What does it take to build hotel leaders who go on to lead hotels of their own?
Learn how people-first leadership, culture, and long-term team development create stronger operations and better guest results.

Guest: Dieter Schmitz, General Manager at Sofitel, Accor, hospitality veteran of nine openings, and a leader known for developing future GMs while driving major hotel transformations.

Key takeaways for hospitality leaders

• Build a culture where strong number twos grow into confident hotel leaders
• Use hands-on leadership to create loyalty, accountability, and better guest experience
• Invest in team culture to reduce turnover and protect long-term performance
• Lead through openings, pressure, and transformation without losing your people

Host: Cesar Wurm leads a candid conversation on mentorship, culture, career growth, and what it really means to build leaders instead of just filling roles.

Follow The Future of Hospitality for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, leadership, and guest experience.

Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality.

Reinvention that actually fills the dining room: how to reset a fine-dining signature and win guests in a new market.
Practical leadership, conscious sourcing, and marketing tactics from a chef who left a 13-year career to start fresh in Bali.
Syrco Bakker, chef and culinary creator and founder of Syrco BASÈ, built a two-mission kitchen at Pure Sea and trained in three-star kitchens, now leading a reinvented concept in Bali.
- Learn a repeatable process to rework concept and menu to align with conscious lifestyles so you attract high-value guests.
- Use team-led R&D and a clear culture to scale creativity so your kitchen performs consistently under pressure.
- Market a destination restaurant efficiently: track data, target feeder markets, and leverage credible micro-influencers to drive bookings.
- Balance purpose and profitability with practical steps to protect margins while advancing traceability and sustainability.
Follow The Future Of Hospitality for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality

Stop guessing rates. Start shaping profit with speed and trust.
How to make revenue management the commercial center that drives NOI and operational alignment.
Jason D'Agostino is a certified revenue management executive at Visions Hotels who has overseen 70+ assets and a portfolio exceeding 300 million in top line room revenue. Host Tim Boersma explores how operators can use revenue strategy, technology and communication to deliver measurable results.
- Turn tactical rate changes into a commercial strategy that increases net operating income.
- Leverage AI and modern RMS to execute faster while validating anomalies with human judgment.
- Gain actionable communication techniques to build owner and GM trust and approve pricing changes.
- Apply operational insights from food and beverage and P&L thinking to protect margins per occupied room.
Follow The Future of Hospitality for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality

Struggling to attract and retain hospitality talent?
Practical hiring fixes you can apply this week from an industry insider.

Guest: Kim Loman, Founder of The Hospitality Recruiters, Amsterdam. With 18 years placing talent from part-time to director level and building international hiring and verification programs, he shares actionable tactics for busy leaders.

- Improve applicant conversion by rewriting vacancy pages to lead with your story and clear candidate benefits
- Cut hiring waste by adopting ATS workflows and verified candidate profiles that save time and money
- Reduce turnover by embedding simple retention practices that make staff feel seen and boost loyalty
- Accelerate integration of international hires with structured onboarding and local support to raise performance
Follow The Future of Hospitality for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality

Navigate people crises and build a resilient hospitality culture today.

Hear how HR becomes the strategic engine for retention, growth, and guest excellence.
Nicole Bon, HR Director People and Culture at Corendon, shares hands-on leadership lessons from COVID, talent strategy, and practical AI use in hospitality.
- Lead through crises while protecting staff morale and trust
- Free teams from repetitive tasks with AI so they focus on guest impact
- Attract and retain diverse talent using flexible, tailored role design
- Embed fairness and visibility so culture is felt, not just stated
Follow Room for Talent for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality

Fix underperforming hotels by getting inside operations and people, not just systems.
Learn how to recruit, coach and structure agile management for short-term owner timelines.
Guest: Clare Anna Gamon, leader of London Rock Partners, a hands-on operator who has worked in hotels since her 20s and now manages 17 hotels across the UK.
- Pinpoint leadership gaps fast so you can turn revenue and guest satisfaction around
- Build autonomy in general managers to boost accountability and operational performance
- Use pre-arrival tech to reduce front desk admin and create a warmer arrival experience
- Structure flexible management agreements that match modern owner timeframes and protect margins
Follow The Future of Hospitality for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality

Sick of overcomplicated revenue strategies? Learn how simplicity and commercial leadership unlock profit for independent hotels.
Niek Kollau shows how to turn chain-level structure into practical wins for small properties.
Guest: Niek Kollau, commercial 'co-pilot' and revenue management consultant at Rev&U, former NH revenue manager and coffee-shop owner, with hands-on experience building commercial structure for independents.
Key takeaways
- Build a clear commercial structure to raise margins and stop reactive price moves
- Use guest profiles to target distribution, attract higher-yield segments and reduce OTA dependence
- Implement year planning and simple segmentation for predictable occupancy and smoother operations
- Add low-cost direct-channel benefits to drive more profitable direct bookings without price wars
Expect practical examples on OTA pricing, direct-channel add-ons and converting guest experience into pricing power.
Follow Revenue Management Playbook for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality

Turn everyday interactions into lasting community impact.
Learn how small leadership choices build workforce pipelines for hospitality.
Stuart Brown, Executive Director of the Inspire Brands Foundation at Inspire Brands, leads youth empowerment, education and community impact initiatives and brings corporate, nonprofit, and startup experience.
- Create a steady pipeline of work-ready hires by adopting workforce readiness practices.
- Strengthen retention and culture so teams become sources of local influence and pride.
- Multiply community impact by converting grants into year-long accelerator support for nonprofits.
- Lead with agency and small wins to generate momentum across restaurants and regions.
Follow The Future of Hospitality for weekly insights into hospitality, hotels, and guest experience.
Disclaimer: This podcast shares stories, experiences, and opinions from hosts and guests. They are personal perspectives only and not statements of fact or official advice from The Future of Hospitality