The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News

Matt Lederer, director of acquisitions at The Sirius Hotel Group, joins the podcast this month to discuss his company's partnership, and his history with, Marriott International.

Manesh Balani, managing director of Dubai-based procurement firm Orsini SPI, joined “The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News” podcast to discuss how the U.S.-Iran war forced his company to adapt its strategy for meeting the supply needs of its hotel clients in the region.

On this episode of The Upgrade, Marloes Knippenberg, CEO of Kerten Hospitality, said her and her company’s goal always has been to bring a fresh approach to the hotel and hospitality scene, starting a little more than a decade ago when owners began to want something different from a long list of brand standards. In the podcast with Terence Baker, news editor, EMEA, Knippenberg said that owner sea...

The world of work is changing, with younger generations likely to have several careers, not just one linear one, said Chris Mumford, managing director at Cervus Leadership Consulting.

Christie & Co.’s Carine Bonnejean joins the podcast to discuss how Spain and Italy top the table of hotel investment appetite in Europe. Italian destinations beyond Milan, Rome and Venice are coming to the attention of hotel investors.

STR’s Sarah Duignan joined The Upgrade podcast to discuss global hotel performance highlights from full-year 2025 data, including the huge impact of Formula 1 races in markets such as Abu Dhabi.

Veteran hotel and hospitality consultant Bridget Baker, owner of Bridget Baker Consulting, joins the show to talk about how the U.K. government's November budget has put more pressure on hotel operations across the country.

A&O Hotels & Hostels has expanded its name to include hotels and is pondering the establishment of a premium or luxury hostel brand, so said its CEO Oliver Winter, with its newly acquired hotel, the former DoubleTree by Hilton, Docklands Riverside, likely to be the test case.

China Daily's Mingjie Wang joins "The Upgrade" to discuss the full recovery of Chinese outbound travel demand and how hoteliers can get their market share.

Katharine Le Quesne, managing director at hospitality advisory HoCoSo, joins the podcast to discuss the state of the hotel industry's sustainability initiatives. Despite some pushback in certain parts of the world, sustainability remains a strategic focus of many hotel firms.

STR's William Anns joins the podcast to talk about why Southern Europe continues to shine in terms of hotel performance and dives into how hotels have fared during the recent Oasis tour compared to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

Wesam Okasha, managing director of TUI Blue Hotels, joins The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News podcast to discuss how TUI has evolved from being solely a package and all-inclusive tourism firm to one with standalone, in-house hotel brands TUI Blue and The Mora.

Kevin Edwards, CEO of Hospitality Technology Advisory, joined The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News to discuss the business case for more artificial intelligence in the hotel industry.

In this episode of The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News, Hotel News Now talks with STR’s Alex Robinson about the continuing demand boost across the hotel industry in Europe, Middle East and Africa. However, the 2025 events calendar in Europe isn't quite as robust as 2024 with both the Olympics in Paris and the European Football Championships across in Germany.

In this episode of The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News, Hotel News Now chats with Studio Moren's Sharon Grob and David Harte about how design makes hotels stand out for guests and add value to owners. 

Dimitris Manikis, president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said his firm Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is perfectly placed to take full benefit of the new surge in franchising seen across Europe.

The success of serviced apartments as a lodging type and burgeoning asset class has grown in recent years. But Cheval Collection executive Daniel Johansson says the segment needs more and better product offerings.

Cristina Balekjian, director of United Kingdom hospitality analytics at CoStar, joins The Upgrade to talk about how Oasis' first tour in 16 years could rival Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in terms of travel demand.

STR’s Tom Emanuel joins The Upgrade: The Hotel News Now Europe, Middle East and Africa podcast to discuss hotel performance in Paris during the recent 2024 Olympic Games and mentions a few of his favorite sporting moments from this and other Olympics.