217 – The Hospitality Show 2026 Preview with Brandy Rand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svOmRw-XFRU

Cassady Quintana: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. I am so excited to be here with you all today previewing the 2026 Hospitality Show. Believe it or not, it’s rapidly approaching. This year, we are headed down to Miami Beach at the beginning of November. Super excited to jump into this conversation, and no one better to preview this with me than Brandy Rand, Vice President and Market Leader of Hospitality at Questex. Brandy, welcome to the Suite Spot. Thank you for joining me.

Brandy Rand: Thanks for having me.

Cassady Quintana: Super excited to be talking about the event today. This is your first time previewing the episode with us, so I just want to make sure our listeners get to know you a little bit. For those who may not know too much about you, talk to us a little bit how you got into hospitality and your role at Questex.

Brandy Rand: I have spent most of my career actually in the beverage alcohol industry. No better way to represent hospitality than, of course, getting together over a drink. I have worked a lot with the on-premise industry across hotels, bars, and restaurants throughout my career. Then I did a lot of work on the data side of the business around advisory for the beverage alcohol industry and category growth and consumer trends. Interestingly, I spoke at a lot of the conferences that I now oversee, which has been full circle moment over the past decade, going to conferences like the VIBE Conference, or Bar and Restaurant, which is in my portfolio now. I have come full circle and get to work with all of my hospitality colleagues and now really drive those events and those conversations.

Cassady Quintana: That’s awesome. Yeah. Because of that role at Questex, you have a very unique perspective about what’s going on across the industry as you guys prepare for this event. As we head into this year’s Hospitality Show, what are some of the biggest conversations and trends that you’re seeing emerge among hospitality leaders right now?

Brandy Rand: I mean, hotel leaders are being asked to do more and more to make smart decisions across all parts of the business. How are we making teams more productive? How do we simplify operations? Of course, as we know, everyone’s still dealing with really high operating costs that are eroding margin. Where are the opportunities to drive incremental revenue and profitability? Additionally, the consumer is the center of every conversation. What do guests actually value and where should hotels invest? Interestingly, we’ve seen F&B, of course, as an emerging differentiator to increase revenue, but also enhance that customer experience.

Of course, while hotel developments constrained, owners are investing in renovations and finding really smart ways to reposition properties to create new experiences for guests. When we think about all of that, The Hospitality Show is really designed around those real-world operational conversations. Our current agenda covers everything from revenue growth, F&B profitability, AI implementation, workforce development, and even some new consumer insights.

Cassady Quintana: That’s one of my favorite things about The Hospitality Show, because we do have a lot of niche events in hospitality, but this is the one event where you can learn about all aspects. Even, you learn something that you didn’t think you were going to and you can learn about new things that you have interest in. It’s a cool event that way. I want to talk a little bit too about the location, because I know that plays a little bit of a part in it, too. The last three years, you stayed on the West Coast of the states, went from Vegas to Texas. Then last year, we were in Denver. Talk to me a little bit about the decision behind Miami Beach and what we’re most excited about for that.

Brandy Rand: Well, Miami Beach in November is not a bad place to be for anyone.

Cassady Quintana: True.

Cassady Quintana: Of course. But you’re right. I mean, we’re really excited to be in Miami. It’s such a natural hospitality market, hotels, resorts, restaurants, nightlife. Tourism is such a big part of the city, and it gives The Hospitality Show a lot of energy this year. It’s an opportunity that we have to bring together leaders from across the U.S., as well as hospitality communities, connections not only to Florida, but the Caribbean and Latin America. The destination itself is just a really fun place to be. Networking beyond the traditional comfort setting. Most important, our kickoff party is a Miami night themed party Monday night, which is going to be just amazing. We have a really popular DJ we’re going to announce, it’s going to be part of the program and it’s going to kick off the event with the right energy.

Cassady Quintana: I mean, you can’t really have a bad time in Miami. I’m really looking forward to – We’re based out of Orlando, so it’s just a train ride away for us and we’re super excited to be down there. When we think about The Hospitality Show, this is the fourth annual one and how much it’s grown in the past few years. From your perspective, what do you think has resonated most with attendees and helped establish The Hospitality Show as such an important event that so many people look forward to?

