11 best hospitality podcasts: Recommendations for hotels

What are hospitality podcasts?

Hospitality podcasts are audio and/or video shows that focus on the hotel, restaurant, and tourism industries. These podcasts can cover a wide range of topics; from optimising hotel business revenue, to talking about hospitality industry trends, to light-hearted travel and tourism stories.

Ranging from 15 minutes to more than 60 minutes, hospitality podcasts can be hosted and consumed in a number of ways. These include dedicated podcast platforms, Apple and Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and more.

Podcasts are on the rise, with more than half a billion listeners projected for this year and it’s set to be a 100 billion dollar industry by the end of the decade. And they serve a real purpose too, with 74% of listeners saying they consume podcasts to learn something new.

This blog will take you through everything you need to know about hospitality podcasts, including some of the best options for you to listen to.

Why are hospitality podcasts useful for industry professionals?

Hospitality podcasts offer valuable insights and practical knowledge for hotel managers looking to stay informed, inspired, and ahead in the industry. Regularly listening to these podcasts in your downtime or during your commute can help you:

• Stay updated on industry trends: The hospitality sector evolves rapidly, driven by changing guest preferences, behaviours, and technology adoption.
• Gain fresh inspiration: Podcasts often focus on innovative strategies and ideas, sparking creativity that you can apply to your own hotel business.
• Learn from industry leaders: Podcasts often feature interviews with successful industry experts who share their experiences and insights on achieving business success.
• Access practical tips easily: Hospitality podcasts present valuable advice in a convenient format, making it easier for you to absorb useful information without the need for extensive reading.
• Build networks and solve problems: Listening to podcasts can introduce you to other industry professionals worth connecting with, creating opportunities for learning and collaboration.

Hotel podcast: SiteMinder’s Standard Room With Breakfast

Gain new and unique perspectives on optimising revenue and managing hotels, featuring interviews with a variety of industry professionals.

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Top 11 podcasts about hospitality that you should listen to 

So what are some good examples of podcasts about hospitality? Here’s a list of 11 hotel podcasts that we’ve found for your hospitality business to benefit from.

1. SiteMinder’s ‘Standard Room With Breakfast’

At SiteMinder, we have our very own hotel podcast called ‘Standard Room With Breakfast’.

Designed to give hoteliers new and unique perspectives on running a business and optimising revenue, ‘Standard Room With Breakfast’ features interviews with a wide range of industry professionals and leaders.

Don’t miss out on all the key insights. You can watch it here via SiteMinder’s YouTube channel.

2. Skift Podcasts

One of the most reliable publications in the travel industry, Skift also produces podcasts. With four productions to subscribe to, Skift has every angle covered when it comes to podcasts, with daily industry briefings, traveller deep-dives, airline news, and event manager tips.

3. Hotel Moment

Produced by Revinate, Hotel Moment focuses on insights and interviews with leaders from hotel brands across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

4. Hospitality Digital Marketing

If you want a weekly dose, this is the podcast for you. Hospitality Digital Marketing covers the latest industry news, trends, and marketing techniques for hoteliers.

5. Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast

Definitely a popular one, host Wil Slickers brings lived industry experience to a podcast that covers everything that makes hotels interesting, including interviews with some of the most established brands.

6. All in the Industry

Largely renowned as one of the more popular hospitality podcasts on the air, All in the Industry connects with some of the best talent in the industry to go behind the scenes and stay on top of all the latest happenings.

7. Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast

If you’re looking for specific tips and tricks for your business, this podcast is for you. Suite Spot brings together industry experts to cover all things marketing from content, to search, to reviews.

8. Defining Hospitality

For more philosophical minds, Defining Hospitality is exactly that; a philosophical look at what makes hospitality what it is and how it impacts other parts of life. It’s a holistic view of the overall value of hospitality in society.

9. StayNTouch Podcast

StayNTouch offers extremely relevant and specific podcasts for hoteliers on a range of topics. These include: hotel technology trends, hotel PMSs, cloud technology, mobile, self-service, and more. The best thing is the majority of their podcasts are less than 10 minutes long meaning you can learn a lot in a short amount of time.

10. Hospitality Academy Podcast

Headed by the 30+ years of experience of Susan Pannozzo, Hospitality Academy features interviews with other top industry professionals discussing topics such as guest experience, profitability, and training.

The show also delves into how hotel professionals can rise to the top picking up useful tips, like memory tricks and handling difficult customers, along the way.

11. TopFloor

It’s never a bad idea to look ahead and plan for the future. TopFloor takes a long-term view at hospitality, with host Susan Barry holding conversations with guests and stakeholders from every corner of the industry. 

So what happens when you take the learnings from your favourite podcasts and put them into action? Usually this means applying and executing strategies via a hotel platform such as SiteMinder, which enables hotels to maximise revenue and optimise operations.

What makes a great hospitality or hotel podcast?

To ensure you don’t waste time on lacklustre podcasts that don’t add any value to your business, there are some qualities you should look for in those that you listen to.

The best hospitality podcasts should offer:

• Valuable insights: The information presented should be fresh, comprehensive, and actionable.
• Credibility: Guests and presenters should be knowledgeable and well regarded in their field.
• Specificity: It’s ideal if the podcast has a theme or topic that gives listeners a targeted lesson or insight.
• High standards: High production quality – including audio and video quality, the professionalism of the speakers, and editing – should be evident.
• Accessibility: Not everyone listens to podcasts in the same way. The best podcasts will make themselves available on a variety of platforms in order to reach a large audience.
• Variety: Variety keeps things interesting, so good podcasts will usually have some different segments within an episode or mix it up week to week, to ensure the content remains engaging.
• Regularity: Consistent episode releases ensure a steady stream of new content and means that the audience won’t forget to tune in.

