GENERAL SESSION

Welcome Back

Jonathan Langston – Chair, IHIF Advisory Board

Jonathan Langston

Chair, IHIF Advisory Board

Jonathan is a renowned industry commentator who specialises in market demand, financial feasibility studies, strategic planning, and product development. He advises on a wide range of projects from the development of individual budget hotels to multi-component urban and leisure resorts as well as market entry and development strategies.
Jonathan has held roles at COO, CBRE Hotels and Managing Director of and the major shareholder in TRI Hospitality Consulting, a position he held from 1996 up to the time that the firm was acquired by CBRE Hotels.
Jonathan is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and of the Tourism Society, a member of the Editorial Board of Hospitality Magazine as well as a Patron of The Edge Hotel School. A graduate of the University of Surrey at which he has held posts of Industrial Fellow and Visiting Fellow, he returns to lecture undergraduates and postgraduates.
He is also a frequent commentator on the industry in the press and broadcast media and a regular speaker, moderator and panelist at conferences.

The View from Outside: Customer experience and performing in a changing market

Sharing experiences from leading the Time Out brand into digital transformation, and becoming Creative Director of a banking brand.

Tim Arthur – Creative Director, Need To Know Club, and former Creative Director of Virgin Money and CEO of Time Out

Tim Arthur

Creative Director, Need To Know Club, and former Creative Director of Virgin Money and CEO of Time Out

Tim Arthur is the Creative Director of Need To Know Club and former Creative Director at Virgin Money and former Global CEO of Time Out. His varied career has taken in playwriting, running a charity, journalism, and presenting on BBC Radio London.
After working as an Artistic Director in regional theatres Tim became the CEO of Cardboard Citizens, a charity that works with and for homeless people using performance and theatre to develop skills, share stories and work with the community. He then entered the world of
journalism, becoming Time Out’s UK Content Director. He was appointed the listing and city guide publisher’s Global CEO as the print industry struggled to cope with online platforms. To answer the threat he made the publication free and transformed their digital content strategy and accessibility. He put the company on a safe footing, focusing on digital revenue and brand extensions.
At Virgin Money, Tim embraced a remit encompassing brand, marketing, digital and customer experience. As a challenger brand, in an industry whose reputation had been severely battered by the financial crisis, he helped make it one of the most trusted and human banks in the UK.
Tim takes a customer-centric approach to company strategies, arguing that it is both within a company’s commercial interest and their social responsibility to express their core nature through their brand. He considers how creativity within the workplace needs to be given its
own platform and be fundamental to a company’s culture. He examines how both creativity and diversity are primary drivers of smart disruption and sustainable innovation, and the connection between the people within the company and those that rely on them to look after their financial wellbeing.

From the Inside Looking Out: CEO to CEO

A conversation between two CEOs on leading performance through innovation and opening up to models outside of traditional hospitality.

Sébastien Bazin – Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels

Sébastien Bazin

Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels

After five years working in several financial positions in New York, San Francisco and London, Sébastien Bazin was appointed CEO of Hottinguer Rivaud Finances, an investment bank, in 1990, and then CEO of L’Immobilière Hôtelière, a hotel developer in France, in 1992. In 1997, he moved to Colony Capital, a private real estate investment firm, to head up its European branch and lead several acquisitions, principally in the hospitality sector (Générale des Eaux, Club Méditerranée, Lucien Barrière, Fairmont & Raffles, Buffalo Grill, Château Lascombes, Stadia Consulting and others).

He joined Accor’s Board of Directors in 2005 and, via Colony Capital, became a Paris Saint-Germain shareholder in 2006 and the club’s Chairman in 2009.

In August 2013, he resigned from his duties at Colony Capital and was appointed Chairman and CEO of AccorHotels.

Sébastien has been Chairman of the Théâtre du Châtelet’s Board of Directors since 2015 (and a Board member since 2013), is Vice-Chairman of the Gustave Roussy Foundation’s Supervisory Board, and has been a member of GE’s Board of Directors since 2016.

Mark Okerstrom – President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia Group, Inc.

Mark Okerstrom

President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia Group, Inc.

Mark D. Okerstrom is President and Chief Executive Officer of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) which operates a portfolio of over 200 of the world’s leading online travel sites and related travel services across 75 countries around the globe including Expedia, Hotels.com, Expedia Partner Solutions, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, CheapTickets, ebookers, CarRentals.com, Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Wotif, Egencia, HomeAway and trivago. Okerstrom is a member of the Board of Directors of Expedia Group and also is a member of the Supervisory Board of Directors of trivago N.V. (NASDAQ: TRVG).
Prior to his appointment to the position of President and CEO in August 2017, Okerstrom served as Expedia Group’s Executive Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer, overseeing all aspects of finance, corporate strategy, M&A, and Expedia Group’s eCommerce Platform Group. He first joined the company in 2006, and in 2009 he was appointed to the position of Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Development and Strategy where he led Expedia Group’s global M&A activity around the world. In 2011 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer and added all Global Finance functions to his areas of responsibility. In 2014 he was elevated to the position of EVP of Operations and CFO, adding oversight of Expedia Group’s eCommerce Platform team to his remit.
Prior to joining Expedia Group, Okerstrom was a consultant with Bain & Company in Boston and San Francisco, and worked for UBS Investment Bank in London. Prior to that, Okerstrom practiced as an attorney with the global law firm of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London.
Okerstrom earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Harvard Business School and holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of British Columbia.

A Brave New World: What Are the Opportunities in Alternative Models?

Now that hotels have gone mainstream, what are the most attractive alternatives within hotel categories to invest in? Examining the business behind the concepts of hostels, serviced apartments, resorts, co-living, co-working, extended stay, student accommodation and more.

Moderator:

Russell Kett – Chairman, HVS - London Office

Russell Kett

Chairman, HVS - London Office

Russell Kett is Chairman of the London office of HVS, the leading global specialist hotel valuation, consulting, asset management and brokerage firm, which he joined in 1995.
Russell has 40+ years' specialist hotel consultancy, investment and real estate experience, focused on providing valuation, feasibility, property, brokerage, investment, asset management, strategy and related consultancy services, advising hotel, serviced apartments and hostel companies, banks, developers and investors on all aspects of their hospitality industry related interests, throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.
He is a frequent writer, moderator and speaker on the international hotel industry, especially on topics relating to hotel valuation, investment, marketing and finance. Russell received a Lifetime Achievement Award from HOSPA in 2011 and the ‘Hall of Fame’ Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hot.E hotel investment conference in London in 2017. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the International Hotel Investment Council.
He celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary in June 2018 and is blessed with two children and three grandchildren.

In conversation with:

Marloes Knippenberg – CEO of International Hospitality Development, Kerten Capital

Marloes Knippenberg

CEO of International Hospitality Development, Kerten Capital

Marloes Knippenberg is Cloud Executive Officer (CEO) of the brand new Cloud.7 Hotels, a dynamic and innovative new hotel management company and concept, with hotels developed for the curious and connected travellers of today.

The Cloud.7 brand pillars are based on a mission to delight both the introvert and extrovert, bringing together comfortable cosy ‘clouds’ – the rooms - with Cloud.7’s unique social and sharing environments and the newest technology, all gathered around the maximisation of profitability per square meter for the owners.

Cloud.7 is launching its first hotel in Istanbul, Turkey with plans to sign 15 new hotel property deals in the next two years to expand the hotel group into Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Middle East, areas where the demand for new concepts is growing faster than supply.

Marloes started her career with Hilton's award-winning fast track program, after which she successfully held senior operational & commercial management positions in Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, leaving Hilton in 2013 to become an entrepreneur. Testing the waters, she partnered with a Venetian Contessa and developed a line of Italian products for the American and Middle Eastern market. Following its success, she returned to hospitality where her heart and expertise lays, and developed & launched the new concept Cloud.7 hotels with a young, expert and tech savvy team.

Dynamic, passionate and dedicated to delivering results, Marloes now is focussed on bringing to life the 15 Cloud.7 properties which are defined by an affordable but aspirational hotel experience for both investors and guests.

Rainer Nonnengässer – Chief Executive Officer, International Campus GmbH

Rainer Nonnengässer

Chief Executive Officer, International Campus GmbH

Rainer Nonnengässer (born 1963) is CEO at International Campus Group since January 2019.
International Campus (IC) is a developer, investor and operator of innovative Student Housing and Co-living environments. Under its brand THE FIZZ, the company offers a home, innovative services and the opportunity to experience a vibrant community. The portfolio of the group of companies currently comprises around 12,000 residential units in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Czechia, Hungary and Poland.
Before Nonnengaesser was CEO Micro-Living at MPC (Staytoo). He has more than 20 years experience in the real estate industry. After working at the investment company Union Investment, the trained banker held various management positions and board positions within the AXA Group since 1998. From 2010 to 2013 Mr. Nonnengässer was CEO of YOUNIQ AG (one of the market leaders for student housing). He has directed all project development, asset management, sale & purchase activities and was in charge of ongoing improvement of operational processes and operational management of student accommodation sites. Mr. Nonnengässer was responsible for investor relations and institutional clients. Experience of development of 1,870 student apartments on 9 sites; approx. 3,000 units under management.

Kike Sarasola – President and Founder Room Mate Group

Kike Sarasola

President and Founder Room Mate Group

Kike is a trendsetting pioneer in the tourist industry thanks to his visionary, disruptive and rebellious character. It all began over 10 years ago when he created Room Mate Hotels as an extension of what was to become his most renowned formula: “the 3B’s”: Bed, Bath, Breakfast. The idea of affordable luxury right smack in the center of the most important cities in the world was the formula for success at Room Mate Hotels, now present in Europe and America with 1.500 rooms and 1.600 about to open in the next 18 months.

In 2014, Sarasola turned it up a notch and challenged the entire industry with the creation of Be Mate, a breakthrough company offering the freedom of an apartment combined with the services and safety of a hotel. Kike broke all the rules in the hospitality sector by bringing to life a new business model that his professional colleagues viciously rejected. Three years later, many followed suit.

In 2017, convinced that happiness is profitable, Kike launches his newest business venture:
X-Perience, which consists in sharing the “key factors” of the successful business model of Room Mate with those hoteliers that are seeking to improve their business in this new digital era, becoming part of the X-Perience community.

Kike competed as an Olympic equestrian in Atlanta, Barcelona and Sydney and still maintains Spain’s record in his specialty; he authored the acclaimed book, More Ideas, Less MBA’s; starred in the Spanish version of the TV program “Hotel Hell” and is regarded as one of Spain’s most influential business people in social media. Furthermore, over the past year, Sarasola has been invited to lecture at over 100 conferences worldwide.

All of the above has led to several international recognitions, including but not limited to the 2017 European Gold Medal for Merit at Work and the 2015 Medal for Tourist Accomplishments granted by the Spanish Council of Ministers.

Oliver Winter – CEO and co-founder, a&o Hostels

Oliver Winter

CEO and co-founder, a&o Hostels

The hotel business newcomer has established his budget-chain concept as a sure-fire success across Germany. With the entry of TPG Real Estate, a&o paves the way for a Europe-wide market leadership in the individual and youth travel segment. At the same time, Oliver Winter continues to look after the representation and strength of his brand and the well-being of the employees who lead a&o to success - always best price on aohostels.com

Young Leader Award

Presented by

Alexi H. Khajavi – Managing Director EMEA & Chair of Hospitality + Travel Group, Questex LLC

Alexi H. Khajavi

Managing Director EMEA & Chair of Hospitality + Travel Group, Questex LLC

Alexi Khajavi is Managing Director of the EMEA region and Chairs the Hospitality & Travel Group for Questex LLC. He is responsible for the overall management and development of the company’s global hospitality and destination communications properties and events including the Hotel Management Group, the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) Summit Series, Destination Develop and Destination Development Investment Services, HOTEC and other destination and hotel investment events in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Khajavi, who brings more than 17 years of travel, hospitality and marketing and sales experience to his position, joined Questex in 2014 as senior managing director of Destination Develop, a new digital media platform covering global tourism industry investment opportunities at the destination level, and Destination Develop Investment Services, an in-house agency that develops marketing and matchmaking campaigns and services for destinations and private-sector businesses in tourism looking for investment.
Prior to joining Questex, Khajavi was senior vice president, global strategy, for MercuryCSC, a creative agency specializing in the travel industry where he helped grow the firm’s billings four-fold and designed global marketing campaigns for travel companies, tourism boards and airlines. Prior to MercuryCSC, he was one of the founding team members of the travel consortium Nature Group located in Central America and helped guide the airline and hospitality portfolio in being the fastest growing travel company in Central America between 2003 and 2010.

Elizabeth Randall-Winkle – Chief Strategy Officer, STR

Elizabeth Randall-Winkle

Chief Strategy Officer, STR

Elizabeth Randall-Winkle, Chief Strategy Officer, is responsible for the development and execution of the organization’s strategic initiatives. Randall-Winkle has held several positions within the STR enterprise. Most recently serving as Managing Director for the organization’s global expansion and operations outside of North America. Elizabeth also served as Director of Operations. Elizabeth is active in the industry, speaking at international conferences and participating on panels at various events. Elizabeth was invited to take part in the Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series (DDLS) at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration (SHA) in 2011 and at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in 2012.
Elizabeth joined STR from the financial services industry, having served as Interim President/CEO for Pasadena Federal Credit Union in California after previously serving as Vice President, Member Services for the $120 Million organization.
Ms. Randall-Winkle serves on the Board of Directors of STR Global, Ltd. (trading as STR), International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) and HSMAI Foundation. She is also a member of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce International Business Council Advisory Board and AHLEF Research & Project Funding Committee.
Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

Adapting to Survive & Thrive: Hear from the CEOs Leading the Change

Five hospitality CEOs share their visions on how global hotel groups are adapting to changing economic conditions, travel trends, operational requirements, labour markets etc. How well do they know their customers, how can they serve their needs better? What can brands deliver in the future?

Moderator

Kevin E. Mallory – Global Head, Senior Managing Director, CBRE Hotels

Kevin E. Mallory

Global Head, Senior Managing Director, CBRE Hotels

Kevin Mallory is Senior Managing Director and Global Head for CBRE Hotels. In this position, Mallory oversees CBRE's activity in the lodging sector including: transaction, asset management, advisory, and capital market services.
Prior to joining CBRE, Mallory was Senior Vice President of Hyatt Development Corporation. In that capacity, he was responsible for all acquisition and investment activity, investment management, business development, and property development for the company.
Before joining Hyatt, Mallory was a Principal to Lend Lease Real Estate Investments. He was responsible for all lodging related capital transactions as well as the company's asset management function.
Before joining Lend Lease, Mallory was a founding executive and COO at Starwood Lodging Corporation, where his responsibilities ranged from the development of new business ventures to providing strategic and daily oversight for the corporation. Mallory also worked for Westin Hotels & Resorts, VMS Realty Partners, and lodging industry consultants Laventhol & Horwath.​​​​

In conversation with:

Keith Barr – CEO, IHG

Keith Barr

CEO, IHG

Keith has been Chief Executive Officer of IHG® since July 2017. He is responsible for implementing IHG’s strategy for high-quality growth and generating industry leading value creation for hotel owners, operators and shareholders. This strategy focuses on strengthening a diverse portfolio of differentiated brands, building scale in key markets, creating lifetime guest relationships, and delivering highly profitable revenues to hotels.

IHG is a global organisation, which predominately franchises and manages more than 5,200 hotels in almost 100 countries. IHG’s brands include InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, the Holiday Inn® Brand Family, and Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts.

Keith has spent more than 25 years working in the hospitality industry across a wide range of roles, having started his career in hotel operations. He has been a member of IHG’s Executive Committee since April 2011 and served as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for four years before being appointed CEO. In this role, he led IHG’s global brand, loyalty, sales and marketing functions, driving consistent brand strategies and leveraging IHG’s scale and systems to deliver continued industry outperformance. In addition, he oversaw IHG’s loyalty programme, IHG® Rewards Club, which now has more than 100 million enrolled members globally.

Prior to his role as CCO, Keith spent four years as CEO of IHG’s Greater China business, where under his leadership, IHG drove outstanding results and helped set the foundations for growth in a key market. During this time, IHG also developed and launched the HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts brand in 2012, which is tailored specifically for the Chinese traveller.

Keith joined IHG in 2000 and subsequently held a number of senior positions in IHG’s Americas and Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) regions. He was previously Vice President of Operations for Midscale brands in North America, Vice President of Operations for the Holiday Inn brand in North America and Chief Operating Officer for Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific.

Prior to joining IHG, Keith held several senior positions at Bristol Hotels and Resorts, which was acquired by IHG in 2000. He is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and is currently a member of its Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.

Sonia Cheng – Chief Executive Officer, Rosewood Hotel Group

Sonia Cheng

Chief Executive Officer, Rosewood Hotel Group

Sonia Cheng leads a team of seasoned industry professionals to spearhead the regional and international expansion of Rosewood Hotel Group. Ms. Cheng is also executive director of New World Development Company Limited and New World China Land which comprise one of the largest conglomerates in Hong Kong.
Before joining Rosewood Hotel Group, Ms. Cheng worked with a major international investment bank and a global American private equity firm, specialising in real estate investments. She is a chairman of the advisory committees of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a member of the advisory committee of the School of Hotel & Tourism Management Industry at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She is a member of the Y. Elites Association, the Young Presidents’ Organisation, the Hong Kong United Youth Association and the Eleventh Guizhou Municipal Committee of The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Ms. Cheng holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Economics from Harvard University.

Federico J González – President & CEO, Radisson Hotel Group

Federico J González

President & CEO, Radisson Hotel Group

Federico J. González is the President & CEO of The Rezidor Hotel Group, and Chairman of the Global Steering Committee of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. He joined Rezidor in May 2017 from the Carlson Hospitality Inc. where he served as the Chief Executive Officer, since January 2017.

Federico has extensive global executive leadership experience in the hospitality, leisure and FMCG sectors. Prior to joining Carlson, he has worked as the Chief Executive Officer of NH Hotel Group – where he led a major turnaround of the company – and as Deputy General Manager of Disneyland Paris.

He previously spent 16 years in senior management positions at Procter & Gamble in Madrid, Brussels, and Stockholm before becoming the company’s Country Head of Portugal in 2000.

