Original
Opinion Article Sales & Marketing

Why fewer options means more bookings

Picture this: Caroline is a business traveler who has stayed at your hotel before and has left glowing reviews. On her previous trips, she has always stopped at your gift store after checkout to buy her young kids gifts. Imagine utilizing hotel guest segmentation to send Caroline an offer to bring her young kids with her to celebrate the holiday season. You list the right room options, include information about the kids’ club, and offer a spa voucher for the afternoon when kids are enjoying themselves at the club. Booking is easy.

By Karen Stephens, Chief Marketing Officer, Revinate, Inc.
HN Original
Interview

Leading with Empathy and Purpose in Singapore: A Conversation with Angeline Tan of Momentus Hospitality

With more than three decades of experience in hospitality and real estate, Angeline Tan brings a seasoned yet people-centric perspective to her dual role as Senior Vice President of SingHaiyi Hospitality and Momentus Hospitality. Founded in 2022 under the umbrella of the SingHaiyi Group, Momentus Hospitality is a Singapore-headquartered operator dedicated to creating memorable guest experiences and lasting legacies. In this interview, Tan reflects on her leadership journey, shares how Momentus Hospitality is shaping its culture and nurturing talent, and offers her vision for the future of leadership in the hospitality industry.

Henri Roelings in conversation with Angeline Tan
HN Original
Opinion Article Sales & Marketing

Guest segmentation in 2025: Moving beyond broad-brush marketing with AI

Anna is planning a business trip to Tokyo. Eager to get the best recs for the city, she whips out her smartphone and finds a hotel touting everything she wants. She books her stay within minutes. Her dream stay wishlist was made possible by AI — and behind that magic is guest segmentation. Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI tools can now segment data (like intent, behaviors, or loyalty preferences) and instantly spin up personalized recommendations that feel one-to-one, not one-to-many.

By Henri Roelings and Karen Stephens
HN Original
Opinion Article Sales & Marketing

AI Max, Ads in AI Overviews and the End of the Hyperlink Economy: Hotel Marketing in the Post-Search Age

For thirty years, the web has been a system of exits, a labyrinth of blue underlined doors pointing outward, each page no more than a step toward another place. With the global launch of AI Max for Search and, more generally, “Ads in AI Overviews” (awaiting a shorter name or acronym… AIO, maybe?), Google will likely invert this very ontology. The centrifugal logic of hyperlinks will collapse into a centripetal mechanism, where answers no longer reside elsewhere but are generated, framed, and monetized in place, with no escape. This is not a cosmetic refresh or one of those algorithmic oscillations that SEOs obsessively chart. It is a tectonic rupture, a rewriting of the rules that sustained the entire economy of discovery. The line between information and promotion, between organic and paid, between presence and intrusion, dissolves. For the hotel sector, which has always fought for visibility on the precarious margins of the SERP, this is nothing less than the advent of a new era, the one I have long described as the “post-search” world.

By Simone Puorto, Head of Emerging Trends and Strategic Innovation, Hospitality Net