Welcome Tao Tao, co-founder and COO of GetYourGuide, the revolutionary of travel experiences and one of the best people to hang out with if you need top travel advice in any city on this planet. For the opening of SMACK's fifth season, Florian had the honor of hosting Tao Tao and discussing his founder story, the tough times GetYourGuide had to face during the past couple of years, and what experiences mean to the travel industry today.

Hey there, Hospitality Fans! We missed you… and didn’t want to wait until Season 5 starts in September, so we sat our 4 hosts down together and sent them on a trip down memory lane. It’s been 4 years already – yeah, that’s right: 4 years since SMACK first started. Pat, Flo, Phil, and Fritz reminisced in a bit of nostalgia and a lot of laughter going through the past 4 seasons of their favorite SMACK moments thus far. From how everything started, in times when Phil was still in a suit, and...

Back with another podcast episode you simply don’t want to miss. Join us on a heartfelt journey as Phil sits down with Ronisha Goodwin, the Director of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Hyatt Corporation, at the Proud Experience conference in Los Angeles. Prepare to be moved by Ronisha's inspiring story of discovering her passion for hospitality through a TV show and her mission to foster inclusivity and belonging for Hyatt's guests, colleagues and partners worldwide. Together...

Hey, listen up! Here’s one very #inspiring SMACK #podcast episode. @Pat had the chance to chat with @Jeremy McCarthy, Group Director of Spa & Wellness at @Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and they cruised through a bunch of topics, that will make you feel well - from innovation in Spas to #positivepsychology and general life advice. What does a day at work of someone look like, who is responsible for all the good stuff? Jeremy McCarthy oversees the strategy and marketing of wellness-,...

Donald Leadbetter, the Tourism Program Manager at the National Park Service (NPS) based in Washington D.C. joined us on the show and talked us through his passion for national parks, tourism and nature. Patrizia and Donald dove into the specific tasks that Donald carries out as a Tourism Program Manager, which include researching and creating memorable experiences for visitors, as well as making strategic decisions for the NPS. The two of them discussed the history of the NPS, which has been...

Take a deep dive into the world of hospitality with Dimitris Manikis, the President & Managing Director for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as he shares his insights on the future of business and corporate travel, sustainability, and building brands that leave a lasting legacy. From his personal story of falling in love with the industry to his vision for uniting people through travel, this podcast episode is a must-listen! Dimitris and Florian had...

Have you ever been on a cruise ship? No?! If you need some convincing, this podcast episode featuring @Wybcke Meier, the CEO of @TUI Cruises, will tell you all you want to know about the cruise world. Wybcke spoke to @Philip about how TUI cruises came together and told us how traveling on a #cruise works with the incredible size of the ships and the number of passengers on board. She also explained how people experience cruises and activities on shore, as some plan them themselves and others...

After 3 years of absence, the ITB Berlin, the world’s largest exhibition event for the hospitality industry, will be back in full throttle this year. We know you are as excited as we are, so here is a little personal service for you from us. Deborah Rothe, the Exhibition Director of the ITB Berlin, joined us on the podcast and we asked her what to expect from ITB Berlin 2023 and how it will differ from the last live ITB Berlin event back in 2019. Deborah told us about her career path to...

Missing the beach? So are we, so we brought somebody to the podcast that knows all about beaches, hotels and hospitality. Alexander Schneider, president of Nikki Beach’s Hotels & Resorts division came to visit us and told us the touching story of how the name “Nikki Beach” came about, the company’s transition from beaches and F&B to hotels and what a true “Nikki Beach experience” for guests is all about. Alex and Fritz discussed the evolution of Nikki Beach, where Alex would like to...

Christoph Hoffmann, Founder of the 25hours Hotels, came to visit us on the show and talked to us about his path into hospitality and founding 25hours Hotels, their success, his way of thinking in concept & design to create a certain atmosphere with food & beverages, staying local and his future plans with Bikini Island & Mountain Hotels. The successful hotelier, who started in a wine shop, explained to Philip how his past experiences in gastronomy developed his interest in...

Christoph Hoffmann, Founder of the 25hours Hotels, came to visit us on the show and talked to us about his path into hospitality and founding 25hours Hotels, their success, his way of thinking in concept & design to create a certain atmosphere with food & beverages, staying local and his future plans with Bikini Island & Mountain Hotels. The successful hotelier, who started in a wine shop, explained to Philip how his past experiences in gastronomy developed his interest in...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Jan Valentin, Founder and General Partner at ennea capital partners, joined us for another SMACK story. Starting off as a travel journalist, he led us through the stages of his career, including travel24.com and KAYAK Europe, to the venture capital and M&A space. Giving us a current market check of the industry, he talked about how we are almost getting used to the state of “crisis”, how he remains consciously optimistic and how business travel is stepping up week after week. He gave us...

Ariel Schiff, the mastermind behind the Amano Hotel Group joined us on SMACK for episode 12 of the podcast and told us all about his roots, his passion for F&B and how his family members supply the names for his hotels and their outlets. Ariel rarely does interviews and doesn’t even have a cell phone (!), so we are all the more thrilled he chose to speak to us about the expansion plans of Amano, the upcoming opening in London and the future of hotels. Enjoy the show!

A true entrepreneur joined us for this podcast episode. Olivier Bracard, CEO & Co-founder of Hosco. Olivier gave us an insight on his career path into hospitality from his early starts, over EHL, his first internship, his time at JLL Hotels & Hospitality and finally, how he became an entrepreneur and started Hosco. He talked about the challenging times of the crisis but also about the possibilities that arose from it, when being forced to leave the comfort zone and think creatively....

For the second episode of 2022 we were lucky to catch Gilda Perez-Alvarado for a chat. She talked to us about her time at Cornell University, her love for travel and cultures and how she found her passion for real estate finance in combination with hospitality. Leading a team of 350 professionals all over the world at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, Gilda explained how important it is to invest in people and to set them up for success and how the industry is shifting towards more diversity as...