The Modern Hotelier #140: 2025 Hospitality Conference & Events Guide | with Brent Hayhurst
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of the Modern Hotelier. This is our special edition of Hospitality Hot Topics. This month, we're going to kick it off with Brent Hayhurst from Curator. It's event season right around the corner. So we're going to be discussing some of the events that we're going to be attending this year and also some of the events that Curator is going to be attending to give you an idea of what's happening in 2025.
David, you want to kick it off?
David: All right, let's go. So the first one is a great one and I'll let you explain why, but the digital transformation for hotels and hospitality, tell everybody what your role is going to be. Steve, I
Steve Carran: Yeah, David, I'm really excited about the digital transformation in hotels and hospitality. It's going to be in Orlando on March 3rd to the 4th. I'm really excited about it. It's going to have some great keynote speakers, good panel discussions, and then also workshops all led by industry experts.
And then they also are doing networking roundtables, which I'm really excited about. Brent, I understand you're going to be there as well.
Brent Hayhurst: Yeah, first time event for for us attending, but we're really looking forward to it. There seems to be a lot of energy around it. A good mix of hoteliers and vendors planning to attend. and curator, my colleague Jen Parks will be hosting one of those round tables on day two. And so excited just to really contribute to the thought leadership of the entire thing.
Steve Carran: Yeah, absolutely. And I give you permission. If I pass out on stage or I'm tanking, please come up and save me. 
Brent Hayhurst: I'll always be there with water.
Steve Carran: appreciate you. Appreciate you. And, um, then also, This year there are a few BITAC events as well. The first one is the Sales Marketing and Revenue event, March 30th to April 1st, at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego, California. Then they have one for owners. May 18th to the 20th, one for operations, April 27th to the 29th, one for independent hotels, August 17th to the 19th, one for sustainability, September 14th and 15th, and then the owner conference from November 16th to the 18th.
the modern hotelier is going to be at the sales and marketing and revenue event in March. First time attending, Brent, have you ever attended these BITAC events in the past? And, what can we expect?
Brent Hayhurst: Yeah, we have, Curator's been a longtime supporter of the BITAC events and their team. what we really appreciated, I mean, kind of early adopters in driving that special, session on, that's specific for independent hotels. but there is certainly, a great amount of value to be had, for attending any of the events.
And the best part about BITAC is that really you can focus in on what's of more interest to you. Are you an owner? Do you run it to attend the owner's event? Are you interested more in operations, sales and marketing? They just launched sustainability for the first year last year with a great turnout as well.
And it was an amazing place to really, participate in the thought leadership as far as, you know, What's going on out there right now? How are people thinking about ESG and really getting connected into some really unique, uh, sustainability focused solutions.
Steve Carran: We're looking forward to that one.
David: All right. And so a whole is having their annual event in new Orleans, April 15th to the 17th, haven't been to one in a while. How about you, Steve? You've been to any.
Steve Carran: I was there a couple of years ago. and it was awesome. It was a great trade show. always so well attended. One of the cool things that I found about going to that show is you have kind of the first generation. People who came from America to open their hotels, but now the younger generation is coming in.
So it has a lot of these younger, hungry hoteliers that are going there. And it's just kind of fun to talk to them, get their perspectives as, as well as, you know, the people who've been in the industry for a while. Brent, have you ever been to a Hoa?
Brent Hayhurst: You know, I haven't, but you know what, New Orleans, spring break, hotel owners. I mean, it seems like the perfect recipe for, for having some fun and digging into some industry networking.
Steve Carran: You bet. You bet. Absolutely. And then coming back from a year off is the direct booking summit in Dallas from May 13th to the 14th. This is kind of a, a more of a unique event since it is a little bit more customer focused. Brent, have, have you, uh, have you been to one of these in the past?
Brent Hayhurst: We have attended direct booking Triptiz as a, as a longstanding partner of curator in our properties. so really looking forward to what that team has in store and getting this, back on our, on our event calendars.
