H&HT Presents

THE LAB

Turning research into practical destination action


Hosts & Home Teams™ Field Labs bring destination organizations, short-term rental professionals, hospitality businesses, elected officials, and community leaders together to work through challenges that no single group can solve alone.

The Lab - Hosts & Home Teams



Each Lab is built around the destination, region, or industry group involved. We combine research, stakeholder input, systems mapping, and facilitated working sessions to help participants understand the issue more clearly and identify practical ways to move forward.

The goal isn’t to force agreement. It’s to create the conditions for better communication, stronger relationships, and more informed decisions.

How a Field Lab Works
Every Lab begins before participants enter the room. The discovery process may include stakeholder interviews, surveys, market research, host identification, relationship mapping, and a review of the systems or policies influencing the issue.
What Happens in the Room
Field Labs are structured as working sessions rather than traditional conferences or public meetings. Participants contribute directly through facilitated discussion, small-group exercises, systems analysis, priority development, and collaborative problem-solving.
What Comes Next
A Field Lab should lead to more than a productive day. Depending on the engagement, post-Lab deliverables may include findings and recommendations, shared priorities, stakeholder or relationship maps, engagement strategies, etc. The work after the Lab is shaped by what the destination needs and what participants are prepared to carry forward.

Destination Field Labs

Destination Field Labs are designed for one destination and its local visitor economy.

They help communities work through issues involving hosts, hospitality partners, public officials, residents, destination leaders, and other local stakeholders.


Explore Destination Field Labs

 


Regional Field Labs

Regional Field Labs bring neighboring destinations and industry partners together around challenges that extend beyond one city or county.

These may include transportation, housing, workforce, legislation, visitor flow, destination stewardship, or regional competitiveness.

Explore Regional Field Labs


Hosts & Home Teams Executive Retreat

The annual Executive Retreat brings a small group of tourism leaders together to identify emerging issues, shape the HHT research agenda, and guide future Field Lab methodologies and public conversations.

Explore the Executive Retreat

 


The 2027 Field Lab Tour

Beginning in 2027, Hosts & Home Teams™ will partner with a limited number of destinations across the country to deliver custom Field Labs.

Each destination will address its own priorities while contributing to a growing body of knowledge about stakeholder alignment and stronger visitor economies.

More Details Coming Soon!