Meeting

Aiden McCauley Senior Vice President Operations, Northern Europe Accor

Hotels open in London: 65 Hotels in the pipeline in London: Mondrian Shoreditch; Ibis Styles London Seven Kings; Ibis Sutton Point; Adagio Sutton Point

Cause for Optimism

Surges in bookings and the return of Mondrian to the capital ensure Accor is well positioned for a summer recovery.

How have your London hotels performed over the past 12 months?

It is news to nobody that the past year has been a difficult period for all businesses, particularly those in the hospitality sector. Accor has had to be adaptable, innovative and resilient, taking measures to ensure that we are able to operate effectively and safely in these circumstances.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

Following government announcements there were immediate surges in bookings. While we have seen that the London hotel market has been badly affected by the pandemic, Accor has put measures in place so we feel we are well positioned for a summer recovery. People want to travel. London is very much open and guests returning to the city will find our hotels and teams more energised than ever. We feel there is cause for optimism for the remainder of 2021.

What measures have you put in place to help drive future growth?

While the past year has taught us not to be surprised by anything, we believe that the actions we have taken and continue to take put us in a good position. The early launch and global implementation of Accor’s All Safe label is testament to our commitment to ensuring our guests and hotel teams enjoy the very best hygiene, cleanliness and safety measures in the industry as well as ensuring that our hotels can continue to operate.

What major challenges are you facing over the coming 12 months?

One major area that has been of concern across the industry has been recruitment. With Brexit and Covid-19 making the employment of EU nationals more of a challenge, staffing has been a major talking point. The industry has been damaged by Covid but it is recovering, reopening and creating jobs as it has always done. Hospitality embodies everything that people have missed the most over the last year – travel, bars, restaurants, wellness, exploration and people. It is a sector that is much-loved and now there are opportunities to be part of it as we rebuild.

When do you think the hotel market will return to 2019 performance levels?

London is one of the most exciting cities in the world and there has never been a better time to visit. Our diverse and exciting collection of London hotels from all corners of the capital offer guests a taste of London’s vibrancy – its art, culture, architecture, music and diversity. We are confident that travel, particularly leisure travel, will rebound strongly and quickly once restrictions are lifted.

And what of business travel?

We anticipate that business travel is likely to look different in the future and be somewhat impacted, although certainly not disappear. The pandemic has led many companies and workers to shift to remote work and digital meeting tools almost overnight, accelerating the longer term transformations in the ways we work. However, digital tools do not replace the importance of in-person meetings, particularly for those working in sales; in fact our recent research reveals workers expect to make 25% more in revenue when able to communicate with clients face-to-face again.

What’s next for Accor in London?

We are particularly excited about the return of Mondrian, which will open its doors this summer following a complete redesign by Goddard Littlefair. London has been, and will continue to be a thriving hub for our lifestyle offerings, so we are looking forward to re-establishing the Mondrian brand in the city. In total, Accor has more than 60 hotels in Greater London, spanning the full spectrum of our diverse brand portfolio, from budget and economy through to some of the best luxury and lifestyle hotels in the world. The city remains a priority market.

Exceeding Expectation

With demand for self-contained studios greater than ever, Locke is proving resilient.

How have your London hotels performed over the past 12 months?

Our hotels have performed well. In fact, since March 2020 we have opened three new London properties in Locke at Broken Wharf, Bermonds Locke and, most recently, Kingsland Locke in Dalston. After launching in September, the occupancy level at Bermonds Locke has outperformed even our most optimistic expectations.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

The booking window for travel remains much shorter than pre-pandemic, however occupancy is looking exceptionally strong with summer staycations firmly on traveller’s agendas. Year-to-date we’ve achieved 70% occupancy, with some locations topping 2019, while London is performing particularly well at weekends.

Which part of the business is performing the best - rooms, F&B or co-working?

We’re still operating at reduced capacities in our restaurants and co-working spaces, so it’s difficult to compare, but our studio apartments are performing positively – demand for self-contained, flexible accommodation has never been higher. As restrictions lift, we hope that bookings will bounce back at our partner’s food and drink spaces – it looks promising.

