In Episode 19 of season 2, we had the chance to sit down with Michael Ros, CEO & Co-founder of Bidroom, an OTC brand with the aim to enable fair travel, both for hotels and travellers. He shared his personal story and filled us in on how to successfully build early-stage startups, how he came up with the idea of the first membership-based marketplace that connects hotels and guests and how Bidroom differs from regular OTA’s. We also discussed future trends and changes, both in the industry and in customer preferences and spoke about the role of tech in the dynamic world of travel. Enjoy the show!

Smack Hospitality Cast

S2E19 (EN) - Fair travel and future trends with Michael Ros

The third episode of season three took us to Tyrol, Austria where we spoke to Florian Phleps, CEO of the Tirol Tourist Board. He talked to us about how he made it into the industry, coming from a law background, the development of Tyrol, how the crisis has changed not only his day to day job but the industry as a whole and what issues need to be addressed now and in the future. He also filled us in on how Tyrol as a tourism region differs from others and what challenges and chances arise as a result. Lastly, he spoke about the importance of sustainability management in the industry and how for example the “Clean Alpine Region” project already supports Tyrolean tourism regions in implementing measures in the areas of climate protection, sustainability and energy. Enjoy the show! Also check out this episodes sponsor "Seasonary" at www.seasonary.com and get a 15% discount on your first job post by using the code SMACK15!

S3E3 (DE) - Tyrol, winter season and sustainability with Florian Phleps

The second episode of season 3 took us to the German Hotel Convention (Deutscher Hotelkongress 2021), hosted by the dfv Mediengruppe. Thomas Edelkamp, Chairman of the Board at Romantik Hotels & Restaurants AG joined us during the event and told us about his career starting as waiter, his 10 years abroad and what it was like to be FIFA’s Managing Director of accommodation services during the 2006 football world cup. We also learned what differentiates the Romantik Hotels & Restaurants from others, why guest loyalty works within the brand and what needs to be addressed in regards to finding and keep fresh talent in the industry. Enjoy the show! Also check out this episodes sponsor "Seasonary" at www.seasonary.com and get a 15% discount on your first job post by using the code SMACK15!

S3E2 (DE) - Traveler- and employee engagement with Thomas Edelkamp

Welcome to season 3 of the SMACK Hospitality Podcast! To start the season in style, our season opener took place in Amsterdam and we spoke to Michael Levie of citizenM. Michael told us about the journey and hierarchy structure of citizenM and why it is totally different to other hotel companies. He also shared his experience on what it takes for a brand to establish itself, how important it is to have shared values amongst the team and how travel and education in the industry has evolved and will continue to do so. Share your thoughts with us in the comments and enjoy the show!

S3E1 (EN) – citizenM, development & values with Michael Levie

For the final episode of season 2 on SMACK Veerle Donders from Zoku came to join us on the show and told us all about her career to becoming Concept and Brand Director. From knowing at the age of 10 that hospitality was going to be her career choice, to doing things a little different throughout her studies, Veerle is the living proof that dream careers do happen. She let us in on the secret behind creating a successful concept and explained to us what it takes to roll out a concept in a new property. Enjoy the show.

S2E21 (EN) – Concept development and chasing a dream with Veerle Donders

If you are looking for a true role-model in hospitality, Caroline von Kretschmann, Manging Director at Hotel Europäischer Hof Heidelberg, ranks as high as they come. With 1000 and 1 stories to tell, Caroline stood at the forefront of the of German hoteliers and hospitality during the pandemic, speaking on behalf of the industry with politicians, national and international TV-stations. As if all that wasn’t impressive enough, she runs a forth-generation 5-star superior hotel, is a member of various unions and still manages to have lunch with both her parents every day at 1 pm, sharp! How do you not admire this woman and everything she does?! Enjoy the show.

S2E20 (DE) – Tradition, Leadership & TV-talks with Caroline von Kretschmann

This episode takes us all the way to the West Coast of the United States, where Richard Castle, Co-Founder and COO of Cloudbeds, joined us to tell his and Adam Harris’ story of how the story behind Cloudbeds unfolded. From two guys, who had nothing to do with hospitality other than a passion for travelling, to an award winning international hotel tech company – what sounds much like a fairy-tale story, in fact involved some very clear strategies and ideas well ahead of their time. Richard let us in on how a funding series just days before the Covid-19 lockdown in the US went and how their business of was transformed in the last months and explained to us. Enjoy the show.

S2E18 (EN) - Entrepreneurship, funding & Cloudbeds with Richard Castle

A truly inspirational episode on the SMACK hospitality podcast leads us to Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses Hotels & Resorts. Neil told us the amazing story behind the Six Senses brand, how it evolved from a local South-East Asian Resort Brand to a global hotel company with properties across the globe. We also got a sneak preview of the next destinations Six Senses is currently planning and learned why they are adding Six Senses Place, a members club concept inspired by Soho House, to their portfolio. Enjoy the show!

S2E17 (EN) – Wellness, Sustainability & Six Senses with Neil Jacobs

Isabell Fuss, Group Vice President Development at Ruby Hotels joined us for a special episode to talk about something very different than her actual role at Ruby. Talking about New Work, a topic very dear to Isabel’s heart as a senior manager in the company, she shared some insights into what a modern company culture could look like and how it must be communicated. Beyond that Isabel explained to us how the product of Ruby Hotels will continue to develop in relation to the urban style they have developed. Enjoy the show.

S2E16 (DE) – New Work and Development with Isabell Fuss

Marloes Knippenberg, CEO of Kerten Hospitality joined us for an in-depth talk on strategy and concepts, while letting us in on her thought process of some the corporate decisions she has taken. Beyond that Marloes shared her take on the role of women in hospitality and let us in her thoughts on effective sustainability in hospitality Enjoy the show!

S2E15 (EN) – Concepts, strategies & sustainability with Marloes Knippenberg

In episode 14 of season 2 we were fortunate enough to meet someone, who’s pretty much done it all. Former president of the HSMA, recently elected regional DEHOGA president, owner of the Hotel Friends group and never shy of an opinion – Haakon Herbst truly has seen and done it all. In this German episode this hotel veteran talks to us about what it’s like to have to close down a hotel in times of Covid-19 and tells us why change generally speaking is never bad. Enjoy the show.

S2E14 (DE) -HSMA and developing a hotel group with Haakon Herbst

In this episode Christopher Hartley, CEO of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) joined us for a talk about the future of (business) travel and loyalty programs. Chris is not only an experienced traveller, but also a veteran of the hospitality industry, so it goes without saying that we also asked him about his favourite airline, loyalty program and hotels – you’d be surprised… Enjoy the show!

S2E13 (EN) – The future of (business) travel and loyalty programs with Chris Hartley

In part 2 of Boris Radke’s visit to SMACK, we continue to learn more Omio’s predicitons on how travelling will change due to the pandemic. We also got a behind-the-scenes understanding of how he believes communications work in the corporate world and why internal communications is so much more important than external communications at first – especially during a global pandemic. Beyond that, Boris gave us a very honest opinion on the worst case possible for the travel industry and more specifically companies like Omio. Enjoy the show.

S2E12 (DE) – Travelling & Changing Workplaces with Boris Radke (part 2/2)

Boris Radke, Ex-Zalando, Ex-ProSieben Sat. 1 Media and currently Director Corporate Affairs and Workplace Experience at one-stop-shop travel booking platform Omio, came to visit us on the show and told us all about his take on the travel industry and why he thinks it is one of the “least customer friendly industries” out there. In part 1 of their talk, Boris explained how cool “home-office” really is from a workplace point of view and let us in on his and Omio’s predictions on how travelling will change due to the pandemic. Enjoy the show!

S2E12 (DE) – Travelling & Changing Workplaces with Boris Radke (part 1/2)

A real special episode marks episode 11 of season 2 as Anne Wahl-Pozeg, Senior Vice President Communications Northern Europe at Accor came to join us on the show. Anne told us all about her journey to now being in charge of the press, internal and partner communications in Accor’s Northern Europe division, which includes 30 countries. She also told us about the recent developments at Accor, why she hates titles in the working environment and shared a trick or two with us, on how to network if you are not the most extrovert person.

S2E11 (DE) - Corporate Communications with Anne Wahl-Pozeg

Welcome to Smack! We hate boredom, so everything we do here is geared towards providing entertaining and informative digital content around the world of hospitality. Feel free to hang around and explore some of our content on podcasts, Instagram or LinkedIn. Let us know how you like what you find and we’ll continue to work hard on delivering all the good stuff you like.