Brandy Rand: Well, you alluded to this earlier, right? I mean, there are a lot of hospitality events. You don’t necessarily need another hospitality show, because there are so many. When we’re looking at the event, the reason why we created The Hospitality Show is there was not one event that focused on hotel operations. There’s a lot of investment conferences, there’s a lot of technology conferences, there’s a focus on specific sectors, but this idea of operating, like business of operating hotels, that’s why we created The Hospitality Show around this very specific need.

Hotel professionals don’t have a lot of time and they don’t need another event where they have to search for what’s relevant. What we’re trying to do here is bring together education, solutions, suppliers, bring together industry peers around improving hotel performance, profitability and driving efficiency. The value of being at The Hospitality Show is really, you can accomplish in a few days what would otherwise take months of meetings, of research, of conversations. We’re really bringing the entire hotel ecosystem together across owners, operators, management, companies, franchisees and all the services and products that support their growth. The idea is that when people come to The Hospitality Show, they’re going to leave with those ideas, the relationships, solutions that they can actually put to work in their business right away.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah, I love that. You led me right into my next question, because that is one amazing thing about The Hospitality Show is such a wide range of decision makers that it brings together, like you mentioned, from operators and owners and management groups and people from all different aspects, again, learning from each other and being able to have all of those conversations. Why is it valuable to make sure that people know that that’s what The Hospitality Show is about, is bringing together the entire hotel operations community together in one place?

Brandy Rand: Well, some of the best ideas always come from conversations with people approaching the same challenges from different perspectives. I think of it like a really good dinner party, right? You don’t want to have all the same people with the same backgrounds.

Cassady Quintana: No.

Brandy Rand: And so, bringing together everyone from operations to technology, to designing construction, to procurement, it really just puts everyone in the room and particularly around the owners, operators, management companies, the gyms that operate, it’s just all of the different layers and aspects around running a hotel. That peer-to-peer learning, I think, is a really important and nuanced difference around The Hospitality Show. Operators want to know not only what’s new, but what other operators are implementing and what’s working. We’ve really created a place for those conversations to happen organically.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah, that’s awesome. I think one of the really cool things about hospitality shows, we have Questex, but we also have the AHLA and you guys are collaborating together. How does that collaboration between you two help shape the experience and ensure that the programming that you have going on reflects hotel professionals and what they’re actually facing in their businesses today?

Brandy Rand: Yeah, the American Hospitality and Lodging Association is our long-term partner. We’ve launched the show with them and they are a day-to-day partner in bringing together everything that we’re doing with The Hospitality Show. They bring obviously a deep connection to the hotel community and represent the hotel community across everything that they do in government affairs and representing the industry. They have a real understanding of the issues that are affecting operators. We, of course, bring expertise in building this live experience, is connecting buyers and sellers, these thought leaders and solutions. Together, our teams are staying really close, obviously, and what professionals are facing and building a program around those needs.

Then the results is we get an event that balances this industry leadership, the practical education, networking, and product discovery. And really more importantly, this is an education for education sake, right? The goal is actionable ideas that can improve hotel performance, which everyone, us and AHLA, of course, our whole focus is making sure that we’re providing that value to the industry and bringing together the right people in the room.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah. I love The Hospitality Show, because like you mentioned, you guys are staying very close to what’s happening in the industry, and I know for a lot of hoteliers, they’re busy, right? They’re on the front lines and they can’t always keep up with the trends, or what’s happening, or things that they should know as we head into the holiday season and we prepare for 2027. It’s cool how much the programming can change from year to year too, because something we talked about last year may be more advanced now, or there’s a new trend that’s happening, so it’s always changing. When we talk about the evolvement of The Hospitality Show and how it’s changed over time, a lot of that is a programming and the things we’re talking about, so what’s new for 2026? What programming, or experiences, or opportunities are you excited about for attendees to experience?

Brandy Rand: Yeah. We have a lot of new stuff this year, I’m really excited about. I mean, a major focus this year and our theme is around helping attendees optimize their time on site. We think about our theme is actually optimize, right? Optimize your technology and optimize your guest experience and optimize your time. We were all busy. There’s a lot of demands on time, and we want to make sure that everyone coming to the show is really going to maximize time and investment that they make to come.

The biggest thing we did this year is we organized – our show floor has been reimagined into six solution-driven pavilions. We have a pavilion on technology, one on operations, one on design, one on food and beverage, a commercial pavilion, and then one around hospitality services and strategy. Instead of walking the entire floor, searching for stuff, we have operators that can go directly to the solutions that are relevant to the business. Because ultimately, what happens at The Hospitality Show is you have the hoteliers, the owners, operators that are bringing their teams, and we encourage all of the companies to bring everyone across those different functions, because it is that place, you can bring your team, there’s something for everyone to learn.

