PHOENIX-The archetypal panel for this year's 2011 Lodging Conference at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel was "A View from the Top" and featured major players in the lodging industry sharing their views on the economy, the future of technology and management strategies under macroeconomic duress. Moderated by Top Ten Marketing and Hospitality Consulting owner Don Landry, the panel consisted of Monty Bennett, president & CEO, Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc.; Roger Bloss, president & CEO, Vantage Hospitality Group, Inc.; Eric Danziger, president & CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group; and Stephen Haggerty, global head - Real Estate and Development Hyatt Hotels Corp.

"We're all in this business for the long-term value," Danziger remarked in response to concerns about economic uncertainty in the US. If brands continued to focus on what they are supposed to: deliver to the customer. There was no use worrying about the "next new thing," but that if you simply stuck to the strategy of running your business, then your hotel will be fine in good times or bad, he said.

Bloss, facing more downward pressure, as his brands are hit harder in a blue collar recession like today's, he wants to keep his owners educated on their market place and help them utilize every channel available while making them aware of what their competitors are up to. All in all, much of the focus has come back to basics as the panel emphasized the ineffectiveness of oscillating to every new worry in the marketplace.