Next Gen in Lodging podcast hosts look back at past 12 months, make 2026 predictions
By Natalie Harms
CoStar News
To wrap up an interesting year for the hotel industry, the Next Gen in Lodging podcast hosts got together for a final 2025 episode to reflect on the year behind them and share key takeaways for what lies ahead.
On the show, co-hosts Omari Head, Davonne Reaves and Christopher Henry each discussed their individual year-in-review take, as well as what they each expect next year.
As co-founder, chairman and CEO of Majestic Hospitality Group working on hotel development projects, Henry said he’s been pleasantly surprised with how hotel development has seemed to “reactivate itself” in the past few months, adding that “overall development is finally starting to see a glimmer of hope.”
His two-word description for 2025 as a whole was “shake up,” reflecting some of the chaos and instability of what hoteliers were facing.
“I think a lot of things were almost like putting the martini shaker and shaking it around on every level of business and society,” he said. “I hope some stability and progress is made over the next 12 months.”
Head too said he hopes for stabilization within the industry.
“My theme for 2026 is going to probably be striving and not just surviving,” Head said. “So, what I mean by that is adapting to the new normals.”
For more from hosts Reaves, Head and Henry, listen to the Next Gen in Lodging podcast above.