These pavilion lounges, then we’ve created across some of the pavilions, are also creating a space for meetings, networking, and some more intentional conversations. How it is when you’re at a trade show floor and you’re meeting with people and you want to sit down and talk, as you get in this great conversation. We created that area just in response to knowing that bringing those people together and having networking spaces is really an important place. We have these new pavilion lounges.

Then what we did that’s really interesting this year, so we have two stages. Last year, we had several stages. We brought everything together on the show floor into one center stage. It is a circular stage, it’s really cool, so it’s going to be right in the middle of the show floor. That’s where we have a lot of programming around actionable education and insights. For everyone that’s walking the show floor, you can sit and see a lot of that programming. Then every year, we also have our visionary stage, which delivers a little bit of this deeper senior level conversations with major hospitality leaders.

The other thing that’s really exciting is, again, and really connecting and getting value out of the program, we have one-to-one THS connect meetings. These are guaranteed meetings. It’s a level of curated one-to-one sourcing for participating qualified buyers. You can sit down and really have – it’s almost like that speed dating idea of sitting down and meeting with the right folks to maximize your business. Then, of course, I talked about the Miami Nights Party, because after all that networking, you need to go have a mojito.

Cassady Quintana: Of course.

Brandy Rand: We’re going to have a really fun Miami Nights experience with a lot of really great activations and lounges that people can build relationships outside the Expo floor. These are all big additions to this show this year. I would also say, some of the popular things from last year that we brought back that are worth mentioning, of course, we’re hosting AHLA’s General Manager Awards. The GM Awards are really big every year, as well as the tech ovation awards on site. Definitely a lot to experience.

Cassady Quintana: That’s awesome. Yeah. I mean, I know there’s an app that people can follow along to make sure they don’t miss anything. Is there anything you want to plug in for the app, so that our listeners know what to expect, or where they can find this information?

Brandy Rand: Yeah. I mean, go to thehospitalityshow.com. We have a ton of information, a really packed agenda to go through all of the different speakers and different sessions. It’s really impressive. I was looking at that again this morning, prepping for our conversation. I was like, “Gosh, this is a really great program.” We have a lot in there that I think will resonate with everyone, and we’re really maximizing that opportunity and those experiences. I think it’ll be a really great opportunity to go and check things out, certainly on the site and learn a little bit more about what we’re doing.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah. Definitely don’t want to miss anything. I’m glad you mentioned the new stage setup you guys are doing, because The Hospitality Show always brings in amazing speakers. This year you’re bringing some of the most influential leaders in hospitality. Who are you excited to hear from and what can attendees look forward to and what conversations are you most excited about?

Brandy Rand: There are so many. There are just a lot of great sessions. Our keynote this year is Duncan Wardle. He’s the former Head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney.

Cassady Quintana: That’s awesome.

Brandy Rand: He’s going to be talking a lot about creativity as a competitive advantage at a time when, of course, AI is reshaping everything in our business. That’s that inspirational conversation from someone who’s had a pretty creative and interesting job at Disney. I’m very excited to hear from Duncan. Then, we also have Chris Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton. He’s going to be talking about the business of hospitality and where the industry is headed. That’s going to be a really great conversation. We have Rich Russo, Principal at Highgate. He’s going to be discussing ways to drive revenue through guest experience and smarter partnerships, a little bit of how to do more with less, which of course is the secret sauce we’d all like to know.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah.

Brandy Rand: We have Amy Hulbert, who’s going to be talking a lot about smarter energy uses to drive hotel profitability. She’s a VP over at BWH Hotel Group. We have Gilda Perez-Alvarado. She’s the Chief Strategy Officer at Accor. She’s going to talk about the partnership economy. We have some really great sessions around things like the Olympics and the World Cup and how that’s driving tourism and revenue in the hotel industry. Then last but not least, I’m very excited about the session that I’m doing.

Cassady Quintana: Of course.

Brandy Rand: We have a new report we just released on consumer insights. This is the first time we’ve done this. You can read in Hotel Management Magazine, which is also ours, a little bit of a sneak peek at some of those insights, but it’s around what hotel guests value. I’m going to be debuting the findings in a bit more detail and then discussing how hoteliers can address these opportunities with some leaders from the Ritz-Carlton, Davidson, and Wyndham.

