INSIGHT Issue 2, 2021 - Asia Pacific Owners' News Update

Page 1

Issue No. 2 2021

INSIGHT The Pulse of Radisson Hotel Group

Radisson Collection Resort, Nanjing INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

1


Contents

04 Message from the President

10 Brands and Concepts Enhance our Guest Experience

Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific

06 Asia Pacific Market Trends Vaccinations lead world into post-pandemic era

08 Asia Pacific Continues

Momentum as a Growth Engine Ramzy Fenianos, Chief Development Officer, Asia Pacific

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

16

Recovery Gathers Momentum South East Asia & Pacific Andre de Jong, Vice President, Operations, South East Asia and Pacific

18

Commercial Outlook

Esther Van Bemmelen, Vice President, Brand Strategy, Guest Experience, PR & Communications, Asia Pacific

12

China Poised for Robust Growth Gary Ye, Vice President, Operations, China

14 India Rebounds Steadily Zubin Saxena, Managing Director and Vice President, Operations, South Asia

Hannes Bos, Vice President, Commercial, Asia Pacific

20 Hotel Contracting Trends

in the Post-Pandemic Era Nisha Menon, General Counsel, Asia Pacific

REFERENCES 1.

ourworldindata.org

2.

str.com

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP


Message from the President As another year draws to a close, I want to thank you all for your dedication, professionalism and above all, for your enduring confidence in Radisson Hotel Group. While the global outlook remained turbulent in 2021, it has been wonderful to see how our teams have worked together to meet any challenges that stood in our way. We have made strong progress with our transformation and expansion strategy. Radisson Hotel Group’s Asia Pacific portfolio has now reached over 385 properties, including 184 in operation and over 203 under development in many important markets across the region. We reached several important milestones this year, including the launch of our new soft brand, Radisson Individuals, the opening of our 100th hotel in India, the debut of the first Radisson Collection hotels in Asia Pacific and more. We have doubled our footprint in China in the last 18 months, as we continue to leverage our partnership with Jin Jiang International and its subsidiaries.

4

THE PULSE OF RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

All of which puts us in a strong position to achieve our aggressive development plans, with an ambitious growth target across the region in the next five years, covering our nine industryleading brands. This strategy is based on strong foundations, with strategic investments, new brand architecture and state-of-the-art IT systems putting Radisson Hotel Group in the perfect position to capitalize on the recovery. Looking ahead, I am prudently optimistic for 2022. The global vaccination program is working and many countries have started to reopen their borders. This is a positive step, but we need to remain flexible, adaptive and ready to tackle any further setbacks. The actions we are taking now are putting us in a strong position to move successfully into a bright and exciting new era. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a blessed holiday season.

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

5


Asia Pacific Market Trends Vaccinations lead world into post-pandemic era Global tourism and hospitality remained subdued in 2021, as the global pandemic continued to impact all aspects of life and travel. But positive trends are emerging; COVID infection rates in Asia Pacific are falling, vaccination rates are rising and many important destinations have started to reopen their borders. Thailand, India, Bali and Singapore are now welcoming international guests, and Vietnam will reopen to overseas visitors in January 2022. Australia and New Zealand are both expected to open up in Q1 2022, after New South Wales began accepting arrivals in November. China, is also like to reopen in early 2022, potentially unleashing a surge of outbound tourism. The global recovery is being spearheaded by the vaccination program. Countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand have all inoculated over 60% of their

6

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

populations¹, and in China, over 1.05 billion people – about three-quarters of the population – have now been fully vaccinated against COVID. This bodes well for the future. According to the latest UNWTO survey, most experts expect to see a rebound in Q2 or Q3 2022, with a return to pre-COVID levels in 2023 or 2024. We are cautiously optimistic however, that the recovery could arrive before that. One key indicator of confidence in the hotel sector is development, and Asia Pacific saw a 5.4% rise in its pipeline in Q3 2021². The region now has over 478,000 new rooms in construction, more than any other region, with China and Vietnam leading the way. The recovery may be multi-paced, with leisure travel returning faster than business, but all the indications are that we are heading in the right direction.

