NEED TO KNOW: A TIME TO TRANSFORM

EVENT HOSPITALITY AND Entertainment is rebranding as it enters a new phase, combining its strengths across Entertainment, Ventures, and Travel to operate under a shared vision – EVT.

“Our rebrand to EVT is more than just a name change,” said EVT CEO Jane Hastings.

“It is making sure we can better leverage what we do and how we do it. We’ve faced unprecedented challenges over the past few years, and we made the decision to leverage this time to transform our business and look for new ways to maximise our assets – and we are stronger for it. We are more agile, innovative, and crystal clear on our growth priorities.”

With this next chapter comes a new hotel strategy, which sees the group expand to all segments of the market – from luxury to budget– by acquiring new brands and assets and strengthening the positioning of existing brands.

“Our new hotel expansion strategy transitions the group from a focus on midmarket and design-led hotels to all market segments,” Hastings told HM.

“This evolution has delivered immediate results and proves we are heading in the right direction.” As both an experienced owner/operator, one of EVT’s key strategic goals is maximising assets, from major new-build developments to conversions and upgrading key assets.

“We challenge ourselves daily to innovate and to commercialise under-utilised spaces,” said Hastings. The Group is also leveraging its expertise by introducing new hotel management models under the Independent Collection by EVT.

“We recognise that there are owners that are seeking flexibility in brand and business models,” said EVT’s Director of Hotels, Normal Arundel.

“Independent Collection by EVT enables hotel owners to leverage the scale and expertise of our hotel solutions and also design a unique brand with us or leverage an existing independent brand. This is an agile and highly transferable model for any and every property and has resonated in the market very well.”

EVT will introduce several new experiences to market under its new strategy, HM can exclusively reveal. Among these is qtQT, a luxury cabin experience on a rooftop at QT Gold Coast targeting new-age travellers.

Rydges Melbourne will be the first to launch a new Rydges apartments concept to give guests the premium service a hotel offers with the convenience of a home; while Aturais exploring multiple room concepts, from compact to studio-style apartments, to offer guests more choice and communal spaces that promote connection.

EVT will also launch an innovative budget accommodation experience in Auckland later this year.

“Over the last few years, the budget segment has evolved, travellers are now looking for multi-purpose spaces where they can play, eat, work and sleep,” Hastings said.

“Our newest accommodation experience is tech-style-led; from pods to compact ensuite rooms catering to the value mindset.”

EVT will also use CX technology to streamline and automate operations across EVT Hotels and Resorts.

“We are leveraging the expertise across our group to digitalise the customer journey end to end,” Hastings said.

“We know how important a seamless check-in and check-out experience is to our customers and we want to put this at the palm of their hand.” EVT is building and testing platforms to deliver that exact experience along with other enhancements to the guest stay.

“The arrival experience at QT Newcastle is a great example – a hotel without a traditional front desk. Easy-to-use check-in kiosks remove all the fuss of checking into a hotel, with our teams free to ensure a fast warm welcome for every guest,” said Arundel.

“Rydges Melbourne will feature a similar arrival experience, making it one of the largest full-service hotels in the region in this space. We are also piloting online check ins across several of our hotels.”

At a time when many hotel companies are struggling to recruit enough staff to, EVTis doubling down on employee growth and development through its Elevate programme which focuses on elevating people, communities, and environment.

“Elevate our people includes flexibility to help our people achieve balance, comprehensive wellbeing programmes including paid parental leave and career mobility across our diverse industries and amazing perks,” Hastings explained.

The program also incorporates workplace giving, outreach and volunteer programs, education, and community involvement, and addresses environmental challenges in the industries it operates through sustainable design, transparency and reporting and sustainable practices and procurement.