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How do you sell an entire country to the world? On this episode, Jeremy Nichols and Dr. Peter Ricci sit down with Chris Heywood, Senior Vice President, Public Relations and Chief Communications Officer for Brand USA, to talk about what it takes to position the United States as a global travel destination.

Chris oversees Brand USA’s global communications and a network of international offices in 14 markets serving more than 20 regions across five continents. Before Brand USA, he led global communications for the country’s two largest destination marketing organizations. In New York City, he helped drive a decade of continuous tourism growth and led communications through the city’s COVID-19 recovery. In Los Angeles, he built a new global PR network after the pandemic, promoted the Hollywood Sign’s 100th anniversary, and helped host IPW 2024.

We cover:

* How Brand USA markets the U.S. to international travelers
* What destination marketing looks like at the city level versus the national level
* Leading tourism communications through crisis and recovery
* How global media relations drives visitation

*Chris’s path from FIU and The Culinary Institute of America to the top of destination marketing
*What this means for hotels, restaurants, and operators who depend on inbound travel

Connect with Chris Heywood on LinkedIn: / christopherheywood

Checkin’ In is hosted by Jeremy Nichols of Gecko Hospitality and Dr. Peter Ricci, Director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management program at Florida Atlantic University. We have real conversations about hospitality leadership, operations, talent, and the trends shaping the industry.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe for new episodes.

#Hospitality #Tourism #DestinationMarketing #BrandUSA #TravelIndustry #HospitalityLeadership #CheckinIn

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

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The AI Concierge Is Already Here. What Happens to Your Team?

Nearly half of travelers now use AI to plan trips, and hotels are starting to put that capability directly on their own websites. Guests arrive with golf, spa, and dining already booked. Concierge load goes down. Spend per stay goes up. So what does that mean for the people who used to do that work?

On Episode 12 of the Checkin' In, Jessica Platts and Dr. Peter Ricci sit down with Kim Bennett, Founder and CEO of AtlasGuru, a B2B AI itinerary platform that embeds into travel brands' websites and turns their own destination content into personalized, white-labeled itineraries and an AI chat agent that answers traveler questions instantly. AtlasGuru is built for hotels, DMOs, DMCs, travel publishers, and advisors.

Before founding AtlasGuru, Kim spent more than 15 years in senior marketing and digital leadership roles at Condé Nast, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Amazon, and Nordstrom. In 2023 she was named a Game Changer by Women Leading Travel & Hospitality for disrupting travel and hospitality.

We get into:

Why guests now treat AI as the starting point for travel planning, and what it costs a hotel to not be in that conversation
What actually changes for concierge, front desk, and guest services teams when planning moves online
Pre-arrival revenue and why the booking window for ancillaries is shifting earlier
What Kim learned building digital experiences at Amazon and Condé Nast that hotel operators still get wrong
The skills hospitality leaders should be hiring for as AI absorbs the transactional work

Real questions, no hype. Bring yours to the live chat.

Connect with Kim: / kimbennett
Learn more about AtlasGuru: https://atlasguru.ai/

Checkin' In: The Hospitality & Tourism Podcast is hosted by Jeremy Nichols, Gecko Hospitality, and Dr. Peter Ricci, Director of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida Atlantic University. New episodes stream live on LinkedIn and YouTube, then land on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

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Culture isn't a poster on the break room wall. It's what happens when a guest walks in and can feel, without anyone saying a word, that the team actually wants them there.

On the next Checkin' In, Jeremy Nichols and Dr. Peter Ricci sit down with two of hospitality's sharpest voices on culture and guest experience: Christine Trippi and Ryan Minton.

Christine Trippi is the founder of The Wise Pineapple and host of The YES Show. She's a TEDx speaker, author of Yes Is the Answer, and the creator of the YES Framework™, built around a simple idea: great service isn't about saying yes to everything; it's about making people feel heard. She's been named General Manager of the Year, led a Marriott International Hotel of the Year, and been recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Hospitality.

