HM JUNE 2019

IN THIS ISSUE

ALL THE EXCITEMENT FROM AHICE 2019 YOUR FULL REVIEW OF THE LATEST IN HOTEL DEVELOPMENT GREEN WALLS: THE NEXT BIG TREND IN HOTEL REFURBISHMENTS THE BUSINESS OF ACCOMMODATION IN ASIA-PACIFIC Vol.23 No.3 Bi-monthly June 2019

Leveraging

Loyalty

Investing in loyalty and growth is a key strategy for driving great guest experiences, says Marriott International. As the company’s new loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, continues to increase momentum, the group is rock solid on its focus and its targets for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

for growth

HOT THIS MONTH New hotels for Australasia, Marriott gets into homes and major changes at AAOA

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CONTENTS

June

21

2019

Vol. 23 No.3

22 AHICE 2019

A comprehensive wrap-up of the 2019 Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition, held in Melbourne during May

32 DEVELOPMENT BOOMING

HM’s annual comprehensive guide to hotel development in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific

44 APP SAVVY

How hotel apps are continuing to evolve with guest experience at the forefront

46 GOING GREEN

Green walls are all the rage for hotels at present

48 OUTSOURCING RULES

Hotels are continuing to outsource key departments and HM speaks to the leading suppliers to find out the latest trends

49 FINANCIAL MATTERS

HM gets the latest financial year updates for super and insurance

HM Q&A

28 INVESTMENT

HM finds out the secrets to success with Pro-invest Group CEO, Ronald Barrott

42 GENERAL MANAGER

Hilton Brisbane’s General Manager, Chris Partridge, talks 100 years of hospitality and more

22 IN THIS ISSUE

ALL THE EXCITEMENT FROM AHICE 2019 YOUR FULL REVIEW OF THE LATEST IN HOTEL DEVELOPMENT GREEN WALLS: THE NEXT BIG TREND IN HOTEL REFURBISHMENTS

Marriott's Craig Smith chats with HM's James Wilkinson at AHICE

Regulars

04 EDITOR’S LETTER

James Wilkinson on the Australian federal elections

06 NEED TO KNOW

THE BUSINESS OF ACCOMMODATION IN ASIA-PACIFIC Vol.23 No.2 Bi-monthly June 2019

The 20 essential stories you need to know this month spanning operations, development and tourism industry news

14 OPINION

Leveraging

Loyalty

Investing in loyalty and growth is a key strategy for driving great guest experiences, says Marriott International. As the company’s new loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, continues to increase momentum, the group is rock solid on its focus and its targets for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Our exclusive industry insights from the AAoA, TAA, TIANZ, Les Clefs d’Or and Howard Kemball

for growth

HOT THIS MONTH New hotels for Australasia, Marriott gets into homes and major changes at AAOA

On the cover

Sean Hunt (second from right) and Marriott execs Samir Bhatnagar, Florencia Aimo and Ashley Hansen at Pier One Sydney Harbour, Autograph Collection

20 KEY NEWS

Industry news in association with AAoA

26 COVER STORY

Presented this month by Marriott International

09

50 PEOPLE

Key appointments: who’s on the move this month hotelmanagement.com.au 3

EDITOR’S LETTER Managing Director Simon Grover

Industry praise for re-elected Coalition Government

Publisher

James Wells

Editor-In-Chief

A

ustralia’s re-elected Coalition Government has received praise from the nation’s leading hotel bodies, following an emphatic victory in mid-May. The Scott Morrison-led Liberal National Coalition has formed a majority Government, following an unlikely victory in an election that was tipped in Labor’s favour.

On the morning of the election, the now deposed Labor leader Bill Shorten said he was “confident Labor will win because we’ve got a positive plan for real change to stop the chaos”, but it wasn’t to be as the Coalition – which defied the bookies’ odds of almost AUD$6 to win compared to Labor’s AUD$1.18 just hours before polls opened – stormed to a victory that will be remembered for years.

“The result of the very hard fought election caught nearly everyone by surprise and the best indicator of the sentiment of the result was the Australian Securities Exchange, which recorded a AUD$33 billion spike on the Monday immediately following the Federal election,” Accommodation Association of Australia (AAoA) CEO, Richard Munro, told HM. “We congratulate the Morrison Government who went into the election with a economic plan that supported businesses having a go.”

Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) CEO, Michael Johnson, also applauded the Coalition on the win: “We congratulate the Coalition, and in particular the Prime Minister, on its election win.”

Some of the Labor Party’s policies would have had significant implications on the hotel industry, including the reversal of the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) changes to penalty rates and introducing measures to prevent further penalty rate cuts.

The announcement of the hospitality award changes by Shorten during the campaign came as a blanket announcement with little or no consultation with business owners or the leading associations around the nation.

“The statements that were being made by the Labor Party on the living wage and restoration of increased penalty rates within 100 days of a Labor Government were just a few things that did not resonate at all with our membership,” Munro said.

Munro will be departing the AAoA this month as he takes up a new post as CEO of NRL club Cronulla Sharks.

He has been an inspiring leader, a true champion of the industry and his tireless lobbying will be missed by hoteliers right across Australia. On behalf of the HM team, I’d like to thank Richard for his services to the accommodation sector and we wish him all the best in his new role.

Australia's Prime Minister, Scott Morrison Enjoy this issue of HM – which includes a comprehensive wrap-up of AHICE 2019 and much more – and I look forward to your feedback.

Yours in hospitality,

James Wilkinson jwilkinson@intermedia.com.au

Deputy Editor

Matt Lennon mlennon@intermedia.com.au

Group Sales and Sponsorship Manager Adam Daff adaff@intermedia.com.au

Contributing Writers

Sally Attfield, Howard Kemball, Peter McBrearty, Richard Munro, Bradley Woods

Production Manager Jacqui Cooper jacqui@intermedia.com.au

Circulation and Subscriptions Manager

Chris Blacklock cblacklock@intermedia.com.au

Subscription enquiries

1800 651 422 Subscribe to HM magazine - 6 issues for AUD $88 (inc. GST) subscriptions@intermedia.com.au

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In association with

James Wilkinson Editor-In-Chief Outgoing AAoA boss, Richard Munro

MEET THE HM TEAM…

James Wells Publisher

Matt Lennon Deputy Editor

4 HM The Business of Accommodation

Adam Daff Group Sales and Sponsorship Manager

Adrian Tipper Creative Director

DISCLAIMER This publication is published by FAB Media Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof.

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20

Things You Need To Know The essential hotel and travel industry news and trends from across the globe.

Read more at HotelManagement.com.au.

Overall tourism expenditure has reached a major target 01

Australia reaches Tourism 2020 expenditure target Latest National Visitor Survey results surpass early targets

02

O’Sullivan set to join Experience Co as CEO TA's chief departs after five years

6 HM The Business of Accommodation

Individually, the overnight spend among domestic travellers was up 13% on the year prior largely on the back of a 9% jump in overnight trips to 105.6 million. These trips totalled 376.1 million room nights for the year, also a new record up 7% on the prior year.

In the hotel sphere, the data showed Australians are seeking out more cost-effective travel options for their accommodation. Despite an overall rate of growth of 5%, the percentages of those staying in noncommercial rental houses, caravan parks and camp sites grew 8% for the full year.

A SEARCH IS underway for the next Managing Director of Tourism Australia after popular chief John O’Sullivan announced he will step down from the role after five years leading the charge.

O’Sullivan will depart TA next month to move into his new position as CEO of Experience Co, an organisation also chaired

by Tourism Australia Director, Bob East. Executive General Manager Phillipa Harrison will take over on an interim basis until a permanent replacement can be found.

“I’ve had five terrific years at Tourism Australia, leading an incredibly talented team who do such a wonderful job promoting Australia to the world,” O’Sullivan said.

n

John O’S ull iva

TOURISM AUSTRALIA HAS eclipsed the lower end of its 2020 targets for visitor expenditure, with the latest data on domestic travel taking the tally past the organisation’s long-term forecasted goals.

The latest National Visitor Survey data from Tourism Research Australia, which covers the full calendar year of 2018, showed overnight spend on domestic travel by Australians closed at AUD $72.7 billion. This figure, when combined with the full-year spend data from International Visitors released during May, takes Australia’s total visitor spend for a calendar year to AUD $116.6 billion.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 03

Accor taking Art Series Hotels to Perth Artistic brand to make its maiden foray west

am

N

ART SERIES HOTELS is heading west, with Accor announcing it will take the brand to Western Australia in the form of a AUD $90 million development at 900 Hay Street in Perth.

Standing 27 storeys, the tower in which the hotel will be housed commenced construction in late 2017 by developer George Atzemis. The property is complete externally and is estimated to be fully completed by late September and opened to guests in October.

Like its stablemates, Art Series Perth will be decorated in the style of a soon-to-beannounced namesake artist, with furnishings, artworks and prints reflecting the style of the artist’s work adorning every corner of the property.

Offering 250 rooms, the hotel will also offer guest facilities including a Mediterranean restaurant and bar, to be located around a rooftop swimming pool directly above Hay Street. A lobby lounge, ground floor café, fitness centre and function centre will complete the offering.

es ak ea rtis t

for A r

et t Series Perth is y

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05

Newcastle lands a dot on the QT Hotels map Will occupy city’s former David Jones building

Veriu Melbourne will headline a redeveloped Queen Victoria Market 04

Veriu to open its first property in Melbourne

EVENT HOSPITALITY HAS bolstered its QT Hotels pipeline to four, signing a management agreement with Iris Capital to develop QT Newcastle.

Set to be housed within the city’s former David Jones building, the new hotel will retain the property’s historic exterior, in a situation similar to the former Gowings building the brand occupies in Sydney.

QT Newcastle will be a 106-room operation and will also feature a rooftop bar and signature dining concept.

The announcement to add Newcastle to the QT map follows confirmation the brand would open in Adelaide via a newbuild in 2021.

QT Parramatta will also open in the same year, while Auckland will also come online in 2020 as the brand’s third hotel across the Tasman.

It will be the popular brand's first Veriu hotel outside Sydney VERIU HOTELS HAS kicked off a five-year plan to add 500 new hotel rooms to Melbourne, announcing its first two Veriu-branded properties in Victoria will be positioned at the Queen Victoria Market in the CBD and the inner-city suburb of Collingwood.

The hotel will be a new-build, which is due to open in 2022 and will form part of PDG Corporation’s renewal of the historic trading hub.

The overall project will see the addition of an underground car park, childcare and family services along with upmarket retail and a small number of residences.

Over in Collingwood, more detail on this proposed hotel is due to be released soon, however it’s understood this hotel will offer 95 rooms.

Veriu’s expansion into Melbourne comes following the acquisition by the company last year of the Punthill Apartment Group. Since then, the company has added two new Punthill properties due to open in coming years in Cayden and Alphington.

Continues QT’s expansion into second-tier cities

hotelmanagement.com.au 7

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW jo Mo

06

Nomad South Yar ra

Ovolo to open Mojo Nomad in Melbourne Micro-hotel concept bound for Australia OVOLO HOTELS HAS announced the company will bring its innovative Mojo Nomad micro-hotel concept to Melbourne via a new flagship property in mid-2020, with construction now underway.

Mojo Nomad South Yarra in Melbourne will feature 100 rooms, dorm-style shared accommodations and suites all ranging in size from 15-35 square metres and catering to guests on both an individual, group and shared stay basis. Co-working spaces will also feature in the hotel to provide busy professionals and entrepreneurs a space to collaborate, associate and meet with colleagues and friends.

Guest facilities will include four food and beverage offerings including an underground bar.

A 24-hour fusion diner restaurant and private dining room will also be on-site along with a cinema and fitness centre, which will offer yoga sessions. Hallmarks of the Mojo Nomad brand include a multitude of power adaptors and USB outlets for multiple devices, while private spaces will offer guests their own television, reading lights and Bluetooth headphone connectivity.

O

ut go ing A

Ao Ab oss, Richar d Munro 08

AAoA Chief Munro resigns to head up Cronulla Sharks Set to leave industry to take helm of NRL franchise

The future Hyatt Place South City Square 07

Hyatt back to Queensland with Hyatt Place Global Hyatt name to make its Brisbane debut

HYATT WILL OPEN its first hotel in Brisbane in the form of a 170-room Hyatt Place, which will take pride of place in the upcoming AUD $700 million mixed-use South City Square precinct under development at Woolloongabba on the CBD fringes.

The new hotel, due to open in 2023 and marking the brand's return to Queensland, will offer guest facilities including a rooftop pool and bar, café, lobby lounge and fitness centre along with a 24-hour ‘Grab & Go’.

General use facilities at the site, once open, will include 850 apartments, a Readings Cinemas complex, Woolworths supermarket, a childcare centre, commercial offices, health and wellness options and a mix of boutique retailers, restaurants and cafes.

8 HM The Business of Accommodation

ACCOMMODATION ASSOCIATION OF Australia CEO, Richard Munro, has announced he is stepping down from his role after eight years to take up a new role outside the accommodation industry as the new Group CEO of the Cronulla Sharks.

At the same time, Munro will step down from all State and Federal Government boards and workgroups such as the Federal Collaborative Partnership on Mature Age Employment and the New South Wales ShortTerm Rental Accommodation Code of Conduct Advisory Committee. Munro’s successor will join both groups in his place.

After recently securing a huge victory for accommodation businesses across the country against narrow-rate parity and competition against OTAs, Munro said the opportunity to lead the AAoA was an enormous privilege.

“I am most proud of the fantastic, capable team we have built, expanding the association via our Advisory Boards and delivering on important advocacy outcomes. I have also appreciated the support of the President and the Board, the AAoA team, our members and commercial partners through our evolution and expansion phase,” Munro said.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 11

Oakwood Apartments to build in Dandenong

Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables 09

Holiday Inn set for Queenstown Remarkables Will become Holiday Inn’s flagship in New Zealand A NEWBUILD HOLIDAY INN hotel will be constructed in New Zealand’s Remarkables Park in Queenstown under a new agreement between InterContinental Hotels Group and QLong Investments Limited.

Destined to become the flagship property for Holiday Inn in New Zealand, the 182-room hotel will be positioned close to Queenstown Airport and the Remarkables Ski Field and will play a central role in the region’s thriving snow

season each winter and its vibrant bushwalking and adventure scene in the warmer months.

Guest facilities will include a fitness centre, an all-day dining and bar venue and multiple large and flexible meeting facilities. Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park is expected to open in early 2021, well in time for that year’s snow season.

The new hotel will sit within a 150-hectare mixed-use precinct.

10

Next Story’s new LinQ brand to open in Melbourne New brand set for global debut in Victoria

has an estimated date of completion.

The colourful Spectra Dandenong

Hotels is headin g to

Me lbo ur n

e

Melbourne’s Southbank precinct,” said Next Hotels and Resorts CEO, Darren Edmonstone.

“We are excited about the opening of the LinQ Hotel in Melbourne.”

MELBOURNE’S BURGEONING SECOND CBD Dandenong will bolster its short and long-stay apartment inventory further with Australia’s second Oakwood Hotel and Apartments confirmed to enter the market.

The brand will take up management of the Spectra Dandenong – a mixed-use development from Barnes Capital which will combine residential living with hotel apartments. Spectra Dandenong will sit within the city’s developing business district, with apartments offering views of both Port Phillip Bay and the Dandenong Ranges.

In total, the property will offer 98 apartments under the Oakwood brand.

Facilities for guests and residents will include an entertainment area, meeting facilities and a fitness centre.

