mistake ,” he adds . “ My point is about the paralysis that comes with the fear of making a mistake in the first place . Our ability to execute , our speed , combined with efficiency – it ’ s not foolishness .”
“ SPONTANEITY BY ITS NATURE CANNOT BE PLANNED . AND THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE IN OUR INDUSTRY WHO ARE SEEKING PLANNED SPONTANEITY , AND THAT ’ S AN OXYMORON . THAT DOESN ’ T HAPPEN .”
– BILL WALSHE The Viceroy Chicago lobby
is home to a 30-
WAY FORWARD At the moment , the pure-play management company Viceroy has a resort in Bocas Del Toro , Panama , scheduled to open in 2020 ; its first golf resort and entry into Europe with the planned 2019 opening of the Viceroy at Ombria Resort in Portugal ’ s Algarve region ; in about a year it is scheduled to open the Viceroy Kopaonik Serbia , a 120-room ski-in / ski-out property located at the foot of the region ’ s largest mountain range ; for 2019 it is scheduled to open in Buenos Aires ’ trendy , waterfront neighborhood of Puerto Madero ; and it is also converting a 15th-century monastery , a World Heritage site , in Cartagena , Colombia .
The existing portfolio , which is part of the Global Hotel Alliance , is performing well , according to Walshe . That comes at a moment when contentious litigation is ongoing ( as of October , and Walshe would not comment ) relating to a Dubai property where the owner removed Viceroy from its management duties .
“ My career belief has been that you drive success from the top line and that you do that through the achievement of
rate ,” Walshe says . “ So , we ’ re all about obsessively focusing on the Viceroy ideology – making human connections with our colleagues and guests . It leads to happy environments . And once people are happy in an environment we have the opportunity to charge a premium for that . We ’ re very successful doing that .”
PURPOSE DRIVES PROFIT Looking outward , Walshe thinks there are many hotels where the pursuit of occupancy at ridiculously discounted rates “ just turns people into busy fools .” He adds that it amazes him that any ownership group accepts a general manager candidate that hasn ’ t had direct experience in revenue management . “ For me it is arguably the most important aspect of the commercial side of running a hotel .”
He also opines that the industry is not focusing on enough is the articulation and activation of culture within organizations . foot teal poem wall inscribed with quotes from French writer Marcel Proust .
“ It ’ s the ‘ why we do what we do .’ The need to compete successfully has led a lot of organizations to focus entirely on what they do and how they do it and with little or no focus on why they do it ,” he says . “ The emerging workforce , the millennials , both as employees and consumers , are more emotionally connected to life experiences . Consumers will support brands that they can connect with on an intellectual level but also on an emotional level .”
Walshe points to Tesla ’ s Elon Musk as an example . “ He did not set out saying , ‘ I ’ m going to create a new car that will compete with every other car on the road to have US $ 52 billion market cap .’ He said , ‘ I want to make the world a better place , I want to evolve sustainable transportation but do it in a particularly stylish way .’ The profit was driven by the purpose . I question how many hospitality organizations put purpose before profit . It is a really scary thing to do .”
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