IHIF 2014 conference review - Boutique Hotel News in Berlin
The event, held at the InterContinental Berlin, attracted close to 2,000 delegates from 73 countries.
David Fenton, senior economist at RBS set the scene on day one with a presentation on the economic landscape. He told the audience that the developed economies of the UK, USA, Japan and the Euro Zone are in a better economic place now compared with a year ago.
Moving to the industry landscape, Michael Fishbin, global and Americas hospitality leader at Ernst and Young said the last year has seen an increase in US private equity backing hotel development in Europe, both from established players and new entrants. The feeling in the investment community is that US prices are "full" but there is value to be found in European markets such as Ireland and Spain, he added, pointing pout that growing customer demand from Millennials and Chinese travellers was fuelling this process.
HVS London chairman Russell Kett then chaired a session called Investors Respond. In a theme that was to be echoed throughout the conference, Jim Risoleo, executive VP at Host Hotels said: "In certain European markets there will be numerous opportunities to buy assets at significantly below replacement value. Spain will be a strong market in 2014. Host hotels is also very bullish over the Brazilian market."
Majid Mangalji, president of Westmont Hospitality Group added that the UK and Ireland "are ahead of the curve in terms of transaction volume".
The evening of day one saw a spectacular African-themed party thrown by Rezidor at the Radisson Blu Berlin, the facade of which had been colourfully lit with an African pattern. Delegates were bussed across form the InterContinental and enjoyed copious food and drink while being entertained by African musicians and dancers.
Back at the conference for day two, Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and David Scowsill, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) gave an enlightening talk in to the travel and tourism sector, with Rifai describing the hotel sector as "the backbone of the tourism industry".
The session opened with the statistic that a billion people crossed international borders in 2012, a figure is projected to increase to 1.8 billion in 2030 (representing three to 3.3 per cent annual growth in the tourism year on year until 2030). Travel and tourism employs 276 million people globally, or 1 in 11 of the global workforce, and contributes $USD 6.8 trillion - nine per cent of the global economy.
Moving to the industry landscape, Michael Fishbin, global and Americas hospitality leader at Ernst and Young said the last year has seen an increase in US private equity backing hotel development in Europe, both from established players and new entrants. The feeling in the investment community is that US prices are "full" but there is value to be found in European markets such as Ireland and Spain, he added, pointing pout that growing customer demand from Millennials and Chinese travellers was fuelling this process.
HVS London chairman Russell Kett then chaired a session called Investors Respond. In a theme that was to be echoed throughout the conference, Jim Risoleo, executive VP at Host Hotels said: "In certain European markets there will be numerous opportunities to buy assets at significantly below replacement value. Spain will be a strong market in 2014. Host hotels is also very bullish over the Brazilian market."
Majid Mangalji, president of Westmont Hospitality Group added that the UK and Ireland "are ahead of the curve in terms of transaction volume".
The evening of day one saw a spectacular African-themed party thrown by Rezidor at the Radisson Blu Berlin, the facade of which had been colourfully lit with an African pattern. Delegates were bussed across form the InterContinental and enjoyed copious food and drink while being entertained by African musicians and dancers.
Back at the conference for day two, Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and David Scowsill, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) gave an enlightening talk in to the travel and tourism sector, with Rifai describing the hotel sector as "the backbone of the tourism industry".
The session opened with the statistic that a billion people crossed international borders in 2012, a figure is projected to increase to 1.8 billion in 2030 (representing three to 3.3 per cent annual growth in the tourism year on year until 2030). Travel and tourism employs 276 million people globally, or 1 in 11 of the global workforce, and contributes $USD 6.8 trillion - nine per cent of the global economy.
Scowsill said the tourism industry is growing at about one per cent ahead of the general economy, but warned that the industry doesn't do a good job of promoting itself to young people as a good environment to work in.
Next came "The World According to the Global CEOs", moderated by Michael Hirst, a consultant with CBRE Hotels. The session was marked by the unusually forthright and entertaining statements of the new chairman and CEO of Accor, Sébastien Bazin.
Echoing an earlier theme, Jim Abrahamson, president and CEO of Interstate Hotels & Resorts, said that the recovery in the UK market is now reaching well in to the provincial markets, and tipped boutique brands to be one of the key sector growth areas in 2014.
Boutique hotel pioneer Ian Schrager, was then honoured with the IHIF lifetime achievement award. In a video clip preceding the award, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said: "The boutique hotel sector, which Ian invented, is the most copied space in the industry."
After receiving his award, Schrager said of his creative processes: "Market research and focus groups are irrelevant to me. I tap in to the collective unconsciousness. It's alchemy, something ethereal."
He also spoke of his collaboration with Marriott on the Edition brand: "There are more similarities between the people at Marriott and myself than dissimilarities. We are both driven by excellence, we are both incredibly competitive and want to be the best."
Claiming that lifestyle hotels are the future of the business, Schrager also revealed plans to launch a sister brand to his Public hotels at a lower price point. "I want to bring real style and design to that price point," he said.
