Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice draws an audience that tunes in to see big stars compete for big stakes. Last Sunday, the show was set at the Loews Regency Hotel in New York, where celebrities, including Joan Rivers and Dennis Rodman, were asked to perform the responsibilities that our team members do everyday at all 18 Loews Hotels throughout North America.

My motivation to participate in the top-rated show was not to receive accolades from family, friends, and the numerous "closet" Celebrity Apprentice fans who stopped by my table at lunch the next day (most humorously claiming to be "just channel surfing" when they caught my appearance in the famous boardroom). My hope was that the Celebrity Apprentice stars running the Loews Hotel would bring some attention to the nearly 17 million people who are employed in the travel and tourism industry in this country—people who work extremely hard in an industry essential to our economic well-being.

As expected, the show's celebrities discovered what I already knew: These jobs are anything but mundane, as many of the stars told me when the cameras weren't rolling.

A few years back, in order to get a better perspective on the critical connection between upper management and entry-level employees at Loews Hotels, I agreed to star in the premier episode of a television series on TLC that explored what happens when a CEO is placed in frontline positions at his or her own company. Today, I am thankful for that experience. As a CEO who has made beds, checked in guests, carried bags, and cleaned bathrooms, I never "disconnect" in my midtown Manhattan office from the understanding that the work of a hotel employee is arduous, physical, and rewarding.

The hospitality business is about making people feel like a celebrity. I thank my friend Donald Trump for allowing us to highlight the fact that it is really about the unsung celebrities—the hardworking men and women who are so vital to Loews Hotels, the hospitality industry, and to our nation's economy.