AI Agents Rise, Airbnb Gets Social, and Travel Feels the Shutdown
Good Morning Hospitality
10/27/25
•32m
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This morning on Good Morning Hospitality, Michael Goldin, Brandreth Canaley, and Jamie Lane explore three major forces reshaping travel and hospitality.
First, they examine how the rise of agentic AI could transform OTAs into passive order-takers. Next, they dive into the new social-features rollout on Airbnb Experiences that aim to deepen guest-to-guest connection and engagement.
Finally, with the U.S. federal hiring freeze entering day 27 of the shutdown, Jamie brings data and insight on how this continues to ripple through airports, national parks, and hotel-adjacent services.
Presented by Lodgify
Follow the Hosts: Brandy Canaley – LinkedIn Jamie Lane – LinkedIn Michael Goldin – LinkedIn
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Previous Episode
GMH Hotels: Luxury Takes Private, Cloud Cracks, & Waymo for Business
October 22, 2025
•31m
On this week’s episode of GMH Hotels, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk unpack five major developments reshaping the hospitality and travel ecosystem.
First, the luxury-hotelier Mandarin Oriental Oriental is being taken private in a deal valued at $4.2 billion. Then they examine the ripple effects of a major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage that disrupted travel operators and highlighted infrastructure fragility.
Waymo enters the business-travel arena with its new “Waymo for Business” robotaxi program aimed at corporate clients. They also dive into the cheeky marketing strategy of Ryanair—from tanks to TikTok—and how travel brands are waging attention wars.
Finally, they explore how host cities for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM - Canada, Mexico and the United States are raising hotel taxes ahead of 2026 and what that pressure motion looks like for hotel operators.
Sarah and Steve provide a full-spectrum briefing on what hotel leaders need to watch right now and how to stay ahead of the curve!
Presented by Lodgify
Follow the Hosts: Katie Cline – LinkedIn Steve Turk – LinkedIn
Connect with Skift:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
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X: https://twitter.com/skift
Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
Next Episode
In this episode of GMH Hotels, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk tackle the latest strategic moves re-shaping travel and hospitality. We start with how Death & Co. is disrupting hotel design by introducing a bar-first hotel brand that fuses nightlife and stay experiences.
Next, we examine why airlines are moving to premium, with JetBlue announcing a domestic first-class cabin in 2026 and what that signals for hospitality brands in guest segmentation and experience.
Then, we dive into how Mews is acquiring an AI firm to simplify hotel data usage and streamline operations.
We also review how IHG Hotels & Resorts is expanding its soft brand strategy amid its strongest-ever pipeline, and what it means when Accor confirms a potential IPO for its lifestyle division Ennismore.
Presented by Lodgify
Follow the Hosts: Sarah Dandashy – LinkedIn Steve Turk – LinkedIn
Connect with Skift:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social
X: https://twitter.com/skift
Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
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