Are aparthotels better positioned for recovery due to their self-contained nature?

The self-contained nature of aparthotels has put them back in the limelight during the pandemic, and at certain points offered a significantly greater appeal than traditional hotels. During the recovery period however, we believe what will benefit us the most is that short-term and leisure travellers are now more readily considering this as an option, when they might not have before. The convenience, flexibility and pricing that aparthotels offer is likely to fuel the sector’s recovery and expansion. What is special about Locke is that these advantages are combined with locally led programming, disruptive F&B and a unique design.

In terms of performance, what challenges are you facing over the coming 12 months?

One big challenge is going to be the moving target that is international travel and restrictions. Whilst we know that the hospitality sector is itching to go back to full throttle, navigating changing guidance and the reopening of different territories will be an obstacle, and we anticipate a level of unpredictability will persist for at least the next 12 months.

The Locke brand is known for its neighbourhood focus, what do you look for in a potential site?

Our preference is to find the ‘next’ place to be and support its development as a destination by placing a Locke at the core of it and working with up-andcoming local partners to animate the experience. This acquisition also aligns with the demographic and psychographic of Locke’s end consumer – travellers that are culturally connected, creative and most attracted to emerging urban locations. We find that by embedding a Locke in the fabric of a neighbourhood, it challenges us to be more creative, innovative and receptive to the surrounding area, ultimately resulting in a more inviting location for locals and travellers alike. Eric Jafari Creative Director / Chief Development Officer – Locke

Hotels open in London: 4 Hotels in the pipeline in London: Buckle Street Studios (October 2021)

Arnaud de Saint-Exupéry Managing Director, UK and Ireland – Hyatt

Hotels open in London: 6 Hotels in the pipeline in London: 2 – Park Hyatt River Thames (2023); Hyatt Regency Olympia (2024)

Strategy to Grow

Authentic connections are more important than ever for Hyatt, as the group pushes ahead with plans to double its UK footprint.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

The signs are positive that we are already on the road to recovery. There’s no question that the last year has been extremely challenging, but the pandemic has demonstrated the agility and resilience of our London hotel portfolio and we are confident in the industry’s ability to bounce back. Our F&B outlets across the city exceeded our expectations upon reopening – a clear sign of consumer demand; these results give us cause for optimism for the future.

Where is this demand coming from?

Since restrictions eased across the country we have seen searches for staycations in London rise by 38%. In particular, we are seeing increased demand from families looking to reconnect with each other, and so have launched packages that cater to this. Recognising and responding to travel demands like this will be key to the recovery and growth of our sector.

What challenges are you facing?

Recovery for the sector will take time and one of the key challenges will be instilling consumer confidence. We have a real opportunity to be creative and smart in how we use our hotel spaces and welcome both travellers and local communities through our doors. Another important factor is rehiring colleagues, with many employers in the hospitality sector struggling to recruit post-pandemic. Changes to immigration policy, which restrict EU workers being able to come and work easily in London, will add another layer of complexity. One of the things that fare us well as a business is our purpose, to care for people so they can be their best. For us, delivering high-quality service is key, but delivering high-quality care is essential. Bricks and mortar are easily copied, but human traits are not – and these personal, authentic connections are more important than ever against the backdrop of the pandemic. It’s what will help us overcome these ongoing challenges in the coming year – enabling us to provide great experiences for our guests, while also ensuring our teams are happy and we continue to attract a strong and diverse pool of talent.

When do you think the hotel market will return to 2019 performance levels?

The hospitality industry has proven time and time again to be resilient and is invariably one of the first to bounce back. At Hyatt we have great confidence in the future of the sector, which we also see playing a key role in revitalising jobs, broader economic growth and local communities. In terms of recovery versus 2019, we’re optimistic that the hotel market will return to pre-pandemic performance levels by 2024. However, this recovery will be hugely dependent on the easing of international travel restrictions.