Radisson Collection Hotel Wuxi

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

7


Asia Pacific Continues Momentum as a Growth Engine

Ramzy Fenianos Chief Development Officer, Asia Pacific

Radisson Hotel Group continued to accelerate its portfolio across Asia Pacific this year. Despite the global challenges, our development team will set a new record in 2021, with over 100 new hotel signings expected by year-end. This success is being driven by the world’s most populous countries: China, where our brands’ footprint expanded with over 60 new properties in the pipeline, and India, where we recently opened our 100th hotel. We have also refocused our development strategy to account for new market trends. For example, we are honing in on conversions and the launch of our new Radisson Individuals brand will help us to attract more independent hotels. Meanwhile, our excellent local partnerships in China are driving growth in many attractive markets, from tier one cities to industrial centers, leisure resorts, transport gateway and more.

233-key Radisson Hotel Beijing Daxing Airport Beijing, China 280-key Radisson Blu Hotel Changyuan, China 151-key Radisson Collection Resort Nanjing, China

120-key Radisson Blu Resort Dharamshala, India 103-key Radisson Resort & Spa Lonavala, India

Of course, the global outlook remains impacted by entry restrictions and other geopolitical factors, but there are many reasons to be optimistic. Hotel development is gathering pace across the region, including China, Vietnam and Singapore, and hotel sales are rising in Japan, where international hotel operators can add a lot of value to new owners. Looking ahead, we will focus on our key strategic markets, while also seeking leasing opportunities in gateway cities including Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul and others, as we move confidently towards our ambitious growth targets over the next five years.

154-key

Radisson Red Chandigarh Mohali, India

8

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

9


Esther Van Bemmelen Vice President Brand Strategy, Guest Experience, PR & Communications, Asia Pacific

Brands and Concepts Enhance our Guest Experience

Throughout 2020 and 2021, Radisson Hotel Group has strategically worked to position itself for the post-pandemic era. Through the company’s digital transformation strategy, we have invested in our systems and the launch of pilots with Radisson+ has revolutionized our guest experience. Moving forward, our guests can expect to customize their stay with seamless check-in, AI-enabled service chats and omnichannel e-concierge capabilities. This will not only enhance guest convenience in a way that feels natural and unintrusive; it will also help to satisfy the rising demand for contactless solutions. In March this year, we unveiled our revitalized brand books and standards for 2021, for all nine of our brands. Encompassing every step of the journey, from tangible elements like our team members’ uniforms, the creation of serviced apartments, resort, and spa concepts, to atmospheric qualities of sensory marketing like scent and music, these new standards will help us to create truly memorable brand experiences. We will soon introduce our “Memorable Moments”, a new series of touchpoints that are designed to delight guests and showcase the individuality of each brand, delivered in a way that is consistent across our portfolio.

Tourism will return, but travelers’ desires and motivations are changing and we are likely to see a stronger focus on aspects such as personalization, authenticity and sustainability. At Radisson Hotel Group, we will continue to evolve and elevate our brands, including innovative new aspects such as our two-stage (fitness center and in-room) fitness program and our hybrid and virtual meeting solutions, to give us a head start in 2022 and beyond.

In the post-pandemic world, strong brands that understand the motivations of customers will be more important than ever before.

10 INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

11


Gary Ye Vice President, Operations China

China Poised for Robust Growth

China is one of Radisson Hotel Group’s most important markets and I have been encouraged by the revival of travel and tourism in the country, which started in 2020. By Q2 2021, China’s hotels had recovered to 90% of pre-pandemic levels. While this was dampened by the COVID outbreak in November, we expect an upswing in performance until the end of the year and into 2022.

The rapid roll out of China’s vaccination program gives us the most confidence about the continued recovery of the business. Over 1.05 billion people – about three-quarters of the entire population – have now been fully vaccinated against COVID. This also accounts for about one-third of the total number of fully vaccinated people worldwide.

We are seeing strong resilience in the leisure sector, especially in tier one cities such as Shanghai. This aligns perfectly with the launch of the Radisson Collection brand in China in February 2021, which caters to independentminded, experience-seeking travelers. Within a year we have already expanded to five properties – Radisson Collection Hotel Xing Guo Shanghai, Radisson Collection Resort Nanjing, Radisson Collection Hotel Hyland Shanghai, Radisson Collection Hotel Yangtze Shanghai, and Radisson Collection Hotel Wuxi – with more expected to follow. As our portfolio expands, investments and technological developments are deployed to elevate the business. This includes a robust centralized revenue management system, our all-new Chinese website that RHG will launch in the coming months and WeChat Mall, which will be truly game-changing for our hotels and resorts in China. China’s borders are tentatively expected to reopen in 2022, once 85% of the population has been vaccinated. As the world’s largest outbound travel market, China has the potential to the global recovery in 2022.

