CONFRENCES: AHICE

RECHARGED FOR GROWTH

AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF OPTIMISM PREVAILED AT AHICE 2022, WITH THE INDUSTRY EAGER TO COLLABORATE TO DRIVE BETTER OUTCOMES FOR ALL.

Over 1200 hotel industry professionals came together for the 13th annual Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE) held in Adelaide in May, which was opened by South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas.

In his welcome message, the Premier said he is excited to see continued growth in hotel accommodation in South Australia and Adelaide.

“We are excited about the prospect of continuing to see the growth in hotel accommodation– not just here in the city but also throughout our regions in South Australia,” he said.

“My government is committed to seeing that growth being very much a partnership between private capital but also a government that is keen to be an enabler in every sense to accelerate that investment.”

The Premier also spoke about growing employment in the state to allow citizens to enjoy “the dignity that work provides”.

“It’s a labour-intensive industry and that means a lot of dignity being provided to so many people that work in the hospitality sector,” he said.

“That’s why we as a government want to continue to grow employment in our state. We want this industry to thrive here in our state; I want more South Australians experiencing and enjoy all the deputy that work provides.”

A NEW VOICE FOR THE INDUSTRY

A top talking point throughout the conference was the launch of industry association AccommodationAustralia. This new body will represent Australia’s accommodation sector following the amalgamation of Accommodation Association and the Australian HotelAssociation’s Tourism Accommodation Australia, which is expected to be completed later this year.

Event Hospitality CEO Jane Hastings speaking with HM’s James Wilkinson at AHICE 2022

IHG Hotels and Resorts SVP Managing Director –JAPAC, Leanne Harwood, has been named as President of the amalgamated organisation’s Executive Committee, while Marriott International Area Vice President of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific, Sean Hunt, will be Vice President. Hotelier and TFE Hotels IndependentCompany Director, Bruce Copland, will take up the position of Treasurer.

When asked who will take up the position of Accommodation Australia CEO, President Leanne Harwood said:

“We will be going out to market. We’ve come with a recruitment agency right now and we’re working towards looking at who that individual will be. It is a fully transparent and fair process that we’re undertaking.”

A common theme throughout the many panel discussions at AHICE was the importance of collaboration and uniting the industry as one voice to tackle issues such as employment, skills shortages and sustainability, and the important role the association will have in this.

GLOBAL LEADERS

A number of global CEOs flew in to attend the event in person including IHG CEO – EMEAA, Kenneth Macpherson, who is based in London; Outrigger CEO Jeff Wagoner (based in Honolulu); Hilton President – Asia Pacific Alan Watts (Singapore); Marriott International President – Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), Rajeev Menon (Singapore); Far East Hospitality CEO, Arthur Kiong (Singapore); LWT Asia Pacific, Leader, Satoshi Konagai (Singapore); and Pro-invest Group Co-Founders RonaldBarrott and Dr Sabine Schaffer (Dubai and London).

During a panel discussion on sustainability, ProinvestManaging Partner, Sabine Schaffer, talked about how sustainability should not just be reserved for luxury brands. “Sustainability needs to be something that goes throughout - it goes through all of our work streams and work processes within the company - and from my perspective, it has to go from the select-service hotel until all the way up to luxury,” she said.

“Does the end consumer wish to pay more? If you look at surveys, they say that they’re happy to pay up to 20% more for a sustainable stay at an express hotel, and they do spend about 30% more in general. This year in particular, after COVID, everybody’s very conscious about where the money goes, but it certainly pays off.”

Industry leaders flocked to the Adelaide Oval for AHICE 2022

IHG’s Macpherson discussed the wellness trend that is becoming an all-important factor for travellers “Building in wellness as part of what many of the brands are going to have to offer will be an increasing part of what we need to do in the industry, and we’re doing that,” he said.

“The sustainability part is going to be vital for us as an industry and we’ve tackled that with our Journey to Tomorrow - that’s talking about people, communities and planets and making very significant commitments on that. So that’s going to be really key. The [Even] brand speaks to that, and that’s accelerated in the US and China at the moment. We’re just refining that before we take it to market.”

