HM April 2020

IN THIS ISSUE BOUTIQUE AND LIFESTYLE BRANDS IN HOT DEMAND CAPTURING ATTENTION IN HOTEL TV SOFTWARE DESIGNERS DEBATE: STANDALONE VS MIXED-USE THE BUSINESS OF ACCOMMODATION IN ASIA-PACIFIC Vol.24 No.2 Bi-monthly April 2020

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SKY HIGH Thirteen hotels in the pipeline make for happy reading at Hilton, with signings in Victoria and Western Australia preparing to send the company’s Australasian presence soaring

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*Requires Ultra High Definition compatible TVs. Not available until Autumn 2020. ^Selected languages available. First Man: © 2018 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. A Star Is Born: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: © 2018 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.; Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Publishing Rights J.K.R. Dumb and Dumber: © 1994 New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. His Dark Materials, Succession: 2019 © Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO and all related service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc. Invictus: © 2009 Warner Bros.

Entertainment Inc. and Spyglass Entertainment Funding, LLC. Kill Bill: © 2011 Miramax. Instant Family: © 2018 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved. The Mule: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Bron Creative, and Imperative Entertainment, LLC. The Wife: © 2017 Meta Film London Limited. All Rights Reserved. BUS0355

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CONTENTS

April 2020

53

Vol. 24 No.2

38 PELLICANO POWER

Firmly a family business, HM chats new and youthful energy in hotel construction with company Director, Nando Pellicano

40 THE NEW INTERFACE

Opportunities for hotel brands to reach guests through its in-room television are severely limited due to the proliferation of personal streaming, making the welcome screen a key touch point

42 HEAR US ROAR

The accommodation industry is a shining example of female empowerment.

HM meets six leading ladies who are dominating their professional domain

46 HARNESSING SMART ENERGY Are the lights on when nobody is home? Not any more, thanks to innovative motion capture and energy technology, putting money back in the pockets of hoteliers

50 LEVERAGING LIFESTYLE

Making the guest feel right at home is key to the success of modern-day boutique and lifestyle hotels, as these brands testify

56 STANDALONE VS MIXED-USE In years past, hotels dominated entire building. Today, it’s all about mixeduse as the industry adapts to sharing with residential, commercial, retail and many other economic sectors

18

Veriu Group CEO, Zed Sanjana (right) recently opened Veriu Green Square

HM Q&A

48 BRISBANE'S RISING STAR

The Emporium Hotel South Bank in Brisbane is Queensland's quiet achiever.

General Manager, Charles Martin, shares more about this under-the-radar player

Regulars

06 EDITOR’S LETTER

James Wilkinson on supporting the industry during the crisis

08 NEED TO KNOW

On the cover

Hilton Australasia Managing Director, Heidi Kunkel, with her Melbourne leadership team

The 21 essential news stories you need to know this month: spanning operations, development and tourism industry news

42

30 COVER STORY

Presented this month by Hilton hotelmanagement.com.au 5

EDITOR’S LETTER

Managing Director Simon Grover

Supporting the industry in these challenging times

Publisher James Wells

A

s the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold, I would like to extend our thoughts to all businesses and individuals impacted by these challenging times.

To the hotel staff, owners, suppliers, consultants and all industry professionals who have been affected by this pandemic, we are thinking of you.

At HM magazine, we are committed to providing a useful resource with the latest industry news, statistics and examples of best practice, as well as timely content, information and inspiration through our printed pages, website, email newsletter and social media channels.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a surge in engagement from our readers, showing people are more than ever looking to us for information, guidance and support.

With that in mind, we would like to invite you to reach out with news, thoughts and ideas, and we will endeavour to share these with our audience.

We would like to also thank our industry partners and advertisers for their continued support during this time.

We encourage our clients and hotels to continue sharing their promotions and brand messages through HM magazine to ensure a consistent message now and into the future.

The Australasian hotel industry is notoriously resilient and together, we will get through this challenging time and emerge stronger.

Yours in hospitality,

Deputy Editor Matt Lennon mlennon@intermedia.com.au National Sales Manager Tara Ducrou tducrou@intermedia.com.au Contributing Writers Dean Long, Michael Johnson, Sally Attfield and Peter McBrearty Production Manager Jacqui Cooper jacqui@intermedia.com.au Subscription enquiries 1800 651 422 Subscribe to HM magazine – 6 issues for AUD $88 (inc. GST) subscriptions@intermedia.com.au Published by

41 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia. (PO Box 55, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia) Tel: +61 (0) 2 9660 2113 Fax: +61 (0) 2 9660 4419 ABN 940 025 836 82

James Wilkinson Editor-In-Chief Hotels staff are the backbone to every property

In association with

We are here to support each other and will emerge stronger

MEET THE HM TEAM…

James Wells Publisher

Editor-In-Chief James Wilkinson jwilkinson@intermedia.com.au

Matt Lennon Deputy Editor

6 HM The Business of Accommodation

Tara Ducrou National Sales Manager

Adrian Tipper Creative Director

The Intermedia Group takes its Corporate and Social Responsibilities seriously and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment.

We continuously strive to improve our environmental performance and to initiate additional CSR based projects and activities.

As part of our company policy we ensure that the products and services used in the manufacture of this magazine are sourced from environmentally responsible suppliers.

This magazine has been printed on paper produced from sustainably sourced wood and pulp fibre and is accredited under PEFC chain of custody.

PEFC certified wood and paper products come from environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests.

The wrapping used in the delivery process of this magazine is 100% biodegradable.

DISCLAIMER This publication is published by FAB Media Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information.

The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages. While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication.

Copyright © 2020 - FAB Media Pty Ltd.

21

Things You Need To Know The essential hotel and travel industry news and trends from across the globe.

Read more at HotelManagement.com.au.

01

Industry needs to be ready for recovery

Tourists will be back in Sydney soon after the crisis passes

When business picks up again, it will be fast

THE MOST SENIOR tourism leaders in Australia say the nation needs to be ready for the post-coronavirus recovery – and absolutely will be – once the global crisis tapers off, with major marketing initiatives locked and ready to go.

A key element of that is a new global marketing campaign which Tourism Australia unveiled at the recent ‘Destination Australia’ conference in Adelaide, which Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison, said was about being prepared for the travel bounce-back.

“We know we don’t want to go ‘dark’ because when this is over, people are going to want to travel and the recovery can be as sharp as the fall,” she told the crowd of over 300 Australian tourism leaders.

“This isn’t the first time the industry has faced a crisis and it won’t be the last time.

“We have to keep an eye on the long-term picture [because] we are resilient and we will bounce-back,” Harrison said.

Tourism Australia has also been actively promoting domestic tourism on the back of the devastating bushfires earlier this year. Efforts will be ramped-up on the back of the Australian Government’s AUD$17.6 billion economic stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham, said past experience from various crises showed destinations need to be ready to capture the traveller when they are ready to explore once more.

02

Industry approves government stimulus Assistance welcomed but more will be needed

8 HM The Business of Accommodation

m

a ll

c pa an im dr e egi g th onal hotels are feelin

t

forced to miss shifts if asked to isolate.

Tourism Accommodation Australia National CEO, Michael Johnson, has commended the government, saying employers will hopefully feel supported.

“Small and medium-sized accommodation providers will also benefit from immediate cash flow support payments of up to AUD$25,000 – which is vitally important to many businesses impacted by both COVID-19 and the summer bushfires.

S

TOURISM ADVOCACY BODIES have collectively given the tick of approval to the Federal Government’s AUD$17.6 billion stimulus package – part of which will go to prop up tourism businesses struggling to stay afloat amidst the Coronavirus crisis.

The stimulus package is aimed at businesses to help ward off redundancies and to keep apprentice and casual workers employed in the wake of the downturn, as well as provide sickness payments to casuals

Accommodation Association CEO, Dean Long, praised the government package as an "important first step”.

“We particularly welcome the AUD$6.7 billion to provide immediate cash flow support payments of up to AUD$25,000 for small- and medium-sized providers."

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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 03

Luxury Accor brand names its maiden Oz location

MELBOURNE WILL BECOME home to Australia’s first SO/ hotel after Accor confirmed the brand’s ongoing expansion in Australasia via a newbuild in the Victorian capital.

Overlooking Flagstaff Gardens in the northern end of the CBD, the 288-room SO/ Melbourne will be situated close to Queen Victoria Markets and Marvel Stadium, well served by existing public transport links including train and tram. The hotel will follow a familiar narrative for new hotels to be developed in the city, adopting a mixed-use

operational model and offering commercial office space, ground-floor retail and a co– working centre.

Accor has confirmed one of the world’s most celebrated fashion designers will be recruited to bring the SO/Melbourne scene to life via their own artistic talents, similar to SO/ Auckland, which showcases the creative nous of designer WORLD throughout its spaces.

SO/Melbourne will occupy floors 11 to 34 within an urban regeneration development

by MIT Group Holdings - the construction

rt is

A

SO/ sets its sights on Australia

tr en

ne ur o b der el ing o /M f the future SO

arm of the Melbourne Institute of Technology. The hotel will incorporate an existing heritage-listed building as part of its lower-level design to reflect the history of the area.

Guest facilities will include a signature SO/ Club Lounge, speciality restaurant and bar as part of a sky deck, all-day dining and outdoor terrace, lobby lounge and café, a ballroom and a variety of meeting spaces. A SO/SPA and SO/FIT wellness and fitness centre will also feature, along with a swimming pool.

05

Guest rooms at Mamaka Kuta Beach will be high on colour and energy

Event Hospitality hops into youth hostels Acquisition of Jucy Snooze signals future brand expansion

04

Ovolo unveils new Mamaka brand for Bali New resort will open to guests in late 2020 MAMAKA KUTA BEACH has been unveiled as the new operating name and brand for Ovolo Group’s maiden property in Kuta, Indonesia, which will open under the brand later this year.

The former Citadines Kuta Beach, which was acquired by Ovolo late last year, will close this month for a complete transformation into a property brimming with colour and energy in true Ovolo fashion. The reimagined resort will feature 191 rooms, multiple new food and beverage concepts and unique guest experiences.

According to Ovolo, the resort’s new name is derived from ancient Pali language and will see the resort adopt a number of traditional Balinese and Indonesian service concepts, backed by local colours and textiles throughout public spaces and guest rooms.

New to Bali experiences set to be available at Mamaka Kuta Beach will include the area’s highest rooftop pool bar, with 270-degree views of Bali’s western beaches. A culinary partner to design the venue’s menu and design concept is expected to be named shortly.

Other guest facilities will include a wellness centre with climbing wall and surf school with circuit training mechanical surfboard.

10 HM The Business of Accommodation

BUDGET AND BACKPACKER accommodation brand, Jucy Snooze, has joined the Event Hospitality & Entertainment Limited stable following the acquisition of a 50% stake in the company.

The move sees Jucy Snooze join brands including Rydges, QT Hotels and Atura and brings Event Hospitality into the backpacker space via a brand known for its pod-style micro accommodation popular with young and budget-conscious travellers. In addition to the dorm-style pod rooms, the brand also offers private ensuite rooms, family rooms and shared accommodation for smaller groups.

Jucy Snooze is currently active in two New Zealand cities – Queenstown and Christchurch – with a third property soon due to open in Auckland. The 50% stake purchase by Event Hospitality will allow for an acceleration in the brand’s growth, including the rollout of new hotels in other New Zealand cities as well as expansion into Australia.

Each pod includes a USB charging port, secure luggage storage space, power supply, individual lighting, temperature control, WiFi and more.

An eight-share pod room at Jucy Snooze

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

06

Hotels key to domestic rebound, study shows OTAs being used for research but many bookings being made direct

The ‘Holiday Here This Year’ domestic campaign has been temporarily paused

MORE THAN HALF of Australian holidaymakers booked at least one hotel as part of recent domestic trips, with the tourism industry seizing on momentum and introducing campaigns such as Tourism Australia’s ‘Holiday Here This Year’ to further promote travel within Aussie borders.

The encouraging data was extrapolated from research commissioned by online travel giant, Expedia Group, and conducted by research firm BVA BDRC. The study polled 1,162 travellers immediately after booking flights within or to Australia, with a consumer research panel also conducted using Australian domestic travellers who did not fly as part of their last holiday.

Further results showed two-thirds of those surveyed used an online travel agent (OTA) to research travel products, with half using an OTA to search for hotels and conduct research on their trip. The study bolstered the research and inspiration credentials of OTAs in general, with more than two in five of those who did their research via an OTA still booked directly with their chosen property, however stayed an average of 4.9 nights as opposed to OTA customers, who stayed 5.8 nights on average and spent AUD$289 more on accommodation per trip.

Australian travellers were opting to spend up on local produce and experiences as part of their domestic holidays, with the research finding a greater tendency to book small, locally-run accommodation as opposed to major brands. Spending on local activities and meals in local restaurants was also found to be higher.

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382 - HM Magazine - December 1/2 page Advert.indd 1

11/21/19 4:47 PM

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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 07

Accor launches ‘ALL’ Visa credit card Members can earn loyalty points through everyday purchases

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An artist rendering of Sudima Queenstown

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39 hotel brands and more than 5,000 hotels in 110 destinations globally.

Following its launch last year, the membership of Accor Live Limitless has swelled to more than 64 million members worldwide, with the new credit card designed to provide members with more opportunities to earn points and enjoy more free hotel stays. The credit card will also allow Accor to engage with its member base in new, digital ways via new benefits and mobile-first experiences.

o iss Rad

MEMBERS OF ACCOR’S burgeoning ALL – Accor Live Limitless loyalty program will be able to earn points from everyday purchases once approved for the new ALL Visa card following the signing of a global partnership between the hospitality and finance giants.

The global partnership will see the ALL Visa Card made available in all markets worldwide, with a wider range of loyalty rewards available, based on customer preferences and purchasing habits. Guests will be able to earn bonus points when using the card on stays at any of Accor’s

e xt

to join

-u the single

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09

Radisson to rid global portfolio of single-use plastics Nearly 60 million single-use plastics annually to disappear

08

Sudima Hotels to plant brand flag in Queenstown Brand expands into New Zealand’s adventure capital

NEW ZEALAND BRAND Sudima Hotels has signed a deal in Queenstown’s popular Five Mile precinct which will see it open a newbuild hotel in the country’s adventure capital in an effort to meet surging demand for accommodation.

After four years in planning, the hotel will feature within the Five Mile mixed-use business and retail centre, owned by developer, Clearmont Group. The development was designed by local design firm, JCY Architects, with construction beginning earlier this month.

The hotel will feature a ground-floor lobby and include 120 rooms in King, Twin and Family layouts. Guests will be able to access a restaurant and bar with outdoor seating, four meeting and conference rooms and dedicated 12 HM The Business of Accommodation

room for ski storage. Sudima Queenstown will be situated close to the city’s ski fields as well as in close proximity to Queenstown Airport.

Development will see the hotel aim for the ‘carboNZero’ status of environmental compliance as soon as possible once open but will begin life as a single-use plastic free property.

The new hotel will be Sudima’s seventh in New Zealand once open, adding to existing properties in Auckland Airport, Rotorua, Christchurch City and Christchurch Airport, with Auckland City and Kaikōura both due to open later this year.

