SMACK Hospitality

President and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World The Leading Hotels of the World have cemented their legacy in hospitality for years. Their current President and CEO, Shannon Knapp, joined us on the show and Patrizia and her spoke about the importance of remaining open to new opportunities, that success is not always a linear path and the essence of having mentors in your life that help you navigate through your career. Shannon highlighted the great opportunity of having been able to restructure the organization and invest in developing the data and technology infrastructure. She also spoke to us about the importance of matching the right guest with the right hotel as a travellers preferences are shifting towards emotional wellness, sustainability as well as trading up. We could not let Shannon go without talking about gender parity, female leaders in hospitality and learned that the first president of LHW was in fact a woman named Edith L. Turner. On a final note, Shannon gave us an insight into how she wants the legacy to remain and what goals LHW is striving to achieve in the next ten years. Enjoy the show!

President of Arosa Tourism (Switzerland) Pascal Jenny, the president of Arosa Tourism in Switzerland came to visit us on the show and talked to us about saving bears, the Arosa 2030 vision and the uniqueness of skiing. The former professional handball player told Philip about the Arosa Bärenland Foundation, whose mission is to save bears, and how they do it by complementing their tourism marketing efforts. Pascal talked to us about visitor numbers in the region, Arosa's target group marketing and the Arosa 2030 vision, which aims to reduce the ecological footprint of the entire destination year by year. Philip and Pascal also spoke about their thoughts on employee satisfaction in the hotel industry, appreciation, consumption today and how it used to be. Obviously we couldn’t let Pascal go, before he answered some fun questions about sports, sustainability, and board games! Enjoy the show!

Chief People & Culture Officer at The Social Hub You heard it here first and to mark the occasion, Mieke Veldhuis, Chief People & Culture Officer at The Social Hub, is our guest on our next podcast episode. She revealed to us why The Student Hotel outgrew its name and is changing it to The Social Hub and why the new name is true to the core meaning of TSH. Fritz and Mieke talked about hybrid hospitality and how it resonates with the hub, change management and the challenges that TSH had to face in the past. The Social Hub connects all kinds of stays under one roof: students, short stay hotel guests, long stay hotel guests, co-working and co-living and so Mieke explained the role and importance of people and culture in all that. Mieke also highlighted why she got into hospitality and how her paths crossed with TSH, having worked in retail most of her life. To wrap up, Mieke let us in on a personal secret, what the future holds for The Social Hub and her most memorable hotel experience. Enjoy the show!

Co-founder and Managing Director of Limehome In this episode we had the chance to speak to the Co-founder and Managing Director of Limehome, Dr. Josef Vollmayr. We were introduced to the rise of alternative accommodations and the success of sharing economies. Florian and Josef spoke about the companies USP of having no manual interaction in the guest journey as well as building value through technology following the change in customer behaviour. As Josef is a founder, the gentlemen shed light on the key challenges of start-ups and we got an insight into the dynamic venture capitalist scene for tech-enabled hospitality products. Josef reflected upon the benefits of focussing on smaller cities and properties, gaining insights from American concepts and logically we couldn’t end the episode without talking about our dreams and wishes for the future. Enjoy the show!

Chairman & CEO of Accor Group We are back with a brand new podcast season of #smackstories and stopped at nothing short of one of the biggest names in Hospitality globally to kick off the season in style. Sébastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO of Accor Group, joined us on the show and had a lot of fun giving us a recap on his past 10 years with Accor and what is planned for the upcoming years. Sébastien & Fritz discussed Accor’s idea of augmented reality, a more leaner and agile business concept, a shift in the developers mindset as well as an orientation towards sustainability. Sébastien also explained to us what the core of Accor’s Heartist® concept is and why the love for people is so important for this industry. We also learned how to make a loyalty program sexy and how to connect with local communities. Needless to say that Fritz and Sébastien couldn’t help but briefly talk about their mutual passion for football and do a quick analysis of Fritz’ discoveries while visiting one of the Mama Shelter properties for the first time as he was on a date there several years ago. Enjoy the show!

