PIPELINE
About 50 properties in development , roughly equally split among the Americas , EMEA and APAC
OPENING IN 2017 Q1 : Tianjin ; London at Ten Trinity ; Surf Club ( Surfside , Florida ) Q2 : Kuwait at Burj Alshaya Q3 : Seychelles Desroches
The teahouse at the new Four Seasons Kyoto
ANNOUNCED DEVELOPMENT DEALS Bangkok , Philadelphia , Megeve , Sao Paulo , Kuala Lumpur , Montreal , Tokyo that very keen focus on personalization is very consistent with kind of the customization of everything we do .”
It ’ s an advantage he believes he has over both upstarts and behemoths . “ If you think about the big players , the Marriotts of the world , the Hiltons , these massive multi-brand companies , I think in their luxury segments they ’ re going to have a hard time resisting the forces of commoditization that come with being part of a massive organization . For us it creates a really compelling market opportunity to further differentiate on what we deliver to our guests and how . And so I guess I ’ m less focused on is it new luxury , old luxury ? For me , it ’ s evolving luxury in terms of what ’ s important to our guests , and we do have to keep changing with that .
“ We do have to keep evolving with it , but it ’ s not something that we have to make dramatic pivot away from what we were doing . We just have to continue to change , and I think we have to have a healthy sense of urgency to do so .”
Smith says his priority is guest recognition – but not by jumping on the loyalty program bandwagon . “ The vast majority of our guests are not looking to accumulate points … I think the question is how do we better institutionalize it and how do we extend it to a broader group of people ..”
" I GUESS I ’ M LESS FOCUSED ON IS IT NEW LUXURY , OLD LUXURY ? FOR ME , IT ’ S EVOLVING LUXURY IN TERMS OF WHAT ’ S IMPORTANT TO OUR GUESTS , AND WE DO HAVE TO KEEP CHANGING WITH THAT ."
LEADERSHIP SHIFTS Smith also is overseeing an executive suite that has shifted over the past year , including the departure in August of Christopher Norton , Four Seasons ’ president and chief operating officer , who jumped ship to lead Equinox ’ s foray into hotels with a luxury health club bent . There ’ s no single reason for the departures , he says .
But he points to continuity in leadership , including Christian Clerc , who was president of EMEA hotel operations before taking over as president of worldwide hotel operations after Norton ’ s departure .
“ Especially with some of the changes we ’ ve had , it ’ s given me an opportunity to talk even more with our leadership team and people throughout the company about the importance of the culture and how it continues to evolve ,” Smith says . “ What ’ s critical is that we continue to assert to the marketplace what that really means .”
January / February 2017 hotelsmag . com 15