Outrigger CEO Jeff Wagoner touched on geospatial learnings from a recent McKinsey study that the company did. The study tracked cell phone pings of travellers when they returned to the US mainland after travelling to Hawaii to better understand the other locations that are of interest to resort traveller.

“It’s a little freaky,” Wagoner said of the power of the technology.

“What we learned was the first place they went to after Hawaii was San Diego, the second was Miami. And so, we are looking in Southern California and we are looking at Miami [for future properties]. Miami that would be an awesome launchpad into the Caribbean for us, and we’re also looking at a property right no win Cabo.”

Sustainability, wellness and training were big talking points at this year’s conference

Marriott’s Rajeev Menon discussed the company’s impressive Q1 results. The company reported a global RevPAR increase of 96.5% compared to the first quarter of 2021.“It was an exceptional quarter,” Menon said.“Tony announced that we are reinstating our dividends in the second quarter which is incredible from a shareholder point of view. We’re going to start buying back shares; our EPS earnings, incredible, 35 times overestimate.

“The big announcement was that the US, which is the biggest market with over 5000 hotels, in April RevPARwas flat to 2019. And the company is very optimistic about our booking pace for the future. So, from our perspective, be it the US or Asia side markets like Australia, India, some of the other markets that have opened up, we've stopped talking about recovery to ‘19, we are talking about growth versus ‘19, which is incredible.”

CRITICAL THINKING ON DIVERSITY

Keynote speaker, Anyier Yuol, Founder and CEO of MissSahara and Anyier Model Management, spoke to the industry about the importance of gender and cultural diversity in every aspect of business.

AFL legend Gavin Wanganeen spoke discovering art after footy

Born in a Kenyan refugee camp and having moved toAustralia at the age of 10, Yuol is an advocate for women’sand girls’ rights and gender equality.

“It is important that when we think about diversity, we’re not just looking from an agenda-only perspective,” she told delegates.

“You are here today because you work in a global industry. You are that example that will attract the next generation to this industry. I don’t have to be in the industry to tell you how important that is.”

Another keynote speaker was AFL legend Gavin Wanganeen, who was the first Indigenous player to receive the Brownlow Medal. He spoke about discovering his passion for art and pushing past the boundaries and expectations he and others had of himself. He is now an acclaimed Indigenous artist.

“Over the course of my journey in footy, I had the belief because I had the talent – and it was easy for me to go out on the weekend and perform in front of 50,000 people,” he said.

Anyier Yuol challenged delegates to think about diversity in their business

“Starting something new, that I had no control over, [was much more challenging], but it was the self-belief and determination to never give up that helped me become an artist that is booked out for a year.”

The AHICE conference will return to Adelaide for the third consecutive year in May 2023.

A message from AHICE 2022 Co-Host South Australian Tourism Commission

IN A MAJOR show of confidence for the return of business travel and tourism, the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) has confirmed that Adelaide will host the 2023 Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE).

Hosting Australia’s major hotel conference in early May was a great coup for the nation’s most liveable city, with more than 1200 delegates from over 40 countries attending.

SATC chief executive Rodney Harrex said the announcement to host AHICE for the third consecutive year demonstrates the confidence the industry has in Adelaide’s hotel sector, which has gone from strength to strength.

“The 2022 conference was vital for the recovery of South Australia’s $2 billion business events sector, as leading hoteliers and industry experts were inspired by our city’s bright future, creating an immediate economic impact for our state,” he said.

“Despite disruption from the pandemic, South Australia has recorded strong investment in hotels and occupancy rates that are among the highest in the nation and reaching record highs.

“We’ve seen new hotels open including the Crowne Plaza, Eos by SkyCity, Majestic M Suites, Hotel Indigo and Sofitel, adding a combined nearly 1,000 rooms to our CBD – and we still hit all-time highs for the number of rooms occupied.” In April, Adelaide accommodation saw nightly room occupancy reach the best result since the pandemic started and the third-highest month on record. This was thanks to major events, such as AHICE, driving visitation to SA. Adelaide hoteliers also enjoyed the strongest week on record for room nights occupied in April – both pre and post-pandemic.

Thank you to the organisers, sponsors and delegates for supporting Adelaide as the host city for AHICE.

South Australia looks forward to welcoming you back for another world-class event in 2023.