A breakout session devoted to lifestyle hotels was entitled "Differentiating for profit". Peter Norman, SVP real estate and development at Hyatt said the company consumer research revealed that customers didn't want the Hyatt name on the Andaz brand. He described Andaz Amsterdam as "very local" - its design is based on the crosses which are the emblem of Amsterdam; and revealed that future Andaz target destinations include Barcelona and Madrid - "cities where we don't have a major presence".
Billy Skelli-Cohen, director of hotel acquisitions and development at Deerbrook Group (the owner of the forthcoming Mondrain Sea Containers in London) described the relationship between an owner and an operator as "tricky - a dysfunctional marriage."
Kevin Montano, SVP Edition global development, Marriott International, said: "The renovation of a historic building was the biggest challenge of the London Edition," and revealed that both hotel occupancy and rate and F&B are performing better than expected. "F&B is feeding occupancy, which is something we didn't expect," he said, adding: "You need to ensure your F&B outlets are widely used by the local community. They drive the F&B and attract hotel guests. If your guests come out of the lift and see an empty bar or restaurant, they will go out the door and you have lost them to the city."
At a session about innovation, subtitled "Can hotels keep up with the home experience?" Markus Lehnert, VP of international hotel development at Marriott, said: "We should move away from offering guests technology that they don't need. The hotel should be a facilitator for guests to use their own technology," adding: "The people in a hotel can also create a wow factor - a super smile in a budget hotel can do the trick as well as super service at a luxury hotel."
During the same session, Frank Wolfe, CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals, said: "The simpler things are the better - the essentials are great high speed internet and sensible plug placement. As a road warrior, if a hotel doesn't have good wifi they are stealing family time from me as I will have to work in my downtime."
The prevailing atmosphere at the conference was certainly one of confidence and optimism, and there was a real sense around the event that deals are being done, and the short- to medium-term future of the industry is looking bright.
The IHIF 2015 will take place from the 2-4th March 2015. Visitwww.berlinconference.com for more details.
Echoing an earlier theme, Jim Abrahamson, president and CEO of Interstate Hotels & Resorts, said that the recovery in the UK market is now reaching well in to the provincial markets, and tipped boutique brands to be one of the key sector growth areas in 2014.
Boutique hotel pioneer Ian Schrager, was then honoured with the IHIF lifetime achievement award. In a video clip preceding the award, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said: "The boutique hotel sector, which Ian invented, is the most copied space in the industry."
After receiving his award, Schrager said of his creative processes: "Market research and focus groups are irrelevant to me. I tap in to the collective unconsciousness. It's alchemy, something ethereal."
He also spoke of his collaboration with Marriott on the Edition brand: "There are more similarities between the people at Marriott and myself than dissimilarities. We are both driven by excellence, we are both incredibly competitive and want to be the best."
Claiming that lifestyle hotels are the future of the business, Schrager also revealed plans to launch a sister brand to his Public hotels at a lower price point. "I want to bring real style and design to that price point," he said.
A breakout session devoted to lifestyle hotels was entitled "Differentiating for profit". Peter Norman, SVP real estate and development at Hyatt said the company consumer research revealed that customers didn't want the Hyatt name on the Andaz brand. He described Andaz Amsterdam as "very local" - its design is based on the crosses which are the emblem of Amsterdam; and revealed that future Andaz target destinations include Barcelona and Madrid - "cities where we don't have a major presence".
Billy Skelli-Cohen, director of hotel acquisitions and development at Deerbrook Group (the owner of the forthcoming Mondrain Sea Containers in London) described the relationship between an owner and an operator as "tricky - a dysfunctional marriage."
Kevin Montano, SVP Edition global development, Marriott International, said: "The renovation of a historic building was the biggest challenge of the London Edition," and revealed that both hotel occupancy and rate and F&B are performing better than expected. "F&B is feeding occupancy, which is something we didn't expect," he said, adding: "You need to ensure your F&B outlets are widely used by the local community. They drive the F&B and attract hotel guests. If your guests come out of the lift and see an empty bar or restaurant, they will go out the door and you have lost them to the city."
At a session about innovation, subtitled "Can hotels keep up with the home experience?" Markus Lehnert, VP of international hotel development at Marriott, said: "We should move away from offering guests technology that they don't need. The hotel should be a facilitator for guests to use their own technology," adding: "The people in a hotel can also create a wow factor - a super smile in a budget hotel can do the trick as well as super service at a luxury hotel."
During the same session, Frank Wolfe, CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals, said: "The simpler things are the better - the essentials are great high speed internet and sensible plug placement. As a road warrior, if a hotel doesn't have good wifi they are stealing family time from me as I will have to work in my downtime."
The prevailing atmosphere at the conference was certainly one of confidence and optimism, and there was a real sense around the event that deals are being done, and the short- to medium-term future of the industry is looking bright.
The IHIF 2015 will take place from the 2-4th March 2015. Visitwww.berlinconference.com for more details.
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