A respected marketer and hotelier, Federico has written three books: Living and Working Abroad; How to Live and Work with Portuguese, Cómo Hacerse El Sueco En Los Negocios Con Exito; and How to act as a Swedish Manager!

Federico is a European at heart – with a truly global mindset. His leadership style fosters innovation, creativity and an unfailing commitment to customer experience. As a global leader, Federico’s personal mission is to motivate and energize large organizations to be more ambitious – in profitability, purpose and people – through respect for diversity of thoughts, culture, gender, experience and beliefs.

Federico majored in Economics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and received a Masters of International Trade and Finance from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

David Kong – Chief Executive Officer, Best Western International

David Kong

Chief Executive Officer, Best Western International

Thomas Willms – Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Hospitality

Thomas Willms

Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Hospitality

Thomas Willms joined Steigenberger Hotels AG, one of Europe’s leading hotel companies, as Chief Operating Officer in June 2017. Since January 2018, he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer.
In his capacity as a Board Member, he assumes overall operational responsibility for all hotel brands. Strategy, Future Openings & Franchise, Corporate Communications, Sales & Marketing, E-Business, Revenue Management and Corporate Social Responsibility also fall within his remit.
Steigenberger Hotels AG encompasses almost 150 hotels which are either already operational or at the planning stage in 20 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia. The company’s umbrella brand “Deutsche Hospitality” covers the five brands of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, MAXX by Steigenberger, Jaz in the City, IntercityHotel and Zleep Hotels.
Thomas Willms worked over 20 years for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, most recently as Senior Vice President Central & Eastern Europe, prior to this at the company’s Brussels office as Vice President Development and Brands. Previously he was employed by ArabellaStarwood Hotelmanagement GmbH as Managing Director and worked also for Maritim Hotels and the Intercontinental Hotels Group.
Mr. Willms was born in Jever in 1961. He holds an executive master’s degree in business administration in Tourism Management at Chur University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland) and Delaware (USA).
The many years of expertise he has acquired at various prestigious hotel companies have earned him a reputation as an acknowledged authority within the industry. During his professional career, Mr. Willms has been appointed to a range of specialist and executive roles in the fields of food & beverage, development, marketing, hotel opening and franchising. He has worked in the USA, the UK, Belgium and Austria.

Refreshments in exhibition

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

The Deal Hunters: The Investors Showing Interest in Hotels

Why are hotels increasingly attractive as an asset to? As the cycle and metrics are working in hotels’ favours in the real estate investment market, who are the new investors (private equity, family offices and HNW) looking to make deals and what are they drawn to?

Moderator:

Kathrin Jung – Director, CBRE Hotels

Kathrin Jung

Director, CBRE Hotels

Kathrin Jung joined CBRE Hotels in September 2018 as a Director in the cross-border transaction team. Before joining CBRE, Kathrin worked for DEKA Immobilien GmbH, where she was responsible for real estate investment and fund management.
Kathrin first was in charge of processes regarding "alternative investments" for the development of fund strategies, analyses of risk-relevant topics and the determination of market prices of credits and derivative instruments. Afterwards, as Investment Manager hotels, she was leading the deal team for hotel investments, where she acquired hotel properties in Europe with a total value of approx. €590m.

In conversation with:

Christophe Beauvilain – Managing Partner, Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP

Christophe Beauvilain

Managing Partner, Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP

Christophe Beauvilain, CFA is Managing Partner of Pygmalion Capital and heads the Investment Committee. Christophe founded Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP and was instrumental in raising its first fund focused on special situations Hotel investments in Europe. He was previously partner at Perenne Capital LLP which provided deal sourcing and structuring services in the European Hotel sector. He was before that CEO and founding partner of Alphatran Capital LLP, a global equity hedge fund, and partner at Phylon Investment Advisors, a $500M European equity hedge fund. He spent 7 years at Goldman Sachs International in London in Research and Institutional Asset Management.

Asset Management: What’s It Worth?

Through case studies from finalists of the HAMA Awards, this session examines the requirement for asset management, how value increases can be achieved through asset management, and the role of the asset manager.

Rastko Djordjevic – Board Member, HAMA Europe Chapter, and EVP – Head of Asset Management EMEA, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group

Rastko Djordjevic

Board Member, HAMA Europe Chapter, and EVP – Head of Asset Management EMEA, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group

Rastko is heading JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s Asset Management team in EMEA providing on-going asset management services to owners of internationally branded luxury hotels, focusing on sustainable economic performance enhancement opportunities and value growth.
Prior to joining JLL, Rastko has been managing an office and retail portfolio consisting of 34 department stores spread across 24 cities with a GAV of EUR 750M.
Previous to that Rastko was working with CBRE Hotels in both Spain and heading the Latin American region, working on numerous portfolio valuations, operator selections, development and investment advisory projects.
Rastko gained his operational and business development experience, whilst working for Hilton Hotels in more than 6 properties in Europe and the Caribbean, as well as the regional franchising EMEA office in Frankfurt.
Rastko has a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in International Hospitality Management from the Swiss Hotel Management School Les Roches and in addition he holds an EMBA from IE Business School in Madrid. He is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and serves as a Board Member of the Hotel Asset Management Association (HAMA) European chapter.

Michael Grove – Director of intelligence and customer solutions, EMEA, HotStats

Michael Grove

Director of intelligence and customer solutions, EMEA, HotStats

Michael has recently joined Hotstats as Director of Hotel Intelligence & Customer Solutions, EMEA. HotStats, is a benchmarking company focusing of monthly P&L benchmarking for the hotel industry. HotStats collects monthly detailed financial data from over 3000 hotels worldwide from over 100 brands and independent hotels, and provides over 100 different KPIs covering all operating revenues, payroll, expenses, cost of sales and ultimately departmental and total hotel profitability.
Prior to joining Hotstats, Michael held multiple Operational & Financial roles at Hotel and Corporate level, over 16 years.

Brand and Deliver: Managing Brand Standards

Hard brand, soft brand, independent hotel: what does a brand deliver for customers, developers, and owners? How much standardization is needed? What are the effects of brand requirements on design, construction, operations?

Moderator:

Sophie Perret – Director, HVS London

Sophie Perret

Director, HVS London

Sophie is a director at the HVS London office. She joined HVS in 2003, following ten years’ operational experience in the hospitality industry in South America and Europe. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sophie holds a degree in Hotel Management from Ateneo de Estudios Terciarios, and an MBA from IMHI (Essec Business School, France and Cornell University, USA). Since joining HVS, she has advised on hotel investment projects and related assignments throughout the EMEA region, and is responsible for the development of HVS’s business in France and the French-speaking countries, as well as Africa. Sophie completed an MSc in Real Estate Investment and Finance at Reading University in 2014, and is in the process of becoming a RICS certified surveyor.

In conversation with:

Franck Gervais – CEO HotelServices Europe, AccorHotels

Franck Gervais

CEO HotelServices Europe, AccorHotels

Franck Gervais
CEO HotelServices Europe
Franck is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and a civil engineer from Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées (France’s national school of bridges and highways). He started his career in 2001 at the Direction Départementale de l’Equipement des Alpes Maritimes (the Alpes Maritimes regional equipment department) where he was in charge of air bases. In 2004, he was appointed Advisor to the French Minister of Equipment, Transport and Tourism. He joined the SNCF in 2006 as Director of the Chairman’s Cabinet, before heading up Line 8 of the Transilien Greater Paris regional railway service. From 2011 to 2014, he led the transformation of Thalys into a full-function railway company, and was appointed CEO of Voyages-SNCF.com from 2014 to 2017 where, in particular, he carried out the key projects of customer experience and internationalization of the Group.
Franck Gervais joined AccorHotels’ Executive Committee in November 2017.

Thomas Magnuson – Chief Executive Officer

Thomas Magnuson

Chief Executive Officer

Thomas co-founded Magnuson Hotels with his wife and business partner Melissa Magnuson, and currently serves as CEO Magnuson Worldwide. By offering a low-cost alternative to traditional franchise hotel chains, Magnuson Hotels has become the world’s largest independent hotel group, representing nearly 2000 hotels internationally with a combined affiliate base of assets in excess of £4.5 billion. One of the top ten global hotel chains, Magnuson Hotels was the #1 hotel company of INC Magazine’s 2009 and 2010 annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest growing privately owned US companies. Thomas will be discussing the importance of industry partnerships in getting travel brands before consumers without using Google.

Nicholas Northam – Managing Director UK, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Nicholas Northam

Managing Director UK, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Nicholas Northam is Managing Director for Interstate Hotels & Resorts in the United Kingdom. He is responsible for over 60 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Belgium. With more than 33 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Nicholas plays a pivotal role in the company’s growth, leading Interstate’s UK senior management and support teams to provide superior returns for hotel owners.

Before joining Interstate Nicholas spent 10 years as Vice President of Asset Management for Realstar Hotels UK Ltd, the asset management company responsible for the LRG UK portfolio of 73 hotels under IHG management. He was directly responsible for 38 assets including the central London hotels.
Prior to this he had spent 17 years at Whitbread where he was the UK Operations Director responsible for 70+ Marriott hotels as well as having been General Manager at a number of Marriott properties.

Michelle Woodley – President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Michelle Woodley

President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Michelle Woodley is President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts. In this role, she has cross-functional and departmental responsibilities, which include working directly with CEO Lindsey Ueberroth on identifying new revenue development opportunities, serving as a corporate spokesperson for the company, and leading the enhancement and improvement of other strategic areas of focus within the organization.
During her 15 years with the company, Michelle has held various leadership roles. Prior to her promotion to President, she served as Executive Vice President, responsible for overseeing the company’s distribution and revenue management department, which included programs for member hotels; brand websites, marketing, and e-commerce strategies; and website programs for the company’s sister division, PHG Consulting. During her tenure, she has also served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy, charged with the execution of branding, global marketing programs, and online distribution for the company and its former family of brands.
Before joining Preferred Hotels & Resorts in 2002, Michelle was Vice President of Distribution for Swissôtel and Raffles Hotels & Resorts from 1997 to 2002, where she oversaw the strategic direction and operations of the company’s electronic distribution and database solutions. She held various senior positions in operations, marketing, and distribution with Swissôtel from 1990 to 1997.
Michelle has been an active board member in industry organizations. She is currently on the Americas Board of Directors of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). She served two terms as president and two terms as vice president of the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA), and she was a founding member of the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) and served two terms on their board of directors as treasurer.
Michelle is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

Brace Yourself, Brexit is Happening… or Is It?

March 2019 marks the date of the UK leaving the EU: how is Brexit going to affect the British and European hospitality industry? Will the UK remain Europe’s most popular market? Who is going to be the beneficiary of Brexit?

Moderated by

Thomas Emanuel – Director, STR

Thomas Emanuel

Director, STR

Thomas Emanuel a Director at STR. He is based in London, and leads a team focused on driving business with Industry Partners.
He has spent his entire career in the hospitality industry, beginning in 2000 with Miki Travel, before joining Hyatt Hotel & Resorts, where he gained experience in corporate sales at both the worldwide sales office and at property level. Thomas then led the corporate sales function for Hazlitt’s Hotels, a group of independent boutique hotels in London.
In 2006, Thomas joined the Deloitte HotelBenchmark team, where he was responsible for creating and leading the department’s business development function. He held this role until the formation of STR in March 2008, and has since focused on overseeing STR’s rapid expansion outside North America. Throughout his time with STR, Thomas has gained a wealth of experience working with hotels, investors, developers, consultants, banks, governments, destination management companies and many others.
Thomas has been a guest lecturer at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, and been invited and participated in the OECD's high level meetings on tourism policies.
Thomas has worked in over 45 countries across 6 continents and regularly speaks at major hospitality conferences around the world. He is also frequently interviewed for his insights on the hotel industry by news outlets including CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, as well as various tourism and hospitality publications.
Thomas holds a BA (Hons) in International Business.

Surinder Arora – Founder and Chairman, The Arora Group

Surinder Arora

Founder and Chairman, The Arora Group

Surinder Arora is the Founder and Chairman of the Arora Group. Having arrived in the UK as a teenager from India, Surinder founded the business in 1999, running a luxurious four-star hotel at Heathrow for airline staff. From there, he built a business based on strong principles of enterprise, including the purchase of the Renaissance London Heathrow hotel in 2012, where he had worked as a waiter in the 1970s. Today, the Arora Group is a successful private group of UK-focused companies, with a specialist property, construction and hotel management divisions. The Group owns and manages a diverse portfolio of assets across Britain’s key business locations, with a particular presence in airport regions. Surinder and his wife Sunita are also founders of the Arora Charitable Foundation, supporting social responsibility initiatives in the UK and overseas. The Foundation’s charitable initiatives have raised a combined total of over £1.9 million to date since its inception in 2010. Surinder has been honoured with success in a number of recent awards, including the “Corporate Responsibility” category at the London and South East Institute of Director Awards 2016; “CEO of the Year” at the UK Private Business Awards in 2016; and earlier this year, the Group was awarded ‘Business of the Year’ at the Asian Business Awards.

Timan Gill – Marathon Asset Management

Timan Gill

Marathon Asset Management

Timan Gill is a member of Marathon’s Real Estate team in London, focusing on the Firm’s European hotel investment activities. As part of his duties for the Firm, Timan also presently manages platforms and singular investments across several traditional real estate asset classes, including Residential, Office and Retail, including Mixed-Use.
Timan joined Marathon from Starwood Capital Group, where he was assigned to managing its newly-created UK Hotel Platform - involving the acquisition of three separate distressed UK hospitality corporates (including brands and c.7,000-key owned/leased hotel real-estate portfolio) – also undertaking bolt-on acquisitions of prime single-assets for the platform, and was part of the creation of the new consolidated European hotel brand. During his time with the firm, Timan was also involved in the complex acquisition of central London serviced apartment portfolio, Think Apartments.
Before Starwood Capital Group, he was a Director at the Avington Group, a private family office, specializing in the hospitality and leisure space. He acted across a spectrum of roles ranging from: principal for the firm’s private equity and real estate investments, investment banking advisor and asset manager. During his time with the firm, Timan was engaged in several marquee investments and projects in the US and Europe; notably including the successful distressed acquisition of the former Canalejas assemblage of buildings in central Madrid and subsequent redevelopment into a luxury mixed-use destination including the new Four Seasons Madrid.
Previously, Timan was an Investment Associate at Advent International, the global private equity firm, targeting new investments in the Financial Services and Business Services sectors across Europe, and also assisting in the firm’s portfolio company investments.
He started his career as a graduate in the Investment Banking (Leveraged Finance) division at Deutsche Bank in London. During his time with Deutsche Bank, prior to the financial crisis, Timan participated in the successful underwriting and syndication of circa. €8 billion of high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, predominantly supporting private equity leveraged buy-outs.
Timan holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Physics from the University of Oxford.

Kate Nicholls – CEO, UKHospitality

Kate Nicholls

CEO, UKHospitality

Kate Nicholls was appointed CEO of UKHospitality, the powerful voice representing the broad hospitality sector, in April 2018, having previously worked as CEO and Strategic Affairs Director of the ALMR.
After gaining a degree in English and a post-graduate diploma in competition law, Kate worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and European Parliament before joining Whitbread as Government Relations Manager, starting her careers in hospitality in 1993. Kate was Director at one of the largest independent public affairs companies, working with a number of hospitality, retail and leisure accounts before establishing her own strategic communications consultancy in 2000. She is a graduate of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and Kings College London.

Get Tech for Success

12.00-12.30 CIO Chat

Upgrading IT Systems to Improve Efficiencies, Revenues and the Customer Experience

David Turnbull – Founding Partner, Techtalk.travel

David Turnbull

Founding Partner, Techtalk.travel

David is an established hospitality, travel and technology leader, supporting a variety of B2B media and technology companies in a partner, advisory & board capacity following his exit from SnapShot, in Summer 2018.
Having been involved with revenue management, distribution and hotel analytics for more than 20 years, David has worked to develop from grassroots some of the most forward thinking hotels and hotel companies such as designhotels, citizenM and 25hours to name a few.
In addition to speaking at events around the world, David’s passion for education has led him to work with various universities including ESSEC, University of Surrey and Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) as well as take an active role with industry associations including HEDNA (Co-Chair Hotel Analytics Workgroup) and HSMAI (Revenue Management Advisory Board).
Originally from Glasgow, David was delighted in October 2018 to be appointed as a Global Scot, in co-ordination with Scotands’ newly launched investment & innovation hub in Berlin, contributing to a worldwide network of entrepreneurial and inspirational business leaders, dedicated to supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies.

In conversation with:

Yanick Larose – Yanick Larose Vice President, R&D-NBU, Amadeus

Yanick Larose

Yanick Larose Vice President, R&D-NBU, Amadeus

Yanick Larose was appointed VP of R&D-NBU (New Businesses) in November 2013. He is responsible for the development of products in different businesses such as (Rail, Hotel, Airport IT, Travel Intelligence, Car, Cruise & Insurance). The NBU Product Engineering Group has been created to develop emerging and high potential businesses, diversifying Amadeus’ opportunities.
Yanick joined Amadeus in November 1992 and has worked in various positions in development and management of front-office, mid-office and reporting products. Before his current role, Yanick was Director, Product Development since Nov 2007; he was responsible for the development and deployment of Amadeus' Corporate (self-booking tool) & Selling Platform for travel agencies.
Prior to joining Amadeus, Yanick worked as a Research and Development engineer, both at the Bull Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Paris, and at the Artificial Intelligence R&D Centre of Swedish Telecom, in Stockholm, Sweden between 1986 and 1991.
Yanick holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Paris Jussieu and the Ecole Normale Superieure, St Cloud and a Graduate's degree in Business Management from the University of Nice.
A French national, Yanick also speaks English and Swedish.

