Passion for HosPitality
EDITORIAL Jeff Weinstein , Editor In Chief 1.312.274.2226 E-mail : jweinstein @ hotelsmag . com
Brittany Farb , Associate Editor 1.312.274.2229 E-mail : bfarb @ hotelsmag . com
Dani Friedland , Managing Editor , New Media 1.312.274.2223 E-mail : dfriedland @ mtgmediagroup . com
Bert Ganzon , Senior Art Director 1.312.274.2227 E-mail : bganzon @ mtgmediagroup . com
Steve Vanden Heuvel , Senior Art Director 1.312.274.2218 E-mail : svandenheuvel @ mtgmediagroup . com
Brittney Hackbart , Associate Art Director 1.312.274.2216 E-mail : bhackbart @ mtgmediagroup . com
Michelle Villadolid , Freelance Design E-mail : mvilladolid @ mtgmediagroup . com
Bill McDowell , Vice President , Editorial Director 1.312.274.2201 bmcdowell @ mtgmediagroup . com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Oriana Lerner , Erin Sund
PUBLISHING Dan Hogan , Vice President , Publisher 1.312.274.2221 dhogan @ hotelsmag . com
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Nakul Anand Executive Director , ITC Ltd ., Gurgaon , India
Stephen Bartolin Chairman , The Broadmoor , Colorado Springs , Colorado
Geoffrey Gelardi Managing Director , The Lanesborough , London
Kirk Kinsell President & CEO , Loews Hotels & Resorts , New York City
Alex Kyriakidis President and Managing Director , Middle East and Africa , Marriott International , Dubai
Christopher Nassetta President and CEO , Hilton Worldwide , McLean , Virginia
Monika Nerger Chief Information Officer , Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , Atlanta
Paul Sistare President and CEO , Atlantica Hotels International , São Paulo
Susan Terry Vice President Culinary Operations , Hyatt Hotels North American Operations , Chicago
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Hoteliers as marketing stars
This month , for the 35th year , the readers of HOTELS have chosen to honor two great hoteliers for their career achievements – IHG ’ s Richard Solomons and The Hay-Adams ’ Hans Bruland . You can read their inspiring stories starting on p24 . In this space , however , I want to talk about all the other great hoteliers who have been nominated for this award but have yet to win . I was thinking about them , as well as some of the issues this industry faces , and became inspired .
We generally have an average of eight nominees per year in the two categories – corporate and independent . Over the course of 35 years that adds up to almost 300 nominees – every one of which is very worthy of the recognition . In fact , my worst business moment of the year is when I have to call these great hoteliers who did not win the balloting and tell them to “ wait till next year .”
But when I stopped to think about these perennials – this year Dr . Richard Kelley of Outrigger , Jean-Gabriel Pérès of Mövenpick , Mark Harmon of Auberge , Randy Morton of Bellagio , Andrea Kracht of Baur au Lac and Anotnio Sersale of Le Sirenuse – it made me think about how this industry does not do its best job publicizing its incredible leaders who have amazing stories and such admirable qualities . Think about celebrity chefs and the global phenomenons they have become . Why are there no celebrity hoteliers ?
If you stop and think about great hotelier attributes , there is so much the traveling public would enjoy knowing . The legends speak three or four languages , have worked on multiple continents , know so much about food and wine , dress impeccably and entertain kings and
queens . They have tales to tell that would fascinate any audience , yet the industry tends not to tell its guests their stories nor best take advantage of their natural market skills . Sure , the travel trade knows them well and sometimes recommends hotels based on their leadership and personalities , but just think how many more direct bookings hotels might get if the suave and talented GMs and corporate leaders were out front more often directly telling stories about great hotels and hotelkeeping .
Call me crazy , but I remember the 1970s when charismatic Steve Wynn was on television talking about his Golden Nugget resort . It was a hugely successful marketing campaign and his name and brand became synonymous with Las Vegas .
The hotel industry has hundreds of dynamic leaders who could serve as great ambassadors for their brands , but instead I see so much spent on promotions and marketing that simply falls flat . Why not take advantage of the charm and personality of your leaders with Tweets , videos and more ? Maybe I am just a hopeless hotel romantic , but better utilizing your best assets could help end perceived commoditization and be an opportunity just waiting to happen .
Editor In Chief www . hotelsmag . com November 2015 HOTELS 7