Sudima Queenstown is on track to open at the end of 2021, in time for the busy summer holiday season.

RADISSON HAS SET itself a deadline for 2022 in which it plans to rid its entire global network of all single-use plastics in a move which will eliminate more than 57 million miniature bottles from circulation.

The move, which translates to 500 tonnes of plastic not ending up in landfill, will see refillable dispensers gradually installed across all brands and rooms.

Alongside bathroom amenities, public use items such as plastic straws and stirrers will also be removed from all bars and restaurants, to be replaced with eco– alternatives such as paper or metal.

A number of pilot projects will be initiated in an effort to remove plastic from other aspects of hotel operations, such as reverse osmosis in-house filtered water in place of commercial bottled water.

In addition, more than 200 hotels so far successfully implementing carbon neutral Radisson Meetings programs. The company will work to expand this to the entire network in coming years.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW Crystalbrook Acting CEO, Geoff York

10

Industry bodies critical on Cairns bed tax

TAA and AA label proposal as negative for the sector DECLINING MARKET SHARE and a need to partially offset funding from ratepayers are among the reasons cited by Cairns Regional Council for a proposed visitor levy collected through hotel bookings and other accommodation businesses including AirBnb. According to a ‘Sustainable Tourism funding for FNQ’ document, the Council has earmarked the implementation of a 2.5% visitor levy per room booking per night, which will aim to generate AUD$16 million for the Council to carry out marketing activity for the region in an effort to claw back what it says is lost ground on other parts of Australia. Modelling by the Council predicts an additional AUD$140 million in visitor revenue will come as a result of the levy.

Accommodation Association CEO, Dean Long, described the logic behind the bed tax proposal as flawed, adding the levy would be a further impost on an industry already highly taxed.

TAA National CEO, Michael Johnson, said comprehensive support packages must be committed to the region in order to preserve jobs.

Cairns hotels are being hit hard by the travel slowdown

Crystalbrook’s first of three resorts in Cairns, Riley, opened in late 2018 11

Crystalbrook backs FNQ levy Company provides conditional support for Cairns tourism tax

CAIRNS’ CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL to implement a council levy in order to increase promotional activity has received a somewhat unlikely ally in Crystalbrook Collection, which has just opened its third five-star resort in the city – Flynn – in 18 months.

In an exclusive statement to HM, Crystalbrook Collection Acting CEO, Geoff York, has outlined a five-point conditional endorsement for the proposed levy, under which it is prepared to recognise its potential benefits to the city from a broader tourism perspective, saying that "what is good for us can only be good for the city".

York has called on Cairns Regional Council to ensure the levy applies to all forms of accommodation across Cairns, Port Douglas and Palm Cove, including hotels, Airbnb, motels and caravan parks, with “every single dollar raised” to go to destination marketing.

Further, the levy must not be used as an excuse or cover to reduce existing funding levels to Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) – the region’s primary promotional body.

Enriching the way people live, work and play through architecture and interior design. Specialising in hotel new builds and refurbishments across Asia Pacific.

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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 12

Best ammunition comes from strong loyalty program

CHOICE HOTELS ASIA-PAC CEO, Trent Fraser, has encouraged the company’s franchisee members to treat online travel agents as “frenemies” and to encourage guests to book future stays directly in an effort to minimise commission bills.

Speaking recently at the company’s biennial franchisee conference in Melbourne, Fraser highlighted the strength of the growing Choice Privileges loyalty program as an ideal way to drive more direct and repeat business and to maximise yields from repeat guests.

Speaking exclusively to HM, Fraser said the company and its members were capable of competing with online travel agents.

“We’ve got to be able to learn how to work better with them (OTAs), closely with them, but also make sure we’re getting the balance right from those companies to our hotel,” he said.

Choice Hotels Vice President, International Operations, Carl Oldsberg, advised franchisees to remain cautious on the potential reach of OTAs, which are now communicating with guests during a stay while at the same time, ingratiating themselves with hoteliers using technology which allows a property to cast a spotlight over the rates of others nearby in order to remain competitive.

Another key point discussed at the conference was rate parity, with Fraser

re n

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Choice CEO urges hotels to win over OTA business

tF ras e

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o dresses the 2020 c

ce en r e nf

urging franchisees to carefully consider their operational balance between reviewing rates and delivering customer service.

The Choice Hotels Asia-Pac CEO said the company was in a position where it could take this job off a franchisee’s hands through its revenue management strategies, which were proving popular throughout the network.

“We offer revenue management specialists that will take on a group of eight to 10 hotels and perform that task throughout the day.

“In the very near future we’ll be adding a rate shopping tool that will make it easier for the hotelier to see where the rates sit in terms of the other platforms,” Fraser added.

13

Curtains pulled back on new Crown Towers Sydney Sydney’s newest skyscraper set to open two months early Jerry Schwartz (right) with Queensland Tourism Minister, Kate Jones BOOKINGS WILL OPEN in July for the newest high-rise to open in Sydney’s skyline, with Crown Towers Sydney pulling back the virtual curtain for a sneak peek inside at what guests will soon be able to enjoy.

The building itself stands at 275m in height, offering a hotel consisting of 327 individualistic rooms, 20 villas and two Premium Villas. The property’s elite room category will feature 695sqm of space, plus a further 125sqm as an outdoor terrace offering panoramic views over Sydney Harbour.

Rooms will offer floor-to-ceiling windows and a myriad of touch-screen technology, allowing guests to organise 24-hour in-room dining, concierge services and personal content streaming via televisions incorporated into full-size magic mirrors.

Guest facilities elsewhere in the hotel will include a Balinesestyle infinity swimming pool on Level 3, while the hotel lobby will be adorned with a blown glass chandelier made from 396 crystal blades Crown Towers sits harbourside ranging in length from three in Barangaroo to 7.4 metres.

Crown Towers Sydney is on track to open in December 2020, with construction currently three months ahead of schedule.

A Ha m rbo oo ur Bridge King R 14 HM The Business of Accommodation

14

Paradise Resort begins new era with Dr Jerry Schwartz Gold Coast resort marks the hotel mogul’s second Queensland acquisition MORE THAN AUD$12 million will be pumped into a revitalisation of Paradise Resort Gold Coast after the family resort ceremoniously relaunched under new owner, Dr Jerry Schwartz.

The resort became the 15th Australian hotel under the Schwartz Family Company, which now comprises a portfolio of more than 4,000 rooms.

Schwartz, who rescued the 360-room resort from potential liquidation under the insolvent Ralan Group, celebrated the grand relaunch of the resort by cutting a ceremonial ribbon and promptly jumping into the swimming pool.

Renovation works to come will include a refurb of all rooms and new children’s activities.

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COMMERCIAL

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 15

minutes with...

GARETH LONG

Based on your career to date, what is the best thing you’ve learned that you apply every day?

Keeping promises. There is no quicker way to break someone’s trust then to say you will do something and not follow through. Whether that is with a guest, a colleague or an owner, delivering on your promises is so important.

What was the original aim of the Crowne Plaza Coogee renovation works, and has this been achieved?

What the renovation has allowed us to do is to reinvigorate the facilities to position the hotel as the premier beachside location in NSW. The newly-developed events centre has created flexible spaces that allow our guests to gather and thrive in whatever way they want. Our ability to personalise and tailor events with these new facilities has set us apart from our competitors. Creating new Restaurant and Bar spaces that 'escape the ordinary' and

New carpets and furniture has brightened the beachside rooms

move away from uninspired, traditional hotel restaurants is also a key deliverable from this renovation. Reinvigorating and repositioning the hotel was the aim and we feel we are well and truly delivering!

What are some of the changes made that heighten the hotel’s beachside feel?

Leveraging the incomparable view our hotel enjoys is what sets us apart. We have and will continue to redevelop our spaces to take in the stunning views of the Pacific at every opportunity. Whether that is the redevelopment of ‘Estate Coogee Beach’ that has uninterrupted views to the beach or the total transformation of our pool and surrounds that will become the place to be in summer and an incredible space for sunset cocktail functions; we centre everything around that outlook.

That beachside feel has been brought to life inside the hotel in every element of design; from the cool blue hues that meander through the colour palette, to the fresh, seasonal coastline inspired food philosophy in our event offering.

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What will guests and event delegates love most about the new Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach?

Brand new bathrooms with amazing walk-in showers to complement the refreshed contemporary guest rooms; exciting new restaurants and bars; flexible meeting spaces with smart technology and interactive food offerings that will be the talk of the conference. Also, a stunning new outdoor space featuring an infinity edge pool where guests can take in the view and melt into afternoon cocktails, coupled with service from a team that love nothing more than sharing our little piece of paradise with our guests.

Do you have a personal favourite part of the new hotel?

I love walking around the new events space. The thoughtfulness in design that allows natural light to flood into the spaces, the acoustic panelling and ceiling finishes that provide better sound quality than I’ve ever experienced and the flexibility of the how we can now provide spaces that fit every need.

That’s hard to beat. I’m also super excited about the venue 'Estate Coogee Beach' that has now launched. This will be a game changer for the Coogee dining and bar scene. n

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16 HM The Business of Accommodation

IHG Area General Manager, Gareth Long

ut

amazing team to bring to life an exceptional property in a stunning location. I also oversee the Holiday Inn Potts Point, Holiday Inn Sydney Airport and soon-to-open Crowne Plaza Sydney Darling Harbour. Each of these hotels have their own leadership teams and my area team and I are there as an escalated level of support for them.

ta co h

Tell us about your current role and what Sydney hotels you oversee.

As an Area General Manager based at Crowne Plaza Sydney Coogee Beach, my primary focus is operating the Coogee hotel. Working with our

Sydney’s beachside suburb of Coogee has seen significant investment in its hotel stock, with multiple properties introducing revamped layouts. One of these is Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach, which has transformed its guest and public facilities to brighten up its rooms with new colours, modernise its meeting facilities and open a number of exciting dining outlets. HM talks Coogee with IHG Area General Manager, Gareth Long.

DYSON NEWS

HM x DYSON PROMOTION

A MATCH MADE IN

Backed by distribution partners such as Astro Hospitality, technology innovator and manufacturer, Dyson, is taking the New Zealand hotel market by Supersonic storm as properties seek to maximise the guest experience. The two organisations are closely aligned, says Astro Hospitality Managing Director, Reuben Beatson, sharing an unyielding passion for excellence and creating memorable customer moments.

What synergies does Dyson have Astro Hospitality in terms of innovation or guest experience? yson is known for their innovation and ‘world first’ products. Astro Hospitality is all about helping hotels create superior guest experiences, so this is where Dyson fits in. We are seeing an increase in hoteliers investing in high quality hair dryers in their rooms, especially in suites, as it is a critical touch point in particular with female corporate travellers.

D

Does an association with Dyson instantly elevate a hotel’s reputation in the minds of guests?

Absolutely. It is touch points like this that end up on Instagram and other social media platforms, which in turn result in repeat business and an increase in corporate travellers. A number of female corporate travellers travel with their own hair dryers, so if they know they can stay in a hotel and get an amazing product like a Dyson, it makes their life easier and will mean they are more likely to return again and ask for one of the rooms with the Dyson hair dryer.

Do Dyson products regularly find themselves mentioned or included in online reviews of premium hotels as a key feature of the room?

It definitely comes into online reviews, as Dyson is a globally renowned brand for being a high end product. This definitely results in comments online about it.

It’s touch points like Dyson that end up on Instagram and other social media platforms.

Reuben Beatson – Astro Hospitality

What does having Dyson as a brand to promote to hotels mean for Astro Hospitality?

We like to challenge the status quo with hotels in NZ and are leading change in hotels across the country. Dyson forms a great part of this, as we believe that while it is a significant investment, the repeat business, referral business and return on investment that it will create for hotels is attractive.

We are working with hotels that embrace products like the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer especially for their suites to differentiate them from their standard rooms. It is a simple touch point that reminds the guest as to the difference between the standard rooms and the suites in a hotel. We have put the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer in our new showroom space – nicknamed the Cocoon. It’s a space that has either sustainable or future– focused pieces. And Dyson Supersonic fits into both categories. n

hotelmanagement.com.au 17

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

The 206-room property is now accepting bookings

16

Insta standouts Four global hotels you need to follow on Instagram

17

Vibe Melbourne to open doors in Apr Brand continues its national expansion into Victoria

01 Silky Oaks Lodge

@silkyoakslodge

TFE HOTELS HAS announced it is now accepting reservations and will welcome guests at Vibe Hotel Melbourne from April 16 as final preparations continue on the newest addition to the brand.

Marking the reintroduction of the Vibe label in the Victorian capital, the 206-room property will sit on the corner of Queen and Flinders Street, across the street from the Yarra River and close to Southbank and Crown Casino.

The hotel exterior of 24-storey reinforced glass will be fronted by the restored original 1873 Fletcher Jones façade, which itself will house the property’s all-day dining outlet – St Marks Co eatery. A transitional podium has been constructed between the modern hotel building and the historic frontage to facilitate access and abide by mandated construction and design requirements. Inside the hotel will be a fitness centre and indoor swimming pool.

Described as a brand that embodies the Australian lifestyle, Vibe has been on a significant growth trajectory in the past year, with new openings in North Sydney and Darling Harbour.

02 Bailey

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@pullmanbunkerbay

04 QT Sydney

@qt_hotels

18 HM The Business of Accommodation

CITY OF SYDNEY Deputy Lord Mayor, Jessica Scully, joined Veriu Hotels and Suites founders and executives last month to formally cut the ribbon to open the brand’s newest property in Green Square on the Sydney CBD fringe.

The 144-room hotel was gleaming as dignitaries and VIP guests enjoyed the grand opening celebrations, marking the official debut of the fifth Veriu property in Sydney. Guests enjoyed food and beverage from adjacent eatery, Freddie Green’s and the nearby Archie Rose distillery.

The hotel itself sits on a site once occupied by a vintage Mercedes car yard,

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with this history reflected in a Mercedes vehicle which has been converted into the hotel’s reception desk.

From the ergonomically designed micro-apartment and up, guests will also have access to an equipped kitchenette.

Guests also have access to a fitness centre, lobby lounge bar and meeting rooms.

The Veriu brand is due to expand outside its Sydney heartland from 2022 when a 110-apartment newbuild opens at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Markets.

This will be joined soon after by the 90– key Veriu Collingwood as the brand grows into its second Australian city.

HM x JLL PROMOTION

PROJECT MANAGEMENT NEWS Compliance can be a challenge without the right team on your side

TRIPPING UP ON After a number of high-profile disasters and new rules now in force on the issue of building cladding, hotel owners must navigate a legislative minefield to ensure compliance.

T

elevision audiences around the world were glued to news of the risk and use of these products in Australia. This has resulted in coverage in June 2017 as the devastating sight of a literal state governments seeking to reduce and remove the risk of similar towering inferno unfolded on an everyday and otherwise incidents,” said JLL Project Director, Duane Loader. insignificant high-rise residential block in West London.