Laura Miller – Chief Information Officer, IHG

Laura Miller

Chief Information Officer, IHG

As IHG’s Global Chief Information Officer, Laura’s responsibilities include the strategy, delivery, operations and security of technology solutions in more than 5,500 hotels and corporate offices around the globe. She has effectively partnered with her peers to deliver several organization-wide changes including implementation of a new central reservation system that delivers increased functionality and lower cost of ownership. Laura’s focus on innovation is also evident in her ideation of the new hotel user interface that integrates workflow and data to improve overall guest service and hotel operations. She is now spearheading a major initiative to accelerate speed to market of new product initiatives and reduce overall cost of technology by better leveraging strategic supplier relationships. Laura also currently sits on the board of directors at LGI Homes, a $1.5B company that designs, constructs and sells affordable homes across the country.
Laura’s background includes extensive, multi-discipline technology and multi-industry experience. She was previously SVP at First Data Corporation (FDC), a highly regulated global payments processing leader that serves more than six million merchant locations, thousands of card issuers and millions of consumers. In this role, Laura navigated an extremely complex private equity ownership (KKR) environment, where she led several transformational initiatives to rearchitect the business to deliver operational and financial improvements. She worked closely with international leadership to develop and implement strategies to address the global financial crisis. In addition, Laura has served in various senior leadership capacities at TD Ameritrade, The Patent and Trademark Office, The Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, Maryland, and British Aerospace, PLC.
Laura holds a Masters in Computer Systems Management degree from the University of Maryland. Among the recognition she has earned throughout her career, she was recently awarded the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Women Who Mean Business Award, WIT Woman of the Year in Technology and the Most Powerful & Influential Woman Award by the Georgia Diversity Council. Laura has held certifications in Program Management (PMP) and Information Systems Audit (ISACA) and is a member of the Society of Information Management (SIM), Women in Technology (WIT), and Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). In addition, she has served on the Computer Associates DevOps Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of Argyle Country Club and is an executive ambassador for TechBridge.

12.30-13.00 Panel: Technology Implementation & The Impact on Profit

What is the risk/reward for hotels investing in technology? Examining whether and how being tech savvy increases the value of a hotel, and what is the best way to do it.

Michael Schäffner – Director DACH, Duetto

Michael Schäffner

Director DACH, Duetto

Michael has been in the hospitality industry for 15 years, starting in hotel operations, working overseas in some of the finest hotels in the world, e.g. Auberge du Soleil, Napa Valley & The Setai, Miami Beach.
Since 2010, Schäffner held several management positions in sales and marketing in the hospitality tech sector. In March 2017, he joined Duetto to build up and run the DACH office out of Germany.
He is also a guest lecturer at the University of Cooperative Education in Ravensburg.
While travelling, he likes to bring his running shoes exploring new places and cities.

In conversation with:

Thomas Hagemann – COO, MEININGER Hotels Limited

Thomas Hagemann

COO, MEININGER Hotels Limited

Thomas Hagemann has joined MEININGER Hotels mid 2018 as COO and is responsible for the optimization and execution of an effective operational business strategy. The focus is to improve operational excellence and profitability, but also supporting MEININGER’s growth strategy through implementation of efficient processes when launching new business units.
As accomplished global hospitality executive Thomas has extensive corporate and operational experience, he started his career at Marriott and climbed the ranks within Food & Beverage division and worked for Starwood in Berlin and Dubai, before joining Radisson Hotel Group. Here he gained experiences as general manager and has served as vice president future openings in Brussels and Singapore and district director in Russia . Thomas is a certified Project Management Professional (PMI) with specialization in hotel pre-openings, with more than 15 years hands on experience with hotel opening projects in over 20 countries globally.

Erik Jacobs – Partner, HORECA Investment Partners BV

Erik Jacobs

Partner, HORECA Investment Partners BV

Current Responsibilities:
Erik founded HORECA Investment Partners, an investment platform exclusively representing a family conglomerate based in Asia. HORECA targets investments into hospitality ranging from real estate, operating platforms to technology start-ups.
Our current portfolio in Europe includes the 25Hours Hotel Terminus Nord in Paris and we are actively involved within the Extended Stay sector as an investor and board member in Cycas Hospitality, a leading operator of branded extended stay properties in Europe.

Experience:
Erik has a strong mix of experience in both the principal investment arena as well as in the transaction advisory space. Most recently Erik was responsible for European Capital Markets at JLL Hospitality Group.
Prior to JLL, Erik was responsible for European hotel investments at Invesco Real Estate. At Invesco Erik executed various hotel transactions throughout Europe. This covered a large variety of investment ranging from very institutional leases to operationally geared portfolios, from corporate investments in hotel companies to loan investments with hotels as collateral.
Prior to Invesco Erik was responsible for hotel transactions and asset management at Morgan Stanley for the opportunistic Morgan Stanley Real Estate funds.

Looking for Leisure: Opportunities for Investment in Resort Concepts

Resorts are increasingly attracting investors’ attention, but whether they are all-inclusive, lifestyle or luxury, business models vary as widely as the amenities that can be offered and the partners involved. How should investors, owners and operators approach the different resort concepts?

Moderated by:

Philip Bacon – Director, Planning and Development & Valuations, Horwath HTL

Philip Bacon

Director, Planning and Development & Valuations, Horwath HTL

A graduate in Law from the University of Cambridge, a Chartered Accountant and Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors with over 30 years’ experience in professional business advisory services and general management in a wide range of independently-managed and publicly-listed international companies.
Comprehensive experience of all aspects of hotel and resort development and operations, and specialist expertise in all hospitality-based branded residential business models and mixed use developments, having managed development projects and cross-functional international teams during development, start up and operational launch.
Personally involved in the development of luxury branded residences involving brands such as Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Fairmont, Jumeirah and Armani.
12 years’ international consulting experience of hotel valuations and feasibility studies, operator search, asset management and strategic business planning to owners, lenders and operators across Europe as well as in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Combines the highest standards of objective business analysis with an inspirational level of innovation and creativity.

In conversation with:

Luka Cvitan – Strategy, Capital Markets and IR, Arena Hospitality Group

Luka Cvitan

Strategy, Capital Markets and IR, Arena Hospitality Group

Luka Cvitan is heading the Strategy, Capital Markets and Investor Relations at Arena Hospitality Group, a member of the PPHE Group. Luka has over 10 years of experience in finance, executing a range of sizeable landmark transactions in the structured finance, M&A and capital markets space. Prior to joining Arena Hospitality Group in 2018, Luka was a Director in Agrokor, Croatia’s largest corporate, and spent some time at BNP Paribas Equity Capital Markets in London. Luka holds an MA degree in Finance from the University of Cambridge.

Fernando Fernandez – Vice President of Development, Apple Leisure Group

Fernando Fernandez

Vice President of Development, Apple Leisure Group

As Apple Leisure Group®’s Vice President of Development, Fernando Fernandez leverages over three decades of experience in hotel operations, consultancy and development to accelerate the group’s expansion goals in key markets. Fernando is responsible for increasing the company's footprint in the Caribbean and Latin America by securing partnerships with hotel owners and developers in these high-demand markets.
Prior to joining Apple Leisure Group, Fernando spent eight years as Vice President of Development for Meliá Hotels International in Europe, across the Americas and the Caribbean. During his tenure, Fernando successfully negotiated high-profile additions to Meliá’s management portfolio, including Meliá Jamaica, which introduced Spain’s largest hotel company to the English Caribbean. He also oversaw the addition of Me Miami and Meliá Cartagena de Indias in Colombia among others.
In addition to his work with Meliá Hotels International, Fernando managed key accounts for LRA Worldwide, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts (Latin America), Grupo Posadas (México), Interstate Hotels & Resorts (USA), Accor Hotels (Latin América), Pestana Hotels & Resorts (Portugal), Delta Hotels (Canada) and Oberoi Hotels and Resorts (India).
Fernando received a degree in Hotel & Tourism Management from Escuela Official de Turismo in Madrid, Spain, before acquiring additional training in Hotel Management at the Hotel Institute Montreux in Switzerland. Fernando graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina, earning a B.S. in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.

Nikos Hadjos – Director – Europe (Greece & Cyprus) International Hotel Development, Marriott International

Nikos Hadjos

Director – Europe (Greece & Cyprus) International Hotel Development, Marriott International

Nikos Hadjos is Director of International Hotel Development for Marriott International and is based in Athens. He is heading the development efforts of all Marriott’s brands in Greece and Cyprus.
Before joining Marriott in the headquarters for Middle East and Africa in 2013, Nikos worked for hotel investment companies in the Middle East such as Kingdom Hotel Investments and Abraaj Capital, as Vice President of Acquisitions, covering Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia.
Nikos has also held positions within the fields of consultancy with industry experts HVS in New York and operations with Marriott and Intercontinental in New York. He is a graduate of the University of Guelph, Ontario and holds an MBA in Finance & Investments from City University of New York. He is also a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in the UK.

Jörg Lindner – Managing Director, 12.18. Investment Management GmbH

Jörg Lindner

Managing Director, 12.18. Investment Management GmbH

Jörg Lindner has more than 30 years of experience in housing, office, retail and hotel property development, financing and management. He’s the managing partner of the Lindner Group and eldest son of the company founder and architect Otto Lindner, whose four other sons are also involved in the company’s management. Jörg Lindner studied business administration, has a professional pilot’s license, is passionate about sport and the proud father of five children.

Pablo Suarez Aspra – Chief Executive Officer, Blau Hotels & Resorts

Pablo Suarez Aspra

Chief Executive Officer, Blau Hotels & Resorts

Pablo Suarez joined Blau Hotels & Resorts as Chief Executive Officer in February 2018. Since that moment onwards he has been leading the outstanding project of designing and implementing a new management model. Moreover, because of his extensive experience abroad he is playing a key role in the company’s ambitious expansion plan.

Pablo’s professional trajectory has been focused for the last 14 years in hotel operations. He began his career as an Operations Analyst in Melia Hotels International, followed by positions like Operations Manager, Hotel Director, Area Director and Director of Operations in various locations including Cuba, Croatia and Spain.

Due to his strong abilities in operational performance, maximizing revenue, optimizing expenses and his implication in projects, Pablo is responsible for the new and improved Blau we have witnessed in 2019.

This year, Blau Hotels & Resorts celebrates its 30th anniversary as a holiday resort chain. It has a total of 2601 rooms, spread in 6 privilege beach locations.

Compliments of the Chef: Enhancing the F&B Offering to Generate Profit

How much are food and beverage offerings worth to a hotel? How do you create an F&B destination? Does F&B increase the value of an asset other than increasing occupancy? How does F&B stay current?

Moderator:

Etienne van Unen – Partner | Director Retail | Co Head EMEA Retail, Colliers International

Etienne van Unen

Partner | Director Retail | Co Head EMEA Retail, Colliers International

Etienne has a track record of success of more than 20 years in the retail industry. Joining Colliers Netherlands in 2014, he has grown the retail agency business for the company extensively. Always looking forward, both Etienne and Colliers Netherlands see Food & Beverage playing a pivotal role in the success of the retail landscape of the future. Consumers are looking for experience and authenticity. This will transform the hospitality sector as we know it. Combining Etienne’s innate understanding of clients’ needs, his background in real estate and his deep seated interest in all things food and beverage, you have a force to be reckoned with.

In conversation with:

Paul Campbell – Founder, Hill Capital Partners LLP

Paul Campbell

Founder, Hill Capital Partners LLP

Paul Campbell is the founder of Hill Capital Partners LLP, the vehicle through which he carries out private investment and advisory roles across the leisure and hospitality sectors.

Having formerly created, grown and successfully sold several businesses of his own Paul today works with ambitious entrepreneurs, Boards and fellow investors who are looking to significantly expand their businesses. He invests directly and will also co-invest with other funds and institutions.

Paul is currently an investor in and sits on the Boards as Chairman/NED of a number of respected and rapidly growing businesses.
These include Hawksmoor, Gymbox, Palladian Hotels and Resorts, Vinoteca, Hickory’s, Blacklock, Tortilla, Halcyon Hotels, The Alchemist and Gusto.

Paul gets involved with businesses like these in a variety of ways – sometimes as founder, other times as an early stage investor and also as a co-investor alongside PE funds.

Gary Davis – Executive Chairman, Village Hotel Club

Gary Davis

Executive Chairman, Village Hotel Club

Gary Davis is Executive Chairman of Village Hotels Ltd, and is instrumental in the company’s plans for growth and expansion, creating a next generation model that ticks all of the boxes for hotel users and developers, with a unique mix of accommodation, F&B, gym & leisure and business club facilities. Previously, Mr. Davis served as the Chief Executive Officer of Malmaison Hotel du Vin Holdings Limited and Chief Executive Officer of De Vere Village Hotels at De Vere Group plc. Additionally, he served as Joint Chief Executive of De Vere Hotels & Resorts, De Vere's prestige four and five star hotels business. Mr. Davis has a wealth of international brand experience in the hospitality sector, served as a Senior Executive at Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood, Grand Metropolitan and Kingdom Holding, with particular emphasis on food and beverage.

Salvatore Leggiero – Entrepreneur, Leggiero Real Estate Spa

Salvatore Leggiero

Entrepreneur, Leggiero Real Estate Spa

Leggiero is a first-generation entrepreneur. His creativity and mentality as startupper have allowed him over the past 20 years to successfully establish and sell more companies in different industries, thus creating the financial basis for investing in real estate.
His obsession are the historic buildings, which are often empty and that he tries to buy to give them a new light and a new function, adapting them to modern living. Salvatore believes that Italy, already famous for being the country where there are the most beautiful things in the world, is also the country where there are the most beautiful buildings on the planet.
So, renewed and transformed into offices, shops or hotels, these properties will be income generators for their owners and for the surrounding community, for many years.
Salvatore Leggiero was born in Naples, grew up in Florence and lives between Milan and London.

Jose Matheu – Chief Development Officer, Palladium Hotel Group

Jose Matheu

Chief Development Officer, Palladium Hotel Group

Jose Matheu is the Chief Development Officer of Palladium Hotel Group since 2016. The group currently operated a portfolio of 9 Hotel brands, gathering almost 14,000 room/keys in six different countries. Responsable for seeking opportunities globally, and as a priority Mr. Matheu is finding investment partners who are willing to analyze reconversion projects in association with the group with the aim of repeating success stories like Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza & Tenerife and Only You Hotels.
José was already responsible on the business development areas helping the ​​major hotel multinationals to implement their strategies abroad, such as Meliá Hotels International, where he was responsible for portfolio management and ownership for properties in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and for Barceló Hotels & Resorts, as business development responsible in EMEA area. In addition, also as Director of business development in Asia & Centre countries of Europe for Camper from Mallorca
Mr. Matheu was born in Spain and holds a Master in Corporate Finance from ESADE Business School, and a Law & L.L.Business degree from Universidad San Pablo CEU of Barcelona, achieving a Mention in Business in Dublin, Ireland, and in parallel is Advisor of the Spanish Ministry of Finance on the perspective of business internationalization and investment strategy for companies.

Kees Teer – Chairman of the Board, Corendon

Kees Teer

Chairman of the Board, Corendon

Kees Teer; 40 years of Hospitality Management-, Hotel openings-and project development.
My expertise lies in;
Exceeding expectations for guests and employees, motivating and leading people, turning a vision into reality by following a joined strategy, stimulate partners, cooperating with all stakeholders, listening and analyzing before talking, social responsibility, creating sustainable hospitality, building bridges between parties, aiming for success and succeeding to reach goals with the team.
From 1980 onwards I worked 13 years for Sheraton and Golden Tulip Hotels / KLM In Amsterdam and New York. After rebranding and positioning the Golden Tulip Barbizon New York in Manhattan’s upper east side in 1985 as Director Food & Beverage, I came back to Amsterdam in 1988 to open the Barbizon Palace as rooms division manager/executive assistant manager.
In 1993, I went to Dorint Hotels to start as General Manager for their newly opened airport Hotel in Badhoevedorp / Amsterdam.
From 1998 in the position of regional managing director for the Benelux and mid-Germany. During this period, the development of three hotels started, the current Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam, The Novotel at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and the Dorint Sofitel Amsterdam Airport, currently managed by Steigenberger.
After 18 years Dorint, I had the unique opportunity to start a new hotel brand and chain for Atilay Uslu, founder of Corendon. In
the years 2015 and 2016 we acquired the ownership of the Sony complex in the Haarlemmermeer and changed the zoning plan to be able to develop the Corendon Village Hotel and Apartments a mix of 685 rooms and apartments in three separate buildings. Opening will be spring 2018.
Also, development contracts were signed for Barcelona and Londen

NETWORKING LUNCH

Ministers Roundtable (Invitation Only): Unlocking the Value of Tourism—Fully Realizing the Economic and Social Benefits of Tourism

All destinations – from cities to countries – seek to differentiate themselves from the competition and increase their share of high-value visitors.  A purposeful strategy must align the objectives of the destination, the visitor, the community and economic stakeholders such as investors and employers – optimizing product, customer experience, digital capabilities, and economic development.  With this context in mind, the following topics will be explored in our Ministers Roundtable. 

Hosted by:

Alexi H. Khajavi – Managing Director EMEA & Chair of Hospitality + Travel Group, Questex LLC

Alexi H. Khajavi

Managing Director EMEA & Chair of Hospitality + Travel Group, Questex LLC

Alexi Khajavi is Managing Director of the EMEA region and Chairs the Hospitality & Travel Group for Questex LLC. He is responsible for the overall management and development of the company’s global hospitality and destination communications properties and events including the Hotel Management Group, the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) Summit Series, Destination Develop and Destination Development Investment Services, HOTEC and other destination and hotel investment events in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Khajavi, who brings more than 17 years of travel, hospitality and marketing and sales experience to his position, joined Questex in 2014 as senior managing director of Destination Develop, a new digital media platform covering global tourism industry investment opportunities at the destination level, and Destination Develop Investment Services, an in-house agency that develops marketing and matchmaking campaigns and services for destinations and private-sector businesses in tourism looking for investment.
Prior to joining Questex, Khajavi was senior vice president, global strategy, for MercuryCSC, a creative agency specializing in the travel industry where he helped grow the firm’s billings four-fold and designed global marketing campaigns for travel companies, tourism boards and airlines. Prior to MercuryCSC, he was one of the founding team members of the travel consortium Nature Group located in Central America and helped guide the airline and hospitality portfolio in being the fastest growing travel company in Central America between 2003 and 2010.

