In this episode of Checking In, editor/publisher Rosanna Caira speaks with several leading experts in the foodservice and hospitality industry to assess how COVID-19 is impacting restaurants and hotels across Canada, while examining the efforts being taken to help the industry survive during this unprecedented time.

In this episode, Susie Grynol, president of the Hotel Association of Canada, examines a few of the strategies the association has developed to deal with some of the key challenges of the day. From topics such as short-term rentals, to labour shortages and OTAs, the association has worked diligently to advocate and launch initiatives that help the hotel industry regain its competitive edge.

In this episode Rosanna Caira talks with Reetu Gupta, CEO of the Easton Group of Hotels. As someone who was raised in the hotel industry Gupta has learned first hand about strategies for success from her entrepreneurial father Steve Gupta. Those lessons have helped form who she is both as a person and a leader and today she’s setting new directions for the company and approaches for the business.

While labour shortages continue to permeate the hospitality industry, in this episode Hazelton Hotel Managing Director Hani Roustom shares his insights into what makes the hospitality industry a happy place to work, touching on the industry’s ability to offer up unique opportunities to learn, grow and have fun while earning a living.

Heather McCrory, president and CEO of Accor North and Central America, talks about her trajectory in the hotel industry, starting in the housekeeping department and now sitting in the C-suite. Find out how her perspective as a woman has shaped her career, what she sees as some of her challenges and how she plans to use her position to shape positive change.