“The product issue is the same across the country, and what is and is The Grenfell Tower disaster – eventually pinpointed to a not allowed to be installed is the same across the country. The way in malfunctioning freezer on a lower floor – highlighted a major issue in which the state governments are enforcing the removal of the product building construction and approvals which, in the weeks, months and is different.” years since, has transformed into an urgent matter to be addressed by As a result of Lacrosse and most definitely following Grenfell, governments around the world.

Australian state governments have reviewed and imposed JLL Director, It is known colloquially as combustible cladding – new legislation and regulation regarding the use of Duane Loader aluminium composite panels which have a high content of cladding on buildings. This has given building owners, flammable materials in their core. including hotel owners, a finite timeframe to conduct Aluminium composite panels, much like asbestos, were their own cladding reviews and make their properties a product of their time and widely used in the construction compliant with the new regulations. industry dating back decades. They provided a relatively Many have turned the attention back to their designers, cost-effective, waterproof external skin on a building. consultants and builders, some even initiating legal However, little was known about it or considered in terms proceedings to recover part or all of the cost of doing so. of health and safety. Only recently, and exacerbated by the Lengthy litigation does not solve the compliance issue events of Grenfell, has the product been thrust into the and state governments have stepped in to hasten the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. rectification process.

The inferno exposed the product as a real danger. Almost For owners of multiple buildings, especially across immediately, the construction industry globally launched more than one state or territory in Australia, the task of reviews into its use in different types of buildings, aimed at ensuring compliance with potentially different rulebooks understanding and removing or eliminating the risk. The can be daunting. For companies such as JLL, this however, focus then turned to building owners across much of the has become a specialist focus given the complexity and developed world as restrictions were tightened, products varying requirements. were outlawed and deadlines were set to ensure nothing “We can supplement the resources of your existing team resembling a repeat would take place. so that they can focus on their day-to-day tasks and we While Grenfell was the global wake-up call into the coordinate a project to ensure compliance. We’re able to dangers of cladding, a similar event had in fact already taken assemble the right specialist team to resolve the issue and place much closer to home. In 2014, the Lacrosse building minimise risks and compliance costs. in Docklands, Melbourne was partially engulfed in fire after “We understand different states and legislations with it was reported that a lit cigarette in a plastic container left regard to applications of flammable cladding removal nearby ignited the aluminium composite cladding on the and have people who are dealing with this regularly, building. While the fire spread upwards, only part of the which may assist a hotel’s engineering and operations building was affected and thankfully, nobody was hurt. management who may not have experienced these issues.”

“The scale and severity of the Grenfell fire and the “We have national coverage and can address issues with Lacrosse fire in Melbourne prompted a re-evaluation local experience,” Loader added. n hotelmanagement.com.au 19

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 21

Formal brand unveiled for North Queensland tourism Branding will give the region a dedicated name for promotion

A rendering of the future Quest Watergardens 19

‘CAIRNS & GREAT Barrier Reef’ has been introduced by Tourism Tropical North Queensland as a formal brand label for tourism in the region, which will be used in marketing the region to domestic and international audiences worldwide.

Quest to open in new Melbourne retail precinct Hotel will sit in community living development A NEW MIXED-USE development in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne housing both

commercial and retail tenants will also feature a Quest Apartment Hotels property.

Watergardens Town Centre will be located in a booming pocket of the city's suburban outskirts, part of a new community living-style development from construction firm QIC. Quest Watergardens will feature 86 apartments across studio, one and two-bedroom layouts, each with fully equipped kitchens and laundries. The hotel is on track to open in mid-2021.

Alongside the hotel, Watergardens is in the midst of constructing The Marketplace – a AUD$60 million food and dining precinct as part of a number of other pipeline projects in the area.

Quest Chief Operations Officer, David Mansfield, said the company was glad to play a part in the growth of the north-west corridor and in one of Melbourne’s fastest-growing suburban areas.

The label will cover an area from the town of Caldwell around 200 kms south of Cairns, north to the Torres Strait and west to the Northern Territory border.

Advertising and marketing campaigns introducing the new brand are now being developed and will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO, Mark Olsen, said the branding has been built around three key pillars of ‘See Great’, ‘Feel Great’ and ‘Leave Greater’.

Olsen said while the Reef plays a central role in the branding, the new regional label will also allow the organisation to better promote the area via its outback and Indigenous heritage and culture.

20

Crystalbrook opens serviced apartments at Bailey

New offering features multi-bedroom residences aimed at larger groups

One of Bailey’s new two -be dro om

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20 HM The Business of Accommodation

Sustainability plays a major part in the new Bailey Residences, with wooden room keys and no plastic bottled water or straws included in rooms or public facilities.

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RESIDENCES CAPABLE OF accommodating up to eight people have opened at Bailey – Crystalbrook Collection’s second of three new five-star resorts in Cairns.

The final phase of the hotel’s guest accommodations, which sit in a neighbouring building, will include 38 one, two and three– bedroom options aimed at families.

Apartments range in size from 50sqm to 94sqm for a three– bedroom residence.

Residences will feature fully– equipped kitchens complete with oven, microwave and dishwasher, laundry with separate washer and dryer, Nespresso coffee machine, iron and ironing board and unlimited Staycast video streaming on a 55” HD TV.

The Barrier Reef will play a central role in all marketing

The HM Awards are firmly recognised at the eminent awards night on the accommodation and hospitality industry calendar.

Each year, more than 1,500 nominations are assessed to determine more than 40 category winners.

The 18th edition of the HM Awards will once again recognise personal and company excellence across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Nominations Open Friday 1 May, 2020

BOOKING ENQUIRIES

Beth Tobin

T: 1300 789 739 E: bookings@hmawards.com.au

SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES Tara Ducrou

T: +61 (0)2 8586 6285 E: tducrou@intermedia.com.au

HMawards.com.au

OPINION

How times can change

COVID-19 is the single greatest threat the tourism and accommodation sector has faced since the beginning of the 19th century.

JUST WEEKS AGO, we saw occupancies across Australia in a healthy position, rebounding following the devastating bushfires and the ‘Bring an Empty Esky’ campaign which was seeing visitors flock to our regional centres. Now we have sub-10% occupancy across our cities and regions.

As the largest and most representative industry association for the accommodation sector, we have been focused on delivering information in a timely manner while also advocating for direct stimulus support for all businesses. We have been working collaboratively with all tourism industry bodies and we have had some success in ensuring small and medium-sized businesses, along with our members, are being supported through this crisis.

It has also been extremely sad to see the many people who work in our sector agree to reduce their

At the time of writing this column, it is clear that the next urgent area of assistance that state and territory governments need to address is the support for owners and tenants. With the recent announcements on relief from the banks and ability to access relief packages, owners must be encouraged by governments to provide similar relief to many of the hotels operating in lease arrangements.

I do hope that the next time I am writing this column, we are talking about recovery rather than survival. If we can navigate this crisis together, we will be in a strong position to thrive. As an association, we have already begun the process of creating positions that will stimulate demand and bring revenue back to our properties.

I have over the last three weeks

sized businesses, we are proud to have advocated strongly for the support packages that have been announced. I am sure the ability to have relief from payroll and land taxes will assist in providing critical cashflow to allow you to continue to operate. While the measures announced to date equal close to $70 billion, it is clear that additional stimulus or ‘survival packages’ will be required to continue to support our businesses and employees.

to thank them for their continued hard work and commitment to our members and our industry.

Finally, I wish to thank our members for their continued support of the Association. We will continue to provide the best advice and ongoing support as this crisis unfolds.

hours and, in some circumstances, no longer receive shifts. I know personally that these decisions have not been taken lightly and every effort is being made to ensure each affected staff member has access to support services.

For our small and medium-

22 HM The Business of Accommodation

heard first-hand how important our updates have been to enable businesses to navigate these issues. I know Noel Teskey, Carol Giuseppi and Michelle King have been answering member’s calls and working tirelessly to support our members. As the CEO, I wish

Dean Long is the Chief Executive Officer of the Accommodation Association.

OPINION

Pulling together in unprecedented times

We stand with our members during their time of hardship and financial cost, but we will get through this together.

WE SAID IT about the impact of the crippling drought back in July. We hard to fight for our members and we are not slowing down. Preserving said it about the long and deadly bushfires in November, December and life must be the highest priority and we will follow the instructions early January. We said it yet again when the spread of COVID-19 forced of the government and medical experts. But there is no doubt this is a ban on all Chinese tourists later in January. But the latest restrictions already having a devastating impact. introduced by the Federal Government are something so new and We stand with our 1000-plus members across Australia – including something so unimaginable even six weeks ago that calling them Hilton, Marriott, Ovolo, Veriu, Four Seasons, Four Points by Sheraton, unprecedented feels somehow inadequate.

Novotel, Shangri-La and The Langham – to name a few. And we will get On Wednesday, 18 March 2020, through this closure, with its financial after a meeting of the new National and emotional cost, together.

Cabinet, the federal government The doors may be shut on many announced a ban on non-essential accommodation venues but the bills indoor gatherings of greater than 100 still need to be paid and thousands of people (including staff). A day later, our workers are stuck in limbo with no the government announced a travel clear end in sight. Our hoteliers, their ban on all non-residents and nonfamilies and staff are devastated and citizens coming to Australia would we are doing all we can for them. come into effect from 9pm on Friday, We are working with Federal and 20 March 2020.

State Governments on packages to Things then began moving faster help alleviate the damage being done than we could have imagined. to the sector. Our members are the On Sunday, 22 March 2020, engine room of the tourism industry.

When you try to describe the events which have been impacting the federal government forced Accommodation directly our world, our nation and our industry over the last few the shutdown of all pubs, bars, contributes more than AUD$8 billion months, the word that keeps coming up is ‘unprecedented’. restaurants and cafes across the in Australian Gross Domestic Product country. Prime Minister Scott and makes up more than 18 per cent of Morrison said all of these ‘non-essential’ businesses would have to close total tourism GDP of $35 billion. More needs to be done to protect us. their doors by midday on Monday, 23 March 2020 and should expect to We are not looking for short-term bailouts. We are looking for longbe closed for at least six months. term and comprehensive support packages so we can preserve our Some accommodation hotels have been exempted from the greatest asset in these troubled times – our people. We are a resilient and restrictions because they may be used to house people in isolation, which hopefully will keep some staff in work. This is new territory for us.

Our industry is under pressure from forces far beyond its control and there are no easy answers. We cannot say for sure how long this will last and we cannot estimate the cost to our industry and our way of life. But there is one message I can say with all certainty – you are not alone.

From the outset, Tourism Accommodation Australia has been working

nimble industry and while we may be on the ropes now and wobbling, we are far from the canvas.

The health and safety of our staff, customers and the community must be our first priority. Businesses can be rebuilt. Lives can not.

Michael Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer for Tourism Accommodation Australia at both the National and NSW levels. hotelmanagement.com.au 23

Hosted by

What to expect at AHICE 2020?

Planning for the future of the Australasian hotel industry

• Re-evaluate • Re-connect • Re-vitalise AHICE is one place for all hospitality leaders, investors, suppliers, managers to be in the same spot at the same time – both to network and learn.

3 Days. 3 Events. 3 Parties.

The hotel event where deals get done Don’t miss the biggest gathering of hospitality professionals happening in Melbourne this September.

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AHICE 2020 RE-SCHEDULED TO MON 7 - WED 9 SEPTEMBER 2020 IN MELBOURNE In the wake of the global COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak, following the advice from local and national authorities and WHO guidelines, The Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE) has been re-scheduled.

AHICE is being held on Tuesday 8th September and Wednesday 9th September 2020, with supporting events Design Inn and The Appetiser being held on Monday 7th September 2020 at Grand Hyatt Melbourne. All three events have been generating significant interest and support from within the industry.

The Program Planning Committee is currently working on an updated agenda and this will be available soon.

For more information call 1300 789 845 or email info@ahice.com.au

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OPINION

Planning and preparation are vital in times of crisis Wow, 2020 is certainly turning out quite differently to anything we could have forecast in 2019.

Cordis, Auckland 1-2 July 2020 CO-HOSTS

TM

Hotel, Tourism and Leisure

REGISTER NOW

www.nzhotelconference.com

26 HM The Business of Accommodation

OPINION

WE EXPECTED THAT the growth of arrivals into New Zealand would slow, but nobody could have foreseen the rapid and continuing impact of COVID-19.

While the situation will undoubtedly have evolved significantly by the time you read this, there are a few things that we can be sure of. Our tourism industry is remarkably resilient. We have faced many challenges before and overcome them by working together. These situations certainly focus the attention on what is important in our businesses - our people and our customers.

This will be the first major business and economic crisis that many of our people have had to deal with. Tourism has had a remarkably long run of growth, since around 2011, so lessons learned in the Global Financial Crisis may well have been forgotten.

Being prepared for crisis is a necessity in today’s rapidly changing globally connected environment. Whether it’s making sure you are equipped to manage negative social media comment or being ready to cope in a major natural disaster, the basic approach is the same. Work with your teams to develop or review your business continuity plan.

Discuss a range of scenarios - what would you do if your property cannot operate for several days? What about if a significant number of staff are unable to come to work? What happens if there is an outbreak of illness among staff or guests?

Make sure you have plans to keep your teams well informed of developments and have a process to answer their questions. Consider seeking external expertise to provide factual information and cut through any media hype.

The rumour mill works overtime during times of uncertainty and staff will be seeking reassurance. If they are well-informed, they will also be able to reassure your suppliers and your customers.

Treat your customers well in a time of crisis and they will eagerly return when they are ready to rebook. Make the most of these situations as a great opportunity to build trust and loyalty.

Above all, remember that your crisis situation won’t last forever. It may be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it will appear, and your business must be ready to take advantage of the recovery.

UPDATE: The column above was written in early March, before the New Zealand border closures and widespread business shutdown occurred. So many things have changed in all our lives since then. The speed of change is bewildering for us all so please make sure you continue to take care of yourselves, your families and loved ones, and your teams.

We can only get through this by working together.

Sally Attfield is the chief advocate for the accommodation industry as Hotel Sector Manager at Tourism Industry Aotearoa.

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hotelmanagement.com.au 27

OPINION

COVID-19 from the Concierge’s desk It’s no secret that we are currently undergoing a particularly challenging period in Australia’s hospitality and tourism sector.

AT THE MOMENT, there’s no doubt it’s kind of hard to see exactly where we’re headed.

It’s no news to any of us that we’ve entered uncharted waters and exceptionally challenging times - and along with many of our friends and family, those of us in the hotel and tourism industry worldwide are now beginning to feel the full brunt of the current cataclysmic drop in interstate and international travel. There are a lot of things being said, by a lot of people - optimists and pessimists, doomsayers and happily also those more philosophically inclined.

Most of us are understandably at least a little apprehensive about what the future holds, but equally (and I quote once again from the immortal words of that gentle philosopher, student of life and ex-Beatle - the late, great

world, and one which predates social media, Facebook, and in fact, the internet itself - UICH Les Clefs d’Or. Why? Because as we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off (and in some cases perhaps ponder what to do with a year’s supply of toilet paper), it will be time to roll up our sleeves, start looking to help our associates who may have been out of work to connect with vacancies at properties which are starting to fill with travellers again, help to staff new properties looking to open in time for the resurgence of international tourism, help our guests as they begin again to ask about suggested itineraries and perhaps look for a little post-apocalyptic reassurance - and also help our economically bruised friends in the tourism industry by sharing our knowledge of their attractions, facilities and services with our guests.