Which of your brands would you like to introduce to London?

Our Independent Collection brands – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Destination by Hyatt and JdV by Hyatt – represent strong growth opportunities and we would like to extend their presence further across the UK, including London. These brands feature a selection of unique hotels, each with their own individual identity and story to tell. We know that guests are seeking out memorable experiences more than ever, and independents are ideally placed to cater to this. We want to use our expertise to help owners of independent hotels flourish, by celebrating what makes their property unique, with access to commercial resources, distribution network and our worldwide loyalty programme.

Has the pandemic affected plans for growth?

Our strategy to grow remains unchanged with a strong pipeline of openings and developments. Over the last six months we’ve announced plans for two new properties in the UK capital, which form an important part of our strategy to double our UK footprint.

A Positive Impact

Having historically grown market share during a downturn, IHG hopes to do the same again.

How have your London hotels performed over the past 12 months?

It’s no secret that 2020 was the most challenging year in history for our business and industry, and the situation in London has been very similar to what we’ve seen across different markets in Europe, where trading conditions are challenging due to governmentmandated travel restrictions. London also has a higher weighting towards international demand, so occupancies have been low, but we are seeing incremental monthby-month improvement and expect things to pick up as restrictions continue to ease. Over the last year, there have been opportunities for our hotels to step up in different ways too. Many of our hotels were able to support government-led programmes, which includes some of our hotels being used as vaccination centres, while others are providing accommodation for isolation and quarantine. Having a positive impact on our communities is at the forefront of our purpose to provide ‘True Hospitality for Good’ and caring for our communities and the world around us.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

Clearly there is pent-up demand among consumers wanting to get away again – it’s mainly domestic at the moment. This is reflected across the UK more broadly; we are beginning to see strong domestic demand throughout the course of the school summer holidays, short-haul weekend breaks and special celebratory occasions. A broader trend we’ve seen is that the moment that restriction measures are eased, we have seen increases in web searches and bookings. We know that a full recovery will be a longer-term, continuous process, but I take great hope from the trends and data we’ve seen so far.

What challenges are you facing?

We know that the hospitality industry in major cities depends highly on international tourism and so, we’re undoubtedly looking forward to having visitors back from overseas. As we see domestic leisure travel return, we’ve been working hard to do everything we can to ensure our guests feel confident, safe and reassured when they stay with us. Clearly their expectations will have changed, but so will their experience, given the government health and safety measures, as well as our own enhanced IHG Way of Clean. We will comply with whatever is necessary to ensure a safe experience for all of our guests – this is our top priority – but this often requires an operational pivot, creating a different way of working for our hotel teams. By putting ourselves in the shoes of our guests and teams, and maintaining a confident and customer-centric view, this will allow us to really support our hotels to adapt and meet any new expectations and provide the right experience.

When do you think the hotel market will return to 2019 performance levels?

There are so many variables when it comes to performance returning, from new variants and potential lockdowns, to border restrictions and the vaccine rollout – in some ways, it’s a bit like the ‘how long is a piece of string’ question. The difference is that we know that travel is a vast part of normal life, and people’s desire to explore the world, relax or reconnect with friends and family hasn’t changed. The data shows us the demand is very much there, and we are confident that it will return. And so, as vaccines roll-out, as we learn more about the virus, and as consumer confidence returns, the prospect of travelling freely and safely comes closer for everyone.

What’s next for IHG in London?

On the whole, the UK offers outstanding opportunities to maintain and increase scale, which is why we continue to target growth – including in gateway cities like London – in a big way. Our ability to continue investing in our brands, technology and loyalty offer has meant we’ve historically grown market share during a downturn, and we hope to do the same again. Karin Sheppard Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe IHG

Hotels open in London: 66 Hotels in the pipeline in London: 3 – including Hotel Indigo Clerkenwell (2021); Six Senses (2023)

Matthew Bell Chief Hotel Operations Officer CitizenM

Hotels open in London: 3 Hotels in the pipeline in London: 2 – CitizenM London Victoria Station (2022); CitizenM London Olympia (2023)

Picking Up Pace

As travellers take their first steps back into the city, CitizenM believes it’s the perfect time to expand.

