of projects with that particular type of investor .”
Creativity is , of course , the other deal driver with Anderson referencing a hybrid lease deal with Hyatt Hotels Corp . last year . “ We structured that deal in a way where , for us , it would act as a straight management agreement . But the landlord wouldn ’ t have the operations exposure of straight HMA – so for them , it acted like a lease ,” says Anderson , who adds that key money is another route Aimbridge will use when it ’ s strategically important .
“ We have the will , we have the ways to increase our growth ,” Tamis adds . “ The biggest challenge for us is to keep growing , and that ’ s what we do well .”
On the performance front , Anderson and Tamis say Aimbridge ’ s revenue generation index ( RDI ) across the CIS in September sat at 120 for 2022 . In Central Europe , it was at 114 , while U . K . regions stood at 108 and 112 RDI .
More specifically , Aimbridge ’ s EMEA forecast for September and October occupancies were in the mid-80s with rates on average trending up 20 % versus 2019 .
“ We ’ re in a really strong position and in a very dynamic mode with this rebranding ,” Anderson says . “ We ’ ve increased our feasibility and development teams in Europe to facilitate growth . We ’ re also increasing the number of strategic partners . That ’ s been one of my big aims – to go to these funds and align our interests . We will ensure that when they want to exit , they can do so unencumbered and a lot of competitors , perhaps , don ’ t have that same ability .”
SOME OF THE DEALS HAVE BEEN SLOWED DOWN BY FUNDS ’ INABILITY TO LEVERAGE CAPITAL RIGHT NOW . BUT AT THE SAME TIME , WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO SWING TOWARD INVESTORS THAT DON ’ T REQUIRE BANK DEBT . WE ARE ACTUALLY IN DISCUSSIONS ON A NUMBER OF PROJECTS WITH THAT PARTICULAR TYPE OF INVESTOR .
- DAVID ANDERSON
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Nov / Dec 2022 hotelsmag . com 45