No date for construction to begin on Spectra Dandenong has been set as yet, nor

LinQ

NEXT STORY GROUP has acquired a newbuild hotel at 167 City Road in Melbourne’s vibrant waterfront hub of Southbank, with the site set to be the home of a 16-storey, 162-room property under the company’s LinQ Hotels brand.

The project is scheduled to open on September 1, 2019 and after a complete fit-out, the hotel will deliver a guest experience that is reflective of the Group’s upper midscale LinQ Hotels brand from November 1, 2019.

This will be the Group’s first hotel under its LinQ Hotels brand, which offers “unconventional independent hospitality for the next generation of travellers and delivers a hassle-free experience and offers a great base to explore the destination”, according to Next Story Group.

“This latest addition to our hotel portfolio has a superb location, right in the heart of

Brand to build its second apartment hotel in Australia

hotelmanagement.com.au 9

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 12

Fourth hotel earmarked for The Star Gold Coast New development will sit to the south of The Dorsett

e Th

S

ta r

A FOURTH MIXED-USE hotel and residential option on The Star Gold Coast site at Broadbeach could begin to rise by as early as next year under a new announcement from the entertainment giant.

The proposed 215-metre tower will be positioned just south of another new tower currently under construction which will house a mix of residential owners and guests

of The Dorsett in its brand return to Australia, which is due to open in 2022. A managing brand for the latest tower has not been disclosed as yet.

Plans include a five-star hotel mixed with residential ownership offerings, lagoon pools, a nightlife venue and further restaurants and bars beyond those already earmarked as part of previous announcements.

wi ll s oo nf ea t ure fou

Further, on completion of r towers The Dorsett, The Star has revealed it will build a new dining precinct connecting The Star Grand with the Dorsett which will house several Asian eateries, one offering live seafood selection, a seafood grill house and a designer sweet bar.

Hospitality Carnarvon in Western Australia

13

Best Western ‘SureStay’ collection arrives in Australia Initial collection consists of six economy hotels

FOUR HOTELS IN Western Australia and two in regional NSW have been confirmed as the six initial Australian members of Best Western’s ‘SureStay’ collection of economy and upper-economy properties.

The move marks the introduction of the Best Western economy division into Australia, with the company saying it provides options for guests to stay in comfort while keeping costs down.

The six maiden members of ‘SureStay Hotel by Best Western’ and the sub-brand ‘SureStay Collection® by Best Western’ include the 31-room Karinga Motel in Lismore (NSW); 24-room Blue Diamond Motor Inn in Dubbo (NSW); 45-room Hospitality Carnarvon (WA); 54room Hospitality Kalgoorlie (WA); 50-room Hospitality Esperance and 47-room Hospitality Geraldton.

Each property offers guests free wi-fi as part of their room rates. Dining options are on-site along with close proximity to local attractions, activities and sporting facilities.

10 HM The Business of Accommodation

An artist’s impression of voco Sydney Central 14

Sydney Holiday Inn project to become a voco IHG’s hip new brand heads to Sydney’s CBD IHG HAS SIGNED its fifth voco in Australia since the brand’s global launch in June of 2018, partnering with Linzhu Australia Pty Ltd to open voco Sydney Central by 2020.

Part of Linzhu Australia’s 430 Pitt Street mixed-use development, the property boasts a stunning seventeen-storey tower with a sloping roof featuring unique “green waterfalls”.

The property was originally slated as a Holiday Inn in 2017, however, as the growing precinct continues to develop and there is more of a need for quality accommodation options for business and leisure travellers in Sydney CBD, it became clear that it was taking shape as an upscale hotel with a very distinctive character.

“After attending the voco launch event in Sydney, I immediately fell in love with the brand,” said Linzhu Australia Chairman, Jinwen Lin. “I realised that voco was a perfect fit for the property in Sydney Central. “We look forward to adding another memorable and distinctive property to the voco portfolio. We are delighted to be able to add upscale, indulgent room features and facilities to the property for our guests for the complete voco experience.”

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 17

Insta standouts Four global hotels you need to follow on Instagram

One of Marriott’s available homes in Costa Rica

15

Marriott International unveils home rentals brand New brand aims to capitalise on home rentals market MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL HAS stepped into the ring to take the fight for a share of the home rentals market, readying to launch a new brand loaded with more than 2,000 luxury homes in over 100 destinations around the globe.

The new brand – Homes and Villas by Marriott International – featured curated homes in destinations currently across the USA, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, with more to come. Each property comes backed by the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program.

Homes and Villas comes as an evolution of sorts from the Tribute Portfolio Homes pilot launched in Europe around a year ago, which saw average lengths of stay more than triple that of hotels.

Each property in the Homes and Villas collection offers guests access to spacious homes and self-contained residential-style living with multiple bedrooms, internal kitchens, laundry, living and dining areas.

Properties in the new brand are already managed by external management companies and providing professional cleaning services, linens and high-speed WiFi.

01 Six Senses Zighy Bay, Oman

@sixsenseszighybay

02 Lindenderry, Red Hill, Victoria

@lindenderry

16

Choice Hotels links booking functionality to Google Transactions can now be completed without leaving Google

CHOICE HOTELS ASIA-PAC has enabled the ‘Book on Google’ feature across its Australian hotel network, allowing travellers to search for their preferred hotel and complete the transaction through the Google platform rather than a third-party website.

The process means Google users can expedite the transaction by using their saved credentials, with the booking linking to the Choice reservations system and still being processed and managed by the chosen property in its internal CRS. The integration also sees Choice Hotels Asia-Pac follow its parent firm, Choice Hotels International, in enabling the feature.

Completing the transaction on Google also allows users to take advantage of the

platform’s price aggregation tools to search multiple websites and find the lowest available price, effectively making Google an OTA in its own right.

Choice Privileges members can add their membership number to the booking once confirmation has been received and earn points on the transaction, the company said.

03 The St. Regis Hong Kong

@stregishk

Ingot Hotel Perth, an Ascend Hotel Collection member

04 Fairmont Miramar, Santa Monica, USA

@fairmontmiramar hotelmanagement.com.au 11

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

s ard ew ar R Ascott St

Crowne Plaza Residences Port Moresby will be open next month

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19

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Ascott Limited unveils Star Rewards loyalty program Comes in line with company’s total digital revamp DISCOUNTED RATES AND free airport transfers are among a suite of perks available to members of a new loyalty program launched by The Ascott Limited on its portfolio of over 100,000 serviced residences around the world.

The program – named Ascott Star Rewards – comes at a time of total reinvention of the company’s digital back-end systems, which will also include a modernised website, new revenue management system and conversion of its property management systems to a cloudbased platform.

Four membership tiers make up the new program – Classic, Silver, Gold and Platinum – with promotions to the upper three categories reviewed on an annual basis from the date at which a predetermined minimum spend is achieved.

All members receive year-round 10% off Best Flexible Rates as well as access to seasonal offers, opening offers on new properties, birthday discounts of up to 25 per cent and free in-room WiFi. Discounts are ratcheted up to 30 and 40 per cent for Gold and Platinum members respectively during birthday months.

12 HM The Business of Accommodation

Crowne Plaza back to PNG Follows recent years of economic prosperity and stability

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP has moved on the rapidly strengthening Papua New

Guinea business economy, announcing it will bring the Crowne Plaza brand back to the country in the form of a premium serviced apartments offering.

Construction is nearly complete on a newbuild property in Port Moresby which will be branded as Crowne Plaza Residences. The complex will offer 54 apartments in two and three-bedroom configurations, aimed at the business traveller market. Guest facilities will include an all-day restaurant and bar, fitness centre and meeting facilities.

Crowne Plaza Residences Port Moresby will sit within the Nambawan Plaza development in the CBD, which forms part of a new business district which has attracted international businesses including Deloitte to open offices. The growing economy has spawned significant growth in new construction including housing, office towers, shopping centres and other commercial buildings.

20

Hilton returns to Melbourne with new CBD signing To be located in the “Paris end” of the city

TWO YEARS AFTER disappearing from Melbourne, the Hilton brand will make a swift return to the Victorian capital in late 2019, announcing it will open a new 244-room hotel in the CBD. Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street, owned by M&L Hospitality, will occupy part of the heritage-listed Equity Chambers building, on which construction has now commenced and is due to be completed in late 2019. Efforts are being made with the Heritage Council of Victoria to preserve the building’s cultural significance. Once open to guests, it will offer 234 guest rooms and 10 suites, a restaurant and bar, fitness centre, executive lounge and five flexible meeting rooms.

The announcement will bring Hilton fullcircle from a two-year period since its previous location at South Wharf was acquired by Singapore’s UOL Group and converted into what is now Pan Pacific Melbourne.

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The Ruby Collection

HM x TRIPADVISOR PROMOTION

A Ruby in the Rough Now offering over 15,000 rooms from Surfers Paradise down to Coolangatta, competition amongst Gold Coast accommodation providers is stiff, with many facing increasing pressures to stand out from the crowd.

The Ruby Collection will eventually consist of four towers

T

The Ru by Co ll

his was the challenge facing The Ruby Collection, an “Our Sponsored Placements campaign, which ran from October 2018 independent, luxury apartment-style accommodation located to March 2019, generated more than 220,000 impressions, a 10.6 per in the heart of Surfers Paradise. cent increase in page visits, and a 39 per cent boost in booking referrals.

After 18 months of construction, The Ruby Apartments, the Since then, we’ve continued to invest in Sponsored Placements to help first tower of The Ruby Collection, was set to open its doors in November drive continued bookings.”

2018 to guests seeking one, two and three-bedroom apartments, villas Ms Szersyn now plans to use Sponsored Placements all year to and sky suites. The hurdle? As a new entrant to the market without the amplify visibility, since the ads only show to travellers when The Ruby backing of a global or national chain, The Ruby Collection was virtually Collection has availability for the dates they are searching for. She also unheard of. Alicia Szerszyn, Sales and Marketing Manager for The Ruby plans to replicate the success of the first campaign to launch towers two, Collection, explains. three and four in the coming months and years.

“As a new supplier, we needed a quick and easy way to position our “My advice to anyone thinking about trialling TripAdvisor’s Sponsored property in front of travellers to ensure all rooms were booked for Placements is to go for it. It’s an affordable the upcoming summer holiday season. With so much competition way to reach a global audience, and if you are Sign up today across the Gold Coast region, and without an existing bank of a standalone property like us without a global to take 175 AUD customer reviews for our new Ruby Apartments, we knew it or national chain backing you, then this is a wasn’t going to be easy to stand out from our competitors.” great way to reach markets and customers you off your first Ms Szersyn realised that increasing the visibility of The Ruby couldn’t do on your own.” n TripAdvisor Collection online would be the best way to target potential guests Sponsored and help fill rooms ahead of the much-anticipated launch.

Promo code is valid for a limited time and is only Placements “We knew we had to include TripAdvisor in our marketing valid for first-time users. Offer valid on purchases mix. We see it as the number one platform for reviews and up to 175 AUD. Promotional credit does not have a campaign. research and the largest word-of-mouth platform for travel Use promo code cash value and expires after one month. Any unused available. We also knew most travellers wouldn’t know about amount will not roll over to the next month of your AUSPONSORED us until they started searching for a specific location and campaign. Offer expires July 27, 2019.

Visit: discovered us through TripAdvisor or OTAs.” www.tripadvisor.com/ ne with an amaz The solution? TripAdvisor’s Sponsored Placements, which ing mpag business/sponsoredvie C ha w appear at the top of hotel search results in a particular destination. placements Investing in Sponsored Placements was the logical step for Offer expires July 27, 2019.

Ms Szersyn. The subtle adverts, which appear in the top spot when users search for places to stay as well as elsewhere on Lobby on i t TripAdvisor, were the perfect way for The Ruby Collection to be ec made visible to travellers.

“Our pre-launch campaign started ahead of our grand opening in November. Over this period, Sponsored Placements were used to help drive awareness and bookings amongst travellers searching for rooms on the Gold Coast. This prelaunch campaign was integral to our successful launch, which saw us fully booked at the time of our grand opening. hotelmanagement.com.au 13

OPINION

It’s not just a job, it is a career

Congratulations to the team at HM who have just produced one of the best AHICE industry events in Melbourne.

AAoA CEO Richard Munro shares his thoughts on another massive event.

THE OVERWHELMING FEEDBACK to me was AHICE was punchy, with terrific content, speakers and an overall collegiate atmosphere, which everybody enjoyed. We were really excited to launch an industry recruitment video that is designed to attract line level employees to our industry for a career, rather than just a job.

From my experience, we have never had an industry video that we can promote together. We have always just relied on the individual companies to take us to market. This video is aimed at school leavers to encourage them to consider an exciting career with our businesses. I would encourage you to place the link on your own website to tell a terrific story about what is a global industry with a big future. To view the video, please visit our website at aaoa.com.au and if you require additional information, please contact our office.

As I write my last column for HM Magazine, I reflect on my own career that the accommodation industry has provided me and am very grateful when I look back at over 30 years of working in hotels – the openings, the people and the achievements made.

First and foremost, my observation is that we are very much a people industry, and if you cannot get along with people, this is probably not the right type of job or career for you.

I have witnessed young people start at line-level part-time jobs and escalate their careers into executive managers, leading the way in foreign countries and even investing and becoming owners of hotels from what were very humble career beginnings. I was fortunate to gain a foothold in 14 HM The Business of Accommodation

this industry when I decided to take a week’s work experience while I was still at school. That week working at my first hotel opened my eyes to both the possibilities and opportunities, which I grabbed with both hands, by taking a part-time job on my weekends as a porter, laundry attendant and jack-ofall-trades, thanks to Mr Murray Worthington. I was only sixteen at the time. That was a great start and I managed to keep the momentum going, opening hotels and travelling extensively wherever the opportunity to expand my career presented itself.

Even working back then, counting dirty sheets and towels, then stacking them into bundles of ten so we had the right count, I was excited about the potential of the industry. Not so much about the dirty sheets, but the journey led me to my current role as CEO of the leading industry association. Fast forward to 2019 and the industry has probably expanded tenfold since 1985, with only small signs of slowing down and our growth currently at a pace of over four per cent year-onyear since 2014. The growth has been faster than the wider economy but recently has flattened. I suspect this will be a pause before another growth spurt, but it may slow some current projects.

Lastly, I would like to thank the members for supporting the AAoA as we have grown into the leading hospitality organisation, the Board and my staff. It certainly has been a pleasure to drive the agenda for you. I am confident the industry is on a good trajectory and we will persevere through any challenges that present themselves, as we are stronger together. n

OPINION

One strong voice for our industry

The AHA as we know it today began as The Society of the Licensed Victuallers of Van Diemen’s Land in Tasmania circa 1839, and as TAA Acting CEO Bradley Woods explains, has evolved into the industry force it is today.

THIS MONTH MARKS the 180th anniversary of when the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) came into existence. In the nearly two centuries since, the AHA and Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) have become critically important components of the hotel industry.

Those in the hotel and hospitality industry understand the critical importance of back-ofhouse staff. These are generally professionals with years of experience and who are ultimately responsible for maintaining the engine room of the hotel business. These are the GM’s, Directors of Sales and Marketing, Chefs, Human Resources personnel, Engineers and Heads of Departments.

Associations such as the AHA and TAA could therefore be considered the back-of-house to the engine rooms for the hotel and hospitality industry. We do the hard yards behind the scenes to ensure hotel operators and management companies can focus on the important job of operating their businesses successfully.

These hard yards entail the AHA and TAA representing the hotel and hospitality industry on critical decision making boards such as Tourism Australia, State Tourism Organisations, Ministerial Advisory Boards such as the Advisory Council on Skilled Migration and many other specific Training and Workforce Development Committees.

