Graham Perry: Looking to the future

By Sarah Davison, Industry Reporter

BWH Hotel Group (BWH) Australasia Managing Director

Graham Perry’s career has spanned all areas of the travel, hospitality and tourism industry.

After gett ing his start in hotels, Mr Perry’s career has seen him work in catering, theme parks, airlines, travel agents, digital media, and tourism (at a national, state, and a regional level). Returning to hotels with his appointment at BWH in 2018 is what he calls a “full circle” moment.

“Some would say I have worked in approaching ten industries, but I believe I have worked in one large interwoven industry,” he said.

“My mother worked in hotels, so naturally I really enjoyed being involved from a very early age.

“I am very passionate about hotels, so it’s wonderful to be back in this industry.”

Mr Perry said there has been an overarching theme throughout his career.

“If I look back now, the part that links every step of the way has been my interest and passion for everything distribution and technology,” he said,

“It’s involved every type of technology you could imagine, pre and post internet. I find it fascinating the way the booking systems and connections work and the partnerships that they inspire. So, by combining my broad experience and my interest in distribution this enables me to maintain a very holistic outside-looking-in view of the industry, and where it is and where it can be.”

With this passion for technology, Mr Perry said he was excited to see how the hotel and accommodation industry could begin to fully embrace technological advances.

For inspiration, Mr Perry likes to reflect on his time in the airline and travel agent industry and how they have evolved and embraced technology.

“With airlines, everything is technology-focused and entrepreneurial, all the way through,” he said.

“They're very focused on refining their booking systems. Just think about air travel these days, you can manage it all on your mobile, you can book your flight, you can check in, you can book hotels, car and experiences and you can even earn points doing it all.

“With airlines the whole business is grounded in technology, whereas with hotels, it’s grounded in bricksand-mortar but with a clear focus on customer service, which is a great thing.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic was particularly difficult for the hospitality and tourism industry, Mr Perry believes it provided an incentive to revolutionise the way hotels operate.

“The pandemic was a wake-up call and it forced the industry to think about technology in new ways to grow revenue, promote new services, improve the guest experience and all whilst cutt ing costs, which was particularly important in view of labour shortages,” he said.

“The crisis gave us that push to embrace technology and enhance customer service.

“As an example, more hotels are now embracing touchless technology - where guests can use a mobile to check in and check out, manage in-house services and search local experiences.

“I think it’s a very exciting time to be in the hotel industry.” industry he would love to see have similar as One World and where essentially competitive provide a common global

However, Mr Perry said there is another aspect of the airline industry he would love to see implemented by hotels.

“Best Western has an amazing loyalty program with over 50 million members worldwide, and other major hotel chains have similar numbers,” he said.

“Airline frequent fl yer programs such as One World and Star Alliance have a great system, where essentially competitive airlines work together to provide a common global coverage for customers.

“I see no reason why the hotel industry can't do the same thing in the future. The hotel industry came together to create Ultraswitch, the forerunner of Thisco in the 1980s to create a common distribution link to all GDS and airlines. I see no reason why it can’t do the same in the 2020s to create what I would call global HOTAs.

Looking to the future for BWH, Mr Perry said that the group was looking at appealing to a wider demographic of travellers, with a particular focus on the new traveller and the hybrid workforce.

“The reason is straightforward and because of what is happening in the postpandemic era,” he said.

“The modern workforce is not content to work from the office five days a week. They want a work and life balance and because of that, when they travel for work, they also want a hybrid travel experience.

“So we as an industry have to keep the needs of these new travellers in mind and create an inviting environment for these people to work from our hotels. Which is a win-win as these travellers will then stay longer because they can now mix a business trip with pleasure. “BWH is very aware of this trend and have a range of extended stay brands including Executive Residency, @Home and SureStay Studio to cater for this expanding market.

“We are extremely excited about Australia premiering our very first Executive Residency in Woolloongabba Queensland later this year. This new build 51 apartment property will comprise of two, three and four-bedroom residences.

“It will reimagine the home away from home experience by utilising natural light, modern design, expansive living areas and must have facilities such as a 24-hour gym. This accommodation includes stylish comforts and creates a hospitality experience that is designed to cater to longer-term stays.

“So as you can see it’s a perfect time for our emerging extended stay brands and our lifestyle and boutique brands like Aiden, World Hotels Crafted and Glo.”

When reflecting on the past few challenging years within the industry, Mr Perry said he was most proud of how his team at BWH has banded together and come out stronger.

“You know, in my 40 years, I've been through a lot of challenging events,” Mr Perry said.

“We went through the Lockerbie crisis when literally the whole world stopped travelling overnight. And then there was Y2K, Bird Flu, SARS, and September 11. Then came the Global Financial Crisis and most recently the pandemic.

“The pandemic was by far the most destabilising crisis.

“It was undoubtedly the most challenging period of my whole career, but also the most rewarding.

“And what was so rewarding was coming through it by managing your culture and being agile and flexible. And I'm incredibly proud of my team at BWH, they have grown beyond belief.

“We now have a really good blend of team members some have been with us for 20 years, others for five years, and yet others who are new. And this combination that blends important corporate memory with new energy and ideas provides a really, really strong culture and business. Not only this but we have a very diverse group combining males and females and backgrounds from every corner of the globe be it, Australia, US, Italy, China, India, Moldova, Pakistan, or England.

“I think the litmus test for a solid culture is that with every person who leaves, we don’t have to go through recruiters to find a replacement.

“My team will simply tap the shoulder of a friend, past colleague or relative, to join us because my team say and believe that BWH is a great place to work.”