Steve Carran: David, what about you?
David: Yeah. And for our, our audience, I think it's great because we have a lot of independent hoteliers who listen and obviously one of the biggest topics always amongst hotels is direct bookings. And so the idea that there's something focused on direct bookings, just makes a lot of sense. And one of our.
Probably one of the most popular, events of the year is HITEC HSMAI, their commercial strategy conference. It's happening in Indianapolis this year. It's a week earlier. It's June 16th. Usually it's the last week of June. gain will be there with a big event, uh, at the Denali race car factory. The modern Hotelier you will be there.
And, uh, what's your favorite part of HITEC Steve?
Steve Carran: Oh, my favorite part. It's it's, it's fun to see everybody again. I feel like that's a big event halfway through the year. We do the booth interviews there. So I think it's fun to see, you know, kind of the new technology that's coming out. I have a feeling we're going to see. a Big focus on AI this year, but, the GAIN event obviously has to be one of the highlights.
I mean, we had it at the Hockey Hall of Fame two years ago, then the baseball field last year, and now at the IndyCar. It's going to be an IndyCar experience theme this year. I mean, going to be absolutely incredible. What about you, Brent?
Brent Hayhurst: Yes, certainly HITEC is the Oscars of the of the annual, you know, hospitality conference here. and I know I think they've done a great job, you know, where it's traditionally was focused very much like on the tech and I. T. professionals, and that's still certainly a great place for really digging into understanding.
the integrals of the tech, but it's really kind of a great way of expanding just to understand the who's who of hospitality, being able to, to walk the trade show so much value there and just, great place to have conversations and, and drive some, some interesting topics and solution discussions.
Steve Carran: Absolutely, absolutely. And then we have a few events. These are some of my favorite events. That's no secret, but we have a few ILC events for the rest of the year. They just wrapped up at an event in Nashville a few weeks ago, but the end of April, April 22nd of the 23rd, they have the Cultivate Conference in New York City.
Then they have the ConFab. In June or July, still, uh, defining those dates, that's going to be in Chicago. And then Congress is coming back to Miami October 6th to the 9th. David, what are you excited about for ILC for the rest of the year?
David: Yeah, I think the three of us all know that, you know, Andrew and his team do a great job, unique venues. Um, it feels more like a community than a conference. You feel like you see a lot of the same people. They're very educational. They're very diverse and everything from architects to, to legal, to, ownership groups, to even brands now, which.
Uh, it's been a little controversy, but they do have some brands now attending those events. So, curator is a big supporter. Brent, what do you guys like about ILC?
Brent Hayhurst: I mean, I think I, I would, I would say that exactly to the same sentiment. Like it's the Indy, it's an event that's an Indy community for the Indy community. Um, it really is a great place. Uh, it's more of an incubator, the cultivate event, which is the next one up in NYC, every year, it's a great place just to really understand, you know, what's.
What's hot topics in tech? How are those going? That's in co partnership with HITEC Ventures, so a lot of really great content and a great place to really kind of mix and mingle with the vendors and your hotelier peers.
David: And if you're a revenue manager and you like data, the hotel data conference with STR in Nashville, August 6th to the 8th, is a great event. like I said, if you're part of revenue management, you really need to be at that event. It's a must go, Steve, you've been, you like it.
Steve Carran: Never been, never been. Um, this year I think we might be attending. So hopefully we do. I'd love to, love to go for the first time. Brent, what about you? Have you been?
Brent Hayhurst: I think it's a great place. Uh, I personally never attended. Uh, Jen Barnwell, president of Curator, um, went last year, was a participant on a panel. Again, great place to, to really kind of understand, you know, what, from an industry forecasting perspective, you know, what's most important, what's driving rates, where do we see the business going?
It's a really a great way to kind of get into more of, of the meat of things as far as, you know, a lot of the, top trends that get announced at the beginning of the year at the Alice. And really can be a good way to kind of take the temperature check as to where are we going, what's happening, what are we, what are we expecting to be on the horizon for the, for the following year?