Venue owners place their trust and confidence in the skill sets of their staff, whose proficiency is often crafted over many years of experience and hard work. Industry can place the same confidence in the AHA and TAA which, like valuable staff members, provide specific expertise to deliver results, offer critical insights and ensure the best interests of the business remains front of mind.

The AHA and TAA is without equal when it comes to representing industry on the multitude of policy, regulatory and legal issues that impact on the daily operations and success of Australia’s hotels and hospitality businesses.

Our associations act as a federation in each state and territory and have to navigate a variety of different legal and regulatory frameworks in each

jurisdiction. To play an influential role in how laws are improved, removed or simplified, the AHA and TAA have representatives across the country that sit on a variety of government boards and countless committees, working groups, ministerial advisory panels, tourism councils, industry fund boards and workplace skills commissions.

Importantly, this allows the AHA and TAA to speak on behalf of Australia’s hotel industry with one strong, respected and informed voice. Maintaining and expanding the association’s sphere of influence at every level of Government is central to ensuring our industry is kept front of mind amongst policy makers.

The AHA and TAA have become Australia’s oldest and most respected industry associations not through good fortune, but by ensuring we have a presence on those boards, committees and associations that are the chief decision-making entities that are relied upon by Government.

In order for representation to be holistic, industry associations must have a detailed understanding of complex matters such as immigration policy, taxation regimes, workforce requirements, industry trends, industrial relations frameworks and liquor licensing.

Across each and every state, AHA and TAA represent our industry on all major key industry groups and committees including tourism associations, skills councils, superannuation funds, industry scheme advisory boards and a variety of other decision-making entities.

Over nearly two centuries, the association has accumulated detailed knowledge of the hotel and hospitality industry, nurtured crucial relationships with political leaders, navigated and simplified complex regulatory frameworks and negotiated countless favourable outcomes for stakeholders. In short, the AHA and TAA is unrivalled when it comes to representing Australia’s hotel and hospitality businesses and the broader industry that we all hold dear. n Bradley Woods is the CEO of AHA(WA), the Acting CEO of TAA and is a board member of Tourism Australia. hotelmanagement.com.au 15

OPINION

Attracting more talent to tourism

TIA hotel sector members employ more than 12,000 staff around the country, and efforts are underway to grow this further, writes Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s Sally Attfield.

THOSE OF US who work in the hotel sector know that a vast number of career opportunities are available, encompassing frontline roles through to sales, support and maintenance. But we have struggled to communicate the variety of careers on offer to school-leavers, their teachers and parents.

The range of opportunities within hotels has recently been illustrated through the video series developed by TIA that profiles the 2018 New Zealand Hotel Industry Award winners.

These video interviews with some of the leading lights across our sector display their passion for their work and their career progression. They are a great resource and I encourage you to take a look at the videos and use them to show the opportunities available to potential employees. You can find them on our website - www.tia.org.nz.

The aforementioned 12,000 staff employed by TIA hotel sector members is a small proportion of the 365,316 people working directly or indirectly in the visitor economy across New Zealand. This means we are already employing 13.5% of the total number of people employed in New Zealand, but it is estimated our tourism industry will need at least 40,000 more workers to support growth over the next five years. Far more than just frontline roles are available in this desired intake.

We also need highly qualified people in roles ranging from accountants and engineers to operations and yield managers. Given the number of new hotels under development, as well as the International Convention Centre, the hotel sector will certainly need many more staff, across all levels.

It’s no secret that many tourism employers are already struggling to find the people they need and rely on short-term solutions like travellers on work visas. While technology is rapidly replacing some roles, with consequent improvements in efficiency and productivity, this creates opportunities for the accommodation sector to focus on providing great service and memorable experiences.

Historically, tourism has not done well at selling the opportunities available. Other industries are well advanced in programmes to attract talent. Tourism can’t afford to be left behind.

16 HM The Business of Accommodation

In 2018, TIA partnered with Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development (ATEED) to undertake perceptions research to better understand what young Kiwis think about working in tourism and who influences their thinking.

This research offered new insights for industry employers and educators so they can attract more young people and effectively retain and develop them into sustainable career pathways. We found that parents and teachers were enormously influential in career choice. Tourism jobs were also perceived as lowly paid and short-term.

That research led to ATEED’s ‘Go With Tourism’ initiative. Focused on the Auckland region, this game-changing new job platform at www. gowithtourism.co.nz aims to match young job-seekers with quality employers within the tourism industry. It also provides information about roles within our industry.

Meanwhile, TIA used the research to build a business case for a three-year package of initiatives designed to attract New Zealanders to tourism careers. After extensive consultation with industry members around the country, we were excited to launch a package of eight initiatives at TRENZ 2019.

Building on the range of workforce development activities already underway across the industry, the package is designed to: • improve knowledge and perceptions of tourism and tourism careers • make it easier for young people to experience tourism careers through activities like industry open days and placement programmes • ensure those entering tourism employment have a positive experience so they stay in the industry. This will include activities like employer support and mentoring programmes.

The entire package is estimated to cost $1.9 million and we are currently seeking funding from government and other sources.

This package has the potential to make a real difference to our industry’s future. By taking a coordinated approach, we can become more competitive in attracting the talent we need to continue offering world-class visitor experiences. n

OPINION

So much for low season

Pre-stay guest enquiries are one area where hotels have an opportunity to capitalise on a very real advantage over the short-term rental competition, writes Peter McBrearty.

IN TIMES PAST, the autumn and winter months have traditionally signalled a period of lower occupancy levels in our respective properties, however signs over the autumn would indicate that may no longer be the case. Many of our members around Australia have reported a steady stream of pre-stay guest enquiries and requests for assistance. Happily, this seems to also be associated with some surprisingly respectable occupancy levels.

These pre-stay guest enquiries are actually one area where we have an opportunity to capitalise on a very real advantage we have over our competition from the short-term rental sector, providing us as they do with the chance to establish a relationship and sense of familiarity with our guests - often before they have even left home. Recently a Scottish couple who stayed at my own property, The Langham, Melbourne, Pan Pacific in Perth and the Shangri-La in Sydney, reached out to ask that we provide them with a group photo at the upcoming Les Clefs d’Or AGM in Sydney, with each of us holding the engraved hip flasks they had very kindly gifted us.

On the surface this might be taken as just another request for a memento of their travels. But looking beyond that, the fact that this couple were moved to devote the time and money involved in purchasing, engraving (in my case with an almost unprintable, but very humorous and typically Scottish dedication) and then sending these items to the seven Australian concierge they felt had helped make their stay in our country so enjoyable, actually says a lot. It demonstrates the inherent value in being able to build such strong relationships with our guests, and there is no doubt at all that when this particular couple next travel to Australia, they already know precisely which hotels they want to stay at.

Short-term rental accommodation essentially provides just a room and a roof, whereas a premium hotel with its more extensive facilities and a stable, experienced and well-established Concierge team provides so much more. We are able to offer a helping hand before our guests arrive, right throughout their stay - and often then an ongoing relationship thereafter and into subsequent future visits. When the members of that team are also members of Les Clefs d’Or, we are additionally able to reach out ahead of our guests to our associates along their way (both domestically and internationally), to advise them of our guests’ particular needs, interests and requests. We can also pre-introduce our guests to them in advance, ensuring our guests feel entirely confident they are already known and in good hands for the full duration of their travels.

In the spirit of maintaining our commitment to mentoring and training our up and coming Concierge and front of house staff, Les Clefs d’Or National Secretary Mark Anderson recently held a membership workshop at Sofitel Brisbane Central with candidates from the W Brisbane, Rydges Southbank, The Emporium Hotel, The Star Gold Coast and The Westin Brisbane. Additionally, our Victorian members will be holding their Annual Tourism Expo at The Pullman and Mercure Albert Park on June 24th. Our Sydney members will be holding their NSW Tourism Expo on August 28th, once again with the valuable and much appreciated assistance of Captain Cook Cruises. At this point both events are already fully subscribed by both exhibitors and attendees, but please contact your Les Clefs d’Or State Directors if we can be of any assistance. n Peter McBrearty is a former President of Les Clefs d’Or Australia and Chief Concierge at The Langham, Melbourne. hotelmanagement.com.au 17

OPINION

AHICE from the emcee’s chair

It has been a privilege and a pleasure to be associated with the Australasian Hotel Industry Conference & Exhibition since its inception, writes Howard Kemball.

IN THE LAST edition of HM, there was an article about how AHICE came into fruition. Many people, much work, so many meeting, lots of creativity and even last-minute arrangements sourcing keynotes and industry leaders on the stage has all played a part in AHICE becoming the behemoth it is today.

From my point of view, the emcee role is great fun but believe me – these HM people know how to get their pound of flesh! The most frustrating part, as you could imagine, is keeping the program on time – especially when James Wilkinson, HM Magazine Editorin-Chief (among his many roles) has the Q&A sessions. James has a wonderful journalistic style and it feels like he’s chatting with friends and family rather than CEOs of major global hotel companies. You don’t want him to stop but the program timetable tells me to! James’ network of national and international hotel leaders is enormous and is the backbone of AHICE’s success.

Speaking of networking, AHICE now brings together over 860 delegates, sponsors and exhibitors, which means of course that the program itself almost competes with the networking opportunities that arise in the venue’s lobby areas – especially during the breaks. It’s tough getting people back into the room for the next session because AHICE is providing the scene for professionals associated within the accommodation hotel business to re-ignite friendships, make new contacts and even make deals. The feedback from individual delegates I talk to during and after the event certainly endorse my observations.

I reckon the program provides the initial attraction to attend then once on board, the return on investment is enriched through making contacts 18 HM The Business of Accommodation

with others attending, including suppliers and exhibitors.

Speaking of value, I think it’s fair to say that the price for attendance is very fair compared to other global and regional conferences. With AHICE, HM has tried to keep the cost reasonable whilst delivering a high calibre of speakers, moderators and panellists – not to mention the subject matter that each session addresses. It’s a rich, colourful, informative and fast moving program – thanks to the DNA of HM Magazine.

Many months’ worth of work goes into preparing the AHICE program. The official kick-off is with the AHICE Advisory Group which takes place in December each year. Last year, we had 25 industry leaders around the table to discuss submissions to the ‘call for papers’ which initially went out way back in late September. Not all submissions or ideas can be used but the program has been refreshed every year with new segments and different people.

The introduction of the Q&A app has also added positive tension to panel discussions which of course give all delegates the ability to participate “live”.

The hotel accommodation business covers a lot of disciplines and subject matter. People, product, performance, productivity – with keynotes, panels, Q&A’s, technology, design – and all the components that make for a great hotel - brands, bars, restaurants, IT, service and great experiences. AHICE covered it all.

Don’t you love this business and all the people associated with it?

Thank you AHICE! n Howard Kemball is one of Australasia’s leading asset managers. It’s his job to ensure the marriage between the hotel owner and operator is productive and profitable.

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PRESENTS

Meet the National Advisory Board for Employment

The AAoA has launched the National Advisory Board for Employment, which has been formed with the prime purpose to provide strategic direction on behalf of the industry to execute a number of key initiatives to support the growing requirements.

CHAIR - DAVID MANSFIELD, IHG

David Mansfield entered hospitality management three decades ago and has since been driving change and efficacy through senior management roles across six countries. David has identified opportunities to mould a national talent pipeline for the industry, spearheading and facilitating educational and philanthropic partnerships within the region.

JANETTE ILLINGSWORTH, The Star Entertainment Group

Janette has worked in the industry for the past 25 years, the past two working for The Star Entertainment Group. Janette has a strong strategic mindset and enthusiasm for coaching and mentoring and supports leaders to embed a talent development culture for future business growth and talent development and retention.

CON KATSINAS, IHS

Con has over 30 years of hospitality and cleaning industry experience. He graduated from University with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Marketing and joined Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation, where he developed his career over eleven years through a number of Parkroyal properties.

TROY SCHUFFT, AAoA Training Academy

Troy’s role is to work closely with members to provide sound learning and development advice and connect recommended training providers from pre-employment programs through to advanced Diplomas. Based on Troy’s experience, combined with industry consultation and engagement, he is able to drive quality training outcomes for members and employees through the Academy.

KATHRYN DENT, People + Culture Strategies

Kathryn is a Law Society-accredited specialist in the area of Employment and Industrial Law. A lawyer who prides herself on her accessibility, responsiveness and pragmatic approach in partnering with clients, Kathryn is regularly engaged to investigate and mediate workplace disputes and to deliver corporate training across all levels of an organisation including to Boards and senior executives.

20 HM The Business of Accommodation

LYNDA UGARTE, IHG

Lynda’s role encompasses 73 hotels and more than 12,000 colleagues across two diverse and mature markets. She partners with corporate and hotel leaders to deliver HR Services and IHG People offers in a locally relevant way, taking advantage of the power of IHG’s global brands.

MICHELLE BEVAN, TFE Hotels

Michelle has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry. She has been part of many business change projects and cross-functional teams to drive improved customer experience, finance transformation, systems implementations and preparation for and delivery of new hotel openings.

NARELLE GLYNN, Lancemore Group

Narelle is a dynamic leader who brings global experience in talent strategy and professional services

consulting to her role as Group Director - People & Performance at the Lancemore Group. She is passionate about enabling leaders to get the most out of their people through high-trust relationships, a coaching mindset and empowered teams.

ROCHELLE CHOYNA, AccorHotels

Rochelle Choyna is the Accor Regional Talent and Culture Manager for Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. In addition to performing the responsibilities of Talent and Culture Director, Rochelle provides leadership to the Accor National Inclusion and Diversity Committee, spearheading Accor’s goals and progressing initiatives to ensure equal opportunity for all employees.

SPECIALIST ADVISOR: ANTHONY WILLOUGHBY, Department of Jobs and Small Business

Anthony is the Employer Liaison Officer for the greater Sydney region and the national lead for the accommodation and hospitality sectors.

SPECIALIST ADVISOR: HELEN WOOD, Hostplus

Helen is the Executive Manager Client Relationships and New Business Growth and leads a team of over 40 superannuation professionals across the country, all dedicated to providing quality services to Hostplus’ employer partners and members.

KEY NEWS xecutive Lu nch oA E AA

Events Roundup DARWIN ADVOCACY UPDATE

Hosted by Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront. AAoA CEO Richard Munro hosted a round table discussion focusing on key issues such as the threat of AirBnB, workforce challenges, Tourism and Federal Funding.

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Hosted by Pullman Melbourne on the Park (VIC) and Novotel Sydney Central (NSW). A fantastic opportunity for Credit Managers, financial controllers, reservations managers or any key staff responsible for handling financial transactions of guests to learn all about disputes such as different charge backs, counterfeit cards and more for the accommodation industry.

GOLD COAST BREAKFAST PANEL

Hosted by The Star Gold Coast. Was a great opportunity to hear from a panel of experts to understand where they see the industry moving forward to 2030.

The Accommodation Association strengthens its leadership The Accommodation Association of Australia (AAoA) warmly welcomes the newest member of the AAoA National Board - Leanne Harwood, Managing Director for Australasia & Japan, IHG.

Leanne is IHG’s Managing Director for Australasia & Japan, responsible for the operations, growth and performance of more than 80 hotels. In this role, she oversees the success of IHG’s business at a time when it continues its fantastic growth momentum

in Australia and prepares for some major upcoming sporting events in Japan. Leanne has more than 20 years’ hospitality experience with more than a decade at IHG, and has worked in many countries including Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and French Polynesia.