12

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

13


CELEBRATING IN INDIA

OUR JOURNEY OF

EXCELLENCE

Zubin Saxena Managing Director and Vice President, Operations, South Asia

India Rebounds Steadily

2002

1998

Introduction of

Launch of

Launch of

2003

2005

2008

2010

Strategic JV for development of Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson RED

2012

2015

2021 Launch of

Established first hotel under

Launch of

First hotel in North-East

First hotel in Maharashtra

banner.

60+ CITIES 50% CITIES PRESENT IN

BUSINESS FROM

EMERGING

YES I CAN!

HOSPITALITY IN A RANGE OF LOCATIONS

North

2021 was a challenging year for India, but we can see brighter skies on the horizon. At present, approximately 25% of this huge population has been fully vaccinated, and this rate should climb sharply in the coming months. Daily infection rates are falling and India reopened to international visitors in October 2021. All domestic flight routes have been reinstated. For Radisson Hotel Group, our focus on India is as strong as ever. We remain one of the leading hotel companies in the country and have now reached the milestone of 100 operating properties in India. Having launched 15 new hotels and resorts nationwide in 2021, we are aiming for a further 60 new openings in the next five years. This rapid expansion is being driven by several factors, including the launch of the Radisson Individuals brand, which will enhance our ability to attract conversion projects, such as retreats and historical palaces. Classic Grande Imphal, a member of Radisson Individuals opened in March 2021, becoming the brand’s first location in India, with further openings expected in Bengaluru and Katra.

Under the India Unification Plan, we are upgrading our operational infrastructure and adding value to every stakeholder. We have implemented 20 initiatives across all areas of our business. Our Centre of Excellence will also help to sharpen our KPIs and achieve stronger returns. Finally, we are elevating our guest journey with pre-arrival calls, recognizing milestone visits, customized F&B concepts and more. With these measures in place, combined with the enduring support of our owners, partners and stakeholders, we are hopeful that 2022 will be a successful year for Radisson Hotel Group in India.

Tier I West

Tier II

South

Business

Beach

Historical

Hill

Gateway

Pilgrimage

Tier III East

WE HAVE

GROWN

1995-2000

RAPIDLY

2001-2005

2006-2010

2011-2015

2016-NOW

NEW & UPCOMING

JEWELS

New Hotels Upcoming Hotels

IN OUR CROWN Country Inn & Suites by Radisson Sonamarg

The White Hotel Katra, a member of Radisson Individuals Radisson RED Chandigarh Mohali

Radisson Golf Resort Pahalgam

Radisson Blu Resort, Dharamshala

Radisson Kufri Park Inn by Radisson Gwalior

Radisson Hotel Bareilly Airport

Radisson Rewa

Radisson Hotel Nathdwara

Radisson Bhopal

Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Nashik

Radisson Blu Mumbai International Airport

Radisson Resort & Spa Lonavala

Classic Grande Imphal, a membrer of Radisson Individuals Radisson Blu Resort, Visakhapatnam

The Elite Narasapura, a member of Radisson Individuals

Radisson Resort Goa Baga Radisson Resort Pondicherry Bay

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES... 14

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

15


Andre de Jong Vice President, Operations South East Asia and Pacific

Recovery Gathers Momentum South East Asia & Pacific

The hospitality industry in the South East Asia & the Pacific (SEAP) region continued to be severely affected over most of 2021. By Q4 2021 however, on the back of gradual easing of both domestic and international restrictions, we are seeing that travel and hotel demand is gradually resuming. Several SEAP countries are opening up for conditioned international travel, with Thailand, New South Wales Australia and Bali Indonesia as the most prominent ones. Vietnam and other destinations are expected to follow and re-open in due course. As a result, and this is encouraging, the vast majority of our SEAP properties, including flagships such as Radisson Hotel Flagstaff Melbourne, Radisson Blu Bali Uluwatu and Radisson Blu Plaza Sydney, have re-opened and the remaining few are expected to be back online latest by early 2022. This is clear a sign that the recovery is setting in and we are slowly moving to the other side of the curve. Of course, all our hotels in the region have been recertified by SGS and adhere to all local health and safety regulations.