Steve Carran: I agree a hundred percent. And then we have the Independent Hotel Show. They have a few around the world. This one is in Miami. I mean, no better place to go than Miami, September 16th and 17th. I've never been to this show, but it has to do with independent hotels. So I feel like I would, I would love it.
But Brent, did you happen to make it last year?
Brent Hayhurst: We have been a supporter of the Independent Hotel Show since they launched their, their U. S. venue. Um, so certainly love, you know, what they're trying to do. and again, it's a great place to really kind of focus in on, not only top industry trends, but also what's most important to independent hotels and what, you know.
boutique and lifestyle owners are, are really looking for, a good mix of, both panel, state main stage discussions as well as, a growing, trade show floor to really kind of understand, you know, what the associated tech looks like
Steve Carran: And who doesn't love Miami in September?
Brent Hayhurst: can be there.
Steve Carran: Perfect location.
David: Yeah. And so now we've got the third hospitality show. That's going to take place this year in Denver, October 26th to the 28th. I really enjoyed it last year in San Antonio and thought it's one of those shows that you can see it's going to probably start to build momentum. Steve, what is your thoughts from last year?
Steve Carran: Yeah, I mean, last year was my first time going. I thought it was great. Um, a lot of really great, I guess, senior level folks that I was able to talk to and we were able to talk to while we're there, not only from the tech side, but also from the hotel side as well. Like you said, I'm excited to see it continue to grow.
And I think this is going to be one of kind of the staples in the industry that we're going to see a lot of people going to also excited. It's in Denver. It's a home game for me. So, nice and easy travel for me. Brent, what about you?
Brent Hayhurst: Yeah, really loved what HLA is building with this. it's a great place where it feels like, it's the perfect way to really keep up with the entire industry. So bringing everyone together, you know, kind of under one roof, from the supporting vendors, brands, independents, owners, Management companies, everybody, sort of there, you know, trying to understand and kind of like figuring out, you know, kind of what, what we mean is industry and how we're going to continue to, uh, to push forward, you know, hospitality for both the U.
S. as well as, around the world.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. And then usually one of the trade shows that almost wraps up the year is ILHA, International Luxury Hotel Association, their Inspire Conference. Brent, tell us about your experience. You go there. Pretty every, almost every year, huh?
Brent Hayhurst: Curator has been there every year, typically at Gin Barnwell is attending. And so she's been a great, um, longtime supporter of that, event as well. typically always, um, on a panel, providing our perspective, um, trying to need to promote the presence of independent hotels within the luxury hotel market.
Um, so again, we think it's a great place to, to really mix and mingle and drive some thought leadership there, you know, towards the end of the year.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. David, and you and I actually attended this a couple years ago together. what was your thoughts from attending a couple years ago?
David: Yeah, it was, it was, you know, it was one of those unique, every show has a little bit of a different flavor. This was kind of some great panels, one big ballroom with a lot of vendors, which made it easy to get around. You weren't really overwhelmed, but you really felt that you could get to really talk to some of these, these people one on one and not kind of have to fight through or like some of the bigger trade shows, you didn't have to really map out your day.
You could kind of just go in and see people. So. I thought it was great.
Steve Carran: No, I agree. Barack Hershowitz, he always does a great job with that one. And I just remember it being so organized. everything stayed on time and the panels all were, all were so, so well done. So hopefully we make it back there again this year.
David: Well, that does it for another episode of the Modern Hotelier, Hospitality's Most Engaged Podcast. This has been a Hospitality Hot Topics Events Edition. So we appreciate you and Brent, we hope we see you and some of the curator team at some of these events coming up in the rest of 2025.
Brent Hayhurst: Yep. Sounds like we'll be spending a lot of time together. Looking forward to it.
Steve Carran: It'll be great.
David: Take care.
Steve Carran: Thanks, Brent.