AAOA EXECUTIVE LUNCH

Hosted by Novotel Melbourne Central Hotel. An excellent opportunity for the AAoA Victoria State Advisory Board and AAoA members to meet the Hon Martin Pakula MP, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events.

LAUNCH OF THE NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD FOR EMPLOYMENT Hosted by Sofitel On Collins, Melbourne.

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UPCOMING EVENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR! PERTH & WA ACCOMMODATION MARKET UPDATE 6th August 2019 at Ingot Hotel Perth, WA

CAIRNS & QLD ACCOMMODATION MARKET UPDATE (Date, Time and Venue TBA)

CANBERRA & ACT ACCOMMODATION MARKET UPDATE 23rd September 2019 at Hotel Realm, Canberra, ACT

BENDIGO REGIONAL FORUM (Date, Time and Venue TBA)

HOBART & TAS ACCOMMODATION MARKET UPDATE (Date, Time and Venue TBA)

BALLARAT REGIONAL FORUM (Date, Time and Venue TBA)

hotelmanagement.com.au 21

AHICE CONFERENCES

MOVERS, SHAKERS AND DECISION-MAKERS FROM ACROSS THE HOTEL, ACCOMMODATION AND WIDER HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY HAVE CONVENED ONCE AGAIN FOR THE 10TH ANNUAL AUSTRALASIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION (AHICE).

THE EVENT WAS SUPPORTED BY DIAMOND SPONSORS HOSTPLUS AND INTRUST SUPER.

22 HM The Business of Accommodation

hits new heights

CONFERENCES Even high-profile hotel owners like Dr Jerry Schwartz need some down time

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Gus Balbontin challenged every business to recognise that consumers will always find a new way if the old way no longer suits

Suzi Finkelstein from Women and Leadership Australia discussed workforce diversity with Simon McGrath (Accor), Leanne Harwood (IHG), Sean Hunt (Marriott International) and Heidi Kunkel (Hilton)

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Melbourne Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, detailed Melbourne’s efforts to significantly grow its hotel inventory

HICE 2019 is in the books. Emanating from Melbourne – a city in the process of doubling its hotel room capacity over the next decade – a record 864 attendees were treated to another packed program of insightful panel discussions, presentations, keynotes and announcements at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne.

AHICE delivered no fewer than nine announcements of new hotels in various stages of construction or pipeline placement across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. These included (in no particular order): Hyatt Place Brisbane – a 170-room hotel to feature within the evolving South City Square precinct in Woolloongabba, just outside the CBD. Art Series Perth – a 27-storey, 250-room property which will feature a Mediterranean bar and rooftop pool.

Mojo Nomad Melbourne – marking the debut of Ovolo Hotels’ successful micro-hotel concept, offering 100 rooms, shared accommodation and co-working spaces.

QT Newcastle – a 106-room operation to be housed within the city’s famous old David Jones building, right at Hunter Street Mall and close to the beach.

Veriu Queen Victoria Markets – the first step in a big expansion plan for the brand in Victoria which will see a 95-room hotel sit within a burgeoning mixed-use precinct.

Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables – New Zealand’s future flagship Holiday Inn, which will offer 182 rooms amid the bustling Remarkables ski and adventure park.

“The moment you latch onto your product or service is the moment you start to become irrelevant.”

Gus Balbontin hotelmanagement.com.au 23

CONFERENCES

Lancemore Melbourne – Lancemore Group declared its intentions to label all hotels as Lancemore, with a new Melbourne property to open in the second half of 2019.

Oakwood Apartments Dandenong – the brand’s second mixed-use apartment hotel, which will stand in the centre of Dandenong – Victoria’s evolving second major city.

Crowne Plaza Residences Port Moresby – a small apartment-style hotel aimed at capitalising on Papua New Guinea’s recent form of economic and social prosperity.

Alongside these announcements were a litany of candid comments and insightful musings from industry leaders on both general and specific market conditions, forecasts, profits and revenues both complimentary and critical.

Outside of the presentation room, over two dozen suppliers covering industries from superannuation, bedding, property management, maintenance, technology and appliances, financial services, connectivity, design, recruitment and so much more were on show. Representatives were on hand to discuss and display their wares, meeting with long-term, newlyacquired and potential future customers and grow their businesses further.

Back on stage, AHICE host Howard Kemball and HM Editor-In-Chief James Wilkinson grilled executives from across the world who had travelled to Melbourne for the event. Speaking on stage in either one-on-one interviews or panel discussions were global, regional and local

Rick Whalley from Chada accepts his Highly Commended Award with family of the late Paul Davis

AHICE will return to Grand Hyatt Melbourne in 2020

Grand Hyatt Melbourne provided a sparkling theatre for AHICE

Little Albion Guest House takes out Paul Davis Hotel Design Award Emotions were running high at AHICE as the first annual Paul Davis Award for Hotel Design was awarded to Terence Yong Architecture for its work designing Sydney’s Little Albion Guest House, a hotel presently under the management of Crystalbrook Collection.

The design of Little Albion Guest House reflects 1920s interiors and 1970s-inspired décor, with the hotel offering guests access to a rooftop garden and bar with views over the city.

Witnessed by his family sitting in the front row, judges said the standard of entries were of a high calibre and selecting a winner was particularly difficult. Highly commended for its entry and on hand to collect a certificate of merit was Rick Whalley from Chada for his work on the William Inglis Hotel in Warwick Farm, Sydney, now managed by Accor under its MGallery by Sofitel brand. Industry sentiment for the life and work of Paul Davis was tangible among all attendees.

Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School hosted a breakfast seminar which offered actual academic credit towards an MBA

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CONFERENCES Just like old friends chatting: HM Editor-InChief James Wilkinson shoots the breeze with Marriott International President Asia Pacific, Craig Smith

“The crazier something sounds, the more you should pay attention.”

CEOs and MDs from brands including IHG, Marriott International, Crown Group, Accor, The Star Entertainment Group, Hilton, Wyndham and many more, alongside investors, owners, directors and senior management.

Honest to a fault, hotel tycoon Jerry Schwartz came prepared to make a statement during a panel discussion entitled ‘What Owners Want’. Never one to dance around an issue, in one response to a point about how operators should manage periods of high occupancy, Schwartz rose from his seat and unfurled two sheets of paper, one featuring the word “Maintain” in large print, and the other with “Rates” on it. The message to operators in the room couldn’t have been clearer. At the high point of any market when occupancies were consistently strong, Schwartz said he failed to understand why his hotels chose to erode his profits by not pushing rates higher.

“With such high occupancy, what else can you do but put up rates?” he implored.

Accor COO Pacific Simon McGrath was mixed in his outlook, saying the industry was coming to the end of a soft period but that an extended period of growth was on the way.

“From my viewpoint, there will be a soft period in 2019 and 2020, but then there will be great growth from 2021 onwards for the next five to seven years,” he said.

McGrath added that he saw new operators entering the market to focus their efforts more on apartments rather than hotel rooms.

“If you’re going to be in the Pacific region, you’re going to be in apartments,” he said.

A highlight of the conference was a keynote presentation from former Lonely Planet Executive Director and CTO turned futurist and media landscape analyst Gus Balbontin, who shared some dire warnings for businesses comfortable in how they operate.

Pointing to brands such as Kodak and the music industry circa late 1990’s, who were solely interested in

selling film, cassettes and CDs and were slow to recognise the evolving digital revolution taking place before their eyes. He said society had evolved faster, wanting to digitise their memories or only buy one song at a time instead of a whole album, setting in motion a process which would lead to film cameras and physical music CDs becoming obsolete faster than their industries were ready for. n hotelmanagement.com.au 25

HM x MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION

Leveraging New brands, innovation and loyalty are defining Marriott International’s ANZP growth strategy in 2019.

Loyalty for growth

From left to right: Peter Smith, Ashley Hansen, Florencia Aimo, Samir Bhatnagar, Sean Hunt, James Walkden, Natasha Rasheed, and Scott Lowe

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s visitation and expenditure to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific continues to break records, Marriott International is putting a keen focus on its expansion in the region. The global juggernaut has 31 hotels operating and a further 21 in the pipeline, seeing it well on track to its goal of 50 hotels in the region by 2020.

Central to this growth strategy is the introduction of new brands into the market, particularly luxury and lifestyle, to appeal to the changing needs of travellers. Increasing numbers of high net worth individuals from Asia are driving demand for luxury stock. Meanwhile, Millennial and Gen Z travellers are seeking out hotels that allow them to work, play and connect at an affordable price point.

“We’ve recognised these demands, and we’re responding,” said Marriott International's Area Vice President, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, Sean Hunt.

“We’re opening five luxury properties in Australia alone before 2022, including The Ritz-Carlton, Perth, W Sydney and The St. Regis Melbourne. We’re also increasing our lifestyle hotel offering, opening properties like Element Melbourne Richmond and Moxy Melbourne 26 HM The Business of Accommodation

South Yarra that will feature flexible live, work, play spaces that appeal to Millennial and Gen Z travellers.”

Innovation is another part of this strategy, with several of Marriott International’s hotels in the region undergoing or having completed AUD$150 million renovations to ensure it continues to provide guests with the best possible experience. Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Port Douglas, Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Gold Coast and Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay have all completed significant renovations in the past five years, leading to improved performance results. Sydney’s iconic Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park and Brisbane Marriott Hotel both unveiled multi-million transformations in late 2018 and early 2019 respectively. Pier One Sydney Harbour will also complete the final stage of its multi-million-dollar transformation in late 2019.

But underpinning the entire ANZP regional strategy is one thing: loyalty and the world’s largest loyalty program – ‘Marriott Bonvoy’.

“The ANZP market is increasingly competitive, and loyalty is pivotal for Marriott International as we continue to grow in the region. We know that our hotels leverage the power of Marriott’s loyalty program, as they see over 70% of their business from Marriott Bonvoy members,” Hunt said.

COVER STORY Marriott Bonvoy members had access to the exclusive ‘Glamour on the Grid’ Grand Prix After Party

Marriott Bonvoy is a unification of three legacy loyalty programs – Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards. It now allows members easy access and visibility across all of Marriott International’s 7,000 hotels, spanning 30 brands in 130 countries and territories worldwide. It also means the company is able to leverage the full extent of the Marriott Bonvoy marketing machine as it expands its footprint in Australia.

“We have more than 130 million members worldwide, and they’re seeing Australia and new properties like Element Melbourne Richmond and The Ritz-Carlton, Perth flagged along with global cities,” Hunt said.

“We’re then able to offer members special rates to explore these new properties, and drive them in.”

At the same time, Hunt says the company is aware of the shift in travellers’ perceptions of loyalty programs.

“Across all segments, including lifestyle, luxury, business and leisure, travellers are shifting their focus from products to experiences” Hunt said. “They’re no longer simply looking for an indulgent stay or hot new destination. They’re seeking experiences that provide personal meaning and opportunities to explore their passions in the best locations around the world. In response to these changing needs, and to ensure our program is as relevant as possible, Marriott Bonvoy has a huge focus on experiences.”

Sean Hunt, Marriott International In addition to options to earn and redeem points for staying, dining and enjoying spa treatments with Marriott International’s hotels The Mercedes AMG-Petronas globally, members can access approximately 120,000 experiences in Motorsport team. L-R Toto 1,000 destinations through purchase or by redeeming points, such as Wolff, Team Principal and CEO and drivers Valtteri locally relevant excursions, day trips and more. In Australia, this could Bottas and Lewis Hamilton be anything from a tropical rainforest tour in Far North Queensland to a helicopter ride over Perth’s beaches and coastline.

As many as 8,000 of these experiences are ‘Marriott Bonvoy iott Hotel Riv r r a er K eM i ng Moments’ – once-in-a-lifetime activities designed to fuel ba n s i Ro Br members’ passions, no matter if it’s culinary, sports, o entertainment or otherwise.

To give an example, Marriott Bonvoy sponsored the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix in March. Marriott Bonvoy members enjoyed VIP access to the Paddock Lounge, including experiences like pit walks and a meet-and-greet with star Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

“For our members who love racing and the Grand Prix, these experiences are really special” Hunt said.

“It’s something they can take home and share with their family and friends. It’s the perfect example of how Marriott Bonvoy can help members explore their individual passions and how it can deliver an amplified experience that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to participate in.”

What this means is that in addition to booking their accommodation with Marriott International, guests can also now book all their activities.

“We’re a one-stop shop, marking an evolution in travel because Marriott International is now more than just a hotel company and Marriott Bonvoy is more than just a loyalty program that provides points,” Hunt said.

According to Hunt, the program is expected to grow by a further 10 million members each year. “As our footprint in the region continues to grow, Marriott Bonvoy will be more important than ever before, driving both local and international members to new destinations and properties through experiences they want and that allow them to follow their passions across the world,” he said. n

“We’re a one-stop shop, marking an evolution in travel because Marriott International is now more than just a hotel company and Marriott Bonvoy is more than just a loyalty program that provides points.”

m

The R

itz-Carlton, Perth

hotelmanagement.com.au 27

HM Q&A | INVESTMENT

Pro-active investors The

SYDNEY-BASED PRO-INVEST GROUP IS ONE OF ASIAPACIFIC’S MOST TALKED ABOUT BOUTIQUE INVESTMENT FIRMS, WHICH SPECIALISES IN PRIVATE EQUITY REAL ESTATE AND REAL ESTATE ASSET MANAGEMENT. LEADING THE BUSINESS IS INDUSTRY LEGEND AND CEO, RONALD BARROTT, WHO SAT DOWN WITH JAMES WILKINSON TO TALK GROWTH, STRATEGY AND MUCH MORE.

Ron, tell us about Pro-invest and the journey for the company to date.

I

t was been quite a journey for Pro-invest and we are proud to have evolved into one of the biggest Hospitality Investment platforms in Australasia: With a 40 people-strong team in our Sydney office we are able to create tangible value-adds to our investors as we are covering asset management, developments and day-to-day hotel operations in house.

Although we only entered the Australian and New Zealand market in 2014, the majority of our team members hold decades of experience in the industry which provides us not only with a great network but also a reputation in the market of being a reliable business partner who, when interested in an opportunity, executes straight forward and in a timely manner.

This allowed us to build up a portfolio of hotels touching close to 2000 rooms of Holiday Inn Express (HIE) assets throughout the main cities in Australia and New Zealand with our Fund I, in addition to another 3000 rooms which we will developing in Fund II, making us arguably the largest Quality Select Service providers in Australasia.

In addition to very attractive risk-adjusted returns of our hotel portfolios, our investor base – mostly institutional investors such as international banks, pension funds as well as sovereign wealth funds – find comfort in our stringent corporate governance as well as reporting standards. This, combined with the fact that we take pride in the high level of quality standards our hotels are fulfilling, allows us to look after the interest of all of our stakeholders – from the guests in our hotels, to our employees to our investors. This is probably why 28 HM The Business of Accommodation

we also see a lot of repeating customers and investors looking to recoup their commitments.

Why have you gone with the Holiday Inn Express and Even brands?

The Quality Select Service sector represents the fastest growing hotel segments on which we have been focusing on successfully for more than 25 years. First, thanks to my long standing relationship with Intercontintental Hotels Group, I introduced the brand into Europe by rolling out the first 15 HIE projects throughout the UK in the late 90s. Thereafter, I worked with several hotel brands to establish a number of select service hotel concepts throughout the Middle East before looking to Asia and identifying Australasia as one of the last developed markets where the Select Service Hotel Segment was still strongly underrepresented. That’s when, in 2013, we joined forces again with IHG and entered a Master Development and Franchise Agreement for their Holiday Inn Express Brand which we are now rolling out very successfully throughout Australasia.

