With America celebrating its 250th anniversary and hosting the FIFA World Cup games, 2026 promises to be a standout year in the country’s hospitality industry. As the new AHLA board chair, Liam Brown, group president, U.S. and Canada, Marriott International, aims to work with the association’s team to support our hotel industry in taking full advantage of the imminent rise in demand. Coming off a strong 2025, AHLA is “starting from a position of strength,” Brown noted in a recent interview with LODGING, and he looks forward to continued policy wins at the federal level as well as helping to foster owner-brand relationships, which underlie the success of the franchise model.
While highlighting the opportunities that 2026 presents for the industry, Brown also stressed the lifelong career opportunities that hospitality itself offers, recounting his own career path from the Irish railroad system to a small hotel company in New England to leadership roles at Marriott. Among his several goals as the new board chair, he seeks to promote the hotel industry as an ideal field for both professional growth and entrepreneurship, thereby helping to develop the hospitality workforce and small-business owners of tomorrow.
How did your early career experiences prepare you for your leadership roles in hospitality?
I started in the dining cars of the Irish railroad system and volunteered one summer to work in a high-end restaurant that belonged to a Great Southern Railway hotel. The maître-d’ was a great teacher. He knew every customer and every customer’s preferences. At the end of the summer, he asked what I wanted to do with my life, and I said, “I want your job.” He said, “Oh, you don’t want my job. You need to go into hotel management. I think you’ll do well there.”
And so, I transferred out of University College of Dublin—where I was studying to be a teacher—to study hospitality at Cathal Brugha Street, which had a hospitality program with Trinity College Dublin. In 1989, I got the opportunity to come to the United States to work for a small New England hotel company called Appleton Inns. Six months after I started working for them, they were acquired by Marriott. Since then, Marriott has given me countless opportunities to learn and grow, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
What I’ve learned through the years is that leadership is simple. You have to support your people, make your collective mission known, and ensure that every team member feels valued. This is what I do in my daily work, and what I’ll continue to do as AHLA Chair—support my fellow Board of Directors members and AHLA’s members so we can advance the hospitality industry together.
What do you find most rewarding about the hotel industry?
It has been a privilege to work in a vibrant and growing industry that offers great career opportunities and avenues for exploration. Over the course of my career, I’ve been most proud of seeing people who started in entry-level positions become general managers, regional managers, and vice presidents. It’s a testament to our industry that thousands of people have built solid lifelong careers within hospitality.
What are the most significant hospitality industry trends that emerged in 2025, in your opinion?
The industry faced real challenges in 2025, as costs rose and U.S. demand softened, particularly among international visitors. But rising costs are not a new story. Owners and operators have been struggling since 2020 and are in varying stages of recovery, but the industry continues to show its resilience and develop new strategies for efficiency. The enactment of a new federal tax law was a major win for the industry, delivering certainty businesses need to make long-term plans. Franchising has emerged as the industry’s preferred model for growth and scaling global brands, and that trend is likely to continue. As franchise systems evolve and grow, it’s critically important to look at how best the owner-brand relationship can deliver value to all stakeholders and catalyze entrepreneurs to enter the hospitality industry.
What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for U.S. hoteliers going forward?
In addition to navigating a dynamic economic environment and rising costs, how AI impacts the hospitality business is at the top of the list. As hoteliers, we are always striving for a human-centered, tech-enabled approach, exploring how we can leverage technology to make the travel experience more meaningful for customers, empower associates, and drive value for owners. AHLA’s technology arm, HTNG, has workgroups looking at the operational possibilities, and it’s very exciting.
Please share your thoughts on how the industry can continue to improve in its efforts to offer opportunities for all.
As my own story shows, the hotel industry is where the American dream can become a reality. Hospitality is unique in its opportunities for upward mobility and career growth. We all have an opportunity to continue to get that message out and make opportunities available—not only for entry-level roles but also by showcasing paths for growth, leadership, and development. The AHLA Foundation’s work in educating people about the opportunities in hospitality is critically important, from registered apprenticeships to scholarships to the FORWARD program.
What are your top priorities as chair, and how do you plan to build upon your work as vice chair?
I’m glad to say that we’re starting from a position of strength. AHLA has united all segments of the industry to speak with one voice, and I plan to build on that momentum.
As the shift toward franchising continues, looking for ways to help strengthen owner-brand relationships will be a top priority. When I was vice chair, I was especially pleased to work with Mitch Patel of Vision Hospitality because I thought that our dynamic as a brand executive and owner, respectively, was an asset for the organization. I’m looking forward to Thom Geshay’s perspective from the management company side.
AHLA and the Foundation have worked together to shine a light on the industry’s leadership in the fight against human trafficking. Next year, we’ll be focusing even more intensely on this work, beginning in January, which is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. AHLA has already been successful in getting states to extend requirements for training in human trafficking identification across the entire lodging spectrum, and those efforts will increase in 2026.
I want to get the message out that the hotel industry is truly the best place to work for anyone looking to build a career, and I want to make sure that AHLA and the Foundation work even harder to carry that message. AHLA’s committees offer great opportunities for professional development, and the Foundation workforce development programs are building tomorrow’s industry.
AHLA has made great strides in advocacy efforts in recent years. How do you plan to continue that momentum?
Hotels employ millions of people, generate billions in economic activity, contribute billions of dollars in taxes, and are anchors in their communities. Telling that story to policymakers and stakeholders is critical, and I’m confident that under Rosanna Maietta’s leadership, AHLA will continue to be the lead voice for our industry. The stakes couldn’t be higher as U.S. hotels will be welcoming an unprecedented number of visitors who are traveling to participate in once-in-a-lifetime events, such as the FIFA World Cup games and the celebrations around America’s 250th.
AHLA has an incredibly strong and bipartisan team, with several impressive wins at all levels of government to help bolster our industry and advocate for a better operating environment for our hotels. AHLA has always been a powerhouse at the federal level, and the recent growth and investment in state and local level capabilities is critical both in educating more policymakers and delivering industry policy wins.