Brian Tress – Executive Director, Real Estate & Hospitality, EY

Brian Tress

Executive Director, Real Estate & Hospitality, EY

Brian Tress brings 25 years of hospitality-sector experience to Ernst & Young, and is the global solution leader for EY’s Future Destinations tourism advisory services
Brian has provided the following services to clients from every segment of the hospitality industry – developers, owners, operators, lenders and public-sector agencies – across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa:
• Destination and tourism advisory, including municipal- to country-level strategy
• Development, strategic, operational and financial advisory for hotels, destination resorts, restaurants, golf courses, conference centers, stadiums and arenas, tourist attractions, and residential and mixed-use developments
• Commercial, financial, strategic and valuation advisory for hotel and restaurant companies
• Capital sourcing, and sell-side advisory services for hotels
• Single-asset and portfolio valuation assignments for hotels, resorts and hospitality-anchored mixed-use properties
His clients include government entities, hotel companies, REITs, investment banks, private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, family-owned businesses, lenders and entrepreneurs
Brian has been an adjunct professor and instructor for Columbia’s real estate graduate program and NYU’s hospitality and tourism graduate program, respectively. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration
He has been featured in the ITB World Travel Trends Report (2015 – 2017) and oversees EY’s memberships in the UN World Tourism Organization and Destinations International; has written or been quoted in articles in the New York Times, Hotel & Motel Management, the Journal of Retail & Leisure Properties, Hotel Business and Real Estate Forum; and has been interviewed by Reuters Television

Finance Masterclasses

Investing in Lifestyle Assets: What’s the ROI? 

Gaurav Bhushan – Chief Operations Officer, AccorHotels

Gaurav Bhushan

Chief Operations Officer, AccorHotels

Gaurav Bhushan is the Global Chief Development Officer of AccorHotels, responsible for the group’s hotel M&A and development strategies worldwide.

AccorHotels has more than 4,300 hotels hotels, resorts and residences, as well as in over 3,000 of the finest private homes around the globe. Benefiting from dual expertise as an investor and operator through its HotelServices and HotelInvest divisions, AccorHotels operates in 104 countries. Its portfolio comprises internationally acclaimed luxury brands including Raffles, Fairmont, SO Sofitel, Sofitel, onefinestay, MGallery by Sofitel, Art Series, Pullman, Swissôtel, 25hours, Movenpick, Banyan Tree, Grand Mercure, Peppers, The Sebel and Mantra as well as the popular midscale and boutique brands of Novotel, Mercure, Mama Shelter and Adagio; and the in-demand economy brands including Breakfree, ibis, ibis Styles, ibis budget, Hotel Formule1, and Jo&Joe. AccorHotels opened over 300 hotels in 2017 and has an active pipeline of over 900 hotels and 160,000 rooms. AccorHotels opens more than one hotel every other day somewhere in the world.

Reporting to CEO and Chairman Sebastien Bazin, Gaurav is responsible for the network growth for the group.

Gaurav began his career with AccorHotels in 1995 in Australia, Where he held various posts in operations and finance. From 2006 he headed the Asia Pacific development teams. He was promoted to Global Chief Development Officer role in July 2015.

Gaurav has an MBA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investments from the Securities Institute of Australia.

New Deal: Examining Emerging and Unique Deal Structures

Andreas Ewald – Founder and Managing Partner, Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting

Andreas Ewald

Founder and Managing Partner, Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting

Andreas Ewald is Managing Partner of the worldwide operating hotel consulting practice of Engel & Völkers (EVHC). He has more than 25 years of hospitality and real estate experience. In his professional career he has been responsible for structuring large Pan-European real estate portfolio transactions with a transaction volume of more than EUR 15bn.
Andreas Ewald is specialized in the organization of acquisitions and sales of hotel assets, portfolios and operating platforms. Furthermore, his expertise lies in valuations including buy-side and sell-side due diligence, operator and investor searches as well as management and lease contract negotiations. In addition, he provides independent business reviews, highest- and best-use analyses, feasibility studies and investment analyses for hospitality developments and properties. His clients are composed of international investment funds, private equity firms, financing institutions as well as private and institutional investors.

Asset Management Masterclasses

Convergence of Accounting Principles & Operations Reporting; Implications/Benefits for Asset Managers

Ralph R. Miller CPA, CA, CBV, CHA, CHAE – President, Inntegrated Hospitality Management

Ralph R. Miller CPA, CA, CBV, CHA, CHAE

President, Inntegrated Hospitality Management

Ralph is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant, Chartered Business Valuator, Certified Hotel Administrator, and Certified Hospitality
Accounting Executive with over 30 years of consulting and operations experience in the hospitality and tourism industry.
The 2006 Global President of the Hospitality Financial and Technology
Professionals (“HFTP”), Ralph has completed speaking engagements for:
 Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association;
 British Association of Hospitality Accountants;
 British Columbia Hotel Association;
 Caribbean Hotel Association, Finance and Technology Conference;
 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (“HITEC”);
 HFTP Annual Convention and Trade Show; and
 HFTP Club and Hotel Controller Conferences;
 HFTP Regional Conferences and Chapter Meetings; and
 PKF South East Asia, Hospitality Industry Outlook.
After leading the Western Canada Hospitality Industry Practice at Coopers & Lybrand, Ralph co-founded Inntegrated Hospitality Management Ltd., providing
integrated consulting solutions and management services for clients with interests in the hospitality and tourism industry. Ralph has assisted with more than 40
repositioning engagements, and has completed numerous operations review, mar-ket position, valuation, and feasibility assignments.
In 2012 Ralph was appointed Vice Chair of the Financial Management Committee, of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and Chair of the Food & Beverage Sub-Committee, for the purpose of revising Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry; the 11th Revised Edition of the USALI was published in May 2014.
In 2015 Ralph received the HFTP Paragon Award, in recognition of his significant and lasting contribution to HFTP and the hospitality industry.

Key Tools to Improve Performance and Boost Asset Value

Matthias Hautli – Manager, Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting

Matthias Hautli

Manager, Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting

Operational Models Masterclass

Risk and Reward: Operating Structures under Scrutiny

Ian Thompson – Partner, Valuation & Advisory, Cushman & Wakefield

Ian Thompson

Partner, Valuation & Advisory, Cushman & Wakefield

Ian is a London based Partner specialising in hotel valuation and advisory work. He undertakes valuation work for a diverse range of clients encompassing investors, banks, operators and developers. Professional work predominantly comprises valuations for loan security, accounts, taxation or for internal purposes..
Work Experience
Ian qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1998, and has twenty years of experience in the hotel and leisure sector having previously held key positions at GVA, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and Humberts Leisure.
Ian has worked extensively within the EMEA region, with particular experience in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and France as well as Eastern European locations such as Prague and Budapest. Ian’s experience within the hotel sector covers a wide variety of assets from strong independently owned businesses to luxury five star city centre hotels. During the early part of Ian’s career he focused on a broader range of leisure work, with a particular focus on pubs, restaurants, health and fitness and golf, as well as hotels.

Professional Affiliations
• Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• BSc (Hons) in Estate Management
• RICS Registered Valuer

Italy Awakes: How the Largest Untapped Real Estate Pool in Europe is Coming to Market

Following the launch of last year's initiative by public, private and governmental agencies to incentivise DFI, we examine the progress made in the last year and present concrete examples and models for investing in Italian real estate. 

Moderator:

James Chappell – Global Business Director, Horwath HTL

James Chappell

Global Business Director, Horwath HTL

James Chappell is the Global Business Director of Horwath HTL, the worlds oldest and largest Hospitality Consulting Brand and is responsible for 50 offices in 39 countries around the world.
Horwath HTL is famous for their expertise in the hospitality sector having written the first uniform standard of accounts, and for having the most experienced local experts in the business.
Originally from the world of advertising, James started in the hotel business in the best possible way, by accident, and has never left. James did a three-year management trainee course at the famous boutique hotel, Lydmar, in Stockholm before leaving to join consulting firm Overlook Hospitality Management with a brief to develop new products for the industry.
One of these became The Bench, which revolutionised the way performance data was collected and used in hotels. James was Managing Director of The Bench for five years before becoming Managing Director of STR Global, the company formed by the merger of The Bench, Deloitte’s HotelBenchmark and Smith Travel Research.
A regular speaker at conferences and on television, James has appeared on CNN, The BBC, Bloomberg and others talking about the industry.

In conversation with:

Aldo Melpignano – Managing Director, Borgo Egnazia, Italy

Aldo Melpignano

Managing Director, Borgo Egnazia, Italy

Aldo Melpignano is the Managing Director of San Domenico Hotels group, a collection of all his family properties, embodying a different concept in hospitality based on local and authentic experiences. Together with his family he is the founder of Borgo Egnazia, an international excellence deeply invested in Puglia.
At 19 he helped his mother transform Masseria San Domenico, a rustic farmhouse, into the first “Leading Hotel of the World” in Puglia. After his studies between London and the US, he worked for Morgans Hotel Group in New York starting from 2005.
Aldo returned to Europe in 2007 to spearhead the development, construction and launch of Borgo Egnazia, which opened in May 2010. Throughout his career, Aldo has balanced finesse for finance and vision with a deeply rooted passion for his homeland and its native elements.
Aldo divides his time between Puglia and London with his wife and two daughters. He is a member of the Young President’s Organization and the youngest board member of Fondazione Altagamma, Italy’s network of top high-end brands.

Stefano Nigro – FDI Department Director, Italian Trade Agency (ITA)

Stefano Nigro

FDI Department Director, Italian Trade Agency (ITA)

Stefano is the newly appointed Director of the Foreign Investment Department at ITA Agency. ITA acts on behalf of the Italian Government to promote FDI to Italy and to support foreign investors.
He has a 10 year experience in investment promotion: before joining ITA, he was the head of the Investment Promotion Department in the Lombardy Region, the main business area in Italy, accounting for 20% of the Italian GDP and hosting more than 60% of foreign companies in the Country. He was previously involved in Strategy & operation consultancy. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics from Warwack University.

Giorgio Palmucci – President A.I.C.A. (Italian Hotel Association - Confindustria)

Giorgio Palmucci

President A.I.C.A. (Italian Hotel Association - Confindustria)

President A.I.C.A. – Associazione Italiana Confindustria Alberghi (Italian Hotel Association - Confindustria)
Board member of ASTOI (Italian Tour Operator Association)
President of EBIT (National Bilateral Agency for Tourism)
Vice President of Federturismo (Italian Tourism federation of Confindustria)
Member of Technical Committee Business Network - Confindustria
Member of Technical Committee for Internationalization - Confindustria
Giorgio has been Administrative manager for a French-American multinational company. His career in the hospitality industry started at Club Mediterranee, where he climbed several positions: Director of Administration, Finance and Control, then CEO Italy, 8,000 beds and 1,500 employees. In 2000 managing also operational responsibility for Eastern Countries and Switzerland.
Recently Managing Director and General Manager at Hotelturist, operating 12 hotels in Italy and Switzerland, launching TH Resorts brand and consolidating its expansion. Vice President since 2017.

Marco Sangiorgio – General Manager, CDP Investimenti SGR

Marco Sangiorgio

General Manager, CDP Investimenti SGR

Since 2010 General Manager CDP Investimenti SGR - real estate asset management company controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A.- managing:
“Fondo Investimenti per l’Abitare” (2,03 billion euro), a closed-end real estate alternative investment fund dedicated to social housing investments,
“Fondo Investimenti per la Valorizzazione” (1,13 billion euro), an umbrella alternative closed end fund dedicated to the development of real estate acquired from public entities and other companies of CDP Group,
“Fondo Investimenti per il Turismo” (100 million), a real estate alternative investment fund focusing on the Italian tourism infrastructure sector.
Executive board member and Chairman of Committee for Urban Regeneration - Assoimmobiliare.
Since 2002 focused on asset management and real estate funds, General Manager of Fimit SGR until 2007, where he promoted and managed real estate investment funds, both listed and reserved to qualified investors. From 2008 to January 2010 - Managing Director of Europa Risorse SGR (Doughty Hanson UK) and Garda SGR. Graduated in Business Economics in Rome, from 1990 to 2002 he worked for IMI Bank, Mediocredito Centrale Bank and Capitalia Group. Board member at SOFIPA S.p.A. and MC Gestioni SGR.

Hotel Tech Masterclass

PropTech: What’s in it for Hotels?

Adam Malik – Head of Business Development -UK, Equiem

Adam Malik

Head of Business Development -UK, Equiem

As Equiem's Head of Business Development - Europe, Adam leads the company's growth across Europe. Adam is responsible for business development, strategic partnerships and raising awareness of the Equiem brand.
He started his career in real estate with Berlin Capital (now part of JLL), a boutique advisory and brokerage, providing access to investment opportunities across residential and commercial assets and working with listed property funds to help raise and invest their equity.
Following this, he spent 10 years at Investis, a leading digital communications company with a strong focus on real estate, spearheading their expansion into Europe, Russia and The Middle East.
Adam believes that Equiem is the amalgamation of his two passions; real estate and technology.
In the space of just 6 years, Equiem has developed the team from just two, to over 240 employees. The platform is currently deployed in over 5M square meters of premium commercial real estate, with assets in Australia, the USA, UK and Ireland.

AI: De-risking Investments with Hotel Brand DNA AI analytics

Bruno Chauvat – Chief Executive Officer & co-founder, Travelsify

Bruno Chauvat

Chief Executive Officer & co-founder, Travelsify

Bruno Chauvat is the Chief Executive Officer & co-founder of Travelsify, world's first Travel Product DNA platform powering unique Hotel DNA™ data to help hotel investors, hotel groups and brands to differentiate and derisk investments. Bruno has a +20-year track record in the media, telecom and technology industries, holding various C-level positions in international listed companies (Proximus, RTL Group, Audiofina). His deep understanding of the strategic importance of metadata together with his passion for travel account for the success of Travelsify.

Adjacent Spaces Masterclasses

Co-Living Masterclass: A Community-Based Real Estate Experience

Co-living, co-working and membership-based concepts are gaining momentum: what can hospitality learn from these models, and what’s in it for real estate investors?

Niels Berl – Director – Germany, The Collective

Niels Berl

Director – Germany, The Collective

Niels Berl has joined The Collective in 2018 after working for Terra Firma Capital Partners for the previous seven years. Terra Firma is a private equity firm focused on operational real estate, with significant investments in Germany, such as Tank & Rast or Vonovia (Deutsche Annington).

Björn Munte – The Collective

Björn Munte

The Collective

Björn Munte has joined The Collective in 2018 after working for Cresco Capital Group for the previous four years where he managed developments across Germany with a GDV > € 500m. Cresco is a private equity firm focused on developing boutique hotels and micro apartments

Resort Masterclass: Revitalising Performance through Refurbishment

Examining the impact of refurbishment on hotel operating performance in a resort context, from landscape enhancements through to creating new and cool restaurant concepts - Based on recent case studies from around the Mediterranean.

Nick Carrier – Associate Vice President, Architecture

Nick Carrier

Associate Vice President, Architecture

Nick Carrier brings 15 years’ experience in architectural design, management and project coordination to the team. As a studio leader, he has been involved in the design and coordination of numerous urban mixed-use projects, hotels and resorts throughout Europe,
Africa, Asia, Australasia, the South Pacific and the Caribbean.
His experience at WATG includes a mixed-use development in Cyprus to include a marina, retail and other leisure facilities; the Anahita Resort, a Four Seasons hotel and luxury villas project in Mauritius; a large resort development in Greece to include hotels, residential, spa, leisure and
golf facilities and an exclusive lifestyle beachfront hotel in China which is part of a larger resort master plan.
Most recently Nick’s experience includes a luxury resort in the Caribbean for a boutique hotel and real estate project; The Ritz-Carlton Reserve at Tamuda Bay, a branded mixed-use golf and marina
development on a coastal Mediterranean site in Morocco and the redevelopment of a key piece of Casablanca’s urban edge with the Atlantic Ocean in the Casablanca Marina project composing of a luxury hotel, a tower hotel, a convention centre and marina.
Nick’s worldwide experience provides him with the knowledge to approach each project in a culturally sensitive way with the creativity and attention to detail required to fulfill the needs of the client.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Negotiating Power: The Essential Tools for Closing the Deal

Once due diligence is done, how to negotiate the best deal? Looking at enterprise value to equity bridge, managing the auction process, best practice and points to avoid.

Moderator:

Christian Mole – Associate Partner, EY

Christian Mole

Associate Partner, EY

Christian leads EY’s Hospitality & Leisure team for the UK and Ireland. He has 20 years’ experience advising a mixture of listed companies, real estate funds and private investors in respect of transactions and restructurings within the hotel and leisure sector.

In conversation with:

SYLVIE CHAN – M&A Director, Louvre Hotels Group

SYLVIE CHAN

M&A Director, Louvre Hotels Group

Sue-Lin Heng – Managing Director, Eastdil Secured

Sue-Lin Heng

Managing Director, Eastdil Secured

Ms. Heng is a Managing Director within the London offices of Eastdil Secured. She has almost 20 years working experience in the hospitality and alternative real estate sector in both investment sales and corporate advisory services. She has sold over $20bn worth of real estate across Europe and Asia.

Her current responsibilities also include managing client relationships with key Asian buyers and facilitating cross border capital flows.

Ms. Heng is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and various Chinese dialects. She holds MBAs with Columbia Business School in the US and London Business School in the UK

Gary Jones – Chief Operating Officer, Aprirose Real Estate Investment

Gary Jones

Chief Operating Officer, Aprirose Real Estate Investment

Gary joined Aprirose in January 2015
He is responsible for the day to day running of the company, which includes overseeing all finance, HR and procedural issues of the company and its investments
Gary has significant commercial, financial and international tax structuring expertise and uses these skills to enhance shareholder value for all of Aprirose's investments
His insights into the requirements of lending institutions allows Aprirose to tailor structures to suit investors
Prior to joining Aprirose, Gary spent nine years running the very large private property group Edinburgh House Estates/Estama. Prior to this he worked in the Big Four accountancy firms. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor in 1997 with Arthur Anderson in London

Joanne Owen – Partner, Proskauer

Joanne Owen

Partner, Proskauer

Joanne Owen is a partner in Proskauer’s Corporate Department based in our London office and is a member of our Private Equity Real Estate and Lodging & Gaming Groups.
She has experience in a range of complex, institutional and corporate property matters, with an emphasis on advising private equity based clients.
Jo has been involved in numerous landmark transactions in the UK and internationally, advising on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and financing schemes.
Her clients include leading private equity houses, sovereign wealth funds and private high net worth investors.
Jo has worked extensively for clients in the hospitality sector and has advised on all aspects of this industry. She regularly advises on cross border corporate retail estate transactions.
Our Lodging & Gaming Group has long been recognized in legal and business circles to the influential role we play in the industry. We represent owners, investors, managers and lenders in virtually every kind of transaction, from the sale of brands, chains, portfolios and single assets to advising on management and other operational arrangements.
She is recognised by Chambers UK and The Legal 500.