In addition to HIE, we decided to leverage on the fast growing segment of lifestyle hotels and this is why we added Even Hotels as part of our offering in Fund II.

MEET THE TEAM

The Pro-invest Group executives that are at the forefront of the business

RONALD BARROTT Chief Executive Officer - Pro-invest Group

Ronald is a Founding Partner of Pro-invest and has been the Group's Chief Executive Officer since its inception. He has over 40 years of real estate investment, development and project management experience working on a variety of transactional projects in Europe, GCC and Asia.

DR. SABINE SCHAFFER Managing Director - Pro-invest International Asset Management

Sabine is a Founding Partner and the Managing Director, Proinvest International Asset Management. She started her career 20 years ago at 3i where she focused on investments in FMCG and retail.

TIM SHERLOCK Managing Director - Pro-invest Developments

Tim is the Managing Director of Pro-invest Developments. He has been working on projects with the team since 2010. He has 21 years of experience in the Australian property market having worked for a number of well-known property organisations.

PHIL KASSELIS Managing Director - Pro-invest Hotels Group

Phil is Managing Director of Pro-invest Hotels Group. A fourth generation hotelier, he has spent more than 30 years in the hotel sector with diversified experience in hotel operations, hospitality consulting, hotel development and acquisitions and hotel brokerage.

HM Q&A | INVESTMENT

Which areas are in demand in Australia and New Zealand and where else would you like to be?

Key Pro-invest Projects 01 Holiday Inn Express Sydney Macquarie Park, New South Wales

Australia's first Holiday Inn Express hotel. The 192-room property was officially opened on March 30, 2016.

Pro-invest Group's Holiday Inn projects feature a high-spec of interior design

Keeping in mind that Australia and New Zealand represent one of the stronger hotel markets globally, we see a lot of growth potential for our hotels across the country in primary cities, now that travelers start to become familiar with our value proposition of our ‘stay smart’ assets (aka ‘everything you need but nothing you don’t’) – we are also looking to unlock potential sites in second tier cities as well.

Although it is true that the market is fairly fragmented when it comes to hotel performance as every market is in its own hotel cycle, overall the outlook for hotels remain very positive on the back of Australia’s strong population growth as well as its attractiveness to an ever more mobile Asian middle class who are eager to visit this continent.

Will Pro-invest remain as an Australian business or can you see the company growing internationally?

The 245-room hotel is located in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD. Officially opened August 28, 2017.

As I touched on before, most of our team members hold decades of experience in the industry in Australia as well as abroad and personally, I successfully set up business in Europe as well as the Middle East before coming to the Australian shores. As a result, ‘growing internationally’ to me is just a continuation of what I have been doing all the way along.

When it comes to attractiveness of markets, I see a lot of growth potential in other Asian regions while our integrated business model and ‘hands-on’ management approach allows us to create value in even more competitive markets back in Europe.

04 Holiday Inn Express Newcastle, New South Wales

You also have a huge focus on being sustainable, don’t you?

02 Holiday Inn Express Brisbane Central, Queensland

The 226-room hotel is located in the Brisbane suburb of Spring Hill. Officially opened April 3, 2017.

03 Holiday Inn Express Adelaide City Centre, South Australia

The 170-room hotel is located in Newcastle's upcoming commercial and transport hub. Officially opened on March 28, 2019.

05 Holiday Inn Express & Suites Queenstown, New Zealand

An innovative 227-room hotel centrally located in the heart of Queenstown. Opening mid-2020.

06 Even & Holiday Inn Express Auckland, New Zealand

The 200-room Even hotel and 294-room Holiday Inn Express is located in the heart of Auckland's centre.

Opening Q3, 2021.

07 Holiday Inn Express Sydney Airport, New South Wales

The 247-room hotel is located at Sydney Airport.

Opening Q1, 2020.

"Growing internationally to me is just a continuation of what I have been doing all the way along."

Ronald Barrott

We do. By focusing on new-built, purpose built hotels, we believe to have a significant advantage of being able to ‘future proof’ our hotels not just from a technical perspective but also when it comes to introducing environment standards- and initiatives into our hotels. The result is a portfolio of assets which are all min 4.5 star NABERS rated and through the introduction of targeted ESG initiatives, we are able to derive tangible advantages for our P&L in the form of lower energy bills or water usage.

The Australian Government is putting policies in place to promote businesses following a higher NABERS rating which was only just recently affirmed by the NSW Government announcing that they would only be able to rent office space or use data centres if the assets in question are achieving a 5 star NABERS rating. We believe that ‘walking the extra mile today’ with regards to designing and developing our assets in the most environmental friendly manner will certainly allow us to obtain additional rewards down the line, including reducing costs, standing out in RFPs and achieving higher guest satisfaction scores. n hotelmanagement.com.au 29

HM x ACCOR PROMOTION

Revolution Accor’s restaurant

During 2018, Accor served more than 14 million meals in over 170 restaurants and bars.

Come along for a tour of the group’s newest and most exciting dining destinations.

ccor is serious about disrupting this space, with an in-house incubator of food and beverage specialists set to create a new wave of progressive, trend-setting concepts across the Pacific.

With the Group’s acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in sbe - a leading luxury lifestyle hospitality company - Accor is shaking up the restaurant and bar scene and investing in venues, chefs, mixologists and baristas that are amongst the best in the country. The first sbe venue in the Asia Pacific region - Hyde Paradiso - is now open on the Gold Coast at Surfers Paradise. More venues are in the pipeline.

Hyde Paradiso is “the place to see and be seen by the sea”. Boasting the distinguished welcoming and lively atmosphere of US brand Hyde and set right on the oceanfront, the space is a haven for those in the know. At the impressive 12-metre bar, drinks will take their cue from the beachside lifestyle. Australia’s most awarded bartender, Tim Philips-Johansson of Sweet&Chilli, has curated a creative drinks list which take the Italian Sgroppino and the ‘Top of the Town Punch’ as its signatures.

In an exciting new partnership, Salt Meats Cheese - renowned for its fresh twist on authentic Italian food - has opened its first venue in partnership with Accor at Mantra South Bank. The restaurant presents a relaxed European vibe synonymous with Salt Meats Cheese and a stunning al fresco dining area with an abundance of greenery and natural finishes.

30 HM The Business of Accommodation

ACCOR NEWS

Guests can graze on Italian classics, antipasti platters and pick from a stand-out list of bespoke cocktails created specifically for the venue.

A feat for New Zealand’s already bursting culinary scene, SO/ Auckland’s Harbour Society restaurant on the 15th floor is home to French Chef Marc De Passorio, former owner of Michelin-starred restaurant, L’Esprit de la Violette. Signature dishes include vodka crayfish, while the HI-SO rooftop bar, with expansive views of the Waitemata Harbour and Rangitoto Island, is where locals want to socialise and be seen.

The stars have aligned at Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, with the appointment of a new Executive Chef and Chef de Cuisine, both trained at Michelin-starred restaurants, such as Paul Bocuse, Georges Blanc and noma in Copenhagen. At Atelier by Sofitel, they are leading the modern luxury hotel into a new culinary era, introducing a new menu inspired by the flavours of Provence and the city of Marseille.

Three open kitchens reflect the essence of a bustling, vibrant French brasserie.

Meet Salt Meats Cheese at Mantra South Bank

Signature dishes include an elegant Bouillabaisse – a traditional rockfish casserole recipe from Marseille, and the Atelier Burger, which can be served “Rossini” style, with a slice of foie gras terrine.

Formerly known as Scarlett, Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney’s restaurant has received a new name – Tayim - and dramatic redesign including an expansion of the former venue into a larger bar and dining area. In keeping with the historical features of the 1887 heritage building, the sandstone walls have been lovingly restored to create an inviting space with a relaxed atmosphere. The Middle-Eastern inspired menu, designed by Head Chef Ran Kimelfeld (former Head Chef, Nour), showcases the region’s most flavoursome dishes; focusing on bold, exotic share plates cooked using traditional methods on the open grill.

Harbourside dining has been reimagined at Q Dining following a soft refurbishment of the venue at Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour. The restaurant takes inspiration from its iconic location between the Botanic Gardens and Sydney Harbour. Q Dining’s redesign fuses modernity and timeless luxury, encompassing its surroundings to create a sophisticated space which seamlessly transitions from day-to-night dining. Designed by Executive Chef, Brett Humphries, the menu focuses on land and sea dishes, infusing native flavours and using only sustainable, ethical and locally sourced produce. Brett worked closely with Aboriginal communities to source rare, artisanal ingredients which form the basis of many dishes.

Originally occupied by the iconic Goldfish Bar (the notorious home to Fitzgeraldera deals) in Brisbane, Goldfinch brings a fresh Mediterranean offering with relaxed Hamptonsinspired, sophisticated surroundings to a site steeped in history. This day-to-night dining venue is the latest in Pullman Brisbane King George Square and Accor’s commitment to creating internationally-recognised dining destinations loved by locals. With a prime street-facing ground floor position, Goldfinch is the new “big sister” of Sixteen Antlers Rooftop Bar. Pretty Boy Italian Steakhouse and Floyd’s Bar at Novotel & Ibis Melbourne Central capture the flavour of traditional Italian with an added American flare. Lead by Executive Chef, Michael Smith - former Head Chef of revered Melbourne institutions Tonka and Mamasita - the restaurant and bar celebrates the American influence on Italian food in New York City. The menu includes premium cured meats and thoughtful pickle pairings, handcrafted pasta made on-site daily, prime Australian cuts of meat aged in-house and an eclectic spritz menu.

Platform 818 Restaurant & Bar, the new restaurant located within Mercure Sydney takes inspiration for its industrial interior from its prime location opposite Sydney’s historic Central Station. The produce served has a great story to tell, with hero menu items sourced from railway towns along the NSW goods line that once travelled into Sydney’s Central Station via the Goods Line Tunnel. With a modern take on classic Australian dishes, Executive Chef Simon Harrison’s menu features the sticky BBQ pressed Riverina brisket and pulled Breakout River lamb shoulder tart sourced from Cowra Lamb in the Riverina.

Signature drinks include the highball cocktail, inspired by the practice of serving beverages in tall highball glasses on steam trains. n

Hyde Paradiso is “the place to see and be seen by the sea”

Hyde Paradiso opened on the Gold Coast in March

hotelmanagement.com.au 31

DEVELOPMENT

Australasia thriving

The growth of Australasia’s hotel scene was a key topic of discussion at this year’s Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition in Melbourne during May, with several new projects announced in front of over 860 delegates. To find out more about the development scene in Australasia, JAMES WILKINSON spoke to 20 of the leading hotel chains, consultants and Tourism Australia about what to expect in 2020 and beyond.

Coming soon: InterContinental Hayman Island

Lindsay Leeser

Vice President Development - Pacific Accor

Accor’s development growth remains in top gear and we are proud to present our largest and most diverse portfolio of brands ever. Our development pipeline has never been stronger or more exciting, with over 30 hotels currently under development and pegged to open in the next three years. In part, our growth is being fuelled by our existing partners who have the experience and trust in Accor to deliver above market returns for their investments. It’s so gratifying to see our hotel owners prosper alongside us.

In the first half of 2019, we have opened The Fantauzzo Art Series Brisbane, Shadow Play by Peppers Melbourne, Pullman Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa, which will be followed by the opening of Art Series Perth, The Chadstone Hotel Melbourne MGallery by Sofitel, Pullman Rotorua, Novotel Christchurch Airport, The Sebel Canberra Civic, Mercure Sydney Rouse Hill, Mercure Canberra Belconnen, Mercure Melbourne Albion, Mantra Epping Melbourne and ibis Styles East Perth.

With 38 brands globally, our growth in the lifestyle sector has been accelerated with 14 new brands including SO/, Art Series, Mama Shelter, 25 hours, 21C Museum hotels, and in partnership with US hospitality group sbe, which includes Hyde, Mondrian and SLS to name a few.

In a first for the Hyde brand outside of the US, Hyde Paradiso has arrived on the Gold Coast, and Accor have a dedicated F&B team focused 32 HM The Business of Accommodation

on driving profitability and operations for venues with each outlet backed by its own strategy and team. We look forward to bringing more dining, entertainment brands and experiences to the Pacific region.

The fashionable, design-led SO/ brand made its audacious debut in the Pacific with SO/Auckland last year, which is proving popular not only with travellers but with locals keen to play and be seen. It won’t be long before a SO/ hotel arrives in Australia.

From a singular address in Perth, Tribe is now enjoying global expansion with ten openings scheduled to take place by 2022 in Europe and Asia Pacific. Moreover, MGallery by Sofitel is now the largest collection brand in the market and is bolstered by new developments locally including The William Inglis Hotel and upcoming openings Hotel Chadstone Melbourne this November and The Porter House Sydney in 2021.

Graham Perry

Managing Director, Australasia Best Western

Best Western Hotels and Resorts has undergone an exciting period of change since implementing a property-direct relationship with Best Western International in June 2018. We’re now well positioned to support our pipeline of properties with a great team and a clear eye on the ROI we deliver to our hoteliers.

We have 13 brands available for the Australasian market, ranging from economy (through our recently launched SureStay brand) to luxury, and

DEVELOPMENT

including mid-tier, mid upper and upper. These include hard brands, where the Best Western brands predominate and soft brands, where we plug in our global distribution and the client’s own brand leads.

Currently, approximately 70% of our hotels are ‘Best Western’ (mid-tier), 20% Best Western Plus, (mid upper) and the rest represent our soft brands.

The upper tier, lifestyle and boutique segment is particularly ‘hot’, representing big growth opportunities for us. Hotel designs are aligned to the theme of the local community, be it for food and wine, arts, history or other. The segment is well served by our newer brands such as Glo for new builds, Sadie and Aiden for conversions and our recent acquisition of WorldHotels.

Robert McIntosh

Executive Director - Valuations & Advisory Services CBRE

The supply pipeline in the capital cities of Australia continues to be strong. Overall our research shows a 13% potential increase in the period 2019-2022 with some 28,000 rooms to be added. Most of these have already commenced. This equates to a manageable 3% a year.

The issue however is that some cities will have very strong growth which will, in the short, prove to be a challenge. Hobart has close to 2,000 rooms to be added to a small base indicating a 65% increase, but this market is probably undersupplied at present. The other large additions are Adelaide with a 36% increase, Melbourne City (31%), Sydney City (26%), Canberra (23%) and Perth City (22%). Locations like Brisbane and the Gold Coast have next to no new supply planned and therefore increases in demand should be very beneficial to trading in both places.

The growth appears to be well spread by scale with 81% of the new supply being fairly evenly distributed between upper midscale, upscale and upper upscale properties. There are relatively few economy and luxury developments.

Our analysis of the pipeline indicates a strong increase in boutique and lifestyle hotels with these now making up to 20% of the pipeline in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

Trent Fraser

Chief Executive Officer Choice Hotels Asia-Pac

At Choice Hotels Asia-Pac, we are pleased to be nurturing a healthy development pipeline. This has been particularly accelerated with the addition of a new full-time development manager in 2019, based in New Zealand. We are seeing a lot of opportunity with our Ascend Hotel Collection brand, which is a premium guest offering, for properties identified as boutique, unique and historic.

Furthermore, we are seeing encouraging growth in interest in terms of the boutique market, particularly in the last 12 months. The Ascend Hotel Collection brand has proven attractive to owners with a desire to maintain a signature or unique offering, while also being able to leverage the distribution and marketing efforts of a group.