Perhaps the biggest signifier of all these factors comes from reviews online and any awards or recognition within the industry, so keep an eye out for these.

“The system is extremely user-friendly, stable, and simple to understand, as well as has a wide range of capabilities that fully suit the needs of varied tactics. We were able to increase RevPAR by more than 30% by executing yield management on the platform swiftly and accurately.”

Atchara Nakpoom,

Revenue and Reservations Manager

Kirimaya

Read more

How to find the best podcast about hospitality for your hotel needs

Not all hospitality podcasts will offer exactly what you’re looking for, so it’s helpful to be strategic in your search. Here are some tips to help you identify podcasts that truly add value to your role.

Identify your goals and interests

Before you start searching, clarify what you’d like to get out of a hospitality podcast. Defining clear objectives will help you focus on the most relevant content.

• Podcasts for hotel executives, general managers and property directors:
  Look for podcasts covering strategic leadership, revenue management insights, operational efficiency, team management, and profitability strategies.
  
• Podcasts for sales and marketing professionals:
  Search for episodes focused on digital marketing trends, direct bookings, social media strategies, SEO tips, and case studies from other hotels.
  
• Podcasts for industry professionals, operations and guest experience managers:
  Prioritise podcasts discussing guest satisfaction, personalisation, loyalty programmes, and best practices in service delivery.
  
• Podcasts for tech-focused hoteliers:
  Seek podcasts that highlight hotel technology innovations, integrations, automation tools, and software that streamline daily operations and enhance guest experiences.
  
• Podcasts for sustainability-minded professionals:
  Choose podcasts addressing sustainability practices, carbon footprint reduction, eco-friendly initiatives, and insights into responsible hospitality.

Where to search for hospitality podcasts

You have plenty of options when it comes to discovering quality hospitality podcasts. Here are a few popular platforms and their benefits:

• Apple Podcasts: Features comprehensive lists of podcasts along with user reviews and ratings, helping you quickly assess which podcasts are highly regarded by other hospitality professionals.
  Search tip: Use the categories, charts, curated lists, and user-generated ratings and reviews. Pay attention to podcasts with consistently high ratings, as these are typically reliable and informative.
  
• Spotify: Known for its easy-to-navigate interface and personalised recommendations, Spotify helps you explore both professional and casual hospitality podcasts.
  Search tip: Spotify will suggest similar podcasts once you’ve started following or listening to content relevant to hospitality management – so start listening and let the algorithm do the rest for you.
  
• Google Podcasts: Ideal if you’re using an Android device, with the added convenience of integration into Google search results, making it easy to find specific topics quickly.
  Search tip: Integrated directly into Google Search, this platform is ideal for quick searches on specific topics or industry trends. Simply searching hospitality-related terms on Google can directly surface relevant podcasts in search results.
  
• YouTube: Many podcast creators upload video versions, offering additional visuals that may help illustrate points more clearly and engagingly.
  Search tip: Ideal if you prefer visual learning or demonstrations. Search for hospitality-related channels or topics, subscribe to relevant podcast channels, and explore video descriptions for episode summaries to assess content quality. Most decent YouTube podcasts will include chapters in the video timeline at the bottom of the video and in the description. Use this to hone in on specifics.
  
• Podcast directories and industry websites: Look out for podcast round-ups or recommendations from reputable hospitality industry websites and blogs, as these can highlight podcasts that are specifically relevant to your profession.
  Search tip: Many hospitality-focused websites regularly publish lists of recommended podcasts. These curated lists often include summaries highlighting key topics, saving you time and effort. The key here is to curate a list of hospitality experts that you respect and are well-known – you may be able to simply search their name + “podcast” and you’ll uncover their own work as well as podcast episodes that they’ve been guests on previously.

How to search for the right podcasts

To narrow down your options quickly, use detailed keywords rather than general terms. Here are some specific examples to guide you:

• Hotel management and operations 
  • “hotel revenue management”
  • “hotel operational efficiency”
  • “front desk management strategies”
  • “property management systems for hotels”
    
• Sales, marketing, and revenue management 
  • “hotel direct booking strategies”
  • “hospitality digital marketing”
  • “hotel SEO tips”
  • “revenue management podcast”
  • “hotel loyalty strategies”
    
• Guest experience and customer satisfaction 
  • “guest experience podcast”
  • “personalisation in hospitality”
  • “improving hotel guest reviews”
  • “hotel customer service tips”
    
• Hospitality technology 
  • “hotel tech trends”
  • “property management software (PMS) podcast”
  • “hotel automation tools”
  • “smart hotel tech podcast”
    
• Sustainability in hospitality 
  • “hotel sustainability practices”
  • “eco-friendly hotels”
  • “sustainable tourism podcasts”
  • “carbon reduction for hotels”

Pay attention to user-generated content, including ratings and reviews on podcast platforms. Positive reviews from other hospitality professionals can help validate podcast quality and relevance. Join hospitality industry groups on LinkedIn or Facebook to ask for personal recommendations—these can often be more accurate than algorithm-driven suggestions.