Seeing the Bigger Picture: How to Maximise Revenue Beyond the Bedroom

How can hotels make money outside of lodging and monetise every square metre of hotel space? How to capture multiple use of hotel space? Can co-working and co-living spaces increase revenue, and what are the design and operational considerations? How to space plan your hotel? 

Moderator:

Roger A. Allen – Group CEO, Resources for Leisure Assets

Roger A. Allen

Group CEO, Resources for Leisure Assets

Roger is the Founder and Group CEO of Resources for Leisure Assets (RLA) a recognized global advisory to investors, owners, developers and management companies in wellbeing hospitality, specializing in hotels, resorts, residential, mixed-use, healthcare, active living communities and health tourism developments.
RLA works closely with project stakeholders across four continents from its offices in Sonoma, Vienna and Dubai to provide conceptual, financial analysis and asset management of complex assets such resorts and destination assets.
For more than 20 years, Roger has been working on multiple levels of project development in the hospitality and leisure industries, developing a singular expertise in wellbeing asset management and the complexity of project planning through to delivery and operations.
Roger has worked with most of the leading hotel operating brands, is a former a partner at Horwath HTL for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS Countries and was a co-author contributor to the book ‘Hotel & Resorts Valuation – An Investors Guide’ and is a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).

In conversation with:

Jay Stein – Chief Executive Officer, Dream Hotel Group

Jay Stein

Chief Executive Officer, Dream Hotel Group

Jay Stein is Chief Executive Officer of Dream Hotel Group, overseeing the evolution and expansion efforts of the Company and its portfolio of brands: Dream Hotels, Time Hotels, The Chatwal and Unscripted Hotels.
With over three decades in the hospitality business and more than 20 years with Dream Hotel Group’s predecessor, Hampshire Hotels Management, Stein has served in a variety of property and corporate roles with both large and boutique hotel brands, including Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Doral Hotels.
Stein began his career in 1983 with Hilton Worldwide at the Vista International Hotel in the World Trade Center in New York City. A veteran of food and beverage management, he turned his sights to general hotel operations in 1987 and quickly rose up through the ranks to become Managing Director for three Doral Hotels in New York City. After taking those properties through the transition to Starwood Hotels and Resorts, he joined Dream Hotel Group as Executive Vice President of Operations and was soon promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 1997, overseeing hotel operations and playing a vital role in the Company’s expansion efforts. Stein was named Chief Executive Officer in 2015.

Ronit Copeland – Managing Director, Copeland Hospitality

Ronit Copeland

Managing Director, Copeland Hospitality

Ronit Copeland is a hotel & lifestyle expert with over 25 years of experience in the hospitality & tourism business. Her passion for hotels & lifestyle products along with unparalled expertise led her to establish Copeland Hospitality, a firm specializing in creative tailor-made solutions and bespoke services of uncompromising quality to the hospitality, tourism, hotel & lifestyle industries
Ronit Copeland holds a BA Hons in Business Administration from Clark University (MA, USA) and an MBA postgraduate degree in Marketing & Finance from the Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel). Prior to setting up Copeland Hospitality, Ronit held senior positions in global hotel chains such as Hyatt, Starwood, Hilton and Marriott as well as the Vice President of marketing & sales of Tamares Spa Hotels Group.
She is proficient in English, Spanish and Hebrew.

Michael Manz – Founder and Managing Partner, Swiss Hospitality & Partners

Michael Manz

Founder and Managing Partner, Swiss Hospitality & Partners

Michael Manz is a founder and managing partner of the Swiss Hospitality & Partners group. The group manages and consults various hotels mainly in Switzerland but also abroad, and establishes and positions a range of ventures, brands and concepts.
From 2000 to 2004, he worked for Manz Privacy Hotels Group as a member of the management team responsible for monthly operational reports, and planning and supervising renovations. From 2006 to 2010 he was Chief Finance Officer of the company, responsible for all real estate investments and its asset management division.
Michael is member of the board of ASW (a small world – ASWN:SW), a company listed on the Swiss stock exchange as well as member of the board of Hotver Hotel Group in Ecuador, which manages 7 hotels in that region. He has an MBA degree from SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. He speaks five languages fluently: German, English, Italian, French and Russian, as well as advanced Spanish.
In his free time Michael enjoys skiing, chess and cooking. He is married, lives in Malta and has three children.

Marco Nijhof – Group Director of Hospitality & Guest Experience, Value Retail Management Ltd

Marco Nijhof

Group Director of Hospitality & Guest Experience, Value Retail Management Ltd

Marco Nijhof is an accomplished multilingual senior executive/director within the international five star luxury hotel and hospitality industry, specialising in start-ups and brand creation for hotels - YOO Hotels & Resorts International (Design and lifestyle brands).
His experience includes Jumeirah Hotels in Dubai, Grand Hyatt's in Asia and Marriott Hotels in Europe, along with an outstanding track record in high-volume, multi-site operations on five continents. Marco is skilled in delivering strategic change and driving innovation/improvement with a strong focus on sales, marketing and revenue management; he has achieved exceptionally high levels of customer satisfaction in 18 countries by real engagement with multi-cultural workforces.

The Evolution of the Hotel Lease

What is the impact of the rise of leases on the market? Looking at the evolution of leases across varying markets and asset classes.

Moderator:

Marc Nelson – Director Investment Properties UK, CBRE

Marc Nelson

Director Investment Properties UK, CBRE

Marc is an Director in the EMEA Hotel Investment Properties team, specialising in Fixed Income Investments. Over the past 2 years, Marc has acted on over €1bn worth of Fixed Income Hotel deals across EMEA.
Before moving to Investment Properties, Marc was in the Investment Advisory team providing commercial due diligence, buy-side advisory and financial underwriting for commercial banks, institutional and small funds, developers, high net worth individuals and international / national hotel groups spanning across the EMEA.
Prior to joining CBRE, Marc worked for TRI Hospitality Consulting specialising in feasibility and advisory services. Marc has a further two years experience as a fund analyst at Hospitality Property Fund (the only listed property fund in South Africa that specializes solely in hotels and leisure).
Marc has a Bachelor of Commerce and Postgraduate Degree from the University of Johannesburg in Finance and Investment Management. Furthermore, Marc is a CFA Charterholder, having passed all three levels.

In conversation with:

Jaime Buxó – Chief Development Officer, Barceló Hotel Group

Jaime Buxó

Chief Development Officer, Barceló Hotel Group

Jaime Buxó has 30 years’ experience in the hospitality
industry having worked in the EMEA and the AMERICAS
regions. From 2015, he is the Chief Development
Officer at the Barceló Hotel Group , the third largest
hotel company in Spain which offers 4 and 5 star hotels
in 20 countries.
Jaime has gathered his extensive know-how from
several roles in the Hospitality Industry. From 2002 to
2004 he was the Managing Director at AREAS Hotels
Division, a company providing professional and highquality
service to travellers in airports, railway stations,
etc. In 2004 and until 2012 he was appointed Sales
and Marketing Senior Vice President at Barceló Hotels
& Resorts where he developed the areas of sales ,
brand, distribution and marketing; during those years
the Company became a leader in direct distribution
( barcelo.com) , developed a new Brand architecture,
introduced a new marketing strategy and developed a
global sales team with global sales tools. In 2012 Jaime
moved to Occidental Hotels & Resorts as the Chief
Officer Manager and was responsible for the strategic
plan 2012-2016 and the company’s development to
new markets before returning to the Barceló Hotel
Group in 2015.
As a member of the Executive Committee at the
Barceló Hotel Group and Barceló Crestline USA , he has
participated in the company’s development in the USA

Adam Konieczny – VP Business Development, Louvre Hotels Group

Adam Konieczny

VP Business Development, Louvre Hotels Group

Adam Konieczny joined Louvre Hotels Group in May 2017 as a Development Director for Poland and Eastern Europe. His goal is to develop the brands of the group through franchise, management and lease contracts in the region.
Previously he was a Country Head Poland at Christie & Co. Based in Warsaw, he was responsible for identifying hotel opportunities across Poland and CEE for the development and expansion of the company in the region. He has been involved in a number of advisory and valuation assignments as well as operator search and section processes. In 2016 Adam was involved in sale of two 4-star hotels in Wrocław and Gdańsk on behalf of an American fund.
Prior to Christie & Co, Adam worked several years as a Senior Consultant in the hospitality area, at DTZ´s (now Cushman & Wakefield) hospitality department in Warsaw.
Adam Konieczny has a Master of Arts in Mangement from Warsaw School of Economics and a Master of Science in Real Estate from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He also obtained a Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Invesments and Asset Management from Cornell University. Adam is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Sheima Salloum – Director, Eastdil Secured

Sheima Salloum

Director, Eastdil Secured

Sheima Salloum is a Director at Eastdil Secured based in
the London office. With over 10 years of experience in the
hospitality real estate industry and having transacted hotels
worth over US$6bn, she currently oversees the European
hotel transactions team for Eastdil Secured.
Prior to her career at Eastdil Secured, Sheima led JLL’s
German Capital Markets team and was an integral part of
the European transactions team as an Executive Vice
President. Sheima holds a Master degree in business
management from the Munich University of Applied
Sciences and is fluent in German, English, French, Arabic
and Spanish.

David Kellett – Senior Director, Hotel Transactions, Invesco Real Estate

David Kellett

Senior Director, Hotel Transactions, Invesco Real Estate

David Kellett is a Senior Director of Hotel Transactions for the Hotel Fund Management team at Invesco Real Estate (IRE), a dedicated specialist team who manage IRE’s investment in the hotel real estate sector. Kellett has 19 years of transaction experience, which has focused on real estate, hospitality and leisure for the last 14 years.
Kellett joined IRE in November 2018 from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) where he worked for 6 years. He held senior roles at IHG including head of investor relations and most recently head of development in Europe, where he led IHG’s involvement in the recently completed Principal transaction. Prior to IHG Kellett worked in investment banking at JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and an independent boutique.
Kellett has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Valerie Schuermans – Vice President Business Development, Radisson Hotel Group

Valerie Schuermans

Vice President Business Development, Radisson Hotel Group

Looking North: How to Unlock the Nordic Markets?

What are the challenges for international brands to enter the Nordic markets (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden)? Understanding the economic picture and hospitality market conditions in Nordic markets, the main stakeholders and the opportunities for international brands in a region dominated by local companies.

Moderator:

Christian Kielgast – Partner, Nordic Hotel Consulting

Christian Kielgast

Partner, Nordic Hotel Consulting

Christian Kielgast is partner in Nordic Hotel Consulting (NHC) – the leading hotel advisory in the Nordics with offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki and Reykjavik. NHC is active within consulting, asset management and investment advisory. NHC advices major regional and international investors, developers and banks. Christian leads NHC’s investment advisory unit and has in the last couple of years advised on some of the largest single asset and portfolio transactions across the Nordics & Baltics with an aggregate value in excess of 1 billion EUR.

In conversation with:

Martin Edsinger – Senior Vice President, KSL Capital

Martin Edsinger

Senior Vice President, KSL Capital

Mr Edsinger joined KSL in May 2016. Martin most recently worked as an Investment Manager with ARLE Capital Partners. Previously, Martin worked as an Experienced Associate Consultant with Bain & Company and an Economic Analyst with NERA Economic Consulting. Martin graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), where he holds a degree in Accounting and Financial Management and an MSc in Economics and Business.

Jesper Engman – Vice President Business Development, Scandic

Jesper Engman

Vice President Business Development, Scandic

Jesper Engman is Vice President Business Development for Scandic Hotels and a member of Scandic’s Executive Committee. Jesper is responsible for the company’s acquisition and development department including the sourcing and signing of new hotels, take overs and conversions, and the renewal of existing lease agreements.
Jesper has been part of the successful growth of Scandic from 135 hotels in 2006 to 280 hotels today. Prior to Scandic, Jesper worked for the hotel real estate company Pandox as Director Business Area and analyst. Jesper has 20 years of experience in the hotel real estate sector and holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Dimitris Manikis – President and Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA)

Dimitris Manikis

President and Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA)

Dimitris Manikis was appointed President and Managing Director for EMEA in April 2018. In his role, he is responsible for the development of all of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ brands in the EMEA region as well as maximising the performance of all new and existing franchise and managed hotels. He focuses on driving the strategic objectives of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts including quality and technology solutions as well as loyalty, sales and marketing.
Dimitris Manikis has a long-standing career and deep knowledge of the hospitality industry. Prior to joining Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, he spent over 27 years with RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange, across a number of senior roles, and most recently served as Vice President of Business Development for EMEA. Earlier in his career, he also held a number key positions in the region as Managing Director of RCI Greece and RCI South Africa.
A Greek national, Dimitris was born in Athens and holds a Bachelor degree in Tourism and Administration from the University of Patras in Greece, and an MSc Postgraduate degree in Tourism Marketing from the University of Surrey. His passion for people and work ethic comes from his father, who built up a grocery retail business in Athens where Dimitris learned the value of high customer service, positive outlook and hard work as being the foundations of success in both business and life.
He is based in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ London office

Erik Möller – Director Development – Nordics, Marriott International

Erik Möller

Director Development – Nordics, Marriott International

Erik Möller joined Marriott in June 2018 as Director of Development - Nordics, to lead the Company’s selected service development across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
Prior to joining Marriott, Erik spent 5 years and was head of Sweden for the pan-Nordic hotel consultancy firm Nordic Hotel Consulting (NHC), focusing on hotel real estate transactions, financing, valuations, contract negotiations, operator search, feasibility studies, asset management and interim management.
During this time, Erik worked with local and international operating and owning companies such as: Pandox, Patron Capital, Brunswick Group, Blackstone, NREP, DNB, Starwood Capital, SEB, Midstar, Balder, Accor, Rezidor, Host Hotels & Resorts, ADIA and Invesco.
Key achievements include:
• Advised Invesco European Hotel Real Estate Fund on their 670 MSEK sale of Courtyard by Marriott.
• Advised and assisted Patron Capital on opening Generator Stockholm and bringing a new international brand into the Stockholm hotel market.
• Advised Sveafastigheter (currently Brunswick Group) when selling the Norse Hotel Scandinavia portfolio of 13 Accor branded hotel across Sweden. Entire op-co transferred under new lease agreements to Ligula Hospitality.
• Advised Copenhagen Airports on the joint venture transaction with Strawberry Fields for the development of a 500-room comfort hotel and the ownership of the existing Hilton Copenhagen Airport as well as new lease agreements with Nordic Choice for both hotels.
Erik holds a Bachelor in Business Administration & International Hospitality Management from Glion Institute of Higher Education.
Erik is based in Stockholm and can be reached at +46(0) 707733565 and erik.moller@marriott.com

Blending Technology and the Customer Experience: How to Make it Work?

How to tie technology to the customer? As well as cutting costs and simplifying processes, technology is removing points of human interaction: how to balance human interaction and convenience? What technologies are essential for customers?

Moderator:

David Samson – Associate Director, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure (THL) Practice, Deloitte

David Samson

Associate Director, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure (THL) Practice, Deloitte

David is an Associate Director and industry specialist in the international Transportation, Hospitality and Leisure (THL) advisory practice in London. Recognised as a leader in its field, the team is part of Deloitte’s global THL industry group, which provides corporate finance, consulting, tax and assurance services to the international hospitality industry.
David serves a wide spectrum of hospitality clients including hospitality brands, private equity, sovereign wealth funds, and HNWIs. He has worked in over 40 markets around the world advising on due diligence, business strategy, M&A advisory, concept creation, feasibility studies and operator selection process.
He is a regular speaker at industry events and has published articles on future trends affecting the global hotel industry. David’s passion for new
David is an alumnus of Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and graduated in 2011 with a BSc in International Hospitality Management and part of the founding team of the Young Hoteliers Summit.

In conversation with:

Maud Bailly – Chief Digital Officer, AccorHotels

Maud Bailly

Chief Digital Officer, AccorHotels

Maud Bailly joined AccorHotels as Chief Digital Officer on April 3rd 2017.
She is head of the Digital, Distribution, Guest Experience, Sales, Data and Information Systems, and is a Member of the Executive Committee of the company.
Since her arrival, Maud has deployed a worldwide digital and cultural transformation within the Group. Co-designed with operations, this customer-oriented and product-driven strategy relies on strategic choices amongst which hyper-personalization, usage dogma and a responsible data approach... empowering AccorHotels to be sustainably chosen by both guests and hotels.
On May 2018 29th, Maud has joined the French Digital Council, (CNNum), a 30 people circle nominated by the French Minister of Digital to study digital-related topics, with a focus on stakes & perspective of the digital transition of French society, economy, companies, organizations, public action and territories.
Maud Bailly is 39 years old and is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
She started her career in 2007 at the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF).
After several audit missions at the IGF, both in France and abroad - with missions for the World Bank and the International Money Fund, she joined the SNCF as the Paris Montparnasse station’s Director and Deputy Director of the TGV product for the Paris Rive Gauche region. She then became Director of Trains, in charge of network animation and of the transformation of 10.000 train controllers’ and 3.000 station agents’ roles, as well as the renewal of Guest Experience on board. Called by the Prime Minister’s Office in May 2015, she became Head of the Economic and Digital pole in Matignon (official Prime Minister’s office, under Manuel Valls), in charge of fiscal, tax, industrial, financial, but also numerical affairs, where she dealt especially with open data, General Data Protection Regulation, IT security and digital accessibility. On top of that, she also tackled several issues of State reform as well as post-Brexit issues for the Paris financial market.
Additionally, Maud gives regular trainings on digital transformation stakes.
Whether it is in stations, on trains, in hotels, on a website or a mobile app, building an easier and enriched ecosystem for the customers thanks to digital, while ensuring a maximum data privacy respect, is for sure Maud’s favorite playground.

Lisa Bovio – Chief Commercial Officer, Yotel

Lisa Bovio

Chief Commercial Officer, Yotel

Lisa Bovio holds overall global responsibility for YOTEL's Sales, Revenue Management, Public Relations, Social Media, Digital Marketing, Brand and e-commerce). Lisa speaks five languages and has over 25 years’ experience in various areas of the tourism industry spanning from hospitality, car rental, OTA, cruise and corporate travel. She is an outstanding negotiator with excellent commercial acumen and a proven track record. During her car rental days, she won the biggest car rental corporate account in Europe: EADS worth €25M pa at the time. She has worked with global brands such as Oberoi, Hertz, Kerzner, Aman as well as e-commerce platforms such as lastminute.com. Lisa is on the Board of Directors of Entrepreneur Resorts and on the Advisory Board of the NOR Project.

