231: Accounting for Taste
Travis Burns is Executive Vice President of Business Development at Remington Hospitality, where he’s helping scale the company’s third-party management platform. A former aerospace professional turned hotelier, he walked into the Hyatt Regency Tulsa Downtown asking for any job, and built a career spanning sales, operations, and investment strategy. In this episode, he unpacks profit over prestige, luxury’s lift, and gut-driven growth.
• Why GOPPAR matters more than RevPAR
• How to win the GOP war—even if you lose the STR report battle
• What your business mix really costs you (and why it matters)
• How to know when saying yes is a trap
• The intuition advantage in a world drowning in data
• Why being first isn’t always best in hotel innovation
• The real driver behind luxury’s post-COVID surge
• Why great luxury GMs still have to obsess over labor and cost control
• Why new capital—not institutions—may drive 2026 transactions
• The one change Travis would make to the industry overnight
Our Top Three Takeaways
Revenue Without Profit Is a Mirage
One of the clearest themes in this conversation is Travis’s insistence that top-line performance is meaningless without margin discipline. He pushes owners and operators to look beyond RevPAR and focus on GOPPAR, emphasizing that not all revenue is created equal once costs are accounted for. The real work, he argues, is understanding *how* revenue is generated and being willing to sacrifice headline wins in favor of long-term profitability.
The K-Shaped Recovery Is Reshaping Hotel Strategy
Travis offers a grounded explanation for why luxury and upper-upscale hotels continue to outperform other segments. It’s not that affluent travelers are price-insensitive; it’s that post-COVID travelers are taking fewer trips and assigning more value to each one. When travel becomes part of the story rather than just a place to sleep, guests are willing to pay more, as long as luxury remains distinctive and doesn’t slide into sameness.
Say Yes, but Know When and Why
On careers and leadership, Travis reframes the familiar advice to “say yes” with an important caveat: every investment of time and effort should come with an exit strategy. Early-career hustle only works when it leads somewhere, whether that’s growth, learning, or the next opportunity. Without a clear payoff, ambition turns into exploitation, and knowing the difference is a critical leadership skill.
Cayuga Hospitality Consultants
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