Travel Industry CEO Interviews

We're calling 2017 as the year when loyalty becomes an even bigger focus for hotels, if it isn't already. Why? Because there's no better time than now to try to capture a consumer's loyalty, or to engage with them, even if the landscape is becoming a lot more competitive, and consumers, overall, aren't quite as "loyal" as they used to be.

Even though every day with the new Trump administration seems unpredictable, early signs have convinced many in the hotel industry that this might just be the year that corporate travel rebounds from its 2016 slump. However, given the new executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, some executives throughout the travel industry may be rethinking their outlook on corporate travel.

You don't have to be a hotelier or a business executive to appreciate the insights and tales shared by the former Starwood CEO in his new book. This is especially the case at a time when everything around us seems to be in a state of transition or disruption, no matter the industry.

Unlike Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta finds a bit of optimism in the new U.S. administration change, at least when it comes to corporate business travel.

Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian knows the key to managing disruption and challenges is to focus on the basics: the customer, and the people serving them.

Some old-school companies talk about embracing start-up thinking without knowing what that really means. This, though, is what they wish it looked like in practice.

Here's what the industry's top leaders told us in 2016.

This has been the year that Wyndham stepped up its interest in urban rentals. It still lags behind Airbnb in terms of the overall numbers but is banking on its tag-line of "peer-to-peer plus" winning over potential hosts and travelers.

The BestCities Global Alliance and Dubai Business Events are focusing more on how convention bureaus can collaborate with association conference organizers to create a longer legacy impact of business events for both the organizations and host destinations.

For the past five years, Mark Schwab has tried to manage a complex alliance of nearly 30 airlines. Given the number of differing opinions involved, Schwab has had one of the more difficult jobs in the airline industry.