Víctor Fernández – CEO, Room Mate Group

Víctor Fernández

CEO, Room Mate Group

Víctor Fernández Cintrano has been the CEO of Room Mate since 2015. This is the international group which encompasses Room Mate Hotels, Be Mate (the innovative tourist housing company) and X-Perience (a consultancy with the Room Mate stamp and PwC collaboration). For four years previous to this he was the Managing Director of Room Mate Hotels.
Following his incorporation, the company's results have quadrupled and he has developed an ambitious diversification and expansion project, with the company now being present in more than 16 cities around the world. Before Room Mate, Víctor developed a family real-estate company which became the leading company in the tourism consultancy sector in Spain.
Víctor Fernández studied Law at the Universidad Complutense and afterwards he completed a master in Finance and an Executive MBA at ICADE. In addition, he has been a professor at ICADE and a program leader at CEU and the Instituto de Fomento Empresarial. Moreover, he has written numerous articles and participates at both national and international conferences.

Thomas Page – Partner, Head of Hotels & Leisure, CMS

Thomas Page

Partner, Head of Hotels & Leisure, CMS

Thomas Page is Head of the CMS Hotels & Leisure Group. In this position, he leads an international team of over 100 specialists.
With experience across Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and Africa, Tom advises a range of international clients, including investors, developers, operators, fund managers and banks on corporate transactions such as M&A, joint ventures and corporate finance, in the hotels, leisure, real estate and technology sectors.
As developers, investors and banks need specialist advice on hotel management agreements with operators, he has developed a particular expertise in this area, publishing “The Little Blue Book Guide to Hotel Management Agreements”.
Operators have asked him to advise on their standard form management agreements. Tom is recognised as a leading expert in the hotels sector, regularly speaks at international industry events and is on the Advisory Board of the International Hotel Investment Forum and the Investment Committee of Global Hotel Network.
He is a top ranked individual for Hotels & Leisure by legal directory Chambers and recommended as a Leading Individual by Legal 500. He leads a team that is top ranked by both publications.

Stay Just a Little Bit Longer: The Rise of the Serviced Apartment

Previously a niche market, serviced apartments, aparthotels and co-living spaces are establishing themselves as an attractive investment proposition for a wider range of investors. What is the state of the market and what’s in it for investors, owners and operators?

Moderator:

Gesa Rohwedder – Head of Hospitality, ‎Drees & Sommer

Gesa Rohwedder

Head of Hospitality, ‎Drees & Sommer

Employment history
since 2014 Drees & Sommer, Head of Hospitality
2006-2013 InterContinental Hotel Hamburg, General Manager
2004-2006 InterContinental Hotel Berlin, General Manager
2003-2004 InterContinental Hotel London, General Manager
2002-2003 InterContinental Hotel Cologne, Hotel Manager
1991-2002 Various Hotel Management Position
1990 Graduation as hotel specialist

Personal experience
- 26 years professional experience
- International management international 5*- Hotels in Germany and
abroad
- Review of hotel conversion projects from hotel operator - and
owner overview (evaluation of profitability, potential analysis,
development of financing models, conversion scenarios)
- Analytical researches & feasibilities of hotel projects, locations,
renovation, conversion and expansion opportunities.

Personal reference projects
- Hotelconsulting for international hotel project across Europe; e. g.
Operator Search, Feasibility-, Market and Best Use Studies for hotel
development and conversion in Europe
- InterContinental Berlin: Conversion- and expansion of Hotel Facilities
- InterContinental Cologne: Hotel opening
- InterContinental London: Refurbishment and economic evaluation
- InterContinental Hamburg: Renovation of hotel and economic
evaluation

In conversation with:

Robert Alley – Chief Operating Officer, Roomzzz Aparthotels

Robert Alley

Chief Operating Officer, Roomzzz Aparthotels

Robert joined Roomzzz Aparthotels at the beginning of the year as COO to lead the team through an exciting phase of growth. With two new exciting aparthotels opened this year and a further five more in the pipeline, Roomzzz is well established in the exciting aparthotel sector providing stylish apartments with a personal touch for adventure, business and celebration. Robert has over 25 year’s hospitality experience with some of the world’s largest hotel brands and provides a focus on customer experience, commercial strength and leadership to take the group through the next few years as an innovator and market leader.

Ken Moore – Managing Director - EMEA Oakwood

Ken Moore

Managing Director - EMEA Oakwood

Ken Moore joined Oakwood in 2018 as Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Prior to his appointment, Moore held roles across a range of international hospitality organizations, including Pavilion Group, Dong Du International and Le Meridian Resorts, where he contributed successfully to achieving tangible change within a fast-moving industry. He most recently managed the development and opening of the Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur Hotel, the Shanghai Town and Country Community Project
Moore has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has achieved recognition over the years, including the Vice President’s awards for Achievement in Outstanding Quality, Performance Excellence and Exceptional Customer Service, and was previously awarded the Catey Award for Hotel of the Year.
Moore is a graduate of the Holiday Inn Management Development Programme, a member of the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA) and of the Institute of Hospitality.

Ana Nekhamkin – Director of Real Estate, Sonder

Ana Nekhamkin

Director of Real Estate, Sonder

Ana has recently joined Sonder to lead the Company’s expansion efforts in Europe. Sonder master-leases, designs, furnishes and manages full or partial residential and commercial buildings representing over $1.8 billion of prime assets. The Company’s current portfolio comprises 4,000+ units across 27 markets and it is using the over $200 million it has raised from some of the top VC investors to rapidly grow in new and existing locations.

Prior to starting her role at Sonder Ana was the Managing Director of Inhabit, a build to rent platform developing 3,500 apartments around the UK. She has also held positions in real estate acquisitions and development at lifestyle hotel companies such as Morgans Hotel Group, Ian Schrager Company and Virgin Hotels. Ana started her career in Morgan Stanley’s Real Estate Group. She graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Matthias Niemeyer – Head of Development CEE, Adina Apartment Hotels

Matthias Niemeyer

Head of Development CEE, Adina Apartment Hotels

Since 2012, Matthias Niemeyer is Head of Development Europe for TFE Hotels based in Sydney in charge of expanding the apartment hotel brand Adina in Central Europe.
Matthias has experience in the field of hospitality real estate for more than 30 years. Before starting with TFE, he worked as developer and investment manager for closed end real estate funds in Germany as well as a consultant and appraise in the hospitality sector.
He started his career in the hotel industry with Hilton International and Steigenberger Hotels AG.
He graduated with a business degree from the University of Applied Sciences Munich and also holds a master degree in Real Estate Management and Construction Project Management from Universities of Wuppertal and Reading (GB).
Matthias Niemeyer has published books on hotel real estate as well as on serviced apartments and has lecturing assignments at the IUBH, Germany.

Nadja Werum – Senior Investment Manager Hospitality, Commerzreal

Nadja Werum

Senior Investment Manager Hospitality, Commerzreal

Professional career
Lawyer, law studies, (Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)
› 2008-today: Senior Investment Manager Hospitality - Commerz Real AG
› 2005-2007: Nadja Werum Real Estate Consult
› 1996-2004: Project Manager and Authorized Signatory - Rendata Projektentwicklungs GmbH
› 1994-1995: Assistance of the Management Board - Architektenkammer Hessen

Track Record
› 24 Years Real Estate Expertise
› 11 Years Hotel Expertise
› Numerous international Hotel Transactions with diversified structures and a total investment volume of approx. EUR 600 Mio.

Form & Function: The Key Design Considerations for Hotel F&B Spaces

What are the major design considerations for restaurants and bars in hotels? How to design spaces that enhance the customer experience while increasing the value of the asset?

Moderator:

Heleri Rande – Consulting Editor & F&B Strategist, SUPPER Magazine

Heleri Rande

Consulting Editor & F&B Strategist, SUPPER Magazine

Heleri is a freelance F&B strategist helping hotel owners refine their F&B strategy and find the right concepts, operators and/or chefs. She is also a consulting editor for SUPPER Magazine, the international title covering global hotel F&B. SUPPER explores the projects, personalities and products driving the sector and presents these in a quarterly print title, distributed to the industry’s leading figures.
Originally from Estonia, Heleri has lived in seven countries and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from New York University in Economics and Business, as well as an executive MBA in Hospitality Administration from École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland.
After spending six years in finance in both New York and London, Heleri returned to the industry that combines her passion for travel, food and excellent customer service. For two years after graduating from EHL, Heleri was Director of Business Development for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Puccini Group. Based in the firm’s London office, Heleri spearheaded Puccini Group’s growth within the region, identified opportunities for clients and connected them with Puccini Group’s resources to produce optimal solutions.
Heleri serves as an advisory board member for the Global Restaurant Investment Forum and Sleep + Eat Conference, is one of the founders of the Hyatt Student Prize Alumni and holds a seat on EHL’s United Kingdom Alumni Chapter Committee.

In conversation with:

Monika Moser – Managing Director — Europe, Wilson Associates

Monika Moser

Managing Director — Europe, Wilson Associates

Monika is a hotelier at heart. With an MBA in Hospitality Management from ESSEC Business School and over 20 years of experience in hotel operations, she’s an authority in luxury hospitality. A German native who grew up in South America, Monika developed a passion for art, music, literature and language. She is now fluent in five languages. As Managing Director of Wilson’s atelier in Paris and design office in London, Monika is a brand ambassador who supports the firm’s strategic initiatives. A cultural aficionado, she frequents the opera and loves listening to Rachmaninoff while drinking a malt whiskey. However, her greatest treasure is spending time with her daughter, Clara.

Tim Mutton – CEO and Founder, Blacksheep

Tim Mutton

CEO and Founder, Blacksheep

Tim Mutton is the CEO and founder of Blacksheep, a leading full-service creative agency that supports the world’s best food & drink brands with powerful and intelligent insights and solutions. Winner of the Wave of Future Award US for ‘Hospitality Design’, Tim is considered a leading authority on the hospitality sector. He combines a passion for F&B design with in-depth sector knowledge of the practical, business and operational aspects of a business.

Quentin Vicas – Director of International Development, Ducasse Paris

Quentin Vicas

Director of International Development, Ducasse Paris

Currently director of international development for Ducasse Paris. In charge of developping the business of all BUs (restaurants, schools, retail, consulting) in line with the company's strategy.
Expertise in strategy definition and implementation, business development, contract negociation, project management, business plan, concept creation.

Gustaf Pilebjer – Director Food and Beverage - Europe, Marriott International

Gustaf Pilebjer

Director Food and Beverage - Europe, Marriott International

Gustaf Pilebjer is the Director of Food and Beverage for Europe at Marriott International overseeing development projects across the continent and Marriott brand portfolio.
His hospitality career spans nearly two decades, with a wealth of experience amassed in operational, managerial and consultancy roles.
In 2010, he joined Gorgeous Group as a consultant, specializing in concept development and project management of F&B projects for the international hotel industry and independent operators. In 2015, Gustaf co-founded the London-based creative hospitality agency Rebel, acting as Creative and Projects Director.

Luxe Good: Why Is Luxury So Attractive?

A flurry of deals have been taking place in the luxury segment, and fashion/retail brands are keen to bring their own take to the luxury hospitality market: what makes five-star hotels so vibrant, and what does luxury mean for today’s consumers?

Moderator:

Katharine Le Quesne – Senior Director, HoCoSo and Head of Integrated Resorts, Glion

Katharine Le Quesne

Senior Director, HoCoSo and Head of Integrated Resorts, Glion

Katharine is a Senior Director at HoCoSo – an advisory firm specialising in creating unique hospitality experiences and destinations. Our services cover: concept (re)development & portfolio creation; project scoping and execution; asset management; and education.
She has spent over 20 years working all over the world with private investors, public companies, Governments and operators in the hospitality and leisure industries, advising on an eclectic mix of investments, particularly luxury hotels, resorts, destinations and theme parks. She is also a valued advisor to C-suite teams and boards, facilitating strategic workshops and providing an external industry perspective.
Katharine began her career with Jones Lang Wootton (now JLL) in China, when the country was undergoing its first real estate boom, working on real estate investment, agency and development consultancy. She subsequently worked in Asia and Europe for Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, within their specialist hotel advisory practices. She launched and ran the first monthly hotel benchmark survey for Asia Pacific and travelled extensively across EMEA and Asia, working on M&A, strategy and development feasibility assignments.
She is Head of Resorts at the Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland, and is a Visiting Lecturer at world class hospitality and real estate institutions, including the University of Zurich and previously the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. She has been an industry advisor on the World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report and is a regular speaker at industry events.
Katharine has lived in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan and France and is currently based in the UK. She speaks French and rusty Mandarin (her undergraduate degree); and has an MBA from INSEAD, France.

In conversation with:

Valeriano Antonioli – Chief Executive Officer, Lungarno Collection

Valeriano Antonioli

Chief Executive Officer, Lungarno Collection

Valeriano Antonioli is Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Lungarno Collection, the hotel management company owned by the Ferragamo family. A 30-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Antonioli – a business economist and hospitality industry strategic marketing expert – has managed luxury hotels and resorts throughout Italy, Germany, Russia, England and the U.S.. Among other positions, he has served as Managing Director of InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa, in Scottsdale, Arizona; General Manager of the historic Diana Majestic in Milan (which he repositioned as “the fashion hotel in Milan”); and Resident Manager at Hotel Principe di Savoia and Hotel Duca in Milan. His most recent success story was the creation of the Portrait Brand where he was able to transform uniform luxury in spontaneous personalization, filling an important gap in the luxury hotel industry. A true Renaissance man, Antonioli is a Taekwondo Black Belt, outdoor sports enthusiast, and author of Eating, Drinking and Flirting and The Joy of Discovery. Fluent in Italian, English and German he was honoured in the Italian Republic Legion of Honour as “Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana” in 2007.

Richard Arnold – Chief Development Officer, Auberge Resorts Collection

Richard Arnold

Chief Development Officer, Auberge Resorts Collection

Richard leads the Auberge Resorts Collection overall growth strategy. Richard oversees a team that identifies, negotiates, and secures all growth opportunities including new development, acquisitions, and corporate transactions. Prior to joining Auberge, Richard was a Partner and Managing Director at Kadenwood Partners, a London based real-estate investment, capital advisory, and asset management firm focused on the luxury hotel, residential, and mixed-use property sectors. Prior to Kadenwood, Richard served as Vice President, Worldwide Development at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts where he was responsible for sourcing and securing new growth opportunities on a global basis. In addition, he focused on strategic transactions, special situations, and identifying development capital. Richard has previously held roles with PKF Consulting and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Richard holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Hotel and Food Administration with a focus on Real Estate Finance from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. He currently serves on the Hospitality Investment Roundtable of the American Hotel and Lodging Association and has previously served on the Hotel Development Counsel at the Urban Land Institute.

Karl Bieberach-Dielman – Chief Development Officer, Rosewood Hotel Group

Karl Bieberach-Dielman

Chief Development Officer, Rosewood Hotel Group

Karl Bieberach-Dielman is the global leader of the Development and the Feasibility teams at Rosewood Hotel Group, overseeing the strategic expansion of the group’s distinct brands. With more than 20 years of experience in development, Mr. Bieberach-Dielman has worked extensively in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the U.S. Prior to joining Rosewood, he held a variety of senior roles during his 15-year tenure at Starwood Hotels & Resorts including as Head of European Development. Prior to Starwood, he was Director of Development Planning and Feasibility for Latin America and the Caribbean at Marriott International. Mr. Bieberach-Dielman is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and speaks English, Spanish and French. Mexican by origin, he is married with no kids, and resides between Amsterdam, Brussels and Hong Kong.

Caroline Domange-Harding – Head of Development and Marketing, LVMH

Caroline Domange-Harding

Head of Development and Marketing, LVMH

Caroline is one of the two founding members of LVMH Hotel Management, the LVMH Group’s entity in charge of developing and managing the Cheval Blanc and White 1921 hotel brands. Since 2008 she heads the Development, Marketing and Communication divisions of the Group, and is the driving force behind the creation and positioning of the Cheval Blanc brand and offering, distilling the essence of the LVMH Group’s deep understanding of luxury into hospitality.
Prior to joining LVMH, she worked with Starwood Capital in their participation in Groupe Taittinger (now Groupe du Louvre) and with PwC in Market Due Diligence for Hospitality, Retail and FMCG groups. A true Parisian, Caroline holds a Business Masters in Entrepreneurship from HEC in Paris and is the proud mother of three.

Marco Roca – President of Global Development and Chief Development Officer, Caesars Entertainment

Marco Roca

President of Global Development and Chief Development Officer, Caesars Entertainment

Marco Roca is President of Global Development and Chief Development Officer for Caesars Entertainment. He leads development efforts to expand Caesars’ gaming business and develop hotel opportunities.
Immediately prior to joining Caesars, Roca was Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer for Hard Rock International. He has also served in executive leadership and property operations roles with companies including Realogy, Wyndham, Starwood, Marriott and Hilton. Over his career, he has been involved in closing more than 1,500 deals which equates to approximately $50 billion in development expansion.
Roca is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Psychology from University of The Americas in Mexico and a Master’s of Science in Management and Organizational Development from the United States International University in Mexico City.

Refreshments in exhibition

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

You Can Bank on It! Examining Institutional Interest in the Hotel Sector

As institutional investors are increasingly considering hotel investment, let’s examine what they are looking for when considering a hotel investment: What types of assets? What locations? What models are they favouring? Who’s taking the operating risk?

Moderator:

Karl Badstuber – Managing Director, JLL

Karl Badstuber

Managing Director, JLL

Mr. Badstuber joined JLL as Managing Director after spending four years as a senior pan-European hotel specialist at AXA IM - Real Assets, spearheading hotel transactions and strategic hotel asset management. He has also held senior positions at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund, Grand City Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels and Starwood Hotels across Germany, Luxembourg, the UK and Australia.