Despite the operational challenges, we are proud to have maintained a CQI score over 100 for the entire SEAP managed portfolio and secured new extended hotel agreements for Radisson Blu Cebu and Radisson Hotel Brunei. The opening of the 100-room South Wing at Park Inn by Radisson Clark in July and the launch of Park Inn by Radisson Bacolod in August have also boosted our footprint in the Philippines. While countries may suffer setbacks along the way, we are confident that SEAP’s enduring appeal will help the region to flourish in the post-pandemic era.

In terms of hotel performance, despite early days, there are reasons to be optimistic. STR has upgraded its forecast for Australia, with a full rebound to 2019 levels expected by 2025, a year earlier than previously expected, and we are confident that pent-up demand for overseas travel will boost destinations such as Bangkok, Bali, Philippines, Vietnam, and Fiji.

16

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

17


Hannes Bos Vice President, Commercial Asia Pacific

Commercial Outlook

Our CSO team helped to mitigate the impact of the downturn in 2021 by ramping up our client engagement activities. We embraced virtual solutions and conducted multiple webinars on topics such as leisure travel, market trends, business opportunities and company updates, helping to educate our trade partners about our brands, properties and latest news. We also targeted our key leisure accounts under the “Preferred Partnership Program”, which has yielded over 15,000 room nights year-to-date, and re-introduced the “Radisson Accelerate Cross Sell Engagement” (RACE 2.0) in India, which brought our entire India sales force together and has generated more than 10,000 room nights so far. Radisson Connect sessions continue to run across Asia Pacific, covering topics such as vaccinated travel lanes and market trends. RACE will also be launched in China, as China Road Show commences.

By focusing on localization and personalization, we have been able to improve the guest booking journey. We are proud to be the first hotel brand to roll out Hindi language pages on our hotel websites, and the launch of EPIC is progressing well, taking us closer to full integration with EMMA. With these initiatives in place, we believe that the Commercial team has set the foundations for Radisson Hotel Group to capitalize on the rebound of tourism and hospitality in 2022.

On the marketing front, the “Memorable Shanghai” campaign is driving business in China, and in India we had a focus on health and hygiene through our “Safe Staycations” campaign. We also launched a marketing and PR campaign to celebrate reaching the milestone of 100 hotels in India.

18

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

19


Nisha Menon General Counsel, Asia Pacific

Hotel Contracting Trends in the Post-Pandemic Era

In the legal profession, clarity is the key to success. Hotel management and franchise contracts can be a maze of confusing terminology, with any discrepancies or misunderstandings leading to disputes, so simplicity, accuracy and transparency are all vital. In a multi-cultural region like Asia Pacific, language is a critical factor. At Radisson Hotel Group, we are creating bilingual versions of our legal documents and contracts in targeted jurisdictions to ensure that all parties fully understand their commitments and responsibilities from the start. This is especially important in the postpandemic era. The last 18-24 months have created many new challenges for hotel legal departments. The issues surrounding COVID-19, such as hotel closures, health & safety regulations and cancellation policies, need to be agreed by all parties and communicated clearly, so language is obviously a major

20 INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

component of this. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, this has been a learning process for us all, but with the support of our owners and partners we have managed to navigate it successfully, with minimal discord. Technology is another key trend transforming the legal profession. Traditional manual hotel contracting can lead to issues such as a lack of uniformity and confusing wording. By using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in contracting software however, we can create algorithms to recognize patterns and identify anomalies, making documents more standardized, easier to organize and reducing the risk of human error. Automated solutions can sort through large volumes of documents, read them quickly and accurately, and extract and analyze data. Radisson Hotel Group’s legal team deals with hundreds of contracts in many different countries, in multiple languages. The steps we are taking to modernize our processes will position us perfectly for the post-pandemic era.

INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP

21


22 INSIGHT BY RADISSON HOTEL GROUP


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.