How has CitizenM performed over the past 12 months?

London has so many hotels that it does rely on international business to start creating significant demand. The city doesn’t see as much local demand in general, so while leisure travel is picking up, hotels aren’t quite filling up yet. Leisure travel is gathering momentum and we have noticed spikes in occupancy over the weekends as the year progresses. However, business travel on weekdays is still quieter than before, when we operated at a consistently high occupancy rate across all our properties in London and beyond.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

With the easing of restrictions, we have seen an uptick in business, most notably on weekends. However, as we enter the summer months and with international travel into the UK still restricted from all but a handful of countries, occupancies are still suppressed. We remain optimistic that come September we will start to see more sustained demand, with an increase in corporate and international travel. We also believe that our core value proposition is more relevant than ever to travellers starting to take the first steps back into cities. What we have seen in our New York hotels, where business has come back pretty quickly, gives us genuine confidence.

What challenges are you facing?

The future of business travel is something we are tracking, informed by the prevalence of flexible and home working and video conferencing over the last year. However, we do believe there will always be a place for face-to-face, and we have ensured that our hotels are optimised to offer safe spaces for professionals to meet. And, for those who are no longer tethered to one office, we have created a number of initiatives across our hotels worldwide, including Global Passport by CitizenM – a fixed-rate stay option for digital nomads who want to work, live and travel from anywhere in the world – and a sleep-work-meet package for companies with remote workers who travel regularly or distributed teams who need or want to gather consistently.

Do you feel your ‘Affordable Luxury’ philosophy will serve you well in the current climate?

CitizenM was founded in 2008 with an idea to disrupt the traditional hotel industry by creating a brand for the modern traveller – one which values a luxury hotel experience in prime city locations but at an affordable price. We have remained true to this ethos 20-plus hotels later and believe that it is something that still resonates with travellers today. CitizenM continues to push itself to offer travellers innovative services to optimise their stay with us. For example, in July 2020, we were the first hospitality company to offer contactless stays at all our hotels via our groundbreaking debut app. Guests can check-in, check-out, open doors, order food, control the room ambience and pay while touching nothing but their own smartphone.

You have two properties in the pipeline, why is now a good time for CitizenM to further expand in London? As an owner-operator, we seek to benefit from the cyclical nature of the real estate and construction market. Establishing critical mass in any given city is part of our broader roll-out strategy and London is a market we are confident can support multiple CitizenM properties. The opportunity to expand our presence further west, in prime locations seeing significant investment and regeneration, ensures we can complement our existing hotels, leveraging our knowledge of the London market and the resources dedicated to this. The quality of our proposition and strong levels of brand advocacy, coupled with our lean operating model – using technology to complement genuine human connections between our ambassadors and guests – brings a certain competitive advantage, especially in times of suppressed demand. With our confidence in the medium- to long-term London market, this is a perfect time to be expanding further.

Coming Back Stronger

With seven hotels in its London pipeline, Hilton Worldwide is building for the future.

How have your London hotels been performing?

It’s been the toughest year ever for our industry as we navigated through an unprecedented standstill in global travel. As the domestic restrictions have lifted we’ve been delighted to start welcoming guests back to our London hotels; we’ve seen pent-up demand for stays in the capital and we look forward to that growing as international travel is unlocked.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

As vaccines are distributed across the globe and travel restrictions are relaxed, we’re seeing increased consumer confidence and we remain optimistic about signs of recovery in the second half of the year. We are seeing a real appetite for city staycations, strong performance from our hotels with outdoor dining and our flagship hotels including London Hilton on Park Lane are seeing high demand for social events and awards ceremonies later in the year. More than 13 million people are expected to take UK holidays this year and our hotels in London are certainly benefitting from the UK’s staycation boom.

What are you doing to attract guests back?