In conversation with:

AMAL DEL MONACO – Head of Sector Specialists, AXA IM - Real Assets

AMAL DEL MONACO

Head of Sector Specialists, AXA IM - Real Assets

Andreas Löcher – Head of Acquisition & Sales Investment Management Hotels, Union Investment Real Estate

Andreas Löcher

Head of Acquisition & Sales Investment Management Hotels, Union Investment Real Estate

Andreas Löcher is Head of Division of Investment Management Hotel at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH, Hamburg, since July 2010. He is in charge of the hotel investment strategy and coordinates all Hotel Acquisitions and Sales activities within the Hamburg-based property investment company. The widespread hotel portfolio of Union Investment containing some 20 hotel operators/brands in nine country markets currently comprises 52 real estate properties with a current market value of about 3.2 billion EUR. For its open-ended real estate funds, Union Investment plans to acquire more in Europe and the US. In 2015, Union Investment entered the US hotel investment market by acquiring the “Godfrey Hotel” in Boston followed by the acquisition of the “LondonHouse” hotel in Chicago. Moreover, the hotel portfolio will also be continuously enlarged by selective acquisitions in the budget segment.
Prior to joining Union Investment, Andreas Löcher was a Head of Hotel Acquisitions & Sales at Deka Immobilien GmbH, Frankfurt and a Vice President at Aareal Bank AG, Wiesbaden, responsible for real estate finance (hotel).

Laia Lahoz – Chief Assets and Development Officer, NH Hotel Group

Laia Lahoz

Chief Assets and Development Officer, NH Hotel Group

Laia Lahoz is Chief Assets and Development Officer of NH Hotel Group, a leading multinational hotel chain that operates over 350 hotels in 29 countries. From her position, Laia leads the Company’s strategy in terms of asset management and development, reporting directly to the CEO. She is also responsible for the global expansion of the Group’s three brands: NH Collection, NH Hotels and nhow, with a special focus on strengthening their presence in key cities across Europe and America as well as their introduction in new markets. Prior to her appointment as Chief, Laia was Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management, where she excelled for her strong negotiations skills and remarkable results.
She started her career in the renowned law firm Garrigues and introduced herself into the hospitality industry in 2004 when she joined Hesperia Hotels as Head of the Legal Affairs Department.
A few years later she moved on to become Managing Director of the Hesperia Investor Group and joined NH Hotel Group in 2013 after the integration of the both companies.
Laia Lahoz boasts a Degree in Law School as well as a Master in Business Law from the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) and a Master’s Degree in International Cooperation from the University of Barcelona.

Elie Younes – Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group

Elie Younes

Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Radisson Hotel Group

Elie leads Radisson Hotel Group’s expansions across Europe, the Middle East & Africa with an international team of 25 executives based in Brussels, Moscow, Barcelona, Milan, London, Oslo, Dubai, Frankfurt and Cape Town. Under his leadership, the group has launched and delivered an active asset light strategy with a solid pipeline of 120 hotels and opened over 110 hotels across EMEA.
He is focused on driving organic growth but also helps drive the company’s expansion related acquisitions, as well as the growth into new business concepts on alternative lodging.
He has recently re-engineered Radisson Hotel Group’s development strategy to focus on an asset right growth and accordingly adjusted the organization and its corresponding capabilities for execution. He has a clear vision on delivering a compelling value proposition to investment stakeholders and is on a mission to have this executed, globally. Elie’s cultural background and lifestyle accelerates his stamina and ability to be nimble, anticipate and act fast – decisively.
A Lebanese national and English citizen, Elie began his career in managerial roles in his home country, before joining HVS in London in 2001. He progressed quickly to the position of Director (and a Designate MD) with HVS within 5 years. He also authored a number of publications on hotel performance assessments and investments. In 2007, he joined Starwood in London as Senior Director of Acquisitions and Development. His next move took him to Hilton Hotels Worldwide as Vice President Development, based in Dubai, before joining Rezidor (now Radisson Hospitality AB) in 2010, as Vice President of Business Development for the Middle East and Africa. In January 2013, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Business Development EMEA, and then to Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer two years later.
Elie is fluent in English, French and Arabic. He is educated in Beirut, Paris, New York and London, at universities like Notre Dame, IMHI/Essec, Insead, Cornell University, Johnson Graduate Business School and City University.

Integrating Wellness to Impact the Bottom Line

Understanding wellness as not just an add-on amenity but a concept that impacts profitability and asset value when integrated throughout the whole facility, from design to landscaping, materials used, F&B, staff training and more.

Moderator:

Claire Way – Managing Director, Spa Strategy

Claire Way

Managing Director, Spa Strategy

Claire joined Spa Strategy in 2006 to manage our UK office. As managing director, she leads Spa Strategy’s extensive work in strategic planning, programming & design and management support for hotel spa and wellness facilities.
Claire’s over 25 years experience in the spa industry includes working at property level, corporate and consulting. Prior to joining
Spa Strategy Claire headed the spa division at Per Aquum Resorts & Spas.

Ingo Schweder – Founder & CE, GOCO Hospitality

Ingo Schweder

Founder & CE, GOCO Hospitality

As CEO and founder of GOCO, Ingo brings more than 20 years of experience from the fields of spa and hospitality.

Working with and managing some of the world’s most prestigious hotel groups, Ingo has been involved with the design, development, and worldwide operation of iconic hotels and wellness destinations. Under his guidance, Ananda in the Himalayas, the globally-recognized destination spa, was established.

During his tenure at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, he established from the ground up 15 resort spas on four continents whose strong holistic roots are credited to him. He earlier was Group Director of Hotel Operations for Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and Managing Director of Rafael Group Hoteliers, Southeast Asia.

Always engaging and willing to share his expertise, Ingo is a frequent speaker at Cornell University, ISPA events, Hospitality Finance Conferences globally, and other hospitality-related symposia around the world. He also sits on the Board of the Spa India Association and the China Spa Symposium.

Ingo has a true passion for photography and traveling off the beaten path, where he enjoys combining the discovery of new countries and their people with the practice of yoga, making time to practice with well-renowned yoga masters around the globe.

Alan Whiteley – Managing Director, Champneys

Alan Whiteley

Managing Director, Champneys

Alan Whiteley has worked within the hospitality industry for over 20 years. He has held senior management and operations roles across a number of leading hotel groups including Thistle Hotels, Hilton, Radisson and most recently De Vere Hotels. Alan joined the Champneys Group in 2014 as Group Operations Director before being appointed to his current position.

As Managing Director of the Champneys Group, the UK’s leading spa resort group, Alan’s remit covers the Champneys Group’s entire portfolio of properties which includes four spa resorts, six city spas, two hotels including Eastwell Manor and Mottram Hall, Champneys partnership with Marella Cruises, and a range globally recognised skin and bodycare products.

Managing the Management Contracts: Do We Need to Simplify?

A source of debate between owners and operators, the consensus on management contracts is that they need to be simplified. What is causing the complexity? Are new types of management contracts (e.g. hybrid management agreements; contracts backed up by a lease) really making a difference?

Moderated by:

Alex Campbell – Partner, Fieldfisher

Alex Campbell

Partner, Fieldfisher

Alex is a Partner in Fieldfisher's Financial Markets and Products Group in London. Alex specialises in real estate finance in the hotel and leisure sector. His clients include equity investors, owners, debt providers and operators. Alex advises on the financing arrangements for the acquisition, development and refurbishment of hotel properties. He has advised on both European and international transactions, including on recent projects in the UK, Iraq and Sri Lanka. His experience includes advising on the origination of corporate and real estate loans, Intercreditor arrangements, securitisation and debt/equity restructuring matters.
Alex also advises owners and operators on hotel and resort management agreements, franchise agreements and other operating contracts. He is experienced with advising on both the establishment of management arrangements and ongoing day-to-day operating matters.

In conversation with:

Rami Badr – Managing Director, Orion Capital Managers

Rami Badr

Managing Director, Orion Capital Managers

Rami is a Partner and Managing Director of Orion and is primarily located in London. Since joining Orion in 2002, he has been involved in acquisitions, asset management and realisations for the Orion European RE Funds across Europe with a particular focus on larger corporate transactions, pan-European portfolios, debt acquisitions, restructurings and retail investments. This includes active involvement in investments such as Infracity in Stockholm, Puerto Venecia in Spain, the equity participation in Société Foncière Lyonnaise, the debt acquisition and restructuring of the Spanish company Inmobiliara Colonial or the Sotogrande resort relaunch. Before joining Orion he was an associate at Arthur Andersen within the transaction support team, advising large corporations on their RE strategies. Rami is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique.

Willemijn Geels – Associate Vice President Development, Continental Europe, IHG

Willemijn Geels

Associate Vice President Development, Continental Europe, IHG

Willemijn Geels is Associate Vice President, Continental Europe for IHG and is responsible for the expansion of the group’s brands across the region. She has nearly 15 years’ experience in the hospitality industry through various operational and development related positions.
Before joining IHG, Willemijn was Development & Acquisitions Director for Louvre Hotels Group in Europe and previously she was active as Manager within the HTL practice of Deloitte. In that role, she headed multiple hotel valuations, feasibility studies as well as transaction and strategic advisory assignments.
Willemijn graduated from ESSEC business school with a MBA degree in International Hospitality Management and specialising in Real Estate.

Aaron Greenman – Executive Vice President, Acquisitions & Development – EMEA, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Aaron Greenman

Executive Vice President, Acquisitions & Development – EMEA, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Aaron Greenman, based in Brussels, Belgium, is Interstate Hotels & Resorts’ executive vice president of acquisitions and development for Europe, responsible for growing the portfolio of managed hotels for all European regions including Russia/CIS.
Aaron joined Interstate in fall 2007 as head of development in India, in addition to his responsibilities as COO with the company’s joint venture partner there. In 2010, he was promoted to senior vice president of acquisitions and development for Europe, working closely with his European colleagues to build on the company’s platform in the region. At the time, Interstate had 10 hotels throughout Europe and presence in several countries. During his tenure, Interstate has added approximately 100 management agreements in Europe, and today the company has nearly 80 hotels and over 12,000 rooms under management, in addition to 12 hotels in the pipeline, making Europe one of Interstate’s fastest growing regions.
Prior to joining Interstate, Aaron was managing director for AFEX Group in Nairobi, Kenya, responsible for a company with 600 employees with operations throughout East Africa, and earlier was a senior manager in Ernst and Young LLP’s real estate advisory services practice, based in Boston, New York and Miami. He earned a Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College.

Elias Hayek – Partner, Head of Global Hospitality and Leisure, Squire Patton Boggs

Elias Hayek

Partner, Head of Global Hospitality and Leisure, Squire Patton Boggs

Elias Hayek leads the global Hospitality & Leisure Group at Squire Patton Boggs, a leading international law firm with 1500 lawyers in 46 offices across 21 countries. He is a widely respected hospitality lawyer with over two decades of cross-jurisdictional professional experience in the hospitality sector, including in sector specific corporate and commercial transactions; management, licensing, franchising and service agreements; hospitality M&A and joint ventures; hotel project leasing agreements; mixed use and branded residential developments; sale and lease / manage back transactions; and food and beverage, restaurant and health and wellness management and licensing agreements. His clients include multi asset owner / developers, private equity funds, brand owners and third party operators. He currently represents clients on hospitality projects across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Indian Ocean. Over his career, Elias closed over 350 hospitality and leisure projects across virtually every major city in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.

Elias is the current Vice Chair of the Leisure Industries Section of the International Bar Association (IBA) representing more than 80,000 individual lawyers and more than 190 bar associations and law societies spanning over 160 countries; He is charged with leading the hospitality and leisure initiatives for the IBA. Elias also holds two other leadership positions in the IBA: as vice chair of the Corporate Counsel Forum, and as an officer of the Arab Regional Forum (ARF) of the Legal Practice Division, where he is jointly responsible for directing strategy of the IBA in the region. He is the former chair and president of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Middle East chapter, a position he held from its formation and launch until 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, Elias worked for 17 years at a leading Fortune 500 international hotel brands owner and operator, where his last role was as vice president, Legal – Europe, Middle East and Africa Division. During this time, Elias worked in both the Brussels and Dubai offices and was responsible for overseeing all regional legal matters in the Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean, including advising corporate executives and hotel management on operations, acquisitions, development, HR, sales and marketing, dispute resolution, litigation and arbitration. His extensive in-house experience, multi-jurisdictional exposure, commercial acumen and vast connections in both the hotel operator and owner/developer communities are a substantial asset to clients.

He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific, where he was a member of the International Moot Court Honors Board. He also holds a BSc in Business Administration from California State University, where he majored in Finance and Economics.

Elias is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award awarded by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Global Board, the global association of corporate lawyers representing 40,000 members in over 85 countries.

Paul Pisani – Senior Vice President Hotel Development, Corinthia Hotels

Paul Pisani

Senior Vice President Hotel Development, Corinthia Hotels

As a member of the founding and owning family, Paul has spent his full career with Corinthia Hotels, joining the company straight from University in 1990. He rose through the ranks being promoted within a relatively short time to Group Marketing Manager, a position which he held for a 5 year period in the early 1990s. In the mid 1990s, Paul undertook intensive operations exposure which culminated with a move to Turkey where he was Regional Director for Operations and Development overseeing 5 Corinthia branded hotels, representing the Company on a daily basis in the relationships with the various Turkish Hotel Owners, while at the same time seeking to expand the brand in and around Turkey.

In the late 1990s, he returned back to Corinthia in Malta where he took a full time Development role in the capacity of Director of Business Development, spearheading the Company’s expansion drive in EMEA. In late 2006, he became Vice President Development and then, in 2010, Senior Vice President Development. Paul also sits on a number of Corinthia related boards.

Asian Investment: View from the East and the Impact on Global Hospitality

Who are the most active investors from the APAC region influencing global hotel investment and what are the push factors from their home markets driving global diversification?  

Moderator

Bruno Juin – Managing Director , BNP Paribas Real Estate Hotels

Bruno Juin

Managing Director , BNP Paribas Real Estate Hotels

Bruno Juin joined the CBRE Hotels team in 2018. With over 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Bruno has an extensive national and international experience and an in-depth understanding of financial and operational functions of hotels at all levels of the market. Recently he has taken on the role of leading the CBRE Hotels team based in Paris covering France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Prior to joining CBRE Hotels, Bruno headed the BNP Paribas Real Estate hotel department responsible for all consulting activities across the European region including Consulting, Transaction and Valuation. In this role he advised client across European the hotel sector in M&A transactions and led numerous investment sale processes for single asset investments as well as hotel portfolios.
Prior to this position, he was heading the hotel consulting and valuation team where he oversaw valuations representing up to €5.0 billion on an annual basis also providing operational reviews, strategic advice as well as recommendations on market positioning to clients. His role also included the supervision of feasibility studies, hotel management agreement and lease negotiations as well as operator selections.

Bruno began his career in the hospitality industry holding various operational roles in Egypt, Spain, Turkey and the UK and has previously worked for Accor Hotels as Senior Management Controller and for TRI Hospitaltiy Consulting as a consultant.

Bruno holds an MBA in Hospitality Management from IMHI, a joint program of Cornell University and ESSEC Business School as well as a BTS Hotel Management from the Saint-Paul Hotel School.

In conversation with:

Piyaporn Ann Phanachet – Chief Executive Officer, U City

Piyaporn Ann Phanachet

Chief Executive Officer, U City

Ms.Piyaporn Ann Phanachet is Chief Executive Officer at U City PLC.
She has approximately 30 years experience in business development and investment in real estate, including:
•Managing Director Assets at Sonevaand Six Senses Resorts and Spa.
•Assistant CEO, TCC Land, managing over 3 billion USD investment.
•Director, AIG real estate investment fund and AIG Direct Investment Fund.
•Director, Quality House (Public) Co.,Ltd
•Auditor, PWC
Education:
•MSc in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
•MBA, University of New Hampshire, USA
•BA in Accounting, ChulalongkornUniversity, Thailand

Abbas A. Rangwala – Head - Mergers & Acquisitions, InterGlobe Enterprises

Abbas A. Rangwala

Head - Mergers & Acquisitions, InterGlobe Enterprises

Abbas is the Head of M&A at InterGlobe, the parent company of IndiGo Airlines and InterGlobe Hotels, and one of India’s largest corporate groups with business interests across aviation, hospitality, travel technology, real estate and business services. InterGlobe in addition to its existing India portfolio of 21 hotels, has over the last year built a sizeable portfolio of hotels internationally through successful acquisitions in key markets, particularly across Europe.
Abbas joined InterGlobe in 2016 to lead important strategic initiatives and has been instrumental in their hospitality acquisitions and expansion globally. He has also been actively involved in the group’s investments in the travel and hospitality technology sector.
Abbas has close to 20 years of finance, management, business development and investments experience having worked on several acquisitions globally, and being based out of Hong Kong, Singapore and India. Abbas has previously held senior roles covering investment banking, M&A, capital markets and structured finance at Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

Jonathan Lynch – Of Counsel, DLA Piper

Jonathan Lynch

Of Counsel, DLA Piper

Jonathan Lynch advises on a wide variety of cross-border corporate and real estate matters, including complex acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, financing, leasing, and ground-up development.
He represents a number of top tier commercial and residential developers and property funds on high value, transactions across Asia, with a particular focus on Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar, where he has advised a number of international investors on their flagship investments. He has vast experience in the hospitality and leisure and education sectors, having structured, negotiated and executed management and franchise agreements for hotels, education group and restaurant chains aggressively expanding in the region.
Jonathan has spent extended periods of time working in Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, and Japan.

Tommy Lai – Chief Executive Officer, General Hotel Management Ltd

Tommy Lai

Chief Executive Officer, General Hotel Management Ltd

Tommy is the Chief Executive Officer of GHM and is currently based in Singapore. Prior to this recent appointment, Tommy’s 20+ years of experience in the Finance, Real Estate and Hospitality industries across global markets in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam), North Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea) and the GCC countries (UAE and Oman) has honed his diverse range of capabilities towards a unique and inclusive set of skills and expertise.
His in-depth knowledge and understanding of the areas of Real Estate and Hospitality stem from having worked across the different functions of the organizational spectrum – from Construction to Investment & Asset Management to management of overall revenue and productivity for some of the hospitality industry’s most respected and fastest-growing hotel brands.

