COVER STORY 2026 AHLA BOARD CHAIR LIAM BROWN NEW PERSPECTIVE THOM GESHAY BRINGS MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE TO HIS ROLE AS AHLA VICE CHAIR Thom Geshay is president & CEO, Davidson Hospitality Group , where he has served in leadership roles since 1988. As such, he brings a valuable management company point of view to the work he will under-take with 2026 AHLA Chair Liam Brown. But Geshay has also become enthusiastic about all aspects of the industry during his hospitality journey, as he shared with LODGING . In addition, he touched on industry trends, leadership best practices, and the outlook for AHLA’s advocacy efforts this year. WHAT INITIALLY ATTRACTED YOU TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY? I am what one might call an accidental hotelier. My career trajectory was not in hospitality originally; I attended college to be an engineer. But the summer before I went to school, I got a job as a bellman with a Holiday Inn in Asheville, North Caro-lina. And then I kept working part time while I went to school, moving through almost every part of the hotel—from bellman to front desk to night auditor, with stints as a dishwasher, a cook, a bartender, and a DJ. I loved the variety and finding ways to create more value. After college, I landed at IBM, but then Gregg Adams, who oversaw all of the hotels in the region for Davidson at the time, offered me a job managing the nightclub where I had been a DJ. I started with the title of beverage director, but within two years, I had the opportunity to ascend to general manager. From there, I set out to learn as much as I could about the industry. For more than 30 years, this has been an industry that’s allowed me to learn and grow as fast as the company I work for—a transforma-tive process that is hard to imagine in any other sector. I’m a hotel enthusiast—I just love hotels. HOW AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE WITHIN AHLA? AHLA is the national voice of our industry, and as the landscape continues to evolve, hoteliers have an opportunity to reinvigo-rate and refresh the narrative. While we offer temporary lodging, Planting a tree at Etihad Marriott Mangrove Forest on Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi 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 bil-lions in economic activity, contribute billions of dollars in taxes, and are anchors in their com-munities. 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 wel-coming 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. 34 LODGING / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026
Lodging Magazine January/February 2026: Page 36
