No Show

Jeff and Matt speak with Heather Heverling, President and Managing Director of Audley Travel, about the stratospheric rise of bespoke travel, the purchasing power of solo female travelers, the growing desire for unique in-country experiences, the need for local connections, the trip that totally subverted her expectations, and what makes Audley Travel different in the travel market. https://www.au...

Glenn Haussman's podcast No Vacancy is essential listening for anyone in the business, featuring notable names in the industry, coverage of major events, and reportage on ideas and economics. He joins us to talk luxury, labor costs, practicing the art of optimism in 2025, sustainability, and, of course, Phish. https://novacancynews.com/ https://www.instagram.com/travelingglenn/

Questions like: What's the secret number hotel people really care about? Is the hotel market oversaturated in the U.S.? Are there any markets that really are oversaturated though? What's an underserved luxury market? Who are the hotel winners in 2025? Who's making lemonade? And is the hotel concierge truly dead?

Fear, money, and restrictions are a combustible mixture in any business sector, but in travel it can be a death knell for some businesses. The tariff situation is changing daily, and while the emphasis has been on physical goods, there is a growing shadow on tourism. Aran Ryan, Director of Industry Studies at Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company, talks about how trade wars negatively aff...

Regenerative tourism focuses on leaving places better than you found them, supporting local economies, preserving culture, and protecting the environment. How does that translate to street-level tourism? Does the term "regenerative" suffer from the same thing that plagues "sustainability"—where rhetoric is strong and the action remains weak? Travelers regularly rate sustainabil...

Flying through a perfect storm of staff shortages, archaic technology, DOGE crosshairs, and mounting safety concerns, America's air traffic control system stands at a critical crossroads. So, how can we fix all this? Master of the Air Greg Aretakis returns to guide us to the runway, providing a 101 course on how air traffic control works.

Overtourism is one of those sprawling topics that everybody in the travel business has opinions on. Solutions are a bit more complicated, but let's dig in with tourism taxes, diversionary tactics, bans on cruise ships, the rise of "de-marketing," tax credits for better business practices, caps on hotel construction, and other tools that make our lives and our travel plans a bit less...

On a stunningly regular basis, Pulitzer Prize winner Carley Thornell delivers insightful stories about sustainability, design, adventure, health, and travel. We talk space tourism, secret hotels, how people think about luxury, what Trump 2.0 means for tourism, the tax on families when they travel, and lots, lots more. https://muckrack.com/carley-d-thornell/articles  

When people say that someone needs no introduction, we think they're talking about View From The Wing's Gary Leff. He is one of the world's foremost experts in miles, points, and frequent business travel.  Gary talks with us about the math behind airline loyalty programs, how he comes across the strangest stories in travel, the differences between airlines and hotels when they start...

The hardest working man in hotel research talks with us about the state of hotel brand acquisitions, optimism among investors about urban markets and luxury assets, and how hotels can learn from Taylor Swift (can't we all?). Plus: What's the most overrated statistic in hotel research? What's one piece of unvarnished advice he'd give to a new investment group? Why are partnershi...

Rejoice America, Jeff and Matt answer critical questions from fake listeners. If we could change one thing about the travel industry, what would it be? What are some of the best travel and travel business articles we've read this year? What's the next hot destination? What's the biggest trend coming for the industry in 2025? Whatever happened to Yakov Smirnoff? Articles we mention:...

CBRE's Rachel Rothman and Christine Bang understand hotel brand performance and equity analysis like very few others in this business. We talk about the overall health grade they'd give to hotel loyalty programs, what we mean when we talk about luxury, hospitality partnerships aiming to reach new audiences, how loyalty programs can grow, and way, way more. https://www.cbre.com/insights/r...

If Greg Aretakis had a coaching tree, it would literally include every CEO and high-ranking executive in the airline industry. We talk with the Midwest Express Airlines president about the much-needed role of mid-sized airlines, how antitrust investigations get started, the future of private air travel and small airfields, whether completely electric planes will ever fly, and so so so much more!