Owners continue to challenge us to look at franchise models differently. Our approach is to have a conversation with owners to understand their individual needs and goals for their property, and then tailoring a solution, which will suit them and assist them with continuing to grow their business. We feel there is an important element of personalisation that we bring to partnership discussions. There continues to be a strong interest in the traditional franchise model as

owners come to understand the concept and subsequently realise the opportunities and efficiencies of leveraging the resources of a franchise, while retaining control of their day-to-day operations.

As performance levels out in some of the main domestic locations, i.e.

Melbourne and Sydney, we’re seeing strong interest in the other capital city markets, as well as the South Island in New Zealand. We’re also continuing to have discussions with owners across a number of different Asian markets.

Wayne Taranto

Director of Hotels and Suites Crown Group

We are very excited to be opening SKYE Suites Green Square later this year as our third luxury serviced apartment hotel, following those in Parramatta and Sydney’s Clarence Street. It will form part of the new landmark development Infinity by Crown Group designed by the visionary Koichi Takada Architects on the corner of Bourke Street and Botany Road.

One of the big drawcards will be interior design by world-renowned CHADA in the hotel’s 90 luxurious studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and in the stunning lobby. CHADA is famous for Saffire in Tasmania and for Emirates Wolgan Valley among many other projects.

The hotel and residential development forms part of the AUD$13 billion Green Square redevelopment that has transformed the town centre into an exciting new destination and will add a new train station and aquatic centre. There is also the stunning public library next door, which opened last year, where hotel guests can enjoy co-working or studying in the light-filled below-ground atrium.

Peter Hill

Director of Development Event Hospitality And Entertainment

Market conditions are driving industry wide development in the majority of major cities across Australia and New Zealand and Event Hospitality and Entertainment Limited has a development pipeline across its three brands (QT, Rydges and Atura).

What makes Event unique is that we are a diverse group comprising entertainment, hospitality and leisure brands – we deliver 40 million guest experiences annually from mountains to movies, hotels to bars – being so diverse means our hotel operators have deeper customer insights. We are also an owner and an operator of hotels which gives us an understanding of how both sides of the owner-operator partnership best collaborates to drive maximum results.

Our QT brand has quickly become a strong performer in the lifestyle market, as travellers seek a more authentic experience and an alternative to mainstream brands. The opening of QT Perth and QT Queenstown over the past 18 months has added to this unique range of hotels, which are united by the QT personality, but individual in their own creativity and local flavour.

Over the past 12 months we are have secured four new QT hotels under management agreements in Parramatta, Auckland, Adelaide and just recently, QT Newcastle. We anticipate further announcements as developers seek to partner with us to continue QT’s expansion.

Event has continued its airport hotel growth strategy with the opening of Atura Adelaide Airport late last year and Rydges Wellington Airport last month. Rydges Gold Coast Airport is under construction and due to open in 2019. hotelmanagement.com.au 33

DEVELOPMENT

We continue to review development options for Atura hotels in metropolitan business parks and regional cities in Australia and New Zealand. We are receiving interest from developers to integrate the Atura brand into mixed-use projects. Mixed use developments incorporating office, retail and hotel components are providing a viable model with a focus on reducing non-income generating space or supplementing with alternate high yielding space.

Tushar Raniga

Director - Development, Australasia Hilton

At Hilton, we have made a commitment to double our footprint across Australasia within the next five years. This will be achieved with an organic growth strategy where we want to fill the gaps in the market with the right brand, in the right location, at the right time.

We are certainly well on track to achieve this goal, with currently 11 hotels in the pipeline. DoubleTree by Hilton Napier is expected to open

by Q3 this year, followed by Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street, which is due to open by the end of Q4.

With a portfolio of 17 world-class brands, we would ideally like to see a multi-brand approach in each key city with a focus on expanding our footprint in Hobart, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wellington and Auckland.

We have a strong interest to bring some great brands in our luxury and luxury lifestyle segments into markets such as Sydney and Melbourne, namely Conrad Hotels and Resorts and Canopy by Hilton.

In saying this however, the rise of the Asia Pacific traveller and middle f the ion o ress p im st's rti a An

el Sydney Darling H Vibe Hot arbou r po ol

class will continue to drive immense growth for the industry and as such the mid-market segment is a huge opportunity for Hilton in Australasia.

We will soon be introducing the Hilton Garden Inn brand to Australasia with the recent signing of Hilton Garden Inn Suva, which is under construction and slated to open next year. We are also close to finalising several other Hilton Garden Inn deals across Australia, which we look forward to announcing soon.

Currently, Hilton’s primary business model in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific has been hotel management agreements.

Franchising however has become quite a big focus for us. It currently represents 86% of our trading estate globally and with the emergence of owner operators and white label management companies in Australasia, we see a big opportunity in the future.

For some time now we have operated franchises in New Caledonia and French Polynesia. In 2018 we opened our first franchise in New Zealand with DoubleTree by Hilton Wellington and will open our second in 2019 with DoubleTree by Hilton Napier. Going forward we see immense opportunity to grow this business model in both Australia and New Zealand, particularly for our Doubletree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn brands.

Abhijay Sandilya

Senior Director, Development – Australasia & South Pacific InterContinental Hotels Group

There has never been a better time to be in the hospitality industry, and we are very proud to say InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is leading the way. Globally, IHG had a record year of signings in 2018 and although we expect to see this stabilise over the next three years here, we continue to strengthen our quality of signings and openings across our portfolio of brands, with over 30 assets in the pipeline. Our signing momentum to date already suggests that we will continue to be strongest in market.

Our neighbourhood-centric brand, Hotel Indigo has captured much of the growth. It has been our fastestgrowing brand and most successful year with seven assets signed across our key Australasian markets.

The first will open with Brisbane in Q3 2020 and Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora will open in December 2019 as the first in Japan.

Locally, our developer and guest interest in lifestyle brands continues to grow. Since voco’s global launch in June 2018, we have announced five voco signings in some of Australia’s most iconic locations including Sydney and Melbourne, Yarra Valley, Hunter Valley and the Gold Coast (the globe’s first opening) – with an additional eight in the pipeline globally.

The brand fits into our upscale space and has significant appeal for owners as it is sympathetic to the nuances of upscale assets while providing the strength and dependency of IHG. Growing our regional presence is a founding focus for us in 2019 and over the next few years, with Holiday Inn underpinning our growth strategy. The brand continues to grow from strength to strength, and already we’ve

34 HM The Business of Accommodation

DEVELOPMENT

signed some fantastic properties in Queenstown Remarkables, Geelong, Ringwood, Dandenong, Wagga Wagga, Werribee, Coburg.

Moving into 2019 and beyond, we see the Pacific region as a key opportunity, while we continue to grow our New Zealand and regional Australia portfolio.

Watch this space for some more exciting announcements.

Sean Hunt

Area Vice President, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Marriott International

The next three years will be huge for Marriott International in the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific region. We’ll add another 21 hotels to our operating pipeline, seeing us with over 50 hotels across 15 brands in the region. This growth is reflective of our confidence in the market, where tourism, expenditure and visitor nights continue to break records.

Luxury and lifestyle are a big focus in the Australian market in particular. Luxury travel is set to outpace overall travel to Australia, thanks to increasing numbers of high net worth individuals travelling

from Asia. In the lifestyle space, we’re seeing Millennial and Gen Z travellers seeking out more than just a comfortable bed and room service burger, preferring hotels that provide flexible live, work, play spaces to maintain their routines while on the road and allow them to connect with their surrounds, all at an affordable price point. In response, we

have five new luxury hotels slated to open in Australia before 2022, including The Ritz-Carlton, Perth, The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart, W Melbourne, W Sydney and The St. Regis Melbourne.

We’re also introducing new lifestyle brands including Element and Moxy – Element Melbourne Richmond will open in June 2019; Moxy Melbourne South Yarra in 2021.

In terms of key areas, we expect to see Queensland and leisure destinations in demand over the coming years, based on 2018 performance results from Colliers and STR. However, we have a keen eye on the market across Australia and throughout the region, where our portfolio of hotels continues to outperform the market. We attribute this partially to Marriott’s revamped travel program, Marriott Bonvoy, which now has over 130 million members globally and strong growth in direct sales in the first quarter of the year, up 25 per cent over the previous quarter.

Dean Minett

Founder & Director Minnett Consulting

Over the last few years the Australian hotel industry has seen an explosion in new hotel brands. Gone are

the days when we could check the Automobile Clubs guide and look for the newest Best Western, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn or Hyatt.

In fact, most consumers today are confused by the difference between a midscale and an upscale hotel, or between upper upscale and luxury. Also

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THE DEVELOPER’S HOTELIER

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TFE Hotels is Australia’s only hotel group with in-house end-to-end development solutions. We cover everything from hotel design and construction through to management and operation services. With over 28 hotels in the pipeline, we speak the language of owners and developers, offering clear solutions and proven efficiencies at every stage of your investment.

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hotelmanagement.com.au 35

DEVELOPMENT

An artist's

confused is the hotel owner who is given choices between Moxy, Indigo, Hyatt Centric, Andaz, Holiday Inn Express, Garden Inn, Wyndham Gardens, Ovolo, Mama Shelter, Radisson Red or Blu and the list goes on.

I am often asked by developers to explain the difference between the brands and why they should choose one over the other. There is no simple answer of course, because each owner has different financial and other expectations so the response will be slightly different for each. Rest assured though, there are some similarities.

Now of course all operators have compelling stories around their brands, some of which are based around their perception of the market and some around what brands they don’t yet have represented. I am continually surprised at the difference in how each operator sees the opportunities in the same location, which ends up even more confusing to the owner.

What I can say for certain, is that most owners really don’t care what brand is on their building, as long as they have confidence in the projections to satisfy their financier. Unlike the wealthy landowners of the 18th century, very few of today’s owners are interested in building “follies” for amusement; instead they are very much focussed on building something that generates income and is saleable in a few years.

When pitching a brand then, it is worthwhile remembering this.

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Founder & Chief Executive Officer Ovolo Hotels

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In the past six years, Ovolo Group in Australia has grown from zero hotels to an award-winning collection of six design-led hotels. Who knows where the Ovolo Group will be in six years from now? Currently we have a strong presence in gateway cities or destinations in Australia and Hong Kong. We’re looking to expand further on a global scale searching for new sites in New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. On a national scale, we’ll continue to develop in urban areas then secondly leisure destinations such as the Gold Coast and Bryon Bay. What we can confirm in the pipeline is that Ovolo Group is heavily investing in Melbourne by launching Ovolo South Melbourne and our innovative project in South Yarra.

South Yarra is a social hot-spot and the Ovolo Group development will offer approximately 100 plus rooms which is an eclectic mix of sophisticated rooms and suites, ideal for young professionals and global nomads who are inspired by others on their travels.

We look beyond the yearly calendar and short-term trends. We look to the shifts in mindset, not a trend. More and more guests want to experience something more than their bed and a room. Most hotels are in the accommodation business, the Ovolo Group sell lifestyle and experience. In the past, hotels used to dictate how guests interact with Coming soon: Ovo lo S space. With the Ovolo Hotels ou th M and Mojo Nomad brands, we’ve created spaces that gives flexibility and freedom. There’s been a shift in mindset and desire for less barriers between work and play, staff

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and guests; whether it’s physical spaces, or the tone of voice in how we communicate with guests.

Mojo Nomad is a great example of this. All communal space aspirations have been fully integrated into the design of the building, along with residential areas that also include a cinema room, library, gym and lounge for residents.

Arnaud Millécamps Principal Prime Square

Construction crews have been busy in Australia lately. With 17,000 rooms currently under construction (of a total development pipeline of 53,000 across the country, the fourth biggest in the Asia-Pacific), ground has been broken for hundreds of new hotels. This means developers must fight for position in a mature market – and while there is little doubt that the physical foundations of these buildings will be solid, the real foundation of a successful hotel is a deeper question.

Many of the hotels being developed are backed by first-time hotel investors looking at diversifying their portfolio. Demand has been soaring, and the economic fundamentals remain strong. Some developers are even trying to convert new residential projects into hotels – but serious considerations should be given before venturing in the hospitality world.

Hotels are a specialist asset class and require active and specific management – many real estate investors do not really understand hotels are a 24/7 operating businesses, with each project requiring a high-level duty of care. Guests and staff need to be consistently rewarded in order for a property to thrive. It sounds simple enough, but it can only happen when there is a granular understanding of the business from the outset.

What is the past, present and future of the neighbourhood? What demographics, trends, and other building projects will impact the site?

What drives demand in a given area, and what is the existing supply?

Finding full and correct answers to these questions will influence everything from room counts and service models to hotel marketing.

Likewise, the variants around hotel finance and management call for expert scrutiny. Operating forecasts that drive shareholder decisions must be driven by realistic assumptions. The focus should be on investor and lender requirements, implementation of an appropriate asset management strategy and having a full understanding of the returns that the hotel can generate. Protecting and building value is the goal.

Operating a hotel is not rocket science, however there is still some science required, along with some art. Getting the balance right will make a key difference.

IHG’s Sydney-based Development, Design & Engineering and New Hotel Opening team

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The momentum is building with 29 hotels opening in the next few years in Australasia, and we’d love to work with existing and new partners to bring more of these great brands to the market.

To support our record growth, we’ve expanded our team in Sydney to deliver best-in-class development, design & engineering and hotel openings, which means we are fully resourced and ready to deliver.

Get in touch with our local development team today. development.ihg.com abhijay.sandilya@ihg.com

©2017 InterContinental Hotels Group. All rights reserved. Most hotels are independantly owned and operated.

DEVELOPMENT

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Founding Partner QCC Collection

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Caspar P. Schmidt

Mark Bullock

Director, Development, Australasia Radisson Hotels

We foresee opportunities across a wide range of markets in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, based on our diverse collection of brands. Tierone cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland have potential for our upper-upscale brands, including Radisson Blu and the Radisson Collection, although land prices and high supply levels will limit the scope of growth.

The brand concepts of Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson can bring international quality and facilities to tier-two cities, regional gateways and suburban areas of primary destinations. Australian cities that hold strong potential include Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, as well as Queenstown, Wellington and Christchurch across the Tasman.

Radisson RED is fulfilling the modern trend towards lifestyle hotels, with an upscale select-service concept and a focus on guest connectivity.

We envisage potential opportunities to introduce Radisson RED to a series of key CBD and suburban locations over the coming years.

In general we are experiencing higher demand for management agreements, which is based on our proven ability to drive results.

Radisson Hotel Group tends to attract developers and owners who are seeking a strong partner for a longer-term investment. Our management expertise, global reach and extensive support network can successfully maximise the value of their investment. With a range of brand concepts and business models available, we have the flexibility to meet the needs of most hotel owners.

Asia-Pacific is playing a major role in the success of “Destination 2022”, Radisson Hotel Group’s global strategic vision. Across the region, we now have 130 hotels in operation and 91 in the pipeline. With our strong presence and high brand recognition in Asia’s biggest markets, most notably China and India, we are perfectly placed to help hotels 38 HM The Business of Accommodation

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The boutique segment has si t been growing rapidly over the mp Ho res t n last five years and will continue e sion of the Adina Apartm to grow rapidly with Lifestyle and Boutique concepts combined as more owners like the individuality and hands on approach the smaller operators offer. At QCC, we firmly believe this is the future and we are building a strong pipeline of boutique hotels and resorts in main cities around APAC. Shanghai will be our first big play with three hotels in 2020. We expect to open five hotels in Asia Pacific annually from 2021 onwards and will launch our own boutique hotel brand in the next 12 months as well.