Cassady Quintana: I mean, that sounds like a great session. Our listeners, make sure you don’t miss Brandy’s session. This is something you don’t want to miss.

Brandy Rand: Yes. Please, come see me right on the center stage.

Cassady Quintana: Yes. Come see her. No, that’s awesome. I’m excited to hear all those speakers, and I love that you guys are having someone from Disney talk about that creative side, because we know AI is the biggest topic that we’re seeing all the time every day, every show there’s some – And it’s important. Of course, we need to talk about it, because we know that tech and AI are going to continue to dominate the industry. We need to stay up to date. Whether you like it or don’t, it’s happening.

It’s funny, because last year when we talked to Alexi about the show, he was mentioning how that face-to-face service is going to become more of a luxury. From your vantage point, how do we make sure that these hotel owners and operators make sure they’re staying up to date with that tech and AI, but not giving up what hospitality was built on, which is that human-to-human connection?

Brandy Rand: Right. We can have a whole separate conversation, of course, on AI and technology. But I think the root of all of it is technology should enable hospitality, not replace it. I think we’re at a stage where everyone wants real examples of how to deploy AI in practice. Things like, where can AI remove repetitive admin work, how can it improve forecasting, how can it streamline scheduling, and then also personalize the guest experience, which I think is an important part, right? How can AI go back around to give you better information and data and insight to improve that guest experience?

Interestingly, this consumer report I just mentioned that we did, one of the findings was that human touch is still such a foundation of guest loyalty, and 86% of people actually stay loyal to a hotel based on how friendly the staff is. That first greeting and acknowledgement really sets the tone. If we step back and think about technology, it really should be giving employees more time to then interact meaningfully with guests. That’s a win. How can technology help us save time on that admin stuff, but then allow us to improve that guest experience face-to-face?

We look at things like, how should operators evaluate technology on the impact? How does it improve efficiency, save time, generate revenue, help employees, and of course, improve that guest experience? At the end of the day, as you said, hospitality is always fundamentally human. I think the opportunity for technology is just giving people more capacity to deliver that.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah, and I think we’re seeing a trend now, too, of people – we still want technology to enhance our lives and make everything more efficient. This is the same on the traveler side, right? We want my booking process to be simple and the technology to work. We want the Wi-Fi to work. But when it comes down to having to talk to somebody, we want them to be there, we want them to be friendly, and we want the hotel to have a friendly staff. I think there’s a balance on the traveler side, as well as on the operation side to find that middle road of tech and still keeping that human touch. I think we’re going to see an interesting development over time of, I mean, I’m seeing people go back to flip phones and much more analog lifestyle. How that’s going to translate with balancing technology is going to be really interesting.

I’m glad we’re talking about this face-to-face connection time, because you did mention those pavilions and places for people to sit down and network. For maybe the first-time attendee who’s never been to the show before, this is also a new feature you guys are having, what’s some advice you would give to them to make sure that they’re getting the most out of the show?

Brandy Rand: It’s funny. I always tell people, because people sort of, you book a ticket, you go, you show up and then it’s like, wow, there’s so much going on. It’s plan. It’s like, plan everything ahead of time. Come with, what are your top two or three business challenges? What part of the business do you sit in? Are you in procurement? Are you in housekeeping? Are you in technology? What are you doing for your organization and what are the things that are challenged to your business? That way, you can really look through the agenda and the things we’re doing and identify the sessions, the people that you want to interact with to make sure that you’re not missing those sessions, because we do have a lot of things going on.

I think reviewing those pavilions and determining which areas matter most is going to be such a huge, I think, impact on the show floor experience. Again, if you’re someone who is focused on technology and solutions and you’re being tasked with finding some of those new solutions, you can go to that area and then find all of those vendors and suppliers in one place, which I think is going to be really helpful. Figure out, what do you do, what are your challenges? Then how do you look and build your education and your show floor experience around those priorities. I would say, don’t just attend sessions. These events are always great. You never know who you’re going to stand next to at the cocktail party and who you’re going to be next to in a lounge, who you’re going to meet. Talk to your peers as well that are at the show floor and ask them what they’re doing and use those lounges for conversations and meetings.

Schedule stuff ahead of time. You mentioned our app before, so all registrants get access to who also is going to be there. You will find people that you maybe are saying, “Wow, that was great. I didn’t know you’re going to be there. Let’s meet up.” Plan ahead. But then, there’s also that room for discovery, right? Because some of the most valuable things, sometimes you find at shows like this weren’t necessarily what you came looking for. You walk and see a solution that you didn’t know existed, and I think that’s that interesting part is the discovery.

