THE INTERVIEW : JENNIFER FOX
Fairmont will open in Baku , Azerbaijan , this year .
in Shanghai , Fairmont San Francisco , the Royal York here in Toronto . They ’ ve maintained the history and the iconic nature of these hotels , but yet they ’ ve modernized them and made them relevant to today ’ s customer . So I love that the brand is taking a very forward view to how it ’ s approaching design and development of new hotels .
What I really liked too is how it ’ s looking to grow on the international scale . It ’ s a powerful brand here in North America , and to take what it has here in North America and duplicate it on a global basis and scale the brand up to the same kind of scale it has in North America was , I thought , really quite powerful .
H : How has all your previous experience prepared you for this new role ?
JF : [ Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Chief Operating Officer ] Chris Cahill said to me , “ It looks like you ’ ve been training for this role all your life .” First of all , a global perspective is one of the real strengths I bring to the role . I have a contact base with owning companies and investors , customers , press and clients on a global basis . I think that ’ s something unique that I bring to the table .
I also think having been a general manager of some very big hotels and having also worked in marketing , that
brings a unique perspective as well . When you ’ re leading general managers as I do , to have done the job and be able to understand the unique challenges that they face I think brings a good perspective . I think also having worked in branding and marketing , you ’ ve got the other side where you can marry brand strategy with operations . It ’ s easy sometimes to think theoretically about how a brand should be positioned , but if you can ’ t deliver on that brand positioning and make it become real at the hotel level , then there ’ s a real disconnect .
H : During your recent tour of Fairmont properties , what were some of the most important things you learned ?
JF : My goal was to really understand the company from the inside out . It ’ s very easy to have a perception of a company and a brand when you ’ re in the early stages and you ’ re looking inward . But when you actually get into the brand and get out there you start to see where the opportunities exist .
Among the colleagues who work at the hotel level , there is a deep , deep love and respect for the Fairmont brand . There ’ s a tremendous amount of engagement and passion around the brand , and I think that ’ s wonderful . I expected that , but it ’ s just core to the culture of the company .
There are some excellent properties . We also have some opportunities in terms of growth . We have a brand that has very big awareness in Canada and the U . S ., very high awareness levels because we have very good distribution , but when you get outside North America , our awareness levels are a little lower because we don ’ t have the footprint that we have in North America . It ’ s very clear that when you have a brand that ’ s this strong in one part of the world , if you can replicate that on an international basis , you have an opportunity for huge success .
H : What markets hold the greatest opportunities for Fairmont , and what can you tell me about current development plans ?
JF : We have five hotels opening this year . We have Kiev , Ukraine ; Baku , Azerbaijan ; Jaipur , India ; Manila , Philippines ; and The Palm in Dubai . We have a mixture there of some strong markets such as Dubai , and then we have some emerging markets such as India and the CIS countries .
It ’ s quite obvious there are opportunities in China . All of the major brands have identified China as a key market , as have we . We have a lot of growth in China — not only a strong pipeline but also a lot of good hotels under construction . China is happening and must happen . The potential for outbound
32 HOTELS April 2012 www . hotelsmag . com