Steve Rushmore can tell you everything, and I mean everything about your hotel. His "Rushmore Approach" for allocating a hotel’s total value is the stuff of lore, but how do you even begin to evaluate a hotel's worth? What are all the factors that go into it? What makes for a particularly difficult appraisal? Is the "income approach" really the best way to appraise a hotel...

When we fly, most of us have no idea what kind of plane we're on, we just get in and go. Travel and airline journalist Edward Russell tells us what kinds of planes dominate the U.S. market, why they dominate the market, how long planes stay in circulation, and the process for buying, selling, and regulating big ol' jet airliners. Plus: America's best small airport, one thing he&apos...

Are "sensory inclusive" cities possible? Why do we take the basic UX of airports, hotels, and public spaces for granted? What's the report card on hotel and travel company marketing to LGBTQ+ audiences? What's the problem with carbon offsets? And why aren't more airports like PDX? Matt and Jeff solve mysteries and speak truths with JD Shadel, a London-based strategist, edi...

Like a prophet emerging from the haze of the Arizona desert, our guest Holly Zoba leads hospitality brands to the promised land. She has decades of experience in hotel sales and marketing, and has founded, co-founded, or been essential to companies that are dedicated to educating generations of hotel professionals. Her classes are THE gold standard of hospitality sales training, and we talk about...

Travel inspires us to imagine and the American Field Service is a special catalyst. President Tara Boyce-Hofmann shares with No Show the spark that AFS-USA unleashes through the unlimited power of young minds to dream. To become global citizens. To question the ethics of borders and practice diplomatic dialog. https://www.afsusa.org/ https://www.instagram.com/afs_usa

This time of year is known as RFP season, the glorious time when corporate America sends their travel planners to conferences like GBTA (Global Business Travel Association) to negotiate prices and with hotels for next year. A time of wonder and mystery! If it were a company, the federal government would be the largest travel buyer of hotel stays in America, possibly in the world. And not by a litt...

Isaac Collazo is VP of Analytics at STR, Smith Travel Research, THE global leader in hospitality data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. What does that mean? It means when it comes to hotel numbers, nobody understands them like Isaac, but what he really understands, Moneyball style, is the story behind the data. We get into STR reports, what metaphor Isaac would use to describe the...

The airline industry. Brian Sumers lives it, he breathes, he speaks truth about it unlike anybody else. He is the founder and editor of The Airline Observer , a newsletter covering the global airline business. He's also co-host of The Air Show in which he discusses the business of the sky. Brian talks with Jeff and Matt about shenanigans at Southwest Airlines, whether inbound flight traffic f...

Every day David Eisen translates the avalanche of data and news about the hotel industry into something everyone, not just people in the business, but everyone, can understand. He joins Jeff and Matt to talk about the rise of partnerships among hotel management companies, the ever-multiplying number of hotel brands, and the impact of flashy stunts on loyalty programs. https://hotelsmag.com/ https:...

CoralTree Hospitality's Arlene Ramirez and HotStats' Tanya Venegas help us untangle and understand the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), an essential tool that guides financial management and reporting across hotels. How it started, why hotels use it, and how it's staying up-to-date. https://usali.hftp.org/ https://www.hftp.org/ https://www.hotstats.com/ h...

The CEO and co-founder of Kalibri Labs on the (many) existential threats to the hospitality industry, Uber and Facebook as players in the travel business, the challenges and opportunities around loyalty programs, and the hotel revenue buzzword that needs to go away. 00:50 Existential Threats to the Hotel Industry 04:40 When Will Amazon Return To Travel? 10:40 Will Uber Be A Player Too? 17:00 Direc...

Have you ever pondered the fate of your hotel soap after check-out? Shawn Seipler did, big time, and it launched him on an extraordinary mission to improve global hygiene. The Clean the World founder joins us to talk about how its Global Hospitality Program works with over 8,000 participants to upcycle soap and tackle some of the deadliest problems on the planet. https://cleantheworld.org https://...