This Travel Tech Founder Says We’re Entering an Era of “Unlimited” Travel Demand

On this episode of Suite Success, host Katie Cline sits down with Tim Hentschel, co-founder and co-CEO of HotelPlanner, one of the world’s leading travel technology platforms.

A third-generation hotelier who started working in hotels at just 12 years old, Tim has spent more than two decades at the intersection of hospitality and technology. He shares how he and his co-founder bootstrapped HotelPlanner in 2003, why having less money forced them to embrace automation early, and how those constraints ultimately helped them outlast better-funded competitors.

Tim also shares his candid perspective on private equity and the risks founders take when raising outside capital, why he believes AI and humans will continue to work side by side in hospitality, and how technology has fundamentally changed the way people live, work and travel. With remote work, an aging population with disposable income and younger generations increasingly able to work from anywhere, Tim believes the industry is heading toward what he calls “unlimited demand for hotel rooms and travel.”

Plus, he explains why, after building his career in travel technology, he’s now betting on brick-and-mortar hotels, what living and working around the world has taught him about cultural differences, and why the fundamentals of great hospitality remain remarkably unchanged.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome to Suite Success

00:37 Meet Tim Hentschel

01:25 Third Generation Hotelier

02:46 From Cornell to Startup

03:35 Living Around the World