Ryan Minton spent over 20 years leading world-class hospitality brands, including a run as senior vice president at Hilton and Marriott, driving record revenues and engagement through operational excellence and team development. He's a 2x best-selling author, a member of the Forbes Business Council, a Newsweek expert panelist, and was named one of the World's Best Speakers in Hospitality and Customer Experience by Global Gurus.

In this conversation: what culture actually looks like on the floor, why frontline empowerment beats top-down mandates, how leaders turn service moments into loyalty, and what operators get wrong when they try to manufacture culture instead of building it.

Watch live on LinkedIn and YouTube, or catch the full episode after on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.

You can find our guests at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8D%8Dchristine-trippi-56105311/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmintonspeaks/

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

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What does a five-star rating even mean anymore when guests are used to instant feedback, instant reviews, and instant everything? In this episode, Jeremy Nichols and Jessica Platts talk with Stuart Greif, Chief Strategy, Innovation & Operating Officer at Forbes Travel Guide, about the tension between legacy hospitality standards and a generation raised on real-time validation.

Stuart brings over 30 years of global experience at the intersection of travel, hospitality, customer experience, and technology. Before Forbes Travel Guide, he served as Microsoft's Global Executive for Travel & Hospitality, led J.D. Power's Global Travel Practice, and was the Global Travel Leader for Amperity, a unicorn startup backed by early Amazon, Facebook, and LinkedIn investors. He speaks globally on AI, social commerce, and innovation in travel, sits on multiple industry boards, and has been named among the Most Inspiring, Most Influential, and Top Digital Thought Leaders in global travel and hospitality by the International Hospitality Institute.

In this conversation, we get into:

*How Forbes Travel Guide's rating standards hold up against the speed of modern guest expectations
*What AI and social commerce are actually changing about how travelers choose where to stay
*Where legacy trust systems still matter and where they're being outpaced
*What operators need to understand about the gap between star ratings and real time guest sentiment
*Where the industry is headed as technology reshapes what luxury and service mean

Checkin' In: The Hospitality & Tourism Podcast is hosted by Jeremy Nichols, Gecko Hospitality franchise owner and executive recruiter, and Dr. Peter Ricci, Director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management program at Florida Atlantic University. We talk real conversations about hospitality leadership, operations, and industry trends that operators deal with every day but don't always discuss openly.

Guest: Stuart Greif, Chief Strategy, Innovation & Operating Officer, Forbes Travel Guide
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartwgr...
Forbes Travel Guide LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forb...

Watch live on LinkedIn and YouTube, or catch the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

Send us Fan Mail

Checkin' In: The Hospitality & Tourism Podcast Ep.9

Join Dr. Peter Ricci and Jeremy Nichols for a thought-provoking conversation with Henry Bowles, Ph.D., as we explore one of the most critical leadership traits in hospitality today: resiliency.

From labor shortages and economic uncertainty to operational challenges and increasing guest expectations, hospitality professionals are constantly asked to adapt, recover, and perform at a high level. But what separates leaders and organizations that thrive through adversity from those that struggle?

Henry Bowles brings a unique perspective to the discussion. Holding PhDs from both Harvard and Oxford, he is the founder of The Henry Bowles Company and creator of the REV: Respond, Expand, Venture™ framework, helping leaders, teams, and organizations develop greater resiliency, agility, and performance.

In this episode, we'll discuss:

• What resiliency looks like in today's hospitality industry

• How leaders can maintain performance during periods of stress and uncertainty

• Building teams that adapt and grow through challenges

• Practical tools for improving mindset, agility, and decision-making

• Preventing burnout while sustaining high standards of service

• Why resiliency may be the most important competitive advantage hospitality organizations can develop

Whether you lead a hotel, restaurant, resort, private club, residential community, or hospitality company, this conversation will provide actionable insights to help you navigate change, strengthen your leadership, and build more resilient teams.

*Guest:* Henry Bowles, Ph.D.
Founder, The Henry Bowles Company

*Hosts:*
Dr. Peter Ricci, Florida Atlantic University
Jeremy Nichols, Gecko Hospitality

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

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In this episode of Checkin’ In, Dr. Peter Ricci was joined by guest cohost Jessica Platts for a conversation with one of the most recognized voices in global hospitality leadership, Dr. Jeffrey O.