Hartmut Fink – Executive General Manager Hotel Assets, Mulpha Australia Limited

Hartmut Fink

Executive General Manager Hotel Assets, Mulpha Australia Limited

Hartmut Fink is Executive General Manager Mulpha Hotel Assets and has been working in hotel real estate management for institutional and private money since 2009. Hartmut is responsible for strategy and execution of hotel asset management and hotel investment decisions for Mulpha Australia Limited as well as being the owner's representative for the company's wider hotel interests in Europe and Asia.
Before joining Mulpha, Hartmut was managing a hotel portfolio for Eureka Funds Management, consisting of IHG and Four Season hotels. Prior to Eureka, Hartmut worked across a variety of operational as well as corporate roles in Europe and Australia, with hotel operators such as Accor Hotels Group, InterContinental Hotels Group, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. Throughout his hotel career Hartmut specialised in revenue management, focusing on development and execution of strategic, functional and operational revenue management practices.
Hartmut holds a Bachelor Degree in Hotel Management from Dublin University, Ireland and a Master Degree in Real Estate and Sustainable Development from Bond University, Australia.

Access All Areas: Reaching Consumers in the Digital World

How to know your customers and reach them through digital channels? Measuring customer behaviour, capturing their wishes and distribute to them via digital channels, including mobile offerings, social media and payment solutions.

Moderator:

Jorge Schoenenberger – Partner - THS EMEA Leader, Deloitte

Jorge Schoenenberger

Partner - THS EMEA Leader, Deloitte

Jorge is a member of Strategy Consulting and leads the Travel, Hospitality, Leisure & Transport industry. He has participated in the strategic development initiatives of the Firm and is currently a member of the Deloitte Global Group responsible for defining the consulting strategy of the Firm "Consulting 20/20". He is also an active member of the business community and has participated in numerous discussion panels and specialized media as a columnist.

In conversation with:

Tess Mattisson – Director of European Marketing, Choice Hotels

Tess Mattisson

Director of European Marketing, Choice Hotels

Tess Mattisson, Director of European Marketing for Choice Hotels International® and rewarded change evangelist with a true passion for digital sales | services | communication and reaching targets. She has been working in the hospitality industry since 2006, and for the last five years prior to her European position, her focus has been to drive digital growth and business development in Scandinavia. Tess has been tasked with fast-tracking online growth and business performance in EMEA, which includes 250 hotels across 12 countries., and has successfully been doing so since 2016.
Her current responsibilities are within e-commerce, business development, brand- and performance marketing. Previously, she has developed full digital ecosystems, including ecommerce platforms, customer interaction applications, content marketing & social media programs, to not only help engage our consumers but generate revenue.
In 2018, Tess was recognized as one of four Marketers that matters by Figaro Digital, as well as shortlisted for the Changemaker Award by Women in Travel.

Susan Spinney – Vice President, Owner Relations, Lodging Partner Services, Expedia Group

Susan Spinney

Vice President, Owner Relations, Lodging Partner Services, Expedia Group

As vice president for Owner Relations for Expedia Group’s Lodging Partner Services, Susan Spinney leads an experienced global team focused on growing relationships with, and developing new services for, hotel owners and management companies.
Spinney is responsible for demonstrating Expedia Group’s full value to the owner community in addition to helping lodging partners build their visibility, increase guest interest, and drive bookings through the many brands of Expedia Group.
Previously, Spinney served as the senior director of Market Management for New York, New England and Canada for Expedia Group. She has also held several management roles including director of Planning, Hotel Sales in Dallas and director of Market Management for Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Prior to Expedia Group, Spinney held management, sales and product management positions at various travel companies including Air Jamaica Vacations, Globetrotters and Lowestfare.com.

Fernando Vives – Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotel Group

Fernando Vives

Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotel Group

Fernando joined Nh Hotel Group in 2014 as Senior Vice President Commercial Strategy & Pricing, in July 2016 we was appointed as Chief Commercial Official and member of the Management Committee.
Fernando leads the Commercial Strategy for all commercial disciplines (Sales, Distribution, Reservations, Pricing and Revenue Management, Business Intelligence, etc.) to ensure top line growth aligned with NH´s Strategic Plan
He is an expert on Revenue Management, Commercial practices and distribution with experience both in the urban and resort arena and operating hotels in all continents.
Previously to NH Hotel Group Fernando occupied different positions at the Le Meridien, the Ritz in Madrid, Hesperia Hotels and Meliá Hotels International, where he spent 8 years. From Global Director of Revenue Management to Senior Commercial Director EMEA and Premium Brands, not only being responsible for top line results in the area but outbound business, the global sales force and leading the luxury sales strategy for the group.

Fernando has entrepreneurial experience, that he applies on his daily practices. He is an entrepreneur himself, co-funding the Revenue Management & Distribution firm Xotels, ltd in 2006.
As a passionate hotelier and mentor, he founded in 2009 the Masters Degree “Expert on Revenue Management “ at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, that has consolidated as the most prestigious and solid RM Official education in the Spanish language. He is as well associate professor at IE Business School, teaching Distribution and Pricing on their MBA programs.
It is usual to see him as keynote speaker in conferences hosted by Eye for Travel or HSMAI.

Philipp S. Ingenillem – Partner, Online-Birds Hotel Marketing Solutions

Philipp S. Ingenillem

Partner, Online-Birds Hotel Marketing Solutions

Philipp S. Ingenillem is Partner and acting Director of Sales & Business De-velopment at Online Birds Hotel Marketing Solutions, a leading full-service online marketing company for the hospitality industry in Europe. Prior to his current activities he was working for a CRM-database developer in Munich. Mr. Ingenillem looks back on a long career in the international luxury hotel sector, with stations at Hilton, Claridge 's Hotel London, Kempinski, Sofitel, Sheraton and LeMeridien. During this period he acquired a profound opera-tional knowledge and perfected his profile by achieving a business admi-nistration degree with a focus on Hospitality Management from the Munich University of Applied Sciences. During this time, Mr. Ingenillem gathered more profound experience in some areas of business consultancy for pri-vately owned hotels ( feasibility studies, concept development, etc.). Various other work stations in Scotland, Ireland, Greece and the USA are mentioned only for completeness sake.

More for Your Money: A Guide to the Hostel Environment

Hostels, and more particularly branded hostels, have seen a considerable increase in interest from investors, lenders and operators: what makes this asset class so appealing to the investment community? Examining the hostel brands ranging from basic to upscale that are catering more than travelling students… and creating big returns for their investors.

Moderator

Anna Friedrich – Associate Director, Christie & Co

Anna Friedrich

Associate Director, Christie & Co

Part of the pan-European team, Anna works with local colleagues to provide advice to a broad range of domestic and global investor clients across the continent. She joined Christie & Co’s Corporate Hotels team after four years in its Consultancy team where she provided strategic advice to clients across Europe. Prior to joining Christie & Co, she worked at PKF in Vienna and London and gained valuable operational experience in Germany.
Growing up in a family of hoteliers, Anna understands first-hand the passion and the drive needed to succeed. Unsurprisingly, she also learned innovation and entrepreneurship early on and coupled with her forward-thinking approach, Anna, continues to push the boundaries across projects and negotiations. Key projects led by Anna include due diligence for a large European hostel portfolio, pan-European market research and buy-side due diligence for various large individual and portfolio assets across the Continent.

In conversation with:

Michael Abel – Partner, TPG

Michael Abel

Partner, TPG

Michael is a Managing Director and a member of TPG Real Estate’s Investment Committee and is based in London. He joined TPG from Europa Capital and started his career in the Private Equity Real Estate divisions of J.P.Morgan and Lehman Brothers. He holds a Diplome de Grande Ecole and MSc in Management from ESCP Europe, and speaks German, Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of TriGranit and A&O Hotels and Hostels. TPG Real Estate is the real estate platform of TPG, a leading global private investment firm with approximately $75 billion of assets under management. TPGRE includes both TPG Real Estate Partners, its equity investment platform, and TPG Real Estate Finance Trust, its debt origination and acquisition platform. Collectively, the two platforms have approximately $7 billion of assets under management. - always best price on aohostels.com

Navneet Bali – Chairman, MEININGER Hotels

Navneet Bali

Chairman, MEININGER Hotels

Navneet Bali took over as CEO of MEININGER Hotels last year following its acquisition by Holidaybreak in the
UK. He joined Holidaybreak in May 2012 as Group Finance Director and Head of Corporate Development from
Duet Group, a private equity firm based in the UK. At Duet he created and headed a joint venture with
Intercontinental Hotels, the world’s largest hotel chain, to build Holiday Inn Express Hotels. Previous
assignments include CFO and Head of Corporate development at ebookers, a leading European online travel
company and Director of HVS International, a leading hotel consulting firm. His appointment aims to help
MEININGER to grow into the leading international brand in its sector. He has more than 28 years of
experience in the hotel, travel and ecommerce industry

Pierpaolo Iasci – Head of UK Real Estate Structured Finance, Société Générale

Pierpaolo Iasci

Head of UK Real Estate Structured Finance, Société Générale

Pierpaolo Iasci, Head of UK Real Estate Structured Finance is responsible for the commercial real estate finance business of Societe Generale in the UK. In this capacity he has overseen the origination, structuring and distribution of c. EUR 1.5bn of senior and junior mortgage loans secured over hotels in the UK and continental Europe over the last three years. Before joining Societe Generale Pierpaolo worked at Cairn Capital and Lehman Brothers in various roles in commercial real estate finance.
Pierpaolo holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and he is a CFA charterholder

Camil Yazbeck – Partner and Investment Director – Hospitality & Leisure, Patron Capital

Camil Yazbeck

Partner and Investment Director – Hospitality & Leisure, Patron Capital

Camil Yazbeck is Partner and Investment Director – Hospitality & Leisure for Patron Capital, a Pan-European private equity real estate investor, representing €3.4 billion of capital across several funds and related co-investments.
Patron’s Past & Current Hospitality Platforms consist of 60+ multi-branded hotels spread across 13 countries, including Generator Hostels, Luxury Family Hotels, Jupiter Hotels, The Spencer Hotel Dublin, Staybridge Suites, Hotel Arts Barcelona, the Bratislava Carlton hotel and 3 Linder Hotels in Switzerland. Patron's strategy is to back local partners and management teams in growing their respective business.

Camil leads all aspects of origination, acquisition, underwriting, execution and asset management of new and existing investment opportunities in Patron’s hospitality sector investments. Prior to joining Patron, Camil spent over 20 years in the hospitality industry, focusing on all aspects of hotel Management in a variety of roles throughout the world. He held several senior leadership positions with international hotel companies, including Group Operations Director, Group and Regional General Manager. He acquired extensive experience moving up the ranks in hotel management, in hotel pre-openings as well as the extended stay hotel market, within independent and branded hotels including Le Meridien, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Mercure, Best Western, The Ascott Group, Citadines and Staybridge Suites.
Camil earned his MBA from IMHI - Cornell University and ESSEC School of Management, and his French Diploma in Hotel Management from the Lycée Hôtelier Château Bellerive (Grenoble Academy, France).”

Kitchen Confidential: F&B Success Stories

Case study: Launching a hotel based on a gastronomy-focused brand Fauchon Hotel

Jacques-Olivier Chauvin – CEO, Fauchon Hospitality

Jacques-Olivier Chauvin

CEO, Fauchon Hospitality

Jacques-Olivier Chauvin has been President of Fauchon Hospitality since early 2018. His professional experience in the hotel and restaurant industry include Deputy GM of Taillevent Group (1992-1995), DG of the Relais & Châteaux chain (2000 to 2010), Chairman and founder of Colbert Management & Conseil (since 2013)
His professional experience in the luxury sector include Sales Manager at Louis Vuitton (1996-1999), Vice President at Van Cleef & Arpels (2011-2012) and Senior Advisor at Condé-Nast (2014-2018).
He is also Director of the Baths of Brides les Bains (Savoie France) and of the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz.
He graduated from HEC in 1991.

Case study: Turning around the restaurant product at Ritz Carlton Geneva

Stéphane Bellon – Managing Director, Studionomie

Stéphane Bellon

Managing Director, Studionomie

A graduate of the prestigious business school HEC Paris, and holding an EMBA from Neoma business school, Stéphane has worked alongside Alain Ducasse as Vice President Development. In this role, he was responsible not only for prospecting new business opportunities and developing restaurant concepts, but for bringing them to life. Examples
include Jules Verne at the Eiffel Tower; Beige in Tokyo with Chanel; the Dorchester in London; and Spoon in Hong Kong to name just a few.
Since 2011, he has been appointed as one of the youngest VP for F&B in a hotel company to successfully change Kempinski Hotels from a room driven company to a “f&b driven” company.
Since January 2015, he is heading Studionomie, a “fresh concept” agency for global hospitality and F&B business, integrating creation, development and operations.
Stéphane Bellon is not just a man with innovative ideas. He is a man renowned for a talent: converting these ideas into the real deal. Stéphane has a meticulous attention to detail, contagious dedication and inventiveness. These traits are a well-established truth throughout the organizations or clients he has worked for. It is an aptitude that has enriched Stéphane’s career with numerous prestigious achievements,
working in more than 40 countries, for several hotel brands such as Dorchester, Sofitel, Intercontinental, JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton. His last book “Gastronomie et Hôtellerie, secrets de cuisine” (Eyrolles, published in 2012, French version) has been welcomed as a reference in the industry.

Placemaking: Lessons of Successful Destination Development

Not all places are created equal, some are literally made up. A thoughtful look at destination case studies where developers are creating mixed use places blending hospitality, retail, residential, entertainment and municipal structures.
Moderated by:

Ian R Douglas – Owner & Managing Director, Phoenix Global; Owner and Joint MD, Kingham Leigh Ltd.

Ian R Douglas

Owner & Managing Director, Phoenix Global; Owner and Joint MD, Kingham Leigh Ltd.

Phoenix Global Ltd. provides management, leadership and counsel on the resolution of complex development and strategic management challenges. We utilise the trusted and respected experience of our professional management team who have a track record of delivery of successful large-scale global leisure projects.
Led by Ian R Douglas – International Leisure and Hotel industry executive with 25 years’ management experience including global development, strategic competitive bid processes and new business enterprise establishment.
Having worked with visionary global developer Sol Kerzner for the majority of his career, leading the development of all Kerzner International properties through its affiliated companies. This included the economic analysis, sourcing and assessment of new development opportunities, finalisation of concept and design and the subsequent coordination and development of new properties for Kerzner International through the Atlantis, One&Only and Mazagan brands.
Extensive business conducted in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Singapore, the USA (NY; Florida; California), the UAE; also the Bahamas, Indian Ocean islands (Mauritius and The Maldives), Morocco and Mexico including many scouting trips to emerging and other key markets. Key projects include Atlantis The Palm in Dubai; Mazagan Beach Resort in Morocco; the
Singapore Sentosa Integrated Resort bid; and in Cape Town: One&Only Resorts, the Cape Town International Convention Centre, GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World and various other projects.
Founded by hospitality industry experts, Piers Schmidt and Ian Douglas, Kingham Leigh Ltd. is a bespoke hospitality company that creates, develops and operates innovative board and lodging concepts worldwide.
Kingham Leigh collaborates with the promoters of bold hospitality ventures and cooperates with global talents in the fields of design and service to devise and deliver purposeful and enduring experiences. Uniquely qualified to steer the brand creation process from thought to finish, Kingham Leigh offers specialised services in business concept ideation, development management, hotel management and sales & marketing.
This new boutique enterprise generates shareholder value through a signature approach called 'Maverick Hospitality' – a blend of proven brand innovation and meticulous project execution.
Ian Douglas’ Core Competencies: Project Conceptualisation, Management and Development;
Bidding for Projects; Business Establishment; Hotel and Resort Development; General Management; Leadership / People Management; Marketing and Public Relations Management.

In conversation with

Zisimos Danilatos – Development Director, LAMDA Development S.A.

Zisimos Danilatos

Development Director, LAMDA Development S.A.

Zisimos Danilatos has been with LAMDA Development S.A. since 2002 where he holds the position of Development Director, having been project leader for all of the company’s international real estate investments. His prior experience includes project manager positions at Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd. in London, DEPA S.A. (Natural Gas) and Conetal Ltd. He is a Civil Engineer having graduated from the National Technical University of Athens (Metsovio) with scholarship and holds an M.B.A. from the City University Business School. He is fluent in English and Greek (mother tongue) and also speaks French.

Gregory Lanter – Chief Development & Construction Officer, Club Med

Gregory Lanter

Chief Development & Construction Officer, Club Med

Gregory Lanter graduated from the Paris HEC Business School . He joined Club Med Group and its development teams in 2004, especially in charge of Africa and Middle East. He was appointed Vice President Global Development in 2009, which was later extended to Construction matters. His teams are positioned in Miami, Paris, Singapore and Shanghai. Since 2018 he is a member of the Comité de Direction Générale (Executive Committee).
The Development Construction and Property team is a strong contributor to the success of Club Med’s strategy, aiming at being the worldwide leader of multi-cultural family premium all-inclusive holidays.
Club Med is settled on almost 70 of the most extra-ordinary sites on Earth, where Club Med was most of the time the first ever international resort operator (Cancun, Punta Cana, Maldives, Mauritius, Bali…). Its development has strongly accelerated, with projects over the 5 continents. The most recent openings include : Sanya as another flagship in China - South of Hainan (already first on TripAdvisor), Lake Paradise in Sao Paulo Brazil, and a second ski resort in China-Beidahu. Over the next 2 years, a dozen new extra-ordinary locations are being delivered amongst which : Grand Massif and Arc 1600 ski resorts in the French Alps, Anji Joyview Resort in Shanghai neighborhoods, Changli Beach Joyview Resort near Beijing, Tomamu ski resort - a second ski resort in Hokkaido-Japan, Cefalu Exclusive Collection in Italy-Sicily, Miches Exclusive Collection in Dominican Republic, Marbella south of Spain, Beruwela in Sri Lanka...and many more.
Club Med offers a unique combination of an expert premium resort manager (over 60 years of experience) and a unique Tour Operating company, recognized and directly physically distributed in 35 different markets in the world.”

Jay Rosen – Head of Finance & Investments, The Red Sea Development Company

Jay Rosen

Head of Finance & Investments, The Red Sea Development Company

Experience Innovation: Tech start-up lightning pitches

A series of pitches from hospitality tech start-ups.

A Special Cocktail Appreciation Reception for First-Timers to IHIF

Gala Networking Reception - Hosted by IHG

IHG will surprise and spoil IHIF attendees and, as always, deliver the utmost in true InterContinental-style hospitality at our evening Gala Reception.