We’re not (just) people

hospitality magicians don’t really have much of an option other than to lend a helping hand where we can, support each other, our guests and our industry associates, understanding the very real stress many will be under at such a time.

And then, when the dust finally clears and we can stick our heads back up above the barricades and come out into the light once again, it will be time to fire up one of the most effective hospitality networks in the

And when that time comes, Les Clefs d’Or (the hospitality equivalent of an airborne special ops division) - will be ready to hit the ground running and start doing what we do.

See you on the other side folks!

Mr George Harrison), much like an excruciatingly painful kidney stone (actually, I don’t think he ever said that bit!) - all things must pass.

And at some point, folks - so too will this virus!

Until it does, and when it does, our merry little band of international

28 HM The Business of Accommodation

wearing odd lapel jewellery in hotel lobbies around the world.

We’re actually an interface between tourism service providers and tourism service consumers - and both will need our help as they emerge from this period of isolation and economic challenge, as will our own properties and our local communities.

Peter McBrearty is a former President of Les Clefs d’Or Australia and Chief Concierge at The Langham, Melbourne.

AN HM x HILTON PROMOTION

HILTON AIMS

SKY HIGH After celebrating an impressive 100 years of hospitality in 2019, Hilton’s Australasian branch is looking to the future with plans to expand throughout Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

A

n ambitious growth agenda aims to double the company’s regional footprint in five years with four new hotels set to open by the end of 2020 – the most in Hilton Australasia’s history.

Leading the charge is Vice President of Operations for Australasia, Heidi Kunkel, who joined the hospitality giant two years ago. Her team has made impressive progress throughout the region, securing more deals than ever before to build the strongest pipeline on record - 13 hotels signed and another 20 deals in progress to join the 27 properties currently trading.

“Our centenary was a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on the legacy that began with Conrad Hilton,” Heidi says of the hospitality company that opened its first hotel in Texas in 1919.

30 HM The Business of Accommodation

“But importantly, we used the milestone to ask ourselves what the next 100 years will look like. For us in Australasia, the immediate future will see our organic growth strategy materialise with new and existing brands filling gaps in the market in the right location at the right time.”

The approach is starting to bear fruit already with the return of the company’s flagship brand to Melbourne, with Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street set to open in Q3. Developed by long-term Hilton partner, M&L Hospitality, the 244-room hotel will open in the historic Equity Chambers, with a design emphasis on the preservation of the building’s heritage significance, whilst restoring its original 1930s grandeur and beauty.

Heidi adds: “As a company, we are constantly looking at ways to deliver value to our owners and our ongoing partnership with M&L Hospitality is testament to that.

“In Australasia, we manage several M&L properties across three of our brands including Hilton Auckland, DoubleTree by Hilton Melbourne Flinders Street, DoubleTree by Hilton Christchurch and West Hotel Sydney, Curio Collection by Hilton. As always, it has been a pleasure to collaborate with M&L on this significant project.”

Looking beyond 2020, Hilton’s Melbourne presence will be further bolstered with the openings of DoubleTree by Hilton Melbourne Box

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Hill in Q4 2021; Hilton Garden Inn Bundoora in Q3 2021 and Hilton Melbourne Square in Q3 2023. The latter, a 600-room hotel under a management agreement with Yarra Park City, is located in the centre of Melbourne’s Southbank precinct on the corner of Power and Kavanagh Streets. The newbuild hotel is part of a $2.8 billion mixed-use development comprising residential, commercial, specialty retail and 3,700 square metres of open space parkland.

Another region delivering rapid growth for Hilton Australasia is in Western Australia, where DoubleTree by Hilton Perth Waterfront will open its doors later this year. Located in Elizabeth Quay – the city’s landmark entertainment and leisure precinct linking Perth to the Swan River – the 229-room midscale hotel is expected to attract a traveller seeking quality accommodation, facilities and world-renowned Hilton hospitality at an affordable price.

The coming year will also see Hilton introduce its first midscale brand to the region, with the opening of Hilton Garden Inn Albany in the south-western pocket of Western Australia.

DoubleTree by Hilton Fremantle will then join the Western Australia portfolio in Q3 of 2022 – another wonderful addition to the two properties currently operating; DoubleTree by Hilton Perth Northbridge, which opened December 2018, and Parmelia Hilton Perth, securing a great range of choice for the leisure and corporate traveller to Western Australia.

While Hilton guests are at the heart of the company, Heidi says they couldn’t remain at the forefront of the global hospitality industry without their loyal team members. Last year, the company was listed as the number one hospitality company on the Great Place to Work Australia list – its third year in a row at the top of the prestigious rankings.

Hotels are not the only new properties on the horizon, with Hilton set to open a new regional head office in Sydney this year – a sign of the company’s commitment to investment in the region. With an inviting lobby much as team members and visitors would expect to find in the finest Hilton hotel, the offices will incorporate an upscale meeting facility with a direct view of Hilton Sydney, a ‘Thrive Room’ for meditation and relaxation and ‘The Social’, a place in the heart of the office where team members can come together for informal meetings or to socialise.

“Our 4,000 team members across Australasia continue to be our greatest asset – Hilton would not have had such a successful 100 years without them,” Heidi says. n de

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DoubleTree by Hilton Perth Waterfront is expected to open in June

“Our centenary was a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on the legacy that began with Conrad Hilton.”

Heidi Kunkel - Vice President of Operations, Australasia

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PRESENTS

New additions to Victoria State Advisory Board Local industry leaders add weight to state board.

ACCOMMODATION ASSOCIATION VICTORIAN State Advisory Board has welcomed four new board members for 2020. Joining the team are Amy Trengove, The Victoria Hotel; David Tonkin, Pan Pacific Hotels Group; Luke Moran, The Lancemore Group and Stephen Moore, TFE Hotels.

Dean Long, Accommodation Association CEO and Adrian Williams, Chair of the Victorian State Advisory Board would like to welcome and congratulate the new board and acknowledge the hard work of Craig Bonner, Carol Douglas and Ian Gun over the past two years. The Victorian State Advisory Board are well respected right across our industry and a great asset to the Victorian Accommodation and Tourism sector.

The Accommodation Association Victorian State Advisory Board is designed to ensure the interests of our Victorian-based members are more specifically catered. Meeting on the first Friday of March, the group discussed the current challenges and opportunities for Victoria accommodation operators and the tourism sector and worked to set and lead the policy agenda for 2020.

Stephen Moore, TFE Hotels Area Hotel General Manager, VIC, TAS and SA

Amy Trengove, The Victoria Hotel

Luke Moran, Lancemore Group

Jord an Johnson

AA Academy success story: Jordan Johnson A testimonial from a successful Accommodation Association Academy graduate

“THANK YOU SO much to the Accommodation Association. I had been struggling to find work for nearly a year in the hospitality industry and the course helped me so much to learn everything I needed for working in hospitality. The internship at Peppers was amazing and I had such a good time putting everything I learned to use and meeting some awesome people on the job. I was beyond happy when I learned that I had secured the job.

My application would never have been successful if it weren’t for everyone who helped me through the AA course. I just want to say thank you again to everyone!”

AA CEO, Dean Long

Education Update The Accommodation Association is launching a new range of online training programs by Olive Learning and other selected training providers.

The courses will provide industry with

Australian Privacy Act Overview, Armed Robbery Awareness and Soft Skills such as Change Management, Communication Strategies, Customer Service, Social Media Awareness. Hospitality Safety

There will be a variety of courses covering topics such as Workplace Health and Safety, Fire Safety, General First Aid Awareness, Hazardous Chemicals, Allergen Awareness for the Food Service Industry, Food Safety Level 1 - Food Hygiene / Level 2 - Food Supervisor, The

a true end-to-end solution for developing eLearning material of any kind in any industry sector in bite size learning.

Our members will have the benefit of discounted rates. If you would like more information, please contact us on 02 8666 9015 or visit our website www.aaoa.com.au/

the opportunity to up-skill their team to enhance the current underpinning skills and also gain further knowledge that aligns to industry standards.

32 HM The Business of Accommodation

Video Suite is available complimentary to all people who access the on-line tool.

Olive Learning online courses focus on technology-enabled solutions and provide

KEY NEWS L-R Carol Giuseppi, Accommodation Association with Angela Petousis, Steve Mann and Megan McKay, all from Western Sydney Airport

Congrats Team Melbourne A fundraising initiative for bushfire recovery brought the accommodation industry together.

MELBOURNE ACCOMMODATION OPERATORS came together and donated over 250 rooms nights to support the City of Port Phillip initiative to activate well-known Fitzroy Street in St Kilda to trade every Saturday and Sunday in March and April. This initiative assisted regional Victorian businesses impacted by the bushfires to continue to trade and promote tourism to the region.

Western Sydney Airport Briefing AA Members gained an early insight into the future Western Sydney Airport

CONSTRUCTION OF WESTERN Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport is underway and on track to begin operations in 2026. The Australian Government is investing up to $5.3 billion in equity to deliver the airport through the government-owned ‘Western Sydney Airport’ company. The Western Sydney Airport seminar was an opportunity for

members to hear from Angela Petousis, Head of Commercial Development for the airport on the construction timelines, terminal design, transport links, layout of the Airport Business Park and importantly, what industries are being attracted to the region. Angela anticipated a hotel would likely be a key component of the airport, once open.

AHS Hospitality studying robotics

Thank you to all the hotels that participated: • Quest on Dorcas • Quest St Kilda Road • Quest Notting Hill • Quest Doncaster • Melbourne Marriott • View Melbourne • Quality Hotel Taylors Lakes • City Tempo Hotel Melbourne • Citadines on Bourke Melbourne • Adina Apartment Melbourne • Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens • Somerset on Elizabeth • The Ascott International • Sofitel Melbourne on Collins • The Victoria Hotel • Veriu Group and Punthill Apartments

AHS Hospitality has been doing the robot

The outsourcing company is looking into the future LEADING OUTSOURCED HOUSEKEEPING services provider, AHS Hospitality, has been exploring the latest innovations in our industry.

From conducting SoftBank Robotics’ ‘Whiz’ proof-of-concept in public areas and event spaces, to launching Tanda – a cloud-based workforce management software, AHS is finding solutions to some very hot issues.

At the start of 2020, the company announced a guarantee, providing evidence of compliance to clients. Coupled with their new short-term labor hire agreements and real-time app to assist hotel managers monitor their services, it is evident they are evolving.

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PRESENTS

Dean Dransfield, Dransfield Hotels & Resorts (left) with TAA National CEO, Michael Johnson

Hotels and workers supported by stimulus

Government stimulus package will provide essential support for tourism sector

STR Pacific Business Development Manager, Paul Hammond

Industry ‘will recover’ from tough times With international tourism in freefall, the industry has shown it can unify to ride out the storm and emerge stronger than ever.

THE TOURISM ACCOMMODATION sector is set to endure its toughest period in decades over the next few months but is “resilient” and “will recover”.

That was the key message from the Tourism Accommodation Australia NSW Hotel Market and Economic Outlook Forum, held at the Primus Hotel Sydney recently. More than 200 industry leaders packed the room for the two-hour meeting, hearing from key industry speakers including Hostplus, data analysis firm STR and Dransfield Hotels and Resorts.

TAA NSW and National CEO Michael Johnson said the forum focused heavily on COVID-19 and the subsequent travel bans. Mr Johnson said he had visited regional members in centres including the North Coast, Blue Mountains and Batemans Bay over the last weeks and the message was the same.

“The industry and the wider community is doing it tough, first with bushfires and their aftermath now with COVID-19 and the subsequent travel bans,” Johnson said.

“TAA is working closely with the Government to make sure the talk of assistance becomes action.”

STR Pacific Business Development Manager, Paul Hammond, told the crowd the accommodation sector had a long period of sustained growth before COVID-19, with an unprecedented number of rooms (about 18,000) under construction. But this was a period of “unprecedented challenges”.

“These aren’t structural or permanent changes we are now facing – we will recover from this,” he said.

Dean Dransfield, Owner and Managing Director of Dransfield Hotels and Resorts, said the sector was obviously going through a tough time, especially over the next three to six months.

“It’s not the end of the world and we will recover… Maybe not as quickly as during past events but we will recover,” he said.

Greg Clerk from Hostplus provided broad economic analysis, situating Australia within the global context and the different ways our interconnectivity will have an impact on businesses here.

34 HM The Business of Accommodation

TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA (TAA) CEO Michael Johnson has commended the Federal Government for its $17.6 billion economic stimulus package, saying it will provide timely support to Australia’s accommodation sector and the many workers it employs.

“Measures included in the announcement will see immediate financial support and incentives made available to small and medium businesses at a time the accommodation industry is facing the unprecedented challenge caused by coronavirus,” Mr Johnson said.

“The substantial increase in the instant asset write-off threshold will encourage many businesses to invest in new equipment over the remainder of the financial year. The $3.2 billion accelerated depreciation measure available to those businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will enable greater deductions and will deliver meaningful assistance to many accommodation providers.

Both of these accounting measures will entice businesses to invest while supporting the important investments in assets they had already made.

“Small and medium-sized accommodation providers will also benefit from immediate cash flow support payments of up to $25,000 – which is vitally important to many businesses impacted by both COVID-19 and the summer bushfires.

“The $1.3 billion being made available to provide wage subsidies to businesses employing apprentices and trainees is particularly welcomed by the accommodation sector, which invests heavily in recruiting and training the workforce of tomorrow.

“There are a number of other measures which will directly and substantially target assistance towards Australia’s accommodation sector – including $1 billion to assist severely affected regions through the waiver of specific fees and charges, along with the development of measures to further promote domestic tourism.

The Government has also announced administrative relief for certain tax obligations, which will provide respite for businesses under pressure to meet their commitments.

Michael Johnson (right) recently discussed the stimulus package at dinner with the Deputy PM

WORLD OF TAA

TAA NSW Chairman’s Drinks 2020 Industry heavyweights from around Australia converged recently on the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park for the annual TAA Chairman’s Drinks.

L-R Simon Spellcy, Tourism Industry Council; Glenn Caldwell, Destination Sydney Surrounds North; Jon Ackary, Song Hotels and Greg Binskin, Destination Sydney Surrounds South

Amanda Cottome, Ovolo Group; Michael Johnson, TAA; Gaylord Lamy, The Langham Sydney and Glenn Baines, Encore Event Technologies APAC

MORE THAN 150 business and industry leaders from across the sector joined politicians from both major parties at the gala function at the Sheraton Grand Sydney, Hyde Park.

Guests included NSW Tourism Minister, Stuart Ayres – who addressed the gathering; Police and Emergency Services Minister, David Elliott; Skills and Tertiary Education Minister, Dr Geoff Lee and Labor’s Shadow Minister for Investment and Tourism, Jenny Aitchison.

The Chairman’s Drinks followed a lengthy board meeting, where TAA NSW and National CEO, Michael Johnson, discussed the ongoing crisis with board members.