The hot markets currently are Midscale/Upscale where lots of players can become interesting as stand-alone hotels. The owners are asking more from their operators compared to 3-5 years ago and they rightly should. Having said that, room rates are under pressure due to the macro-economic environments and consumers’ changing habits where Art Series they want to experience hospitality at a reasonable price in amazing is heading to Perth settings. That’s why we launched Poshtel into the Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific markets so anyone who wants to become a hotel owner can get an opportunity to open what is referred to as the capture the wave of Asian travellers now visiting Australia, New Zealand first removable and fully sustainable hotel room for a fraction of what and the Pacific. it costs to build the traditional way. We help and advise potential buyers and the first product comes out into our markets in 2020.

Raymond Clement

Managing Director, Hotels, Asia Pacific Savills

Thanks to rapid development of technologies and data analysis that enhance information search, hotel guests nowadays have higher expectations of accommodation than before, especially luxury travelers who look for personalization and memorable experiences. In response to changing consumer preferences and needs, hotel operators today have paid more attention to boutique and lifestyle concepts instead of simply following brand standardization and offering similar products across multiple locations like before. Accor’s recent acquisition of Tribe, Hyatt acquisition of Two Road Hospitality and LVMH’s acquisition of Belmond have proved a fact that big players do not want to stay out of the game.

Based on the latest survey by Booking.com, more than 55% of surveyed travelers claim that that experiences matter more than material things on their holidays.

The growing interest in boutique and lifestyle hotels has been globally popular and Australia is not the exception. Indeed, the country has been active in developing boutique concepts recently. Sydney’s Paramount House Hotel was a good example of a boutique hotel being renovated from former headquarters of Paramount Pictures. The renovation has been successful in providing the hotel a new spirit while at the same time preserving its cultural value. Another example of transforming a heritage place into an experiential destination for travelers is the Little Albion, which is a perfect combination of a local pub and former brewery. The conversion brings in a contemporary design while at the same time appreciating the beauty of local heritage. The integration of boutique concepts in hotel development has increased its popularity not only in central cities but also in other areas. The luxury Jackalope Hotel located in the vineyards of Australia’s Mornington Peninsula is an example. The hotel is designed in an extremely dark colour with strong attention to every single detail, which creates a very new experience for guests who stay here.

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DEVELOPMENT

Chief Executive Officer TFE Hotels

The Star Entertainment Group is an Australian company. We are in the top 100 on the ASX and have around 70% of our share registry domiciled in this country – many of them mum and dad investors.

40 HM The Business of Accommodation

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Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer The Star Entertainment Group

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Matt Bekier

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TFE Hotels is in the midst of a strong expansion with more than 26 hotels in the pipeline including contemporary new properties pushing the envelope in terms of innovation and design.

TFE Hotels Collection, Adina Hotels, Travelodge Hotels and Vibe Hotels are all fast gaining momentum in Australia and New Zealand whilst TFE’s Adina Hotels brand is expanding rapidly in Europe.

TFE Hotels Collection is one TFE brand that has led the charge in experienced-based travel with the recent opening of Australia’s very first urban resort, the much-lauded Calile Hotel and the thoughtful restoration of the Savoy Hotel on Little Collins.

With TFE Hotels Collection, we have created a brand hall-marked by authenticity and provenance.

Each Collection hotel is infused with local character and charm, and each offers bespoke service and attention to the individual. And New Zealand will get its first taste in 2020 when the highly anticipated 104room Hotel Britomart opens in Auckland.

Hotel Britomart is a property that, at a third of the way through the build, is pushing boundaries in form and function to a level neverbefore-seen in New Zealand.

In Australia, TFE will launch a series of Adina properties that will impress as much for their liveability as their architectural design.

In recent years, we have invested extensively in increasing the experience, liveability and design of our Adina Hotels.

Within the next two years, you can expect to see the landmark Bates Smart-designed 220-room Adina Southbank Melbourne and the Adina Melbourne West End open. The 194-key Adina Sydney, with its four-storey sky lobby, will open in Sydney’s CBD and the 130-key Adina Canberra will set new standards in environmental design in the Nation’s capital.

In the upscale category, TFE Hotels is also turning its attention to the Next Generation of Vibe Hotels which, are continuing to set new standards in the lifestyle space.

The highly anticipated Manhattan-style Vibe Darling Harbour – TFE’s first central Sydney development in more than 10 years – will open complete with a rooftop infinity pool and a grand façade entry in September this year.

In Melbourne, the story of growth continues with the 24-storey, glassfronted Vibe Hotel Melbourne offering phenomenal views of the Yarra River and Southbank, slated to open next year. In Tasmania, the 142-key Vibe Hotel Hobart will open in 2020 and a 116-key Vibe Hotel will open in Adelaide’s eastern fringe in 2022.

In 2020, TFE Hotels will also enter the upper up-scale lifestyle space with the introduction of Quincy, a 241-key hotel in Melbourne’s Flinders Lane complete with a level 28 pool and Club Lounge, designed to appeal to youthful creatives and the young-at-heart leisure market.

Rounding out the Australasian market, the refreshing simple Travelodge Hotels brand will continue its emphasis on smart design and ensuring comfort is king.

All our interests are centred on Queensland and Sydney. What we do in these locations is build worldclass tourism and entertainment infrastructure offering authentic experiences that attract international and interstate visitors, as well as locals.

Along the way, we inject billions of dollars into the NSW and Queensland economies. In FY2018 alone we paid almost AUD$550 million in Government taxes and de M levies, more than AUD$830 million to 4300elb ou rne plus suppliers Australia wide, and almost AUD$700 million in payments to more than 9000 employees.

From a development perspective, our pipeline is compelling and exciting.

The AUD$3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf project continues to advance towards a planned opening in 2022.

Features include four hotels, more than 50 restaurants, cafes and bars, an iconic Sky Deck more than 100m above the surrounding river and CBD streetscape, and 12 football fields of open realm including a moonlight cinema. A pedestrian bridge will be built to link the property with South Bank.

On the Gold Coast, in addition to the original The Star Grand hotel and casino complex, we have committed in the past four years a further $850 million.

A luxury suite hotel, The Darling, has been completed, along with new restaurants and bars, while a Dorsett hotel tower is currently under construction and a further five-star tower is planned to commence construction next year with apartment pre-sales now underway.

A further three towers will be added if a AUD$2 billion plus expanded master plan is rolled out in full. The master plan would lift the number of restaurants, cafes and bars to around 50, while a nightclub, world-class resort amenities and tourism attractions including ziplines are also planned.

All of this makes us the largest private tourism investor in Queensland. Our eventual asset base will be AUD$9 billion. t ading Voco is he

Antony Ritch

Bob East

Chairman Tourism Australia

An unprecedented level of hotel investment in Australia’s capital cities and regions in recent years has meant that Tourism Australia’s target audience – the high-value traveller – is spoilt for choice like never before. Not only have we seen a rise in lifestyle and boutique hotels, but there has been a record injection of luxury into the market with the entry of some new big-name international hotel brands.

Queensland is a good example of where there is plenty of new product to get excited about – as Australia’s busiest hotel market of 2018, with AUD$486 million in investment and 1,615 rooms coming online. Brisbane has just welcomed its newest hotel; the AUD$100 million Art-Series Fantauzzo in the Howard Smith Wharves precinct. Until recently highend hotels were in short supply in Brisbane, but visitors now have many quality options to consider with entrants such as Fortitude Valley’s the Calile and the AUD$200 million Westin Brisbane to name a few. This development activity isn’t exclusive to the city, with the reopening of Daydream Island and Hayman Island by InterContinental set to rejuvenate our iconic Whitsundays.

DEVELOPMENT

Melbourne is on track to be one of our most active hotel markets this year, with five new luxury properties set to open over the next 18 months. Hilton will be making a comeback to Melbourne later in the year, while W Hotels will be planting its second Australian flag in the city, scheduled to open in 2020.

Melbourne’s hotel performance has remained steady against a backdrop of increased supply, thanks to a strong events calendar and growing arts scene.

Looking further south, the Baillie Group’s Remarkable Lodge – a luxury wilderness retreat on Tasmania’s southeast coast – is one to watch, with construction to commence this year. The lodge will complement Australia’s existing offerings of intimate ultra-luxury lodges in unique wilderness destinations that appeal to the discerning high-value traveller seeking a remarkable experience. When done well, these offerings help to raise awareness of once little-known regions, bringing both domestic and international acclaim.

David Wray

Senior Vice President Development Wyndham Destinations

We are really excited that we’ve already announced new projects in Adelaide, Perth and many in New Zealand this year with further announcements planned for later in the year in Melbourne and Sydney. Many of these are within a new hot market segment. We are getting significant traction with our Tryp by Wyndham brand, which offers something unique and different, as well as the ever-popular Ramada brand.

At the moment there seems to be a significant growth and focus on

mixed-use. Whether it’s a city location or a resort location, developers are incorporating retail, condos and hotels into their projects.

In terms of what agreements owners and developers desire, it remains the typical hotel management agreement but often with a twist to focus on mixed use. We are also starting to see significant interest from second-generation family developers in franchises.

Coastal and capital cities also remain the areas of most demand.

Matt Holmes

Director, Development & Acquisitions – South Pacific Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is intending to double our presence in the Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific region over the next three years. We currently have 43 properties in operation with almost 20 hotels in the confirmed pipeline.

For Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, midscale is always going to be a strong market for us. We are the global leader in the midscale sector and will continue to leverage our leadership position. This segment is always going to appeal to owners and consumers regardless of political or

economic environments and it’s the engine room for the hotel industry.

Our Ramada by Wyndham brand has enjoyed a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, which will be strengthened with new locations in South Australia, Victoria, Auckland and Queenstown. We are also continuing our rapid expansion across New Zealand with the Wyndham Garden brand and are close to announcing new hotels both in Australia and New Caledonia, which is exciting for the brand.

Whilst established, traditional brands are still in demand, the growth of lifestyle and boutique brands is certainly on the rise. Our Tryp by Wyndham brand is well positioned within that segment; the brand prides itself on taking in the local influences and experiences into the design and functionality of the hotel. In addition to Tryp by Wyndham Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, new Tryp by Wyndham hotels will soon open in North Lakes, the Gold Coast as well as Adelaide. We are also intending to introduce the brand to Melbourne and Western Australia. n

Enriching the way people live, work and play through architecture and interior design.

Proud to be the architects of Four Points by Sheraton Auckland.

Richard Dalman +64 3 366 5445

Four Points by Sheraton Auckland

design@dalman.co.nz dalman.co.nz

HM Q&A | GENERAL MANAGER

Leading by example

LOYALTY AMONG CUSTOMERS IS ONE THING BUT LONG-SERVING EMPLOYEES LIKE HILTON BRISBANE GENERAL MANAGER, CHRIS PARTRIDGE, IS LOYALTY WORTH CELEBRATING.

Hilton turns 100 this year and you’ve been with the company for over 30 yourself. What are some of your best memories in that time?

I An executive suite at Hilton Brisbane

started my journey with Hilton as an Assistant Chief Steward at Hilton Gatwick Airport and this first step after college really set the scene for some great memories. I think it is the people I have had the honour of working with that have helped create many of those pivotal moments in time.

Looking back, quite a few memories relate to major events. I think that leading the F&B team during the excitement of AFL Grand Final week at the former Hilton on the Park Melbourne has to be a favourite to be honest.

What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen come in at Hilton?

I first joined Hilton in 1984 at a time when the company was expanding around the world. I really enjoyed developing a strong peer network and working with some great hospitality professionals - some of whom, like me, are still with the company today.

As a team member of Hilton I can truly say that Hilton is a great place to work. We have seen initiatives such as Thrive at

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42 HM The Business of Accommodation

Hilton, our Team Member Value Proposition, focused on enabling Team Members to grow and flourish in Body, Mind and Spirit. The introduction of learning and development opportunities such as

the Women in Leadership Development program are also helping to ensure an environment that embraces diversity and inclusion.

How has the role of the General Manager changed over your career?

In my opinion, the role of GM hasn’t changed that much over the years. Above all, you need to be a hotelier, but there is now a greater focus on effectively managing your business to ensure all stakeholders are achieving the return they are looking for.

What would you tell yourself at the start of your Hilton career if you knew what you know now?

To be honest I wouldn’t tell myself anything different to what I did at the start. Believe in yourself, work hard, stay focused, treat people with respect and learn from as many sources as possible.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your time with Hilton so far?

To be authentic. As generations change, so must leaders.

Today’s Team Members have different expectations than those that came before. I think a leader needs to relate to the team and be available to all, something I incorporate into my role at Hilton Brisbane.

How do you expect to see Hilton or the hospitality experience to change in the next 100 years?

Hilton has been innovating for 100 years and I would expect that will continue to be the case, delivering our world-renowned Hilton hospitality and exceptional experiences to every guest, every time. Who knows, we might be serving Pina Coladas on the moon in 100 years! n

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TECHNOLOGY

Trust in Technology HOTELS ARE INCREASINGLY MODELLING TECHNOLOGY ON THAT ALREADY IN PLACE WITHIN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY. AND AS MATT LENNON DISCOVERS, HOTEL APPS ARE CONTINUING TO EVOLVE WITH GUEST EXPERIENCE AT THE FOREFRONT.

D

epending on your personal technology adoption rate, your view on how ‘appy’ or mobile-focused hotels in city and regional locations may differ. The proverbial tightrope being navigated is how much emphasis does a hotel give to a smartphone app to carry out functions that the lessregular guest may have difficulty deciphering?

Guest experience has never been more of a priority for hoteliers than it is now. But what role does technology play in that?

Features such as smartphone door locks are more prevalent in Asia than in Australia but the adoption rate gap is closing. Hotel magnates such as Dr Jerry Schwartz has his finger firmly on the pulse, having recently installed smart door locks and mobile key functionality at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.

The industry is slow to take up new technology. I think there are people that are now seeing the importance of it but hoteliers are averse to change.

The future Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour app puts everything one tap away

Loyalty, ID and Mobile Key Request data is all kept secure through the PMS 44 HM The Business of Accommodation

Unique codes between the lock and the phone mean only those with access to the phone can access the room

Mike During from GuestTraction says hotels are working to clear bottlenecks that exist in the industry in terms of the time guests would normally spend waiting at a check-in desk. Improvements in guest experience by taking away time spent waiting at a reception desk is being reflected in online reviews.

“It’s a convergence of mobile apps to CRS systems and property management systems and that also includes things like door locking systems and payment gateways,” he says. “For instance, if we do seamless entry, the engagement to make this happen and engage the guest and market to the guest starts with the reservation.

You have to have integration to the PMS (Property Management System) to enable online check-in.

Hotel companies are thinking outside the box when it comes to providing the market with alternative ways to make a reservation or proceed through to room entry. In 2018, Accor launched a ChatBot service through Facebook Messenger, allowing customers to ask questions, plan a stay and ultimately book a room through the familiarity of Messenger.

Dubbed ‘AccorBot’, the system has an extra benefit for Accor as it helps the hotel giant add to the 1.8 million fans on its Australian Facebook page. Clicking on to the page, I’m immediately greeted by AccorBot which says it loves to chat. Go figure!

Despite the innovation, During says Australia’s accommodation industry is generally slower than other parts of the world to adopt new systems.

“The industry is slow to take up new technology. I think there are people that are now seeing the importance of it but hoteliers are averse to change. But I think we’re getting to the stage where they can’t keep away from it for too much longer” he says. “ “I think that innovation will be driven more by the likes of Google. As it becomes normal within that environment, it will come through the hotels.” n

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INTERIOR DESIGN

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AS HOTEL OWNERS AND OPERATORS EXPLORE GREEN ALTERNATIVES IN HOTEL REFURBISHMENT, ONE COMPANY IS TAKING THE CONCEPT A STEP FURTHER, AS MATT LENNON UNEARTHS.

