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The Historic Hotels Annual Conference is the only hospitality industry conference focused on sharing best practices for leveraging cultural heritage resources, enhancing the guest experience, and capturing an increasing share of the rapidly growing heritage and cultural leisure travel market. The Historic Hotels Annual Conference welcomes owners of historic hotels, hoteliers working at member hotels of Historic Hotels of America® and Historic Hotels Worldwide®, as well as hoteliers working at non-member historic hotels and industry professionals working in adjacent sectors, such as architects, preservationists, media, and hospitality vendors.
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Fairmont Olympic Hotel (1924) Seattle, Washington

• Daniel James Brown, New York Times Best Selling Author of Under a Flaming Sky, The Indifferent Stars Above, The Boys in the Boat, and Facing the Mountain: His extensive work as a narrative nonfiction writer has brought compelling historical events to life vividly and accurately. Daniel James Brown has been named the recipient of the 2025 Historic Hotels of America Historian of the Year Award.
• Christina G. Chi, Ph.D., Professor, School of Hospitality Business Management, Carson College of Business, Washington State University: Learn from a global expert on wellness hotels and wellness-seeking customers about emerging trends, what customers are seeking in wellness experiences.
• Ali Daniels, Senior Vice President Marketing, Seattle Kraken (NHL team): Hear her insights, be unafraid, embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning and growth, identify your comfort zone–and when it’s time to go beyond it, and avoid the danger in not evolving to build and grow new skills.
• Rosanna Maietta, President & CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA): Hear about current and future state and federal legislation that will impact historic hotels, the hospitality industry, and tourism in 2026.
• Eric O’Neill, Cybersecurity Expert, Legendary FBI Operative Featured in the Film Breach, Bestselling Author, Technology Futurist and Attorney: Author of Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers (release date October 7). The dark web will soon steal $20 trillion a year, including from the hospitality and travel industry. Learn how to adopt a proactive mindset rather than a purely defensive approach, focusing on protecting data and building trust in a digitally compromised world.
• Carol Quillen, President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Hannah Smith, Senior Analyst on the Product Analytics and Insights team of STR (STR, Inc.): Hear the STR-Historic Hotels of America Forecast for 2026-2027 and learn what STR predicts for the Historic Hotels sector over the next two years.
• Melinda Smith, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company: Learn about the future of travel, how AI will impact travel now and, in the future, Agentic AI in travel, digitally enabled customer experiences, and more.
• Donny Stevenson, Vice Chair, Muckleshoot Tribal Council: Hear how and why to include the history of the place prior to historic hotel as part of the guest experience and learn ways to connect with the local indigenous people in destination.
• Stephanie Stuckey, Chair, Stuckey’s, an iconic brand founded in 1937, Author of UnStuck: Rebirth of an American Icon, former elected Georgia State representative, trial lawyer, Director of Sustainability for Atlanta, Adjunct Professor at the University of Georgia School of Law. Learn steps to Resilience & Rebuilding a legacy brand, Creativity & Branding: how to create emotional connections with customers through storytelling, and how offering unique products and experiences results in Purpose-Driven Success.
• Ted Wright, CEO, Fizz: Besides his storied history in building brands like PBR, Fireball, Crocs, Chipotle, ButcherBox, Sugarland, Tommy John, and JetBlue, it is also of interest that, in his lifetime, Ted has stayed in nearly 50 Historic Hotels of America hotels. Learn Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) techniques, how to identify the people most likely to share their opinions, how to develop the tools to make it easier to share information, and how to effectively listen and respond to people that have good, bad or indifferent things to say about historic hotels.

A partial list of the 2025 Subject Matter Experts leading the educational academies includes: Scott van Hartesvelt, Founder GCommerce Solutions; David Clower, President & CEO, National Trust Community Investment Corporation & NT Impact Capital; Eric Singleton, CEO, Strax Networks; and Michelle Heston, Regional Director of Public Relations, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
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“The takeaways from the Keynote Speakers and subject matter experts are immense for all members of a hotel’s team, from culinary, digital marketing, PR, guest experience, and operations,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Vice President, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “The ideas exchanged and the new connections to be made with other owners and leaders of the most iconic and legendary historic hotels, many representing more than 32 brands, chains, and collections, are invaluable. This year’s slate of speakers is the best we have had yet.”

The Historic Hotels Annual Conference offers owners, asset managers, general managers, senior leaders, and other decision makers a unique opportunity to learn about the latest trends, opportunities, and changes happening within historic hotels and resorts across the USA and around the world.

To learn more and register for the 2025 Historic Hotels Annual Conference, held at Fairmont Olympic Hotel October 28-31, click here.

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About Historic Hotels of America®
Historic Hotels of America® is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest historic hotels across the United States of America. The National Trust for Historic Preservation was chartered by U.S. Congress in 1949 and is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is leading the movement to save the places where our history happened. To be nominated and selected for membership in this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historical significance. Of the more than 300 historic hotels inducted into Historic Hotels of America from 44 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, all historic hotels faithfully preserve their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity. For more information, please visit HistoricHotels.org.

About Historic Hotels Worldwide®
Historic Hotels Worldwide®, an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (in the USA), is a prestigious and distinctive collection of historic treasures, including luxury historic hotels built in former castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries, and other historic lodging spanning ten centuries. Historic Hotels Worldwide represents the finest and most distinctive global collection of more than 320 historic hotels in forty-nine countries. Hotels inducted into Historic Hotels Worldwide are authentic historic treasures, demonstrate historic preservation, and celebrate historic significance. Eligibility for induction into Historic Hotels Worldwide is limited to those distinctive historic hotels that adhere to the following criteria: minimum age for the building is 75 years or older; historically relevant as a significant location within a historic district, historically significant landmark, place of a historic event, former home of a famous person, or historic city center; hotel celebrates its history by showcasing memorabilia, artwork, photography, and other examples of its historic significance; recognized by national preservation or heritage buildings organization or located within UNESCO World Heritage Site; and presently used as a historic hotel. For more information, please visit HistoricHotelsWorldwide.com.

Media Contact:
Katherine Orr
Historic Hotels of America | Historic Hotels Worldwide
Director, Marketing Strategy and Communications
Tel: 202-772-8337
LinkedIn

Previous Release: Author Daniel James Brown Named 2025 Historic Hotels of America® Historian of the Year (09/09/25)