CEO @Hirmer Hospitality For our 18th episode this season we got the chance to speak to Edith Gerhardt, CEO of Hirmer Hospitality. We discussed her personal career path from The Ritz Carlton to Marriott International, which ultimately lead her to Travel Charme and Hirmer Hospitality. Edith told us about employee motivation and success factors for a hospitality company and emphasized the importance of clear values and measurability to inspire others as visionaries. Further, she elaborates on the significance of positive mistake culture and in that context introduces Mr. BIV, a documentation program to track and learn from mistakes. We learn more about Hirmer Hospitality and the three different brands in the portfolio, namely “Travel Charme”, “Urban Nature” and “truuee” and discuss the difference between operational and strategic thinking. As if all that wasn’t enough, Edith also shared her favorite sports with us, causing our host Philip to propose a challenge to Edith at the end. Enjoy the show! This episode is brought to you by the dfv mediengruppe, the ahgz and the German Hotel Convention 2022.

Co-Founder & Managing Director @Raus Innovation never stops! Welcome to a brand new podcast episode featuring Julian Trautwein, Co-founder and Managing Director at Raus. Before Julian started his career in hospitality he was spinning records, so it’s no surprise he met his first boss in a bar. From there he went on to work for an agency, 6 years at Airbnb and finally Tourlane, before creating the concept of Raus. Julian shared some insights on the idea for Raus and why it is so important to be open to disruption and vision driven against all odds. We also learned how Johann, Christopher and Julian founded and shaped the business, with the idea to create a space for people to recharge their batteries and connect with nature. Of course we didn’t let him go without a quick outlook on his vision for the next years and how he sees Raus expanding. Enjoy the show!

President of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for Marriott International More top-level insights you ask?! Your prayers have been answered [emojis] Check out our brand new podcast episode featuring Satya Anand, President of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for Marriott International. Satya talked to us through his career path into hospitality, starting as a night auditor and making it all the way to the top of the company in EMEA, after having been with the company for 30 years now. We discussed the changes that Covid brought to the industry and talked about how the inspiring leaders of Marriott, including @Bill Marriott Jr., his son @David Marriott, the current CEO @Anthony Capuano and the late @Arne Sorenson have each left their mark on the company. Satya also explained the different travel and loyalty preferences people will have going forward and how that affects loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy. As if all that wasn’t plenty to be hyped for, we added an outlook on brand structure and opening up new brands within the Marriott cosmos to the episode, to really leave you no choice but to tune in. Enjoy the show!

Global Learning and Development Manager @Dorchester Collection Kayleigh Wiltshire, Global Learning and Development Manager at the Dorchester Collection came by on the show and discussed the importance of learning and development in hospitality, as the whole industry is facing massive staff shortage. Coming from a background of health science and nutrition we talked about her journey into hospitality and Dorchester in particular, and how the job’s demands, requirements and preferences have changed over the last years in the industry. Also on the menu are topics such as the impact of Covid-19 on human resources, the importance of mentoring, coaching and what difference a positive company culture can make. Enjoy the show! This episode is brought to you by apaleo. apaleo is a hotel tech startup from Munich. With their open hospitality platform and app ecosytem they simplify hotel operations and help hotels to unlock their digital potential. Their dynamic team is rapidly growing and they are looking for exceptional talent to join them on their mission. Check out their open positions on apaleo.com/careers

Co-Founder @KITRO Sustainability is such an important matter! For this episode we spoke to Naomi Mackenzie, Co-founder of KITRO. Naomi told us how she and Anastasia had the idea to found KITRO, when they were still at the hospitality school, seeing how much food was wasted in every day’s hotel operations and how her position in the company has changed since 2017. She explained the idea and digital components behind the company and how important it is to have support from the outside as well, when founding a company. We learned how the idea of KITRO was developed at an early stage, coming from a passion for the topic and developing and adjusting the idea until it could turn into a company. Additionally Naomi also told us what she and her crew are planning for KITRO in the future. Enjoy the show!