Posts by Sarah McCay Tams
Understanding How Hotels Adapted To The Labor Challenges of 2025
Hotel leaders found themselves caught between revenue reductions and cost challenges in 2025, with both putting pressure on profit. Rising wage levels, higher headcounts, increased overtime, and pressure to improve productivity per occupied room all tested hotel operators. Entering 2026, many of these challenges look set to follow hotel leaders into the new year. We…
Read MoreA Hospitality Journey: Eric McCarthy-Zink on Disney Lessons, Leadership, and Scaling With Purpose
From washing dishes at his local Chinese restaurant to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a global hospitality company, Eric McCarthy-Zink’s career is a shining example of the opportunities that can come from a career in hospitality. He caught up with Josiah Mackenzie, VP of Marketing at Actabl, to talk about his career path, how Disney’s…
Read MoreHow Hotels Used Labor Efficiency to Protect Margins in 2025
The 2025 Labor Costs and Trends Report from HotelData.com by Actabl examines how hotels navigated labor costs during the first nine months of the year. It reveals a year shaped by clear labor realities: wages remained high, forecasting accuracy mattered more than ever, and operators leaned on efficiency over headcount cuts. The data covers 5,000…
Read MoreHow Hotel Labor Management Will Evolve in 2026
Labor will remain the largest and most complex cost for hotels in 2026. Rising wages, ongoing staffing shortages, and demand for flexible scheduling place pressure on operators to manage teams more accurately and with less administrative work. The next wave of labor management technology will give hoteliers stronger control over costs, better insight into workforce…
Read MoreThe Future of Hotel Business Intelligence: 4 Key Shifts to Watch in 2026
Hotel operators will enter 2026 with sharper expectations around data, speed, and system alignment. Business intelligence has moved from a supportive function to a core requirement for commercial and operational performance. Fragmented systems, shifting demand, and leaner staffing models create pressure for clearer, faster insight across every property. The hotels that invest in connected intelligence…
Read MoreA Hospitality Journey: How Hospitality America’s CEO Ben Campbell Makes Work a Team Sport
In hospitality, growth is never just about adding more properties—it’s about building a culture that attracts talent, inspires teams, and supports exceptional guest experiences. Few leaders embody this balance as clearly as Ben Campbell, CEO of Hospitality America. In this conversation with Josiah Mackenzie, VP of Marketing at Actabl, Ben shares his journey from college…
Read MoreQ3 2025 Hotel Profitability: Margins Hold as Costs Rise
U.S. hoteliers demonstrated once again the growing complexity in managing the delicate balance between revenue growth and cost control, as revealed by the latest HotelData.com’s Q3 2025 Hotel Profitability Report. Based on performance insights from thousands of hotels using Actabl, the report shows that while top-line performance softened in some markets, profit margins remained resilient,…
Read MoreUnderstanding The Hotel KPIs That Drive Profit, Efficiency, and Guest Experience
Hotel industry leaders rely on clear, accurate data to guide decisions that shape profitability and guest satisfaction. Understanding and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) helps hotel operators measure success, forecast effectively, and make confident decisions that drive performance. Whether you are new to hospitality or a seasoned professional, it’s easy to get lost in the…
Read MoreA Hospitality Journey: How Frank Morris Built a Career on Pizza, People, and Profitability
With nearly three decades in hospitality, Frank Morris has built a career grounded in growth, mentorship, and a love for the industry’s people-first culture. Today, as Regional Manager at Raymond Management Company, Frank oversees nine hotel properties while supporting profitability initiatives and guiding teams through daily challenges. In this conversation with Actabl’s Head of Editorial,…
Read MoreHow Hospitality America Streamlined Operations and Strengthened Culture with Actabl
Case Study How Hospitality America Streamlined Operations and Strengthened Culture with Actabl Key results included increased efficiency, improved preventative maintenance oversight, and stronger employee engagement across 20 hotels. DOWNLOAD CASE STUDY Why It Matters Hotel operators face mounting pressure from labor shortages, rising costs, and shifting guest expectations. Hospitality America, a management company operating 20…
Read MoreDestination AI Summit 2025: A Turning Point for Hospitality
By Drew Potter, Account Executive at Actabl The Destination AI Hospitality Summit brought together hoteliers, technology leaders, and innovators to discuss the future of artificial intelligence in our industry. The energy was unmistakable: AI is no longer an abstract possibility. It is here, shaping how we engage with guests, optimize operations, and compete in a…
Read MoreFuture-Ready Hospitality: Hotel Equities Invests in the Actabl Platform to Scale with Purpose
Hotel Equities is a purpose-driven hospitality company with a growing global portfolio and a deeply rooted, people-first culture. As a hospitality management and development company overseeing hundreds of hotels across the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America, Hotel Equities is no stranger to complexity. The company manages a diverse portfolio of full-service, select-service, independent,…
Read MoreWhy Better Budgets Start with Educated Hotel Operators
Too many hotel budgets are built in isolation, often crafted in finance offices or C-suite meetings with little input from the people who actually execute them. Creating budgets based on historical performance – of simply saying we’ll achieve an extra X% next year – is now defunct. Budgeting requires a more nuanced understanding of both…
Read MoreFrom Cost to Catalyst: Rethinking Hotel Labor Strategies for 2026 and Beyond
Labor represents both the most pressing challenge and the greatest opportunity for driving profitability, enhancing guest satisfaction, and maximizing asset value in hotels. A recent webinar hosted by Hotel Investment Today by Northstar and Actabl saw four hospitality leaders come together to explore how data, technology, and culture are reshaping labor strategies for the years…
Read MoreWelcoming Joseph Benjamin, Actabl’s New Chief Technology Officer
Joseph Benjamin recently joined Actabl as our new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Joseph brings decades of experience leading large-scale technology organizations, integrating platforms, and building high-performing global teams. He has helped companies move through the exact scaling chapter Actabl is entering now: integrating multiple product lines and aligning global engineering teams for growth. At DataLogix,…
Read MoreActabl Appoints Joseph Benjamin as Chief Technology Officer
Technology veteran to accelerate Actabl’s platform integration and data-driven innovation for hotels worldwide DENVER – September 18, 2025 – Actabl, the leading hospitality software company dedicated to empowering hotels with actionable insights to drive profit, today announced the appointment of Joseph Benjamin as Chief Technology Officer. He will lead Actabl’s global technology strategy and execution…
Read MoreEmpowering The People That Power Hospitality
By Andrew Arthurs, COO, Actabl At Actabl, our mission is to empower the people who power the hospitality industry. For me, that’s about connecting with people and helping them unlock their true potential. As an industry, we’ve been laser-focused on the guest experience and how technology can help improve each stage of the guest journey….
Read MoreHotel Data Conference 2025: Labor Management Takes Center Stage
At this year’s Hotel Data Conference in Nashville, one theme cut through the economic forecasts, RevPAR revisions, and market bifurcation debates: how hotels manage labor will define profitability in the next 12–24 months. A Profit Squeeze That Starts in the P&L STR’s Amanda Hite and CoStar’s Jan Freitag set the stage in the opening session:…
Read More