Brookfield’s Hospitality Chief on Why Travel’s Future Hinges on Differentiation and Value Creation

Brookfield is one of the world’s largest real estate investors, with nearly every asset class under its belt. But in his first-ever podcast interview, Shai Zelering — the firm’s global head of hospitality investments — offered an unusually candid view of how Brookfield approaches travel. Speaking with Skift founder Rafat Ali on the Skift Travel Podcast, Zelering covered everything from niche European resorts to India’s growth story to the state of U.S. hospitality.

“We stay out of commoditized product,” Zelering said. “It doesn’t have to be only high end, it doesn’t have to be low end, but it needs to be differentiated.”

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Brookfield has been active despite industry volatility. This year, the firm acquired Generator Hostels in Europe for roughly $1 billion and sold a similar amount of assets across the U.S. and Europe, including the largest single-hotel deal in Spain. Other plays include lifestyle extended-stay brand Locke, British holiday park operator Center Parcs, and investments in Leela Palaces in India.

The common thread: properties that offer a unique value proposition and resist commoditization. Generator, for instance, targets affordability without sacrificing experience — leaning into music, festivals, and youth culture. Center Parcs, meanwhile, thrives on its built-in occupancy model and family-friendly amenities.

Zelering sees India as one of the world’s most compelling growth markets. “It’s a third the size of the U.S., five times the population, with a growing middle class,” he said. “Once you have education, a home, a car — the next thing is travel.” Brookfield has maintained an office in India for more than 15 years and took a decade before making its first deal, underscoring its long-term view.

Europe, by contrast, isn’t a growth story in macroeconomic terms, but remains a powerhouse for hospitality. “It has that romanticism about travel that is quite special,” Zelering said. Brookfield is leaning into affordable and lifestyle-focused products there, from hostels to extended-stay brands.

The conversation turned more critical when Zelering and Ali discussed U.S. hospitality. Ali argued the country has “lost the plot” on service, while Zelering pointed to a deeper issue: misalignment between hotel brands and property owners.

“The market has trained brands to focus on unit growth and loyalty programs,” he said. “But for real estate owners who take the biggest risk, there needs to be alignment. Otherwise, you end up with commoditized boxes where the only difference is price.”

This, he suggested, has eroded the art of hospitality in the U.S., even as demand for luxury and international travel has surged.

On technology, Zelering was blunt: “Hotel people are horrible in technology, hence the existence of Booking.com and Expedia.” He argued that innovation isn’t the problem — adoption is. Too often, basic processes like mobile check-in still fail, even as consumers can now hail driverless cars or shop in cashierless stores.

His hope is that artificial intelligence will free staff from back-office tasks and enable a return to genuine service. “The best years of hospitality are ahead of us,” Zelering said, if the industry embraces tech that amplifies, rather than replaces, human interaction.

Zelering framed Brookfield’s philosophy as “value building” rather than “value extraction.” That means prioritizing differentiated products, long-term cultural fit, and investment models that encourage continual reinvestment — rather than chasing quarterly numbers.

“Imagine if Western brands adopted Leela’s principle that ‘the guest is God,’” he said. “That would make traveling much more fun, wouldn’t it?”