Dr. Jeffrey O is an internationally renowned CEO, leadership coach, educator, author, and President of the International Hospitality Institute, the leading advocacy and standards organization serving the global hospitality industry. He is also the founder of the International Hospitality Hall of Fame and has been recognized as one of the Top Ten Most Influential People in Hospitality worldwide.

This conversation explored leadership at the highest levels of hospitality, executive presence, mentorship, global industry trends, and what separates good organizations from truly exceptional ones. The episode also covered Dr. Jeffrey O’s START Model™, his experience advising major hospitality organizations, and his perspective on where the industry is headed next.

With decades of executive leadership experience and influence across the global hospitality community, this episode offers valuable insight for hospitality professionals, operators, educators, and aspiring leaders alike.

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

Send us Fan Mail

Checkin In Hospitality & Tourism Podcast – Episode 7
Destination Marketing Meets Big Data

Recorded live on Wednesday, April 29th at 11:00 AM

This episode is a deeper look at how data is actually shaping tourism strategy today and what it means for hospitality leaders on the ground.

This episode features:

Ktimene Axetell, CEO of Arrivalist
An economist and seasoned MarTech leader with 25 years of experience, Ktimene leads Arrivalist’s strategy and product evolution, helping position the platform as a leader in visitor intelligence, media attribution, and behavior analytics. Her background includes leadership roles with Sony Pictures Digital, Napster, IAC Advertising Solutions, and Epsilon, along with hands on destination experience with Amelia Island CVB where she earned the HSMAI Platinum Award in Sustainability. Her work bridges global media, tourism strategy, and real world application of data in destination marketing.

Jacob Pewitt Yancey, Head of Analytics at Arrivalist
Former Director of Consumer Insights & Analytics at VISIT FLORIDA, Jacob led the team responsible for measuring marketing performance, shaping statewide tourism strategy, and tracking the overall health of Florida’s tourism economy. An economist by training, his background spans multiple Florida state agencies, with a focus on turning complex data into clear, actionable insights that decision makers can actually use.

Together, we will get into:

How destination marketing is evolving with real behavioral data, not assumptions
What tourism demand actually looks like right now and where it is shifting
How operators and destinations should be thinking about attribution and ROI
Where marketing dollars are working and where they are being wasted
What hospitality leaders should be paying attention to over the next 12 to 24 months

This will be a practical, grounded conversation for hotel, resort, and tourism leaders who want a clearer view of what is actually driving demand and how to adjust strategy accordingly.

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols

Send us Fan Mail

In Episode 6 of Checkin' In: The Hospitality and Tourism Podcast, hosts Jeremy Nichols and Dr. Peter Ricci sit down with respected voices in the private club world to unpack an industry that most people never see from the inside.

Joining us are Michael McCarthy ECM, CEO and General Manager of Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach, one of the top-ranked country clubs in the nation and the world, and Kelly Grabowsky, CCM, Managing Director of the Florida Chapter of the Club Management Association of America, the largest CMAA chapter in the country representing over 1,100 members across 360-plus clubs statewide.

Together, they pull back the curtain on what the private club industry actually looks like, from country clubs and golf clubs to yacht clubs, tennis clubs, military clubs, city clubs, and equity communities. The landscape is wider than most people realize, and the career paths within it are more distinct, more intentional, and more rewarding than many give them credit for.

We also get into the bigger picture: how is the club industry responding to the same forces reshaping hospitality broadly? Revenue optimization, technology, flexible staffing, shifting member expectations, and generational change in leadership are all in play. This is an industry that has historically operated on tradition, and it is navigating real pressure to evolve without losing what makes it unique.

If you work in hospitality, manage a club, are considering a career in the private club space, or simply want a sharper understanding of how this industry operates, this is a conversation worth your time.

You can follow Peter Ricci at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterriccihospitality/

You can follow Jeremy Nichols at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycnichols/

https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyNichols