This week’s podcast guest is Tyler Morse, CEO of MCR Hotels, the 3rd largest owner-operator hotel in the U.S, with a large range of hotel options. He discusses several aspects of the hotel and travel business, pointing out the differences in what business versus leisure travelers need and desire. He gives advice on accumulating and using points for reward programs. He especially emphasizes how people can rack up points on business trips and use them for family vacations.

He discusses the impact that the COVID pandemic had on the hotel business. He especially focuses on the post-pandemic reaction, where people are traveling more than they did before the pandemic. Business and leisure trips have increased due to people’s desires to experience new things and interact with others. Tyler expects this to last for many years, calling it the “Roaring Twenties,” and comparing it to similar reactions people had in the 1920s after the 1918 pandemic.

He describes his experience starting the TWA hotel, right by the JFK airport, which was his first hotel. He admits that it was a risky investment, but it paid off. The hotel draws in a lot of people who pass through JFK, as well as those who work at the airport. He talks about experiential hotels and how they differ from other hotels, especially in the fact that they are meant to draw people and to provide more opportunities and activities than other hotels provide.  

Resources

• MCR Hotels Website