TRENDING
H : Considering it ’ s such a unique , unprecedented moment , how are you getting deals across the finish line ? DM : We have made serious sacrifices in terms of concessions , as we realized as early as April 2020 that there is no franchise business without franchisees . Number one is survival of franchisees . Then , we didn ’ t call them to ask them to pay ; we called them to say we ’ re here for them and they could count on us if they needed anything . That wordof-mouth helped us get a lot of new deals .
The success of my team on the development side is doubled when existing clients bring us new deals because that means they trust Wyndham .
We have sold the value proposition and opened in markets we were hesitant to go to before . This is why the Russian and CIS pipelines are growing . So , now we have created a new formula to grow the business .
H : Are you exploring some of the new markets out of necessity ? DM : It wasn ’ t a necessity but it was an eye opener . For instance , China is working on the One Belt One Road initiative . There are several countries , like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan , developing infrastructure , railways , roads and new hotels to satisfy this expansion . The growth is crazy and so many new things are happening . The other interesting point is how politically stable some of these markets are , which creates new places for us to put flags . All these things helped us create a pipeline that ’ s diverse and also very dynamic .
H : In your more traditional markets , do pipeline owners consist of your repeat customers ? DM : Yes , a lot of repeat customers . We have people referring us new deals . At the same time , we ’ ve signed a couple non-exclusive development agreements with key players and asked them for help to develop certain brands in some areas . For example , we did a deal in Spain with Smy Hotels , a nonexclusive development agreement that said for 10 years we will expand with 20 hotels in Spain , Portugal , Italy and Greece . Strategic alliances and relationships with key players will carry forward the growth and help us a lot .
H : Is there anything that you ’ ve instituted that ’ s been particularly noteworthy to help owners through COVID ? DM : The hybrid meeting model we started in Europe helped , especially in the first months of the pandemic . It meant you could actually hold the meeting with 10 , or 15 , or 50 physical participants , and another 500 on a hybrid environment . The other thing that that we did was the Easy Book . A lot of infrastructure projects continued , and people continued to travel . We brought these people close to our owners and started generating business that way . That was a real game changer for us .
H : How are you helping your owners manage the labor challenge ? DM : I just came from a meeting with one of our biggest German owners . He said he has senior people resigning , people leaving to
Wyndham Dubai Deira
go to other industries and people not returning to work because they are comfortably paid by the government . This support from the government is a double-edged sword for hospitality . Some people stayed comfortably at home being paid .
How can we make hospitality interesting again ? We just launched an engagement tool and said , what do the general managers in the head of departments need ? They don ’ t need to just throw a 10 % salary increase , right ? They need more .
28 hotelsmag . com November / December 2021