Episode Details

To kick off the week, I wanted a hard look behind the numbers. We hear a lot of takes—so what's real and what's not? I called our buddy Bruce Ford (SVP, Lodging Econometrics) to pressure-test World Cup demand, international travel, and the conversion-brand land grab for the hashtag#NoVacancyNews crowd.

Here's what we put numbers on:
⚽ 2026 World Cup: 48 teams across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada
🌍 International plane arrivals are about 6% down
🚗 Canadian trips to the U.S. down about 22–23%
💸 2026 operator reality: work the P&L and monetize every square foot
🤖 Booking changes in 2–3 years, with AI in the mix
🏷️ Brand strategy: more hashtag#hotel conversion deals and more "white space" flags

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