We recently hosted an event in Denver at the Crawford Hotel, where Tom Garrett from HubSpot sat down with Kelsey Stafford, Director of Customer Data & Analytics at Xanterra Travel Collection, and our own Melissa Erickson, Head of Solution Consulting for North America at Engaging.io.

The conversation centred on one of the biggest challenges facing travel and hospitality brands today—how to unify complex systems, data, and teams under one CRM, and what it actually takes to make that transformation work.

If you missed it, here’s a quick wrap-up of what was discussed.

Kelsey shared how Xanterra—whose brands include national park lodges like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, Windstar Cruises, VBT Bicycling Vacations, and Holiday Vacations—was managing multiple reservation systems and disconnected data before making the move to HubSpot Enterprise.

Their mission: create a single, trusted view of the customer while preserving the unique needs of each brand.

Melissa highlighted integrations aren’t the hard part—getting the data structure right is. Once the foundation is solid, everything else flows. This is the approach which guided Xanterra’s six-month rollout: building a shared data model, aligning teams, and keeping enough flexibility for brand-specific requirements.

Clear documentation, process maps, and visual workflows helped turn a complex project into something every team could understand and get behind.

The panel also touched on adoption and change management—arguably the toughest part of any CRM rollout. Kelsey explained how tailoring communication to different audiences made all the difference: giving execs visibility, speaking the language of sales, and showing hands-on demos for the wider team. Melissa reinforced that focusing on the core 80% and phasing in exceptions later is key to getting early wins and maintaining momentum.

Of course, no modern CRM discussion is complete without AI. Both Kelsey and Melissa agreed that while AI tools are exciting, they only deliver real value when paired with clean, structured data and clear business goals. At Xanterra, AI is already assisting with chat automation and project management—but always as a co-pilot, not a replacement for human insight.

The biggest takeaways from the night?

• Start with data structure, not tools.

• Communicate visually and often.

• Build advocates early.

• Keep it simple, then scale.

• Use AI to enhance, not replace, human judgment.

It was an inspiring discussion on how transformation actually happens in real organisations—with collaboration, strategy, and a lot of persistence.

If you’d like to see the full story behind Xanterra’s HubSpot rollout, you can read the detailed case study here.