Three
HICAP legends opened the conference by discussing their careers as well as technology
and emerging markets.
SINGAPORE — When asked what
innovation or technology he wished he had come up with as part of the opening
session for HICAP, the co-founder of Aman Resorts had a quick response.
“Probably Airbnb… Airbnb was an
incredible idea that utilized underutilized assets effectively, built a
scalable model on a global scale, and created a global brand. I sure wish I had
done that,” said Anil Thadani, chair of Singapore-based Symphony Asia Holdings
Pte. Ltd., who also co-founded Aman Resorts with Adrian Zecha in 1988.
When asked if Airbnb was a
competitor to hotels, Thadani said he didn’t think so, especially the kind of
experience-driven hotels that were being discussed on stage.
“It’s a transformational development for the industry, but it doesn’t compete directly with the kind of
hotels that some players in this room are involved with,” he said.
Thadani was part of a “Legacy
Check In: Investment Icons Look Back & Ahead” panel on the first day of the
Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP). The panel included three
HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award winners: Bill Heinecke, founder and chairman
of Bangkok-based Minor International Public Co. Ltd. (who won the award in
2016); Miguel Ko, chairman of Singapore-based CapitaLand Investment Ltd. (who
won the award in 2022); and Thadani (who won in 2018). Jeff Higley, president of
The BHN Group by Northstar, served as the moderator.
I believe room service is soon going to be a thing of the past. I believe many of the services that are offered by hotels, even a shared business center, will soon be things of the past.
Miguel Ko
The trio of industry legends
looked back on their careers, but also discussed how technology continues to
transform their industry, as well as emerging markets in the Asia Pacific and
around the world.
When asked about other
innovations in hospitality that were on his radar, Thadani mentioned two, both
of which he had a hand in creating.
“One is the growth of lifestyle
brands: brands that have managed to combine hospitality with a sense of
belonging and being. I’m thinking of things like Soho House,” he said. “For
Aman, we were not selling hotel rooms. We were selling a lifestyle state of
mind, a kind of a dream, and it has worked. There is a huge market for that
sort of thing.
“The last one is one that I’m
happy to say we were pioneers of, which is the rise of branded residences.
These innovations have significantly helped the industry. You know, branded
residences now are spreading like wildfire, but Amanpuri (the first Aman Resort
in Phuket, Thailand) was one of the first to ever do that.”
When asked about the newest
trends in hospitality that are on his radar, Heinecke pointed to wellness.
“We can attribute a lot of that
to the aftereffects of COVID. Today, most of our equity goes into trying to
find ways to bring wellness [to our developments],” he said. “In the old days,
I remember starting hotels where we didn’t even have spas. Then, if you didn’t
have a spa, it was like not having room service. So, you had to have a spa.
“Today, it’s all about wellness.
It’s all about extending quality of life. We’re all going to live longer, but
how many of us are going to live healthier and better and live more productive
lives in our later years? Speaking as one of the older guys here, it’s the
older [guests] who are basically taking full advantage. We put more money into
wellness now than we have into any single hotel.”
Ko pointed to disruptive
technologies, especially the sharing economy, with products like Airbnb.
“In the last 20 years, the
biggest threats or opportunities that have happened to our industry are OTAs
and then, what [Anil] talked about with Airbnb,” he said. “The trajectory, the
tech growth for this sharing economy continues, and there’s no question that
it's something that we as an industry cannot prevent from
happening. The question is, how well and how fast can we adapt to this new
technology coming about to share a hotel?”
Speaking as one of the older guys here, it’s the older [guests] who are basically taking full advantage. We put more money into wellness now than we have into any single hotel.
Bill Heinecke
Ko said sharing a hotel is going
to come at the cost of a lot more disruption inside properties.
“In the old days, the idea was
to win [what’s inside] the four walls of the hotel,” he said. “Then you learned that the OTA controls much of the reservations. Then you realized that even
within the same hotel chain, there’s shared centralized revenue management,
centralized sales, centralized everything. Then you start losing control.”
Ko said that those who are not
comfortable with losing control should get used to it.
“If you don’t feel comfortable,
be ready because they want to start sharing even more of the hotel resources,”
he said. “The smart one will try to work with these forces and benefit the
hotels by reducing costs, including the build requirements for the hotels, and
start sharing.
“I believe room service is soon
going to be a thing of the past. I believe many of the services that are
offered by hotels, even a shared business center, will soon be things of the
past.”
Thadani said he’s especially
intrigued by the confluence of hospitality and hospitals.
“There’s only a difference of…
three letters in the back. Otherwise, it’s the same thing,” he said. “In one
way, you look after people when they’re well. In the other, you look after
people when they’re sick. You look after people either way.”
Thadani also said that, based on
what brands like citizenM are achieving, he believes technology continues to be
underutilized in the hospitality industry.
“There are still opportunities
to leverage technology and innovate in this industry in ways that maybe I
personally may not be able to think of, but it’s just my sense,” he said,
noting that his sense was exacerbated by what a friend told him he was doing.
“He’s running 400-room hotels with eight employees. That’s innovation.”
Emerging markets
When the trio was asked about
emerging markets in the Asia Pacific, Heinecke quickly mentioned markets in
which Minor has little or no presence.
“We’re not in India, and that’s
a major market. Vietnam is still small for us and we’d like that to be a lot
bigger,” he said. “We’re proceeding with our first hotel in Japan, and we are
getting our first hotel in Singapore. So, we’ve still got a long runway in front
of us.
“There are still huge places and
opportunities. The ones that I look at closest to my heart would be India,
China, Vietnam and Indonesia. These are huge markets. Half the world’s
population is in this part of the world.”
If you believe what I think, that a century going forward, Asia is going to be the place to work, and Europe is going to be the place to play, then you need to also look at Europe as to where to play. Places like Italy provide incredible opportunities.
Anil Thadani
Ko said that recent geopolitical
problems are perpetuating the trend that people want to travel more locally and
are less likely to go to places they’re not familiar with.
“I expect in the next three to
five years, a lot of traveling is going to be more localized,” he said. “A lot
of Chinese are going to travel in China, and Chinese are going to nearby
countries, and they form the biggest source of tourists for the Asia Pacific.
“Some of the obvious markets,
Japan and Korea, continue to be quite hot. People are looking for cultural
synergy. A lot of tourists are saying that if I can go to places where the food
and the cuisine are similar to what I’m used to and the customs are similar, I
would like to go more often. So, we’ve seen a lot of uptick in those markets in
the last two to three years, and that trend will continue. I’m net positive
about Asia’s travel within Asia and I’m less optimistic about Asia going all
the way to North America, including Hawaii.”
Thadani pointed to the emergence
of India, particularly with its increased infrastructure spending over the last
few years. He also pointed to Vietnam and Indonesia as markets to watch.
“Vietnam, because of
infrastructure spending and encouragement, and Indonesia has incredible
opportunities because you can create iconic properties in
cities, and you have this incredible archipelago of 17,000 islands where you
can create incredible experiential tours and island hopping,” he said.
But those hospitality
opportunities aren’t just limited to Asia, Thadani said.
“There are great opportunities
today in parts of the Middle East: Oman and Saudi Arabia,” he said. “If you
believe what I think, that a century going forward, Asia is going to be the
place to work, and Europe is going to be the place to play, then you need to
also look at Europe as to where to play. Places like Italy provide incredible
opportunities. The quality of life that Italy offers is almost second to none.”