Vegas literally defines itself as an experience, but is it selling something people want? As implosion comes for the casino icons of the 80s and 90s, our collective sense of what makes a satisfying user experience is changing. Is Vegas capturing the right “UX” of the moment, or just going through the motions? Is the architectural and experiential design of the town still, what’s the word … fun?

Part 2 of our interview with Matt Cornelius, EVP at Airports Council International - North America gets into the real nitty-gritty: how exactly do airports make money? How do dominant carriers affect the cities they're based in? And, most important, what's the best way to board an airplane?

What do movies and TV shows get universally wrong about hotels? What do they (occasionally) get right? What movie hotel would we want to visit? Wait, Stanley Kubrick never filmed a movie outside of the UK?

Links:
The design team that worked on interiors at the Park Hyatt Tokyo: https://superpotato.jp/en/
The inspiration for The Shining's Overlook Hotel: https://www.stanleyhotel.com
The Andaz West Hollywood: https://lucire.com/2021/1013vo0.shtml

Executive Vice President at Airports Council International-North America Matt Cornelius tells us where the buck stops at airports, and explains how they really run. Also, what's the best-run airport in America?

We just inherited a boatload of cash with one deeply eccentric stipulation: we have to build a hotel with it. But where? And why? And in which places does Jeff tell Matt we definitely CANNOT build one? And wait, somebody's building a hotel in Antarctica? 

Jeff talks with Eric about Greenview's role as the world’s leading provider of sustainability programs and data management for the hospitality and tourism sector. What's the current narrative around sustainability in tourism, and where can you make a difference as a hotel owner and a responsible traveler?

They're big and they buy things. Why aren't the tech giants taking over online travel? Or maybe ... they already have!?

We also talk about the illusion of choice when it comes to booking online. Major players like Expedia gobbled up other travel sites, so when you're shopping around, often you're just browsing different floors of the same department store. 

Plus, it's only a matter of time before Airbnb starts listing hotel rooms. What's stopped them so far?

Online Travel Agencies - a euphemistic way to describe the robots that (maybe) help us find deals on hotels, plane tickets, and a growing number of other travel-related services. How did the Expedias of the world get so dominant? What do hotels actually think of them? How does everybody (except you) make money off them?

Lodging Analytics Research & Consulting issues a quarterly U.S. Lodging Industry Outlook that's essential reading in the hotel business, and Ryan stops by to talk about LARC's Q1 report, coming trends in 2022, markets to watch, the pandemic's impact on commercial real estate, Airbnb regulation, and the Tuscan sun.

See what else LARC is up to at https://www.larcanalytics.com

What's it like to work in the orbit of the most famous theme park in the world? We're in the midst of Disney World's 50th Anniversary, and it got us thinking about all the usual stuff: utopia-building, timeshare economics, land use in central Florida, job reports, tourism dollars, Westworld,  civic ecosystems, the Orlando airport. Just your typical winter vacation daydreams.