London understandably attracts huge numbers of international travellers and we know overseas guests will visit the city as soon as international travel restrictions allow, but in the meantime we have been ensuring our properties are as attractive as possible to domestic travellers by launching guest experiences ranging from Bone Appétit, a bespoke menu for dogs at 32 of our pet-friendly hotels across London and the rest of the UK, to new outdoor dining concepts including Jason Atherton’s Café Biltmore in Mayfair.

What challenges are you facing?

The return of group bookings and conferencing and events will take longer than first anticipated, but we are already seeing search activity and bookings that give us confidence in the return of corporate travel. We’ve worked hard to ensure we’re able to host large events safely through our Hilton EventReady programme, we are also offering clients our expertise in managing hybrid events. We know that people will still want to network, meet colleagues and close deals face-to-face so it’s important that we show how this can be done safely – we are ready when that demand flows through.

When do you think the hotel market will return to 2019 performance levels?

We’ve been pleased with the pent-up demand that we’ve seen when travel is permitted both domestically and internationally, but for the whole travel sector it will take time to build back up to pre-pandemic demand levels. Hilton has been around for 102 years and that’s testament to the fact that people love to travel, experience new cultures and connect with others; the pandemic won’t change that. The industry will come back stronger and so will we.

What’s next for Hilton in London?

We have seven hotels across four brands in our London pipeline. We’re hugely excited about Canopy London City, which will open later this summer. We also have The Gantry, part of the Curio Collection, which will bring together under one roof a design hotel, a bustling artisan food hall, cocktail bars with dedicated open-air terraces and a flexible event space. I also need to mention Waldorf Astoria Admiralty Arch, where plans include a rooftop bar with sweeping views across London’s skyline. It’s an exciting time for food and beverage in our London hotels with three new restaurants alone at Conrad London St James; The Blue Boar Pub opened in May, and The Pem will debut in July, followed by The Hedgerow – the hotel’s first cocktail bar. Steve Cassidy Managing Director, UK and Ireland Hilton Worldwide

Hotels open in London: 50 Hotels in the pipeline in London: 7 – including Canopy by Hilton London City (2021); The Gantry, Curio Collection by Hilton (2021); Waldorf Astoria Admiralty Arch (2023)

Ronny Maier Area Vice President, UK, Ireland and Nordics Marriott International

Hotels open in London: 36 Hotels in the pipeline in London: Westin London City

Adapt and Innovate

Optimistic that recovery is coming, Marriott International is on the lookout for opportunities to expand its London portfolio.

How have your London hotels performed?

Over the past year, we’ve seen a major paradigm shift in the world of travel that has altered consumer behaviours and forced hoteliers to rethink their business models. We have worked hard to keep as many hotels open as we can and as many employees working as possible, despite the situation being very uncertain. Many of our London properties remained temporarily closed throughout 2020 and several did not reopen before mid-May this year. As things evolve and travel restrictions remain in place, we see adaptability and innovation as key to the future of our business. While we’re not quite there yet in the UK, we are optimistic that recovery is coming.

Now that London is open for business, how are bookings for the remainder of 2021?

Booking trends for London are improving steadily but at a slower rate than the recovery trends we see across our provincial markets, with heavily restricted travel from the USA, the Middle East and Europe continuing to be a challenge for the whole hospitality sector in the city. We know that family travel is high on the agenda as many families have been unable to see each other over the past year, so we’re enhancing our family offering further with special packages and offers. Multigenerational travel was one of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry globally and we believe this will only increase post-pandemic. We must also remember that as well as overnight stays, many of our hotels offer dining experiences. As customers return, we as hoteliers need to be ready to respond. With so many cancelled holidays and missed occasions, people have high expectations about their trips and the quality of the experience will be more critical than ever.

What challenges are you facing?

