All articles by Amit Thadani
Amit Thadani
Life on the Nile
With spectacular beaches and a deep well of historical sites, Egypt has traditionally been one of the titans of global hospitality, welcoming millions of tourists each year. Yet since the upheavals of 2011, the country’s hotels have struggled. But for how long? Andrea Valentino talks to figures across Egyptian hospitality to learn about the challenges of the pandemic, how major investments in museums and infrastructure are boosting demand for new resorts, and what the future holds for Egypt and its tourists.
Lead from the front
After carving out a reputation as something of a specialist in the luxury and premium hotel segment, Duncan O’Rourke was promoted to CEO for the extended Northern Europe division at Accor, taking charge of 1,100 hotels across 30 countries. Will Moffitt speaks to him about team management in a pandemic, Accor’s grand expansion plans and what hospitality can learn from Europe’s elite football clubs.
Kingdom come
Despite China leading the way in the global hospitality stakes, countries across the Middle East have recorded encouraging figures as far as hotel occupancy is concerned. With significant amounts of investment being poured into Saudi Arabia’s hospitality ventures, STR posits that the kingdom is showing promising signs of recovery as it continues to build its reputation as a burgeoning global tourism and hospitality hub.
HFTP Announces 2021 Paragon Award Recipients – Tanya Venegas and Sanjay Nadkarni
Both recipients have been essential to the association’s research and academic endeavors.
Food for thought
Despite experiencing the most challenging period in hospitality since the Second World War, London will birth an exciting crop of luxury hotels in 2021. One of these is the Carlton Tower Jumeirah, which will reopen this summer following a £100m renovation, with culinary excellence a key draw behind the reprisal of this iconic establishment. Will Moffitt speaks to Ludovic Simon, newly appointed head of food and beverage at the Carlton Tower, about the challenges of delivering formidable dining experiences during a pandemic.
The great reopening
Since beginning her career in the early ’90s, Felicity Black-Roberts, vice-president for acquisitions and development at Hyatt Europe, has been responsible for managing, acquiring and opening a range of hotel properties across the globe. To cope with the unique demands of the pandemic, she implores hoteliers to be more innovative in their thinking. As she explains, this requires an open-minded approach, a healthy disregard for convention and the ability to work quickly to test new ideas.
Today’s decisions for tomorrow’s hospitality
Technology is more important than ever: not only for the optimisation of a hotel’s daily processes, but also for its overall financial bottom line. It has become increasingly apparent that the proper implementation and integration of technology is vital to the future of the hospitality industry. HFTP’s Europe Hangout events seek to understand today’s hotel technology landscape, as well as where it is heading in the future, by opening up discussions with key decision makers and executives at major hospitality brands.
Turn to tech
As CEO of HOSPA, the UK-based Hospitality Professionals Association, Jane Pendlebury has seen the dramatic impact Covid-19 has had on hotels and hospitality organisations as they have reacted to this unique and unprecedented threat. She reflects on how hoteliers have adapted their protocols to cope with the virus, what the best practices are for hotels going forward and what these changes might mean for the future.
Personalisation in a pandemic
As Covid-19 continues to plague the hospitality sector it’s no secret that the human aspect of guest interactions is under threat. How, then, can hotels facilitate meaningful relationships with guests in an age of sanitiser and social distancing? And what does it mean to deliver a personalised service during these uncertain times? Abi Millar speaks to Gonzalo Carpintero, vice-president of operations for EMEA and head of meeting and event transformation at Radisson Hotel Group and Rohit Chadra, CMO of citizenM, about how hotels can connect with guests and deliver a tailored experience while keeping a safe physical distance.
The world’s your office
While the ‘end of the office’ proclamations feel overstated, Covid-19 has reshaped global working patterns like never before as digital meetings and home offices have become staple parts of our new reality. For an industry that has been tapping into co-working spaces for some time, hotels now look well placed to capitalise on local cohorts of cooped-up workers looking for a change of scenery. Will Moffitt speaks to Stéphane Bensimon, CEO of Wojo, and James Wheatcroft, vice-president of marketing at Accor Northern Europe, about how hotels are capitalising on the co-working trend.