The last thing I’ll mention, which we did last year, which we’re really excited to bring back that was so popular, is our Emerging Leaders Program. It was just really resonated so strongly with not only those younger emerging leaders, but also a lot of those more advanced in their careers, looking at, making sure that we’re really advocating for a career in hospitality and the value of being in hospitality and planning and growing your career. We have an Emerging Leaders Program that are dedicated sessions. There’s mentorship opportunities and also peer-to-peer networking for those not only early in their hospitality career, but those who are advancing to the next stage.

We all know in the hospitality industry, right, making sure we find and recruit the right talent and really share learning and opportunities in the hospitality industry is a really important piece of that. We have a very strong Emerging Leaders Program as well, which you can find on the site.

Cassady Quintana: I mean, tons of stuff to get involved in. You definitely can’t have a boring day at The Hospitality Show.

Brandy Rand: No.

Cassady Quintana: I’m super excited for it. I’ve already gotten the app and I’m looking at who’s going to be there, connecting with people on LinkedIn ahead of time. If you’re listening, you’ve got a little bit of time to get your schedule together. Make sure you do that. You don’t want to miss anything, because especially, maybe you didn’t check the app, or you didn’t check the website and then later on, you’re like, “Oh, I wish I could have gone to that.” Make sure you plan ahead, because there is so much going on. Again, like Brandy said, come with an open mind, because you never know who you might meet, or what you might learn. Okay, Brandy, as we wrap up, give us your little sales pitch about why Miami should be on a hotelier’s calendar this year for The Hospitality Show?

Brandy Rand: Yeah. Again, it’s been a busy year for everybody and there’s been a lot of shows, and this is getting towards the end of the year, but this show, there is no other show like it. It is the only hospitality show focused purely on hotel operation. If you are responsible for operating a hotel, improving a hotel, running a hotel, and you have a team, this is the one show that is beneficial to bring your whole team and is designed for you. In three days, you cannot only learn from some of the most influential leaders across hospitality, you can compare hundreds of solutions all in one place around different areas of your business. You can connect with all of your peers and then really find those practical ideas for your property, or your portfolio and more importantly, be inspired, I think, differently.

Whether your priority is revenue or technology, workforce, efficiency, guest experience, controlling costs, all of the things, we’ve really created this one place where you’re going to find all the people and solutions to focus on those challenges and help you meet the next phase of growth.

Cassady Quintana: Yeah. Well, it’s awesome. It’s definitely one of the best shows to wrap up the year with. I’m super excited to be there and super excited to see all these new things you’ve been talking about and all the speakers that you guys are having this year. Brandy, I’ll make sure that I sit in on your session as well, so I can get all that.

Brandy Rand: Please do. Please do.

Cassady Quintana: Yes. All right. Well, any final thoughts for our listeners before we see everyone in Miami?

Brandy Rand: I would say, now is the time. I know summer’s over and everyone’s looking at their fall plans. Again, there’s just a lot to discover there and I think everyone, whether you’ve been before, we’re hoping to welcome you back, but also for those who haven’t been. This is going to be probably the best show yet. We’re really excited about all the things we’re doing, and we know there’s still a lot of challenges in hospitality, things are changing, but we’ve really provided an environment to give operators an opportunity to learn more, bring the community together, share what’s working, discover what’s next and build relationships. It’s worth it, worth your time, worth the investment and we cannot wait to welcome everyone to Miami.

Cassady Quintana: Amazing. Well, we can’t wait to be in Miami. For all of our listeners who aren’t registered yet, make sure you look up The Hospitality Show online and get your pass. It’s going to be an amazing event and you don’t want to miss out, or else, you’re going to be seeing everybody talk about it online and you’re going to have FOMO. Make sure you get your ticket and you’re there. I mean, it’s in Miami Beach. Who can really complain about that? Hopefully, we have some good weather for that, too.

Brandy, thank you so much for taking time out of your day today to help preview this episode with me. Super excited to be down in Miami Beach with you and the rest of the team, and it’s going to be a great time. Thank you again.

Brandy Rand: Thank you. See you there.

Cassady Quintana: All right. If you are listening, thank you so much for joining this episode, and we will see you guys next time on the Suite Spot.