As an industry, we have seen so much change over the last 15 months, and things continue to evolve. We must help stimulate local demand if we want to restart the UK travel industry. The key to unlocking this is creativity and innovation, offering new services that are attractive in the post-Covid era, as what our guests now consider essential is different to what they looked for in the past. Cleanliness, digitalisation, sustainability and service excellence will all be themes that are key for success going forward. While international travel still remains challenging for 2021, especially long-haul trips, for the summer months we have focused our efforts on driving local demand and activating offers to meet our local customers’ needs, as we need to ensure that our hotel offering, packages and experiences cater for the UK leisure market. We hope as we move into late Summer and Autumn that international travel will resume, business trips will pick up, and events and conferences will be able to take place with more certainty.

When do you think the hotel market will return to 2019 performance levels?

It it clear that business will take some time to return back to pre-pandemic levels. The travel situation remains extremely fluid and a return of international travel is dependent on continued global progress with vaccinations and the lifting of restrictions around the world. As we emerge from this crisis, the leisure market will be the first to recover. People are eager to take trips, visit their friends and families, and enjoy a welldeserved break. I have no doubt that when they can cross borders more freely, business will thrive again.

Which of your forthcoming London launches are you most excited about and why?

I am really excited about the debut of Westin Hotels & Resorts in the UK with the opening of Westin London City this September. Not only will the property set a new precedent for wellness in the capital but its prime riverfront location and views over the River Thames will make it destination for locals and tourists alike.

Which of your brands would you like to further expand in London?

We currently have 15 of Marriott Bonvoy’s 30 brands represented in London, but we are always looking out for investment opportunities to expand our portfolio and offer guests even more accommodation options.

COMPLETE RENOVATION OF THE HISTORIC GRADE II LISTED BOW STREET MAGISTRATES’ COURT INTO A LUXURIOUS BOUTIQUE HOTEL.

Planning for Growth

New openings, new signings and the launch of a new brand are all part of the plan for Radisson Hotel Group.

Tom Flanagan Karttunen Area Senior Vice President, Northern and Western Europe Radisson Hotel Group

How has business been at Radisson?

There is no doubt the past 18 months have presented a significant challenge for the travel and hospitality industries, however it has also provided an opportunity to reflect and plan for future growth. While many hotel groups put their development plans on hold in 2020, Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) recorded a successful year with 124 hotel signings in APAC and EMEA, adding over 18,000 rooms to the portfolio, as well as the introduction of a new brand in October, Radisson Individuals. We noticed a niche in the market where owners are looking for conversion-friendly solutions that offer existing hotels the opportunity to join an international network. Since the launch of Radisson Individuals, the brand has expanded its global presence with recent signings and openings in the UK, USA, India, Spain, Austria, Bulgaria and Africa.

What initiatives have you introduced to encourage guests back through the doors?

One of the areas where RHG has made its mark, particularly over the past year, is our reputation to respond swiftly to opportunities and challenges. We have worked hard to adapt to changing market conditions and make sure that we listen to guest feedback, including how their travel habits will change over the next 12 months. Of course, a big focus has been to put health and safety first, so a priority was the roll-out of our Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol in partnership with SGS, the world’s leading testing and certification company. In addition, we have also ensured a swift return to business meetings and events at properties across our EMEA portfolio, becoming the first hotel group to launch a comprehensive testing programme and rapid testing service for meeting and event attendees. Recent research commissioned by RHG found that over 66% of event planners across EMEA believe that one of the most important factors going forward is to be able to combine physical and virtual elements in a creative way, which is why we launched our Hybrid Meetings and Hybrid Rooms solutions.

What’s next for Radisson Hotel Group?

We are opening the stunning Radisson Red Greenwich this summer, which I’m very excited about, and we also recently announced the signing of Radisson Red London Gatwick Airport - the second Radisson RED property at a UK airport following the opening of Radisson RED Hotel London Heathrow in September 2020. Longer term, we are looking to grow Radisson Red and Radisson Collection, as well as introduce our serviced apartments to the UK market. The latter provide an opportunity for investors to work with us on an attractive and growing segment outperforming the rest of the market. RHG has set a target to more than double its serviced apartments portfolio across EMEA within the next five years.