TAA National Chair Martin Ferguson AM told the crowd the sector was in ‛unchartered waters.’

“Our tourism bodies are doing all they can to re-direct resources to mitigate the fallout and ensure we entice travellers in new and existing markets. We face an uncertain road ahead, but we are a resilient industry. This, coupled with comprehensive preparedness and targeted investment will ensure we navigate the unpredictable times ahead together.”

New TAA National Board Members TAA National has welcomed two new faces to the Board of Directors TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA welcomed two new board members at its March meeting at the Park Hyatt – Tracy Atherton, Group General Manager – Jackalope Hotels and Geoff York – Acting CEO and Group Director (Hotels) Crystalbrook Collection.

The pair were part of a major discussion on the impacts of COVID-19 and the associated travel bans on the accommodation sector, with TAA chair Martin Ferguson AM and CEO Michael Johnson directing the discussions.

Mr Johnson welcomed the new board members and praised both for what they will bring to the organisation.

“Both Tracy and Geoff are well respected right across our industry and will bring their years of experience to the Board during what is a difficult time for our sector,” he said.

Michael Johnson (centre) with Marsden Burwood GM James Patterson and Veronique Chidiac from Business Events

TAA congratulates Marsden Hotels Burwood Sydney’s inner-west has opened its newest accommodation offering.

WESTERN SYDNEY HAS a brand new boutique offering with the official launch recently of Marsden Hotel Burwood – a new TAA member.

TAA CEO Michael Johnson was one of many industry

L-R Geoff York, Crystalbrook Collection; Michael Johnson, TAA CEO; Tracy Atherton, Jackalope Hotels and Martin Ferguson, TAA National Chair

leaders on hand to congratulate GM James Patterson and his team for a very successful event.

“This new premium offering is a great addition to Sydney’s West,” Mr Johnson said.

“Congratulations to James and his team on an amazing event and a quality new hotel for Greater Sydney.”

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HM x ACCOR PROMOTION

ACCOR COMMITS TO REDUCING ITS

There is an increasing expectation that companies operating in the hospitality sector – and those contributing to the growing impact – are doing more to support sustainability and reduce their guests’ footprints.

A

ccording to research undertaken by Accor, 85% of guests said it was important for a hotel group to protect the environment and the local economy. In addition, 67% of guests, including business travellers, said they would agree to pay a little more for a hotel that has taken the right steps towards protecting the environment.

Simon McGrath, Accor Pacific’s Chief Operating Officer and the person responsible for almost 400 hotels, resorts and apartments across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii, says: “Almost all firms polled by Accor said that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is important to them. The statistics certainly support the fact that sustainability is an important issue for travellers doing business with our hotels.”

Co r

SO/Melbourne will be entirely free of single–use plastic from its first day

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ACCOR NEWS

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Earlier this year, Accor announced its global commitment to join the UN Global Tourism Plastics Initiative and to remove all single-use plastic items i es in the guest experience from its hotels by ur ns e to the end of 2022. This action taken by Accor s i n Accor’s missio toward reducing environmental impacts and strengthening efforts to combat plastic pollution of the world’s oceans and other natural environments is a significant step forward for the global hospitality industry and for the group.

Advocates of sustainability for many years, Accor has now committed to eliminating all plastic straws, stirrers, cotton buds, individual plastic toiletry amenities and cups by the end of 2020. In addition, the elimination of all remaining single-use plastic items in guestrooms, meeting areas, restaurants and all leisure activities areas (spas, fitness centres etc) will happen by the end of 2022.

One of the more exciting developments and opportunities for progress in the accommodation industry is the move towards smarter design. This involves the sustainable sourcing of local products and sustainable materials, as hoteliers seek to increase building efficiencies and reduce their carbon footprint.

In 2017, Accor proudly delivered Australia’s first five Green Star-certified hotel, ibis Styles Hobart, together with owners, The Fragrance Group. The property was awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), which represent Australian excellence in environmentally sustainable building practices and showcase the commitment of both the developer and hotel operator in sustainability and innovation leadership.

Environmentally sustainable building practices were at the forefront of ibis Hobart’s design ahead of its 2017 opening. Even during its construction phase, reduced volumes of construction and demolition waste were sent to landfill. Low chemical paint, adhesives, sealants, carpets and wood products and responsibly sourced steel, timber and PVC products were used in the hotel’s construction. The hotel also features high quality acoustic performance, high quality lighting performance, glare reduction and light pollution reduction.

The building itself was designed to perform sustainably, with rainwater collected and processed in-house to water the vertical and

The Ibis Styles Hobart is one of Australia’s greenest certified hotels

outdoor gardens and for washing down other areas. Water saving measures, such as flow regulators, were installed on all taps and outlets, along with dedicated wastewater filtration systems. LED energy saving lights can be found throughout the hotel, many operated by motion sensors. In addition, only eco-certified cleaning products are used throughout the hotel by all teams.

More recently, the newly opened Hotel Chadstone Melbourne, MGallery by Sofitel, was awarded as Australia’s first five-star hotel to achieve a five-star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia for its sustainable design.

At each stage of construction, the Hotel Chadstone building teams were conscious of the products utilised and materials selected, such as the façade, which reflects and reduces heat. Energy is created via solar panels on the roof which acts as a renewable source for the hotel.

Furthermore, the hotel saves energy by using automatic and LED lighting and highly efficient air-conditioning. Fixtures and fittings are all water saving and the building captures rainwater for use in the gardens where native Australian plants have been used in the landscaping.

One of Accor’s main purposes, besides finding alternatives to plastic and reducing environmental impacts, is to positively change common mindsets globally by adopting the 3R logic – reduce, reuse and recycle.

The group’s headquarters will lead with best practices and the hotels will enhance their local initiatives and solutions to benefit guests. n

Hotel Chadstone Melbourne, MGallery

by Sofitel opened in late 2019

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HM Q&A | INVESTMENT

PELLICANO WHILE ITS INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL CREDENTIALS ARE WELL ADVANCED, THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR IS THE NEXT FRONTIER DUE TO BE CONQUERED BY PROPERTY DEVELOPER, PELLICANO GROUP. HM CHATS WITH THE FIRM’S MANAGING DIRECTOR, NANDO PELLICANO.

Pellicano is also involved in Hyatt’s return to Brisbane via Hyatt Place South City Square Quest Geelong will be the company’s second location in the growing city

One hotel brand Pellicano Group has certainly left an indelible mark on is Quest Serviced Apartments. Tell us about your relationship with Quest?

W

e have a strong relationship with Quest. We’re doing four hotels with them at the moment. Three are under construction, and we’ll be finishing this year. The fourth one will be starting this year. So there’s Robina on the Gold Coast and Preston in Victoria, so those will be finished by mid-year.

Then there’s Ballarat in Victoria, which we’ll be finishing by the end of the year [and is] part of the train station redevelopment. There’s Geelong in Victoria, which will be kicking off probably third quarter this year.

So those four are around 350-odd keys. And we’ve done four previously with Quest, so that will take it to eight over the past 10 years or so. They've obviously been our biggest partner in the hotel sector.

What ideas is Pellicano putting to partners such as Hyatt and Quest in terms of development and what might work best from a construction standpoint?

Anything repetitive or modular to achieve efficiencies.

They are happy to work with our design team. Of course we’ve got their brief too, which we need to work with.

But you know, we do a lot of them with pre-fabricated bathrooms, and so that all gets developed off-site and then we just bring in the pods.

You’ve mentioned pre-fabrication there. What is Pellicano’s position on the growing trend of pre-fabricated or modular-style construction for hotels?

Quest Robina will be open to guests later this year

We’ve been doing the bathrooms that way for a few years now, so we find that gives us a lot of efficiencies.

You actually get to build a better product off-site, in a controlled environment and then because you have the repetitive floor plates, then you get the efficiencies and we just bring those in as a completed box. We find that has probably been one of the biggest efficiencies. We try to limit wastage as much as possible.

Is pre-fabrication something you see getting bigger in the coming years?

I think so. There’s a few groups already doing it. I think in terms of repetitiveness, it’s hard to do it over a two or three storey building but when you get over eight floors and it is repetitive, it’s probably going to be the way to go to maximise the efficiencies and keep the costs as tight as possible.

Does pre-fab allow Pellicano to be cleaner and greener in terms of its construction techniques?

I believe so. I think because it’s in a controlled environment under a warehouse roof where they get built, there’s more efficiencies and less wastage. So I think that in turn leads to less impact on the climate. n 38 HM The Business of Accommodation

HM Q&A | INVESTMENT Nando Pellicano

‟We try to limit wastage as much as possible.”

Nando Pellicano - Pellicano Managing Director

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TECHNOLOGY

The Sony BZ35F Series 7 with Foxtel Business IQ

THE NEW FOR HOTELS, THE IN-ROOM TELEVISION IS ANOTHER CUSTOMER TOUCHPOINT WHICH MUST BE MAXIMISED TO ENSURE A POSITIVE GUEST EXPERIENCE.

T

hat initial greeting and welcome screen when you switch on the television in your hotel room has never been so critical. Thanks to personal streaming, the opportunities for a hotel brand to cut through and deliver any messaging has all but disappeared. Once a guest device is connected and operating, a property can no longer communicate with a guest through that medium for the remainder of that viewing session. This heightens the need for a hotel to

40 HM The Business of Accommodation

make that opening introductory screen the best it can possibly be.

One leader in the field of in-room entertainment is Foxtel, with its Business IQ system able to transform any television with an HDMI port into a smart system. Like other systems, it too can be customised to include a hotel’s welcome video, messaging, artwork, logos or simply an image from the local area.

Foxtel’s Director of Product and Strategy, Daniel Gardiner, says the Business IQ system utilises ‟the core technology already in over 300,000 hotel rooms in the USA. We’ve developed the platform so Australian operators can customise the content and UI”. ‟This delivers operators a guest engagement platform to promote their own content, services and loyalty programs,” he says. ‟Guests enjoy live news and sport from across the world, thousands of free to view streaming premium programs plus integrated casting. ‟The interface can be customised not just with a logo, but full branding and a colour scheme. We can insert

TECHNOLOGY

promotional videos as the welcome screen. ‟So it doesn't just have to be a static image of the Opera House for example. You might have a tour of the facilities or the property as a welcome video playing in the background when a guest turns the TV on. ‟Beyond that, you can also insert whatever local content you like. We call them in-house channels. You might have promotions you want to run. They can all be inserted alongside the free to air, or alongside the Foxtel linear content and it's just part of the lineup. ‟If the hotel acquires foreign language channels from someone, that could also be incorporated and managed through the same UI, can be searched for in the electronic programme guide and all wrapped in one. ‟So all of those things are all really well developed and we’re installing. We’ve got over 100 priority sites lined up and we’re starting to install this month,” he says.

One particular advantage of the Foxtel Business system, according to Gardiner, is its plug-and-play nature and invisible installation.

“All the smarts are in the Amazon cloud, and easy to use operator portal,” he says. ‟So hotels can access it themselves, make changes, check on the health and status of the system. Full reporting and [it is] all run from the Amazon cloud. ‟So it’s a very light onsite footprint, but it’s supported with a lifetime warranty. You do a one-time technology upgrade, and you’re supported for life,” Gardiner says.

It’s a delicate balancing act trying to generate revenue from a television system and as such, hotels have digitised their in-room compendiums, now offered to guests via a tablet device or through the TV itself. In developing their guest interface from a blank sheet of paper, Streamvision Director, Greg Bassine, said the key to designing the user interface was about providing a modular platform which can be built from the ground up, with further modules added as demand shifts.

“We have to build something that’s easily adaptable, easily flexible and obviously universal,” says Bassine.

According to Streamvision, many hotel operators remain somewhat sceptical about the revenue-

Talk to your guests with hotel specials on the TV home page

We’ve got over 100 priority sites lined up, and we’re starting to install this month.

Daniel Gardiner – Foxtel

Staycast by Google Chromecast is compatible with more than 1,300 streaming apps

generation capabilities of the television. Many are happy to admit that compendium information can easily be built in, however the barriers require more breaking before a General Manager realises the efficiency improvements that can be realised by building room service into the TV. It was this feedback that allowed the company to build its suite of products, which now includes StreamTV, StreamCAST and StreamBYOD. Viewing statistics from Honeybadger Technologies and its Staycast and Sonifi systems make for an engaging snapshot of how Australians are consuming their content in hotel rooms. The average guest, according to the data, enjoys five streaming sessions per stay, adding up to around five hours of content consumed per stay.

Netflix is by far the dominant player, claiming more than half of the overall market share at more than 51%. This is followed by nearly 21% for YouTube, 6% for Stan, 2.74% for Spotify and the rest (more than 1,300 other apps) for the less than 2.5% left.

Regardless of the app, guests are spending more than double the time watching streaming content than traditional television supplied in-room. In a silver lining for this traditional content, more than 80% of guests use the interactive guide but then switch to their mobile device as the remote once paired with the television.

“Viewing trends have changed and have moved away from the traditional model of vendors using Pay Per View content to create a revenue stream in hotels,” says Honeybadger Director, Heinrich Saayman.

Honeybadger says it is seeing a similar take-up of smart TV systems in regional areas compared to major cities.

“This can be contributed to the mobile content on devices that these guests travel with,” said Saayman.

“Catchup TV and applications like Netflix have removed the need for guests to travel with pre-recorded content on hard drives or DVD players. I foresee that the usage will continue to grow exponentially as the bandwidth in regional Australia increases,” he added. n hotelmanagement.com.au 41

HUMAN RESOURCES

HEAR US BEYONCE HAS LONG SAID GIRLS RUN THE WORLD. IN THE WAKE OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, HM HAS SOURCED SIX LEADING LADIES WORKING IN SENIOR ROLES ACROSS A RANGE OF DEPARTMENTS, ALL KEEN TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND CONTINUE PAVING THE WAY FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME

Kirsty Harvison

General Counsel – Quest Apartment Hotels What was it about the hotel and hospitality industry that was so attractive to you?

I’ve always been attracted to people-focused roles.

I got my first job at McDonalds when I was in high school and funded my university years through restaurant and café work. When I moved to Melbourne to start my career as a lawyer in private practice, I also had a part time job in hospitality because I liked the energy and teamwork that came with the industry and the immediate satisfaction of providing great service to guests. Now that I’m working as a General Counsel at Quest Apartment Hotels, I feel I’ve come full circle – combining the law and hospitality in a satisfying, people-focused career.

What are young people missing when it comes to recognising hospitality as a long-term and rewarding career path?

The size and diversity of the industry means there are so many opportunities to pursue a long and varied career. Hospitality offers the traditional culinary positions and customer facing roles, but there are also opportunities to work across other areas like information technology and data analytics, revenue management, digital marketing, brand management, human resources, procurement, finance and of course legal. But I think what young people often overlook is how tangible it is. Everyone has an experience in a hotel, so it’s a career that’s easily understood wherever you go.

What would you tell yourself at the start of your career if you knew then what you know now?

Say yes to every opportunity, even if you don’t think you’re ready.

