MILOS CEROVIC’S EHMG Aims to Bring Global Brands in Albania and Balkans

Milos Cerovic is a global hotelier with a colorful experience of more than 17 years of multi brand leadership experience in iconic, luxury hotels & resorts in North America, Middle East, Europe and Asia. Passionate about every detail in this industry, Cerovic has recently shared his big focus on Albania in particular and on the Balkans in general. To this purpose, alongside with two co-partners, he established the European Hotel Management Group (EHMG) in 2021.

“Yes, my focus is primarily on this region. Last year, with two co-partners, we established the European Hotel Management Group (EHMG) which is a wide hotel management operator. We want to assist owners in achieving their financial potential investments,” Cerovic said in an exclusive interview with TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE.

“We want to be the key company for developing young talents, to implement new international standards, but also to be the liaison between the international operator and the investors who want to have one of the flags from global brands,” he added.

Cerovic intends to highlight that investing in hotels is not a quick return but a good business done in a long term.

FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:

1.Tell us about your remarkable journey. How can you sum up your career of more than 17 years of experience?

First of all, thank you for this great opportunity.

Let me tell you that my career is not different than the career of a usual hotel expert who was not afraid to try different things and get out of the comfort zone. I can describe my career as a truly global and international career. I was blessed to be living and working in some key markets like in New York, Las Vegas, Dubai as well as in some exotic places like Taipei, Guangzhou, Tel Aviv and others.

Each one of these experiences have made a little bit of impact on my career, on my journey, not only in terms of moving up in the corporate ladder but also in shaping up my personality, my behavior and help me grow through this journey. I, as a matter of fact, have been blessed not only that I grew professionally but I grew even personally because I have so many friends worldwide and colleagues that I can call upon whenever I need them. Also, whenever I travel even for pleasure, I still get to meet some of them, exchange opinions and keep in touch.

2. Can we go a bit back in the days of your work in Las Vegas? What do you remember from this first stop of your career and how influential it was for the rest of your journey?

Las Vegas was unique in every sense. First, I was in the graduate school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which back at that time, was one of the top hotel schools globally and had an opportunity to enter this beautiful industry with the largest hotel in the world - MGM Grand Hotel Las Vegas with 5044 rooms where I gained my first experiences. Obviously, MGM Grand Hotel is a city within the city with 10.000 employees. I managed my first 100 percent occupancies, first experience of re-locating guests to another hotel, meeting some of the celebrities and government’s dignitaries so on and so forth. In a way, it paved the way for the forthcoming career path when I worked in Shangri- La Group which is again a fantastic chain, InterContinental for 14 years, Global Hyatt, so on and so forth. The first experience surely had one of the largest impacts on me.

3. In your view, what has been the key you have jumped from one international hotel chain to another, so successfully?

I always challenge myself and I think this is a key message to all the young hoteliers: to keep pushing forward, to keep challenging themselves, to keep getting out of the comfort zone. For example, when I moved from InterContinental to Shangri-La Group, I wanted to experience Asia. I looked at my CV at that time and I said, I have experienced Europe, US, Middle East and I am missing Asia from my CV. But no better way to experience Asia than by joining Asian companies. That’s why I joined Shangri-La Group which is not only one of the most prestigious hotel groups in the world but also it gives you a wholly authentic Asian experience. As I said, I have been fortunate enough to work with this Group in Taipei, Guangzhou and others. In that sense, I wanted to go through different experiences. When I graduated from the University of Nevada, I did not want to stay in the States. I immediately wanted to experience international ways of hotel work. So, I moved to Dubai in 2005 when the country was still in its developing stages. I opened a hotel there. I was not afraid to join the preopening team and work for endless hours. Therefore, I gained experience from bottom up. I think this is the only way to succeed. This is the message to the young hoteliers. Don’t think you can be successful by joining hotels at the top or don’t you think that after school, you are the GM or the sales and marketing director and so on and so forth. You get down to the bottom as this is the only way you can understand your employers and you can be able to lead them.

4. What does the future of your cooperation with Albania look like? For the hospitality and tourism industry, the properties? Any concrete plan in the near future with Albania?

As a matter of fact, my focus is greatly Albania and the entire Balkans. There will be quite a focus on expansion of different international operations into the Balkans because at the moment, there is lack of know-how and professional way of doing hospitality business. That’s why I felt that with my background and the experience I have, I can contribute in this part of the world. I can contribute in my backyard more or less. I consider Albania, Serbia, Montenegro as one unit, as one country with the Open Balkans we are going in this direction as well. Yes, my focus is primarily on this region. Last year, with two co-partners, we established the European Hotel Management Group (EHMG) which is a wide label hotel management operator. We want to assist owners in achieving their financial potential investments. We want to be the key company for developing young talents, to implement new international standards, but also to be the liaison between the international operator and the investors who want to have one of the flags from global brands. We work very closely with ACCOR GROUP and Intercontinental HOTELS Group where we are the official hotel management company for all their franchise agreements. In a sense we have global partners who are helping us to penetrate into new markets but

there is still quite a lot of work to do in Albania, in other countries and in the region.

5. What has EHMG finalized in Albania so far?

We have brought Crownplaza to Durres. It is the first EHMG project and we are also looking to bring InterContinental to Albania. We also brought Radisson Blue in the South of Albania as well. We work closely with Radisson as well. On the other hand, we are currently managing Movenpickin Lalez Bay, Durres (Albania). For each of the agreements we have achieved, we have constantly worked for more than 7-8 months. It has been a process which has involved a lot of non-stop communication and engagement, pros, cons, education and know-how. It is an educational process. We need to start at some point. It is a challenging process but also fun at the same time.

6. You were called the leader of Luxury in Slovenia when you were leading Intercontinental Ljubjana. How can Albania gain from your luxury hotel experience?

Luxury is a process and we all have different understanding of this term. For some people, luxury is a fancy room or a fancy car that brings you from the airport to the hotel and that could be perceived as a luxury experience. For me, nowadays luxury is the time. It is the time we spent with the loved ones, that we spend reading a book or having a time for our own. It is the hotel and the staff that manages to create unique and memorable experiences for the guests during their free time. I think this is luxury. If we are able to exceed customer’s expectations or at least meet them, because nowadays the customer is well-traveled; some business guys know hotels better than the hotel employees do because theystay 150-200 nights a year in some of these hotels. They exactly know what they want, when they want and how they want. So, for us, it is important to understand the needs of the clients, to get prepared even before they arrive and then to exceed such expectations. Yes, the product is also important. But sometimes it is not about the new and fancy product. Sometimes even the hotels, which are not the richest and the newest, can offer you much better service and create value for a guest that some of the new hotels can not do.

So, it is all about investing in people, in creativity and helping the line employees because the latter are the most important ones. They are the ones who deliver the service. We lead them, we guide them, we coach them, we help and teach them. We create that passion for this industry but they are the ones who deliver that to the customer. So, they are the contact point. Empowering them is the right word. Empowering them and giving them the freedom to deliver that wonderful service. Owners, especially in the Balkans, tend to frame employees in the sense that you can do this but you cannot do that. So, they say, in return to the customers: “I am sorry we cannot do this or we don’t have this or that”. Instead, we have to say to the customer, for everything reasonable, “Yes, we can do it.” We will find the way to do it. Don’t say no. We tend to fail in little things. But everything starts from the mindset of the owners who should understand that investing in hotels is not a quick return. Instead, it is a good business in a long term. Hospitality is a resilient industry we know, but if you are seeking for a quick return, invest in something else.