46 HM The Business of Accommodation

or fans of the classic Wall Street movie franchise, permit me to apply a modern hotel refurbishment take on an iconic Gordon Gecko phrase: ‘Green is Good’.

As far as growing trends go, one takes it to a literal level.

A number of hotels across Australia and New Zealand are investing in ‘Greenwalls’ – a modular process of dominating covering one or more walls with carefully arranged plants and greenery. In some instances, greenery can serve as an environmentally-friendly form of cladding.

Benefits of using green walls in a hotel can be numerous if used in the right ways and in the right places. Low in maintenance, they can improve the air quality in a space by absorbing pollutants, noise and generally providing a positive aesthetic impact. There’s a case to be made for using moisture-retaining plants adapted to impoverished conditions such as drought, which makes for a product capable of resisting shortterm human or mechanical failings.

Mark Paul from The Greenwall Company has installed projects at the Rydges Brisbane, Gem Hotel in Griffith and the Novotel Auckland Airport, which has a green wall two stories in height and visible from the entry.

He says the benefits to a hotel go further than simply providing an appealing visual to guests.

“Certainly, I know that in Brisbane you actually get accredited per metre of green space,” he says.

“Melbourne will do it on a case by case basis. So that means you get offset with extra stories in the building.

Overseas there’s a lot more in offsetting if you install greenery but it’s only just starting to happen in Australia.”

In terms of key considerations, Paul says there are several depending on whether your wall will be inside or outside.

“Exterior ones, I always think, make a bigger impact and it’s essentially a garden. Yearly maintenance costs are generally between two per cent and about 12 per cent of the install costs. Exterior walls are a lot less

INTERIOR DESIGN

needy than interior walls in terms of light, water and air movements. Be mindful of insect nests that may build up unless they have very good air movement on them.

I suppose they’re some of the considerations. If you’re going to do an interior one, put it nearer the windows or if it has a skylight associated with it, you can get rid of the lighting costs which is a major consideration for indoors” he says.

Indoor green walls also have the issue of drainage, which Paul says can be mitigated in the event it is placed near a pond or water feature. Bringing water in carries with it utility costs such as water and power. A kitchen pump unit is a potential solution where the water can be pumped in and out through the ceiling.

“It’s something you can retrofit but there is much less expense involved if it is actually designed with the building in the first place” he says.

Green walls can make for a nice entryway display

Clifford Rip from Suede Interior Design is seeing sustainability being applied more for his clients in terms of water, lighting and F&B services.

“We are developing F&B designs and concepts, focusing on sustainability and coming up with concepts to use sustainable sources and sustainable waste” he says.

“We don’t get too involved with waste but we help them with that. We are trying to figure out ways that in our designs we can use materials and methods that are more sustainable than the old ways.

“It is more expensive as it is specialised. Some hotels are paying, some hotels aren’t willing to pay yet. We are moving away from some materials that are harmful to the environment and for the individuals that work with it. So we are finding alternatives – we are using more natural materials. Then there’s the maintenance behind it – so we are looking for products that are maintenance friendly and are sustainable in a long-term view.” n

Exterior walls are a lot less needy than interior walls in terms of light, water and air movements.

Mark Paul, Founder, The Greenwall Company

HM x REWARD GROUP PROMOTION

REFURBISHMENTS

Refurbishing with success The road to successful refurbishments starts at the beginning We all love a great transformation. Given the vast number of renovation shows on TV these days, it is obvious that Australians love improving our properties. Just like our desire to improve the look and function of our residential homes, hotel managers, operators and owners must continue to innovate and refurbish to stay up to date with current trends and design to ensure maximum occupancy year round.

A much higher level of planning and execution is required to refurbish a hotel requiring expert assistance and planning. This is not a quick turnaround to find one buyer, like many of those TV shows. Refurbishing a hotel demands an expert team by your side. Each and every guestroom, all public spaces and lobby will be seen and judged by thousands of guests, staff and management. Every element needs to stand the test of time, and use by huge numbers of guests.

The other major consideration is of commercial significance – hotels are a business that needs to continue operating and selling rooms whilst the construction takes place. This means the hotel lobby cannot look like a construction site, guests should be able to move safely throughout the hotel and not be interrupted during their stay. A very detailed

schedule outlining when and how tools, equipment, materials and workers can be moved through the hotel, when noise can be made and how to access construction areas is required. Sometimes it means a heavier workload during the time between check-out and check-in, working in with housekeeping and management to minimise disruptions for guests.

A successful renovation sees a significant return on investment for the relevant stakeholders. To achieve the maximum impact, it is imperative that you have the right team by your side with substantial experience in refurbishing operating hotels.

Reward Group has been the leader in refurbishments and fit-outs of some of Australia’s top hotels. With over 15 years experience and a wealth of knowledge, the expert team at Reward Group partner with their clients to deliver high quality projects on time and on budget, with meticulous planning and execution.

www.reward.com.au info@reward.com.au +61 29669 4122 @rewardgroup

hotelmanagement.com.au 47

ROOMS DIVISION Outsourcing is a key to success for hotels

to hospitality FINDING STAFF FOR OPERATIONAL ROLES SUCH AS HOUSEKEEPING, F&B AND OTHERS IS APPROACHING CRISIS POINT, AS MATT LENNON DISCOVERS.

C

oncerted efforts are underway both in Australia and New Zealand to address not just the skills shortage among key trades and industries, but to encourage young people and their influencers to think again about tourism and hospitality as a career choice.

For recruitment firms such as AHS Hospitality, Executive General Manager Kylie Maxwell says that efforts need to be increased to turn around the idea that a career in tourism or hospitality is more than short-term and low-paid.

“I don’t think there’s enough government funding for TAFE and institutions like that. When I was coming through, there were great opportunities and great TAFE courses. There were career opportunities in hospitality, and I think these days people see a job in a hotel might be part time while they’re studying rather than really a fantastic career that can give you opportunities, not just locally but internationally as well.

“I think that’s where people don’t see it as a real career opportunity anymore. It’s just a filler while they’re usually studying or working out what they want to do next.”

AHS is currently piloting a new program in New Zealand whereby it has partnered with a hotel management school to assist students with applying for working visas in Australia where they can come and work for a six-month period.

48 HM The Business of Accommodation

AHS Hospitality Executive GM, Kylie Maxwell LUXXE Outsourced Hotel Services CEO, Craig Coughlin

Efforts such as the Accommodation Association of Australia’s recently formed National Employment Advisory Board are a step in the right direction. Clearly united in this fight, representatives from a variety of hotel brands, government departments and supporting businesses will work to ensure vacancies are better promoted to young and mature-age workers through employment services. Candidates will be assisted in securing interviews and identifying opportunities, while employers will be assisted with training and providing mentoring and guidance to young workers.

Another pertinent issue affecting the outsourcing sector, particularly in housekeeping, is efficiency. While some hotels are at the forefront of providing their operational teams with adequate technology to perform their duties, others are failing to keep up and this is costing money.

Craig Coughlin from LUXXE Outsourced Hotel Services says some hotels are still printing 80 to 100 pieces of paper each day to manually monitor housekeeping processes and this is costing them money.

“You can analyse time and motion studies. You can look at people’s workflows. But there comes a point when you’ve done that, then when you overlay technology over the top, you can actually get more efficiencies. There’s other cost savings, as well. It’s more environmentally friendly.

“It helps us make smarter decisions in regard to the movement of our people. As opposed to at the beginning of the day, seven o’clock, printing off the report and then giving it to the room attendant. Hotels change dramatically throughout the day, and when they have a piece of paper that’s five hours old by midday, it’s not relevant. So, there’s a lot of time wasted with supervisors and managers walking around updating people’s workloads.”

HUMAN RESOURCES

Hostplus Financial Year update

PAUL WATSON, GROUP EXECUTIVE, MEMBER EXPERIENCE, HOSTPLUS HOSTPLUS’ INVESTMENT STRATEGY is based on the long-term with 10 and 20-year performance objectives.

The main driving force behind Hostplus’ leading performance has been its investment strategy that is based on 10 and 20-year investment objectives. Our Balanced Investment Option continues to perform exceptionally well over the long run and according to the Super Ratings SR50 Survey (as at 31st of March) our Balanced Investment Option is ranked No.1 over rolling three, five and seven years and No.2 over 15 and 20 years.

We are very proud that our Balanced Investment Option – our default option in which the majority of our members are invested – continues to exceed its investment objectives; being CPI plus three per cent per annum on average over 10 years and CPI plus four per cent per annuum over 20 years.

We have an ambitious agenda of initiatives and

innovative product launches planned for 2019/20.

These include launching our app on Sept 19; re-platforming our CRM systems to provide us even greater insights into and service delivery capability for our clients; we’ve recently upgraded our claims management tool to provide a better and more frictionless claims experience for members; we formally launched our pooled super trust product for SMSF in late May, This will allow SMSF owners to invest alongside Hostplus members in some of our most popular and distinctive investment options; around September we also expect to launch a new and very innovative retirement option; and on the investment front, we will continue to meet and accommodate our ongoing growth through continuing to build and invest in our relationships with best-of-breed fund and asset managers in Australia and internationally.

Intrust Super Financial Year update BRENDAN O’FARRELL, CEO, INTRUST SUPER

SHARE MARKETS HAVE steadied following a particularly unpredictable period late last year. We probably haven’t seen the last of market volatility in 2019. But it’s been great to have seen some really strong growth and positive returns in recent months.

Superannuation is a massive honey pot and is continuously an area which has the eye of any government. The industry is used to tinkering and Intrust Super is always prepared to deal with the cards dealt by the government of the day.

The recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and

Financial Services Industry have featured heavily in this year’s election campaigns. I suspect the financial services industry could be headed for a major overhaul, regardless of the election results. The Fund is well prepared for change, having already established robust systems and governance.

The Fund also continues to build on its reputation as one of the leading innovative funds in the industry. The introduction of the SuperCents app and Super Blueprint advice tool is very exciting and will add value to our overall member offering and ensure our innovative reputation continues.

Quattro Risk Services Financial Year update DONALD MITCHELL-INNES, HEAD OF BROKING, QUATTRO RISK SERVICES QUATTRO RISK SERVICES are the pre-eminent insurance brokers to the hospitality sector, having taken a market-leading position back in 1997. Based on our wealth of knowledge, we understand both client and insurer expectations and are familiar with the risks associated with the industry.

The years 2017 and 2018 rank as some of the worst years on record for natural catastrophes, with global insured losses exceeding US$230 billion for the 24-month period. The Australian market has not been immune to claims, with several recent catastrophes including Sydney’s December hailstorm and the Townsville floods each costing insurers in excess of A$1 billion.

With insurers holding the whip hand and having the ability to be selective in the risks that they write,

it’s imperative that clients work with their broker to best position themselves in the market.

In providing comprehensive underwriting information well in advance of renewal, brokers are empowered to “sell” a risk to the market rather than accept terms dictated by insurers.

With a large portfolio of clients in the hospitality sector, and a team of seasoned brokers, Quattro Risk Services is well positioned to navigate our clients through this challenging insurance market environment and achieve the best available cost and cover. We partner with our clients in insurance and risk so that they understand their exposures as they may impact on reputation as well as ensuring that operational risks and exposures are identified and protected. hotelmanagement.com.au 49

PEOPLE

ON THE MOVE Your update on the latest key personnel movements across the hotel industry

Ribhu Chatterjee has commenced in his new role as General Manager at Hyatt Regency Perth. Bringing nearly three decades in GM roles with IHG and also experience with Stamford Hotels and Resorts, Chatterjee’s new role sees him relocate from Sydney and a previous role as GM of Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport. Holding a Degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi, the Indian native – the son of an army colonel and doctor – brings a track record of excellence and results.

Hotel and guest experience software solutions innovator FCS has recruited Kristin Carville as its new Sales Director for Australia and New Zealand.

Tasked with growing the brand’s footprint in both markets, Carville will bring his passion for people and operational systems to help to deploy Property Management software and back-end software to new and existing clients. Carville joins the brand from Mantra Group where he held the role of General Manager of BreakFree on George.

Bringing over 15 years’ experience in hotel development, operations and corporate sales, Tushar Raniga has joined the team at Hilton as its new Director Development, Australasia to help the organisation double its regional footprint over the next five years across Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn and other brands. Raniga will work alongside Hilton Vice President, Development, Rob Scullin to support the growth objectives. Most recently, he held the role of Area Vice President, Development for Next Story Group.

Based in the Gold Coast office, Grant Bailey has become the newest member of the Colliers International team in its Hotels Transaction Services team.

Formerly of HTL Property, Bailey will initially take charge of Management and Letting Rights for accommodation, starting in Queensland and eventually expanding the platform nationwide. Bailey brings nearly two decades of experience in the real estate industry across multiple asset classes.

Heading up the coast after three years at Wyndham Suites Sydney, Malik Hayat has been named as the new Resort Manager at Ramada Resort by Wyndham Coffs Harbour. During his time in Sydney, Hayat was known as being a customer-centric team member who focused on positive outcomes for everybody and building a collaborative working team. Other achievements included scoring highly on occupational health and safety assessments, customer feedback forms and even reducing the hotel’s operating costs.

Already boasting 19 years of history with Hilton, Rupert Hallam has joined the team at Hilton Adelaide as the property’s new General Manager. British by birth, Hallam says he fell in love with South Australia 12 years ago during a threemonth secondment. Speaking of his new role, Hallam says he is aiming to drawing on his experience with Hilton to increase the hotel’s deliverables and guest programs.

50 HM The Business of Accommodation

Ahead of the opening of Bailey – its second hotel in Cairns – Crystalbrook Collection has named Carl Taranto as the property’s maiden General Manager. Moving across from the pre-opening team at its predecessor Riley, Taranto brings more than 20 years’ experience in the hotel industry to his new role.

His duties in leading the hotel will include ensuring the delivery of the brand’s personality and managing performance of both the hotel and its three restaurants.

Bailey opens to guests in September 2019.

Hobart’s newest boutique hotel, Moss, is now open to guests under the experienced eye of General Manager, Rod Black. Set in the Georgian sandstone warehouses that line the harbourfront, Black brings two decades of history in the industry to the role, with prior management roles at GM at Orpheus Island on the Great Barrier Reef and Cypress Lakes Resort in the Hunter Valley. Most recently, Black has overseen Hobart’s Henry Jones Art Hotel, in which time the property has won numerous awards.

Bringing experience in top-tier resorts, leadership and management as well as fluency in three languages, Frans Westraadt has been named as the new General Manager of Six Senses Fiji.

Westraadt moves across to the Fijian paradise after five years with Six Senses, working as the Resident Manager at Six Senses Laamu and Six Senses Yao Noi in Thailand. In his career, he has also looked after resorts in the Maldives, Seychelles and Namibia. The accomplished GM also holds a private pilot licence and one day hopes to track down and view polar bears in the wild.

Architect Tracey Wiles has joined the team at Woods Bagot as the organisation’s new Regional Interior Design Leader for Australia and New Zealand.

F THE VIEW O MENT E R L L U P YOUR F TEL DEVELO HO N I T E NEXT S H LATE LLS: T HOTEL A W N GREE S END IN BIG TR RBISHMENT U F RE

THE BU N Vol. 23

O OF ACC SINESS ly June 2019

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HM, now in its 23rd year, is the leading accommodation trade magazine in the region and is distributed to most large accommodation properties in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Noumea, Vanuatu and Tahiti.

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