I’d also tell myself to learn to read the room and speak up. I’ve spent a lot of time over my career being the only woman in the room and I’ve 42 HM The Business of Accommodation

noticed the differences in how men and women communicate. Men are much more likely to interrupt each other and talk over one another while women tend to be less comfortable with doing this, which mean women’s opinions often aren’t heard.

How would you rate the progression of women in the accommodation industry these days? Is there still work to do?

There is always more work to do! My firm view is that the fastest way to improve female participation and progression in any industry is to improve male participation at home.

Shaizeen Contractor Senior Commercial Director – Hilton Australasia

What is the most attractive part of a hotel industry career?

I love that the hotel industry is so dynamic. No two days are the same and if you are the type of person that enjoys a challenge, thrives on bringing people together and are capable of thinking on your feet – it’s the perfect industry for you.

Who has been most instrumental in guiding your career to the point you’re at today?

I have been very lucky in having mentors (men and women) throughout my career who have always pushed me to take on the next challenge and step outside my comfort zone. Rachel Argaman (former CEO of TFE Hotels) is a dynamic and fierce leader whose mantra of ‘companies don’t succeed, people do’ was instrumental in guiding my career.

What skills or attributes are essential for a hotel industry career?

A smile goes a long way and in fact is quite difficult at times. In the world of hotels, we deal with challenging and unusual circumstances daily.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Vice President Commercial, Australasia & Japan – IHG What was it about the accommodation industry that caught your attention from a career perspective?

At the start of your career you tend to find yourself wondering how you can make a difference and which path to choose. For me, it was always about creating experiences – and what more amazing industry could you find to do that than hospitality? It’s a space that provides unlimited opportunity to be creative, strategic, drive business results, all while having a positive impact on people’s lives. Hospitality was a no brainer, and it has treated me well.

What are some of your proudest professional accomplishments?

Throughout my career, I had been content with progressing in corporate roles. Then, in 2014 I decided to disrupt myself in quite a big way, taking a left turn and taking on the role of General Manager at Crowne Plaza Canberra. I ended up in that role for three years before moving back to a corporate role with IHG, and I now truly appreciate what our amazing hotel teams deliver every day and how to best support them.

What would you tell yourself at the start of your career if you knew then what you know now?

Settle in for the long haul. It’s not going to happen overnight so don’t be in too much of a hurry! Never forget to hang on to your passion, altruism and enthusiasm, even when times get tough – and they will! Believe in yourself, even when there are obstacles along the way and, most importantly, focus on people over tasks. That’s where the real value is!

Without naming names, can you tell us about a time you’ve felt your gender has seen you treated differently by a guest or colleague?

Assumptions around gender and hierarchy still exist, and there are occasions where I see people set out with one approach and then reassess me once they know my title. It’s not common, but it happens – and it shouldn’t.

Renae Trimble

Have women broken the proverbial glass ceiling in this industry or is there still work to do?

Accor is committed to equality and parity as a busineess, but sometimes change is slower than we would like due to cultural norms in some countries where women face greater challenges and there is still a long way to go. Thankfully, in addition to our female leaders in the Pacific, we have many men in our business who are also championing this change.

What advice will help young people choose a career in hospitality?

The world of hospitality is vibrant, lively, and always interesting. There is such enormous scope within the hospitality industry for various career paths. I am an example of this – I started in a sales role and am now leading Accor’s Pacific Commercial team.

What are some of your proudest professional accomplishments?

My greatest accomplishment has, and always will be, seeing team members receive recognition for their hard work and colleagues taking the next step in their careers. It’s also been an honour to work on Accor’s new lifestyle loyalty program, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, to leverage the rapid growth of loyalty in the Pacific in the last five years. >>

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Tina Fisher

What does a normal day at work look like for Renae Trimble?

What I enjoy most about my role is its variety. I’m extremely lucky that no two days are the same with my role, I work with a team of talented experts and together we are rolling out Pacific-wide marketing campaigns, navigating the complex and ever-evolving world of distribution or driving our digital and loyalty strategy.

n Ch rist chu rch ,T ap es

How would you like to be looked upon as an influential and successful executive to future generations?

I would like to be remembered as a successful senior executive with a commercial and customer mindset, always adding value to the business while in some way shaping and supporting my team members’ personal growth and development. I am also proud to be a mother, wife, daughter and sister and while my career has always been front and centre, my family comes first – they have been instrumental in my success.

the industry first began, I found myself intrigued by the intricacies and culture of the hospitality industry. For example, I observed hotel managers, chefs and receptionists working hard to perfect customer service, which is not found in a typical working environment. It was an inspiring culture that I wanted to be a part of and an industry founded on passion, and that’s when I decided to apply for my first hotel sales executive role. It was the best decision I ever made.

The Mode r

We always need to remain positive and a smile is critical. Relationship building is imperative and is what matters the most to guests, clients, colleagues and competitors. While hospitality is a huge industry, it is a very small world and everyone knows everyone.

Accor Senior Vice President Commercial – Pacific Can you pinpoint the day you fell in love with the hospitality sector?

While working for a wholesale company in Sydney, I was often invited to attend hotel sales presentations. It was here that my interest for hotelmanagement.com.au 43

HUMAN RESOURCES

Kathryn Carling

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Why should young women follow your path into a career in hospitality?

Hospitality can be a great career for anyone with a passion for customer service and a desire to experience different cultures. I’m fortunate enough to have found my passion for hospitality quite young. I remember watching ‘Home Alone 2’ and being more interested in the operation of the hotel than the storyline.

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ACT General Manager at Doma Hotels

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How do you see Canberra's hotels developing over the next decade?

As a product of the ACT public education system and Canberra University, I am such an advocate for Canberra and the growth experienced in recent years. My favourite guests are the ones who haven’t been to Canberra since their Year 7 school trip. There is so much more to see and do in Canberra and our surrounding region! Over the next 10 years, I see new brands entering the market and creating opportunities for more people to experience our beautiful city. With growth comes more jobs in the industry and the lure of experienced hoteliers making the Canberra hotel industry even stronger. The Canberra hotel scene has a bright future and I am excited to be part of it.

Without naming names, can you tell us about a time you’ve felt your gender has seen you treated differently by a guest or colleague?

Unfortunately, some years ago I was subjected to an incident when an older female manager may have felt threatened by my youth and determination. I don’t think I would have been treated as such if I had been a male staff member however, in this instance, it's possible professional jealousy was the issue rather than gender or age.

I feel very fortunate to be working for Doma Hotels where female departments heads are as prominent as males. In a diverse market, we hire staff on merit. I consider myself privileged to be working for a company that supports diversity in employment irrespective of job title.

Emily Subrata

Director – Sudamala Resorts How did you come to find yourself in the accommodation industry?

When I started my career, I was in education management and I loved that. After I finished my Honours degree in Sydney, I was offered the opportunity to stay and do my Masters and 44 HM The Business of Accommodation

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What was the best lesson you learned working for the Prime Minister that you can apply to your current role?

Resilience. During my 18 months working in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet as part of the G20 Taskforce, Australia had three leadership changes. This taught me not only to be adaptable to change but confirmed my resilience to the pressure of delivering a world class event.

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How has your experience working in hotels overseas shaped your professional focus today?

In Canada I worked in a range of positions from guest relations at a ski resort to Executive Floor Supervisor at a luxury hotel in Banff. This experience taught me the meaning of genuine five-star luxury. A lesson that I focus on with my staff is that a five-star customer experience can be delivered irrespective of the hotel star rating.

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look into a PhD but instead I decided I wanted to make some money.

When I decided to move home to Indonesia, I had a lightbulb moment when I attended the opening of our flagship property in Sanur, Bali. I was walking to the hotel and a voice in my head said ‘this could be your commute’ and that set everything in motion.

After my move from education into hospitality, I wanted to go back to school. I’m a really good student and a proud nerd. I returned to Indonesia in 2012 and did some work experience at the Melia Nusa Dua, Alila Uluwatu and The Ritz-Carlton, Jakarta before I departed for Switzerland to do my MBA in hospitality.

What are some of the biggest differences you’ve seen between Australian hotels, Indonesian hotels and European hotels?

I feel like Australians are so adventurous that they’re game to try nonbranded hotels. Indonesian hotels are so divided – they’re either big branded resorts or they’re small boutique hotels like Alila or Jayakarta.

And Europeans love their small, boutique hotels so the big brands are probably not as dominant there as they are in other parts of the world.

So the main difference between those is the demographic they serve.

Did you need to adjust your personal operating style across the three regions and markets you’ve worked in?

Mainly we get a lot of Australians and a lot of Europeans. Culturally, Bali, Flores and Lombok are very different so we’ve had to do small adjustments but essentially, it’s still the same thread across so people know they’re in a Sudamala hotel. People know what they can expect from a personal level. All our leaders and General Managers need to know their guests and have to be able to deliver that personal touch.

From your experience, how have you seen the rise of women in General Management and senior roles within hotels?

As an industry generally, it’s a hard slog and that’s why – say in the F&B industry – women may be the ones to cook at home but professionally, it’s done by men because it’s physically hard. It’s hard work. But those traditional roles have changed a lot. In my industry in Southeast Asia, women are viewed to be the harder worker. They put in the hard slog and yet they still go home and tend to their children after hours. It’s a slow change and it can be really frustrating because of the culture. My dad, Ben Subrata, is the Founder and CEO of Sudamala Hotels, recently noticed that most of his senior management team are female and I told him ‘Yes, we’re the ones that actually run the world’. n

Home of the Housekeeper of the Year At ahs, we love to celebrate our people and we take pride in their achievements, and one of the most notable achievements in 2019 was when our own Agnes Kapani Volu was awarded the Housekeeper of the Year at the HM Awards.

Agnes has achieved this recognition through hard work, team engagement and prioritising the guest experience. ahs hospitality is also proud to support the HM Awards which is such a highly regarded event on the annual Awards calendar.

hospitality

It means we are able to share in the excitement of all award winners!

We know that recognising and appreciating the great work our team members do builds a strong team, and a strong team delivers on great service for all guests.

Become a partner with ahs hospitality and experience this for yourself.

Find out more at ahshospitality.com.au.

To find out how we can partner with you, call us on 1800 026 036 or email us at info@ahshospitality.com.au and our friendly team will work together with you.

ROOMS DIVISION

SMART ENERGY THE EVOLUTION OF LIGHTING IN HOTEL ROOMS HAS ADVANCED SIGNIFICANTLY IN A SHORT SPACE OF TIME, TO THE PRESENT DAY WHEN ROOMS WILL LIGHT UP ONLY WHEN NEEDED, AS MATT LENNON DISCOVERED.

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e’re all taught from a young age to turn off the lights in a room at home when leaving. Now, apply that lesson to the hotel landscape. On any given night, cast your eye across any city skyline or metropolitan area and observe the kaleidoscope of lights dotting the horizon. Aside from office buildings making their contribution to the night-time landscape, many hotels will opt for a well-lit room for post-sunset arrivals if only from a customer service perspective.

But in many cases, a room’s lights may spend the whole evening illuminated, with nobody likely to enter.

Over a year, that’s a lot of wasted energy.

Savings in lighting and energy are often the first consideration when it comes to taking steps to reduce energy consumption. Over the years, this has been helped by innovations such as LED and low-wattage bulbs and then by requiring room keys to be placed in a slot by the door to activate a room’s power supply. In this case, it is often a juggling act for a guest to activate this while trying to get themselves and their luggage fully inside the room. Not the most enjoyable of experiences.

As hotel construction and room design has improved over the years, architects have increasingly sought to draw upon the power of the sun not just to light a room but to power an entire hotel. And as smart lighting has ingratiated itself beyond the prototype stage and into mainstream use, its adoption by the accommodation industry is beginning to take hold as one part of a strategy to reduce power bills and in turn, a hotel’s environmental footprint.

One such manufacturer of smart energy systems, Suite Control, was engaged by InterContinental Hotels Group during construction of its luxury resort on Hayman Island. Company Director, George Nikols, said the project encountered a unique problem in that it was impossible to run any additional cabling, requiring the company to opt for a VP wireless system for full automation and control of the resort’s lighting, electricity and air-conditioning. Among the items on IHG’s wish list was theme-based lighting, which allows a guest to dim the lights to a preferred level and have them come back on at the same level from an off position.

Nikols said feedback in less than a year of the resort’s operations has been fantastic, with guests reporting the system as easy to use and always being able to reach the right temperature through a number of additional features connected to the resort’s Property Management

Solar panels are becoming an increasingly frequent sight on city and regional hotels

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System (PMS) which has led to a 20% reduction in energy use compared to when the resort was last open under different management prior to Cyclone Debbie.

“We added curtain motors, which communicate wirelessly, so when a guest is away from the room, we turn off all the lights, we set the temperature back to 25 degrees and then we close the curtains. And through some initial testing we found that by closing the curtains, we’re able to eliminate almost 80% of the heat load coming in through the glass.

So the air conditioning system across the whole resort doesn’t work very hard throughout most of the day when the guests are out of their rooms.”

Other highlights of the system, Nikols said, are automatic nightlights triggered from sensors under the bedside table which lead guests to the bathroom once they get out of bed and then back before automatically turning off once sensors can no longer detect feet on the room floor. Systems are also tuned to be able to detect ambient light levels in a room, meaning artificial lights won’t trigger until light levels dim later in the day.

Hilton has gone one step further with the installation of its energy management system, setting daylight harvesting as a brand standard on all newbuild hotels.

According to the company’s WA Cluster General Manager, David Constantine, the motion detection system has helped its hotels lower its operating cost per room. Connected to the hotel’s operational systems, it triggers the electricity, lighting and air-conditioning into action once a guest checks in. By the time the guest has reached the room, the temperature has been cooled significantly to present a cool and welcoming environment to the guest.

“The system also recognises different parameters when a Team Member key is used to access the room in comparison to a guest,” Constantine added.

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The system recognises different parameters when a team member key is used to access the room in comparison to a guest.

David Constantine – Hilton WA Cluster General Manager

constantly investigating ways to lower his energy output and improve his environmental footprint.

Schwartz Family Company Sustainability and Projects Co-ordinator, Paul Briggs, says energy savings can be realised far beyond just lighting, with technology available to improve the effectiveness of solar panels, pumps and cooling towers. In addition to room automation and energy saving technology, solar panels have been installed on many Schwartz properties, with excess power generated going back into the hotel’s main switchboard for use throughout the rest of the property.

“We’ve got a hundred kilowatts on the Mercure Sydney, a hundred kilowatts on Rydges Central, two lots of 100 kilowatts on the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley,” Briggs said.

“The Cessnock Motel is 28 kilowatts; Leura Golf Club is about 30 kilowatts and the Fairmont Blue Mountains is about a hundred kilowatts as well. We’ve also just finished our five megawatt solar farm, which is next door to Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley.”

Exactly how much money can be saved through automation is an open question and will have a different result for each hotel. A renovation at the 155-room Country Comfort Perth completed last year saw the property install 292 solar panels on the roof, which collectively generate enough power to operate the hotel during daylight hours. Its room automation systems also sense when a guest is in the room and in addition to operating the lights and A/C, supplies power to the room’s electrical sockets, cutting power in the event of a guest leaving a switch activated at the wall. Since completion, the hotel’s estimated power saving of 150Mwh – down 30% on previous levels – has resulted in a saving of AUD$30,000 each year.

