GLOBAL LEADERS: Brett Butcher

WHILE 2021 WAS not business as usual, we experienced some great wins, and we’ve got exciting plans for Australia and New Zealand. In Auckland, we have opened up the Pinnacle Tower in our long-established Cordis hotel with an additional 240 keys to make it the biggest hotel in New Zealand.

With its beautiful views over the Waitematā Harbour, new 14th-floor club lounge, many rooms with balconies and kitchens the pinnacle tower is certainly the height of hospitality in Auckland. We expect to establish ourselves as the pre-eminent meeting and convention hotel in Auckland as well as a fully-fledged leisure destination with our multiple food and beverage outlets, award-winning spa, and the best club lounge experience in New Zealand with views of Rangitoto from some rooms to boot.

Meanwhile, in Australia, 2022 will see the opening of The Langham, Gold Coast - the first and largest development with direct beach access to be built in the last 30 years. Surfers Paradise will never be the same again!

Langham Hospitality Group has had a long history of successful operations in Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland. The opening of Gold Coast reinforces our footprint in the region, creating a platform from which to grow our brand presence with likeminded investors and developers in Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Our first hotel in Southeast Asia also opened in the dynamic city of Jakarta in 2021. The Langham, Jakarta, which has been heralded as by far the best hotel in the city and this is reflected in its early performance. When it fully opens its restaurants in 2022 and travel opens up, I expect it will blossom into one of the best hotels in the region.

With our headquarters in Hong Kong, China continues to be a naturally strong opportunity for development. Our China presence is now13 hotels with the addition of two new hotels in 2021(Cordis and Hangzhou) in the high-tech hub and the Langham Place Changsha, which is surrounded by a water park and a snow park. Two new Cordis hotels are scheduled to open within the next 18 months in Shanghai and Hangzhou while The Langham Chengdu and Cordis, Xuzhou Centre will open later the same year.

Langham Hospitality Group has been actively pushing forward in all its operational regions as we expect business sentiment to improve. In NorthAmerica, The Langham, Boston, has reopened after a two-year renovation which has positioned this hotel in the heart of the city’s luxury set. It has also collaborated with the Boston Ballet which underlines the brand's commitment to the fine arts and the local community.

As a group, we are investing wisely in our infrastructure including areas like e-commerce, distribution technology, cloud-based operating platforms and underpinning these with excellent human resources automation which will equip us to manage the next stage of our operations.

We are bullish on the global recovery as COVIDretreats in 2022 and this is reflected in our conversations with owners and developers around the world. We expect to reflect this sentiment new deals with like-minded partners who are looking to add value to their asset with a globally successful owner-operator.

Number of hotels and rooms (Globally): 26 hotels and9,623 rooms

Number of hotels and rooms (Asia-Pacific): 6 hotelsand 2,510 rooms

Number of hotels and rooms (Australasia): 3hotels and 1,124 rooms

Year first hotel opened: 1865Year the company was founded: 2003

Brands in the organisation: 2Head office location: Hong Kong