GMH Hotels: Canada’s Costly Oversight, AI Agents & Travel Tech Shakeups

On this week’s Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk dive into the latest forces shaping travel and hospitality in 2026. They begin with a closer look at why ignoring the Canadian travel market is starting to carry real economic consequences for brands and destinations. From there, they explore the state of AI in travel, including why many travel brands are building “AI agents” for consumer behaviors that don’t yet exist and how the incoming Claude AI model is already influencing travel tech development. The conversation then turns to industry infrastructure as Sabre announces a rebrand at ITB Berlin and Hyatt reports limited direct impact from recent violence in Mexico while acknowledging broader challenges in global markets. As always, they close with the Unhinged Story of the Week, featuring a traveler whose hotel room was taken to an unforgettable, and extremely gross, extreme. It’s a fast-paced episode that spans demand strategy, cutting-edge technology, and the strange side of travel life.