Combined with LED lighting now in place across the property, the aggregate saving has more than outweighed the outlay on installation and delighted its owners. n hotelmanagement.com.au 47

HM Q&A | OPERATIONS

RISING STAR ONE OF THE RISING STARS OF THE YEAR AT THE 2019 HM AWARDS, EMPORIUM HOTEL SOUTH BANK’S GENERAL MANAGER CHARLES MARTIN IS FIRMLY ONE OF THE TOP TALENTS IN THE AUSTRALASIAN ACCOMMODATION INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW, THANKS TO HIS LEADERSHIP AT A PROPERTY THAT CONTINUES TO RECEIVE GLOBAL ACCOLADES. JAMES WILKINSON SITS DOWN WITH HIM IN BRISBANE TO TALK ABOUT HIS RISE TO THE TOP IN A CITY FULL OF NEW, WORLD-CLASS PROPERTIES.

Charles, tell us the path to becoming General Manager of one of Australia’s most exciting new hotels. y path was not a typical one. I started in hospitality whilst I was at school and after graduating, I took a job as a porter in the concierge team at the original Emporium Hotel in Fortitude Valley. I was 17 at the time, studying Finance and Business Management at university and was captivated by how dynamic, fast paced and fun the industry was. Over my five years at the original Emporium Hotel, I worked across concierge, banquets, bars, sales and marketing before accepting a job at Ernst and Young in their advisory practice.

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The infinity pool at Emporium Hotel Brisbane

After several years consulting in mining, government, healthcare and property industries, I moved to Sydney with Aussie Home Loans leading their national procurement and corporate services portfolio. Whilst in Sydney, the owners of Emporium Hotels, Anthony and Francine John, called to see if I would be interested in returning to Brisbane to work with them once more on the opening of their new hotel in South Bank.

The role that I accepted was Owners Representative for the Anthony John Group (developers of Emporium Hotels), where I led operations across the group to ensure a seamless integration with the new hotel’s pre-opening program, Emporium residential settlements and hotel development activities. It was a whirlwind year, saying goodbye to the original hotel, recruiting a team for the new property, completing the thousands of tasks to pull the operation together and finally opening the front doors.

In December 2018, after my predecessor moved on from the group, I was asked to apply for the position of General Manager, a role which I am so proud to still be in today.

What makes the property stand-out in the Brisbane market in your opinion?

There are two key identifiers that sets Emporium apart from its competitors. Number one is our innovative and awe-inspiring design. The hotel features no less than four live green walls, multiple back-lit onyx stone bars, a 23-metre rooftop infinity pool as well as a completely retractable ceiling for the hotel’s rooftop bar to name a few.

All these factors combined with our location in the heart of Brisbane’s cultural precinct, South Bank, focuses on our

HM Q&A | OPERATIONS

Health and wellbeing are two key elements for business and leisure travellers. What’s on offer at the hotel on that front?

As Emporium Hotel Southbank is quintessentially Queensland, there is an equally strong focus on Health and Wellbeing. From our facilities such as the gym, sauna and steam room, 23-metre infinity edge pool, through to the Japanese-inspired day spa, Healing Stone. Partnering with K-Fit, the hotel can curate a bespoke health and wellbeing experience for guests, including yoga, Pilates and running guides. The hotel is on the doorstep of South Bank parklands, with an abundance of health and fitness activities available. Our commitment to health and wellbeing is further demonstrated with our relationships with local producers, ensuring that our menus are focused on the best local and seasonal produce, including daily freshly squeezed juices in our patisserie.

core foundation of being a very proud Australian business, offering a genuinely authentic Queensland experience.

The second is that we are a privately-owned Brisbanebased business that is not part of a global group or chain. We have no offshore offices dictating strategic direction nor a loyalty network to bolster our guest reservation numbers. What this creates is a fast-paced, agile and innovative culture that helps us curate and deliver experiences that are truly unique to our property alone. This is what we are known for and is highly sought by guests. You will only find one Emporium Hotel Southbank in the world with an incredibly passionate, hard-working and professional team ready to deliver a genuine service at an international standard.

F&B is a major emphasis at the property. What is on offer and how were the concepts devised?

Our team has worked hard to ensure that Emporium Hotel South Bank has multiple offers to cater to a diverse audience of local, interstate and international clientele.

The Terrace, with its breathtaking views of the city, South Bank and Brisbane River, is open daily and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner a la carte style. There’s Belle Epoque patisserie, the perfect spot for a casual coffee, champagne breakfast or perfect high tea, or the art deco-inspired Piano Bar, with signature cocktails for a sophisticated lounge experience and live entertainment from Wednesday to Sunday.

You offer transfers around the city in a Maserati – tell us about that.

Emporium Hotel Southbank is the only hotel in the nation to partner with Maserati for a private chauffeur experience for guests. Any guest of a Premier Suite is entitled to book a complimentary service where our concierge will chauffeur them to any location within 3km of the hotel, subject to availability. Our guests love the experience of arriving in true luxury to either their meeting, event or dining destination. In the past, the hotel has been able to offer a Maserati Levante but, for a limited time and to kick off 2020, we have surprised guests with transfers in a beautiful Maserati Quattroporte.

You’re all about the small details, like pyjamas for adults and plush toys for kids. What are some of the fun things on offer?

There are many unique aspects to the customer experience offered, from live music four days a week in the Piano Bar through to a sensory experience in the hotel elevators involving four full-length digital screens.

The sensual experience is further continued with the Emporium Scent, which is also available for purchase in the rooms. Service elements to surprise and delight our guests are also seasonally inspired, such as our concierge placing candy canes in valet-parked cars. The window displays in Belle Epoque patisserie are seasonally inspired and hand crafted out of Valrhona chocolate.

Over the festive season, the windows displayed the nutcracker, crafted from 50kg of Valrhona chocolate.

What are your tips for General Managers of the future?

Be ready to embrace change. It is important to maintain, not only for yourself, but for your team, a constant positive mindset and readiness to embrace whatever may come your way. When running a luxury operation, anything less than exceeding expectations of your guests, time and time again can be considered a failure. When viewed this way, there is plenty of scope for things to go wrong. It is essential to take time to plan, remain positive and surround yourself with like-minded people who are invested in the hard work and dedication it takes to deliver a market leading service. n

The hotel features no less than four live green walls.

Charles Martin, Emporium Hotel

Emporium Hotel Brisbane General Manager, Charles Martin hotelmanagement.com.au 49

DEVELOPMENT

Leveraging lifestyle In an environment littered with disruptors, the lifestyle and boutique hotel scene is heading in the other direction – aiming to deliver a guest experience with as little disruption as possible. MATT LENNON casts an eye over the market to check in on where lifestyle hotels are heading.

Anticipation is building for the second Ink Hotel in Singapore

Accor

Lindsay Leeser – Vice President Development Pacific

The growth of boutique and lifestyle hotels is showing no sign of abating.

Guests today are socially-connected, worldly travellers and they’re seeking out personalised, authentic and uniquely local experiences.

Irrespective of a city or regional locale, hotels that can bring a level of uniqueness, whether it’s in their design, heritage or location, are ticking all the boxes right now for travellers who want to feel a heightened sense of occasion or pleasure. They want living spaces, not merely hotels.

With 39 brands globally, Accor’s growth in the boutique and lifestyle sector has been accelerated in recent years with 14 new brands including SO/, Art Series, TRIBE, Mama Shelter, 25hours, 21C Museum Hotels and in partnership with US hospitality group sbe - Hyde, Mondrian, Delano, House of Originals and SLS, to name a few.

Our portfolio also features some of the region’s most storied hotels, including SO/Auckland, which is positioned as the leading lifestyle hotel in the market, and Hotel Chadstone Melbourne, MGallery by Sofitel, which is connected to Chadstone - The Fashion Capital and is the city’s first five-star hotel outside Melbourne’s CBD. Of the brands in our lifestyle division, Mondrian will soon be on a growth spurt in the Pacific. Tribe is also enjoying global interest with new openings planned for Europe, Asia Pacific and the U.S. We’ve also just announced the Australian debut of our vibrant and playful SO/ 50 HM The Business of Accommodation

brand in Melbourne and are thrilled to be the preferred hotel operator for The Malt District Hotel under our 25hours hotel brand, which is another first for Australia.

BWH Hotel Group

Graham Perry – Managing Director Australasia

Boutique or lifestyle hotels need to be meticulous in creating single-minded messages that differentiate them from the competition and appeal to their target audiences right from the start. This differentiation must resonate with guests and residents in the local community alike. With brand proliferation across the industry, it’s critically important to create a sense of connection and identity. The brand’s personality comes from the interweaving of design which must integrate with the community it reflects.

WorldHotels is all about connecting global and national travellers who value luxury, elite and distinctive accommodation experiences with the broadest possible range of options – and in every region of the world. Regional areas are different to major capitals and that is why WorldHotels link all these different hotels and destinations together.

Hotels with their own brands become WorldHotels because we provide global and national pathways to guests who value difference and relish discovering unique destinations, places and places to stay – be they independent hotels or groups.

Boutique and lifestyle accommodation play an important part in the overall brand mix. WorldHotels maintain their independence

DEVELOPMENT

and unique sense of place by reflecting the overall experience of the destination whether in a major capital city or regional. Wherever our guests travel, we aim to be there offering the difference they crave. Our goal is to deliver our loyal guests with a WorldHotels property in every capital city and regional area of Australia and New Zealand – subject to brand fit of course.

Event Hospitality

Norman Arundel – Director of Hotels and Resorts

For Event Hospitality’s lifestyle brands QT and Atura, defining a brand personality has been key to creating a product that differentiates itself from the market. QT’s success can, in part, be attributed to the fact that brand personality has come first, driving the product and all touch points – from how the staff dress, to interiors and artwork, through to marketing collateral. Even though each QT is different, there is a consistency in personality that our guests love.

Just as important to personality is being immersed in the local community. Being a true local is the essence of any hotel in the lifestyle space. At QT, it’s no accident that our F&B outlets are destinations in their own right. Being loved by locals is a firm strategy of ours, and one that means the QT brand can absolutely be successful outside of major cities. We can take QT to any vibrant, active community – if there are special things to do and interesting people to meet, QT will work, and QT Newcastle will be a great example of this in action.

We know the modern traveller has increased demands, particularly of hotels in the lifestyle space, but they are demands that are about A-grade hospitality and great staff at their core. Constant reinvention is expected and lifestyle brands should be moving at the speed of culture.

In 2020, that means having a commitment to sustainability, something that EVENT has been working on extensively.

InterContinental Hotels Group Abhijay Sandilya – Vice President, Development – Australasia, Japan & Pacific

Every hotel should offer all the fundamentals such as a comfortable room, complimentary high–speed WiFi, nice amenities and the latest technology. But a growing number of guests are looking for something beyond the ‘normal’. They want curated experiences – stories, personalities and meaning behind the design, food and service – and this is where brand personality really comes in.

Lifestyle brands like Hotel Indigo and voco deliver on that need by taking the offering to the next level with personalised, authentic experiences through innovative F&B, unique design, local neighbourhood elements and sustainability at the core.

These brands are not only sympathetic to their local neighbourhood, they can actually play a role in creating unique destinations, which makes it especially important to establish their brand personality quickly. In fact, these hotels often create anchors for city, larger regional or suburban mixed-use developments.

Our approach to Hotel Indigo and voco growth is built around a philosophy of brand integrity, quality growth and great partnership, with a focus on

major cities, suburban, and select resort opportunities, with a focus on premium assets and great partnership.

Hotel Indigo could be the perfect proposition in iconic tourist destinations with strong, high-value, transient visitor demand, including Australia’s world-famous wine regions, as the destination complements Hotel Indigo’s unique local storytelling philosophy. For locations that rely more on contracted corporate or group business but need a ‘reliably different’ twist on the standard hotel offering, voco may be a better fit.

Lancemore Group Julian Clark – CEO

Lancemore’s brand is all about having unique oneof-a-kind hotels that make sense in their location, climate and building architecture but still reflect our brand. So our newly–opened hotel in Melbourne’s CBD, Lancemore Crossley St., has a totally different aesthetic to our Red Hill property and our Palm Cove property. Both are brilliant properties but they are individual, albeit with a subtle ethos that runs through them all. For us, it’s about staying true to our boutique roots and creating special curated spaces for our guests.

We are expecting and experiencing solid growth. About seven years ago when asked to predict what’s next for boutique and lifestyle hotels at a conference, I said ‘more of them’. That has turned out to be 100% correct and I think we will continue to see growth in the segment. I expect us to be at least double our current size in five years with a much larger urban footprint. Also expect to see our L by Lancemore brand introduced in to the marketplace. More on that when the first one opens.

Generally speaking, at our price point, guests have very high expectations, and so they should. They want the traditional things that guests have always wanted but done exceptionally well – product and service quality, great sleep experience, F&B and intuitive tech experiences. What they are increasingly keen on are experiences, even

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better design and an X-factor, often something that is concurrently ‘Instaworthy’ and fabulous. Put simply, the experience just has to be elevated. Last, but most importantly, you need to provide value for money. That value can be at $300 or $1,000 a night, but value remains important and never goes out of fashion.

Chris Ely – VP Business Development and Asset Management

Making up 32% of the world’s population, Gen Z is a segment that is larger than even Millennials. That alone is enough for the hospitality industry to pay attention to what they like and how they travel. We know that guests with a Gen Z mindset look for a unique stay experience, a local vibe and a real connection with the community. They also want sustainable choices and a more responsible way of enjoying life and experiencing the world.

And we have created a brand that offers all that. Our new Ink Hotels brand resonates with target audiences because it colours outside the lines, offers an authentic, immersive experience and gives guests the opportunity to be socially and environmentally conscious, all while delivering genuine value.

We opened our first Ink Hotel in Melbourne, right in the heart of the city’s hip Southbank precinct in late 2019. We have received excellent feedback from guests and it is already among the Top 20 hotels in Melbourne on TripAdvisor. We are looking forward to opening our second Ink in Singapore in 2021.

Marriott International

Richard Crawford – Senior Director of Hotel Development, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific

As the world’s largest hotel company, Marriott International manages and franchises hotels across all tiers of accommodation. We are recognised as a global leader in the lifestyle segment, with our brands including W Hotels, Edition, The Luxury Collection, Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Aloft, and Moxy enjoying dominant market profiles and rapidly growing footprints.

For independent hotels seeking to enter the boutique or lifestyle segment, their primary challenge is building a market profile from ground zero and establishing distribution platforms which connect to their target audiences. Conversely, hotels under Marriott’s stewardship benefit from instant connectivity to sophisticated sales, marketing, and distribution engines, plus the proven support of more than 140 million loyal Marriott Bonvoy members.

Our unprecedented growth has demonstrated that lifestyle hotels are equally sought after by holiday makers in resort destinations as they are by corporate travellers in their urban domains. Many of our brands comfortably flex in this way, belying the legacy concept that hotel brands are for either business or leisure.

Lifestyle hotels represent Marriott’s fastest growing cohort of pipeline projects globally, as we continue on our path of opening a hotel, somewhere in the world, every 14 hours. These particular hotels are characterised by a strong residential design narrative, engaging social spaces, plus an acute attention to wellness and innovative culinary experiences.

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But as our Ink Hotels brand is designed to champion the local narrative, it also lends itself to emerging cities. This goes hand in hand with the growing demand for trips to smaller cities and regional areas among busy city dwellers who want to get away from the rat race and catch their breath in places with a slower pace. This opens up a lot of opportunities for us as we continue to grow across Australia, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Ovolo Group

Gadi Hassin – Director of Strategic Development

It’s important for a brand to quickly establish itself in a major city simply due to the brand exposure being far greater. We want to reach a dynamic audience, covering all markets, from corporate to leisure, which is difficult in a regional area due to limited market exposure.

Once we’ve established a presence in major cities with dedicated clients and guests, they will look to follow as we expand. We want to build a footprint so loyal guests can follow. This is key to building equity across all markets – we’re not here to control the market. This is not to say major regions aren’t on our radar, such as Newcastle and Byron Bay, but telling our brand story and experience to heavily populated areas means we can spread our message faster.

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DEVELOPMENT W Melbourne will open its doors later this year

We believe a lifestyle brand is about feel and overall experience, which Ovolo has successfully achieved across Hong Kong, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. As we grow, we want to gain more exposure to serve the needs of the Ovolo traveller – a traveller who falls in love with the Ovolo experience in a major city that will seek the Ovolo experience in established regional destinations.

Ovolo puts a large emphasis on public spaces as modern lifestyle hotels have shifted focus from accommodation. Think holistic experiences, not functional, which you can experience at Food & Beverage venues, games rooms, library and co-working spaces.

Radisson Hotel Group

Mark Bullock – Managing Director, Business Unit Australasia

For a lifestyle hotel, personality is everything.

Modern travellers seek brands that stand out from the crowd and give them a connection with their destination. So, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, it is vital for hotels to establish their own unique presence and sense of place. With Radisson Red, we aim to make every hotel vibrant and unconventional, and we work very closely with our owners, developers and designers to make sure we achieve this.

F&B is a very important part of establishing a brand personality and presence. We want to develop restaurants and bars that attract in-house guests and passing traffic alike, creating a seamless connection between

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the hotel and its surroundings. In doing so, we can let guests experience the street vibe of the city, while also generating additional revenue. It’s a win-win situation.

The rise of lifestyle and boutique hotels was one of the defining trends of the last decade, and we fully expect this to continue – and accelerate – in the 2020s. This movement was originally driven by the millennial generation, who demanded accommodation that was stylish, social, switched-on and reflected the spirit of the local community. As these millennial guests mature and become affluent middle-aged consumers, this ‘emerging’ trend will soon become part of the mainstream.

Radisson RED is perfectly positioned to capitalise on this movement.

Our lifestyle brand is leading the charge in terms of developer enquiries in the Australasian region, and we plan to roll out multiple new Radisson RED hotels in key CBD and suburban locations over the next three years.

TFE Hotels

Antony Ritch – CEO

TFE Hotels is focused on the next generation of Vibe Hotels in Australia. We see Vibe as the next big Australian hotel brand, and within the next three years, we’ll open three new ‘Next Generation’ Vibe Hotels, giving us a presence in nearly every state in Australia.

Not only is Vibe homegrown, but it offers a true blend of contemporary Australian design and service paired with modern local cuisine. As an example, Vibe’s Sydney properties – which include the Vibe Sydney, Vibe Rushcutters Bay, Vibe North Sydney and Vibe Darling Harbour – ensure their locations are at the core of the guest experience, whilst also boasting essential Sydney lifestyle features like rooftop pools and restaurants and bars. Likewise, Vibe Hotel Gold Coast boasts a fantastic beach design inspired by its stunning surrounds, with riverfront dining, pools and recreation.

It’s also a brand that continually delivers high quality hospitality in a friendly and casual way, that’s reflective of the character of the destination it operates in. The new Vibe Hotel Melbourne, which opens in April this year, embraces Melbourne’s love of its past and future with a contemporary accommodation tower rising from the city’s iconic 54 HM The Business of Accommodation

Sir Stamford Circular Quay is part of the WorldHotels range

Fletcher Jones façade. Plus, we’re very excited to launch the Vibe brand in Adelaide and in Hobart for the very first time – again, with a very clear focus on embracing each city’s local lifestyle.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Matt Holmes – Director of Development Australasia

The rise of boutique lifestyle hotels has been one of the defining hospitality trends of the last decade.

Travellers desire a genuine connection to their destination and for hotels to stand out from the crowd, they must have an authentic personality that resonates with the local area. Other key inclusions for lifestyle hotels include connectivity and state-of-the-art technology. But most of all, it is important that the personality of the hotel is unique and authentic – not just in its design, but also in the culture driven from the top down to all staff and reflected in attentive yet relaxed service provided to its guests.

Our boutique hotel brand TRYP by Wyndham has been very successful in Australia. Our first property, TRYP by Wyndham Fortitude Valley in Brisbane is centrally located in an area well known for its street art – so we commissioned local street artists to create original works for the hotel, giving the hotel an immediate connection to its neighbourhood.

Our lifestyle brand works well in major cities and downtown areas.

Most of our upcoming TRYP by Wyndham hotels will be located in major cities of Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. But with the right product, there’s also an opportunity to extend this concept to regional areas. We have a TRYP by Wyndham located in North Lakes which will begin construction this year. This property is part of an amazing mixed-use development designed by Richards and Spence, which has a reputation for highly distinctive concepts. We would look at more regional areas if it made sense for the brand and the hotel operation to do so – as was the case with North Lakes.

The TRYP by Wyndham brand has seen strong growth over the last couple of years and we look forward to continuing this momentum with new signings, as well as seeing these spectacular executed hotel deals come to fruition. n

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INTERIOR DESIGN Developers are dancing with more partners than just hotels nowadays

Rick

COMPLEXITIES AS AUSTRALIA’S POPULATION CONTINUES TO SWELL IN MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS, THE NEED TO BALANCE SHORT-TERM ACCOMMODATION WITH RESIDENTIAL IN THE SAME BUILDING HAS THROWN UP NEW CHALLENGES FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS, AS MATT LENNON DISCOVERS.

A

re the days of a standalone hotel tower on the decline? Are building owners unwilling to put their sole trust in a hotel operator to maximise revenue opportunities on a newbuild?

The Australasian hotel supply chain, or pipeline as it is otherwise known, has been in overdrive for the past few years. While this was initially welcomed as a means to push back against capacity ceilings nudging ever 56 HM The Business of Accommodation

Whalley

Ric hard Dalman

closer to ‘Full’, the demands of urban dwellers has led councils to zone more new properties as mixed-use over a standalone hotel. Separating a new tower as part hotel, part residential, part commercial offices, part retail, part entertainment and recreation or any combination thereof has left designers caught between different influences, all seeking to get their spoon into the mix.

For interior designer Chada, the most obvious reason for the diversification is economics, particularly as the demand for short-term hotel accommodation is not presently keeping up with the rate of openings, putting pressure on RevPAR. For owners, this is forcing them to split their revenue streams to ensure both short and long-term yields.

“Hotels traditionally were always built as standalone,” says Whalley.

“The original hotels in Sydney were all standalone hotels. More recently they’ve been stacked onto mixeduse and I think that there’s more to do with economics and the business model because a lot of owners and developers have to obtain finance with their projects.

“And if they can obtain finance and then give a cashflow forecast on when the income’s going to start flowing and the profits, then as a standalone hotel, as you know yourself, it takes five to seven years to generate any sort of income to start to even get to a break-even point based on the current cost of building hotel rooms in this country.”

He makes a solid point. Hotel rooms in Sydney are opening at a cost of at least half-a-million per key on a standalone basis and with the national, regional

INTERIOR DESIGN

Kafnu Alexandria is a hotel with a co-working space including fashion and photography studio

and international economies increasingly nervous, developers are turning to mixed-use out of necessity, if not always by intention. In doing so, revenues are coming in faster through deposits, lease down-payments and other means in order to finance the capital investment of the building. Hotels can often serve well as an anchor tenant, quickly eager to sign for part of the building to continue to grow its market share. For a standalone hotel, things may not necessarily move that quickly and in some cases, it can take five to seven years before an owner will break even.

From a design perspective, a mixed-use development often means interior plans need to take on a more conservative tone as residents may prefer to think they are living alongside a hotel, not in one. According to Richard Dalman of Dalman Architects, one way to allow a hotel to properly flourish in a mixed-use development is to have separate entrances for guests and permanent residents. After all, residents wouldn’t want to constantly be navigating around suitcases and check-in lines while

Imagine you’re in a hotel, you open the blinds in the morning and you’re five metres away from an office building.

Richard Dalman – Dalman Architects

Councils and developers are increasingly thinking outside the square when it comes to hotel development, with designs blending accommodation into nearly any other type of business.

Take the Accord Property Group, which until recently was building a mixed-use development in the outer-Melbourne suburb of Doncaster to a plan which would feature a Mercure hotel alongside 100 residential apartments.

Following strong interest from retail conglomerate Wesfarmers, the City of Manningham Council amended the DA to include a Bunnings Warehouse hardware store into the rapidly growing area.

Accor Pacific Chief Operating Officer, Simon McGrath, said at the time he was delighted at the idea of building a Mercure atop a Bunnings Warehouse, as Doncaster had been identified as a pocket of Melbourne in need of new hotel supply to service growing commercial and leisure interest in the area.

As mixed-use developments show signs of becoming the norm in society, Chada’s Rick Whalley raises another design challenge in how a hotel shares recreational facilities with permanent residents.

“Now the biggest problem area would be a swimming pool. Hotel guests, especially in the luxury level, may not particularly want to be sharing a same pool with families and children who are residents in the building, especially on a weekend when the area can become extremely crowded. It’s a whole different dynamic.”

The battle for market share is unabating, with hotel operators feverishly competing to plant their flag in any new development that makes economic sense. The only remaining question is, what type of business will we next see a hotel included? The possibilities are now endless. n

they’re bringing in their groceries for the week.

“Some the key things that a hotel operator or developer would both need to look at are issues with noise, security and privacy. If you’ve got a use which has a lot of noise associated with it, and that’s not apartments but it might be a hotel in a stadium for instance, you need to remember your guests just want to get a good night’s sleep. Or if it’s a hotel with a lot of F&B scattered around the bottom of it, like SkyCity in Auckland, then noise might not be an issue for the other operators, but it certainly is if hotel guests can’t get a night’s sleep.

“Particularly with privacy. Imagine you’re in a hotel, you open the blinds in the morning and you’re five metres away from an office building with the workers looking straight at you, and you’re in your PJ’s or whatever you may or may not be wearing in the morning.

“So you know, you just need to be aware of privacy issues and views if you’re putting buildings together.”

The future TRYP by Wyndham Adelaide will offer numerous ground floor retail options, all operated independently.

hotelmanagement.com.au 57

PEOPLE

ON THE MOVE Your update on the latest key personnel movements across the hotel industry

Hilton Surfers Paradise has strengthened its leadership team through the recruitment of Max Houri as its new Commercial Director. Houri has worked with Hilton for 14 years, beginning his career as Assistant Executive Housekeeper and Guest Relations Manager at the Caledonian Hilton in Edinburgh, Scotland, before moving to Hilton Brisbane. His career to date has also seen him graduate from Hilton’s internal professional development and leadership programs. In his new role, Houri will manage a portfolio of departments including sales, marketing and revenue management.

Stephen Lech has joined the team at The Langham, Sydney as its new Executive Chef. In his new role, Lech will oversee the hotel’s banquet, wedding and event menu design and overall culinary program including its new fine-dining buffet experience, Kitchens on Kent. Lech brings experience at Sydney Harbour Marriott and InterContinental Sydney to his new post and has also been part of the opening team at three new restaurants opened in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens.

Shifting across the country from QT Perth, Nic Wood has been appointed to the role of Executive Chef at QT Sydney’s iconic eatery, Gowings Bar & Grill.

Wood joins as the hotel prepares to unveil an entirely new culinary direction for the establishment, which will be its first design reinvention since 2013. Wood’s specialities include a Mediterranean cooking style coupled with a passion of sourcing produce from local suppliers.

Following a global search, StayWell Holdings has welcomed Jip Van Driest to its team as Director of Development Asia Pacific. Having recently begun her new role, Van Driest will get to work helping the company grow from its existing portfolio of 29 hotels to its goal of 100 Asia Pacific hotels in the short-term future. Her experience to date includes roles in Australia, the Netherlands and UK with Taj Resorts and Palaces, IHG and most recently working alongside investors with CBRE Hotels and JLL. World Resorts of Distinction has bolstered its all-female leadership team with the addition of Lauren Anderson to the newly-created role of Sales and Networking Manager. Anderson brings experience to her new role with organisations such as Tourism Australia, Flight Centre and The Travel Corporation. Her new duties include driving and developing agent enquiries, maintaining industry relationships and attending Sydney events on behalf of her Gold Coast-based colleagues.

Sunshine Coast native Jeremy Nordkamp has headed north to take up a new role as General Manager for Crystalbrook Collection at its first Cairns resort, Riley. Nordkamp joins the firm from his most recent role as the opening GM at The Calile Hotel in Brisbane. Other properties to have benefited from his experience include Kingfisher Bay Resort, Hilton Brisbane, Mantra Southbank, Ovolo Laneways among others, with a stint in the Maldives also on his resume.

As the innovative technology brand, Dyson, ramps up its stake in the hotel and accommodation sector, Michael Hyde has joined the firm to drive this initiative. Hyde joins from his previous role as Major Accounts Manager at Winter Halter and brings a desire to see the sector play an active role in improving the health and wellbeing of others.

58 HM The Business of Accommodation

Architecture and design firm, Buchan, has bolstered its Sydney workforce with the addition of Mathew Dalby in the role of Principal – Interior Design.

Bringing a passion for societal adaptation of technology in design, Dalby carries a resume of history with some of the world’s leading brands including Valentino. Previously, he was Creative Director at Fenton Whelan and played a key role as Design Director for the launch of the YOO Hotels brand. At the helm of Buchan’s Sydney team, Dalby will also work closely with the firm's Melbourne leadership team.

QT Wellington has hired the globally– experienced Ian Charlton as its new Hotel Manager. Originally hailing from the US, Charlton brings history with QT Gold Coast and prior to that with Accor where he served as the General Manager at Mantra on Edward in Brisbane. A former HM Awards finalist for Rising Star, Charlton began his hospitality career studying Resort Lodging and Management at California State University.

Club Wyndham Denarau Island in Fiji has introduced Kaydee George as the new General Manager of the flagship resort. George moves to the South Pacific nation after eight years with the company, most recently as Area General Manager Gold Coast, based at Wyndham Surfers Paradise. The resort’s new leader is also a graduate of the Queensland Government’s Young Tourism Leaders program, which helps to steer and retain people to longstanding careers in the hospitality sector.

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