Two hotels under development and scheduled to open next year include the Trump Vancouver ( left ) as well as the Trump Washington , D . C .
H : What has best prepared you for this moment ?
ED : My whole career has been a lesson about how to lead people and create culture , and export the culture to different parts of the world . My Wyndham experience for six years doing hotels all over the world was very key in learning how to do business with different people and cultures , and understanding that customers ’ demands are no different all over the world .
Leading is ultimately what a CEO does , and if you ’ re a good leader that transfers to whatever you ’ re doing because you learn how to get people to advance , and do more than what they thought they could to help you achieve your vision . The success of a great company is great strategy , great people and great execution . I ’ m humbled by that every day .
The objective never changes , which is be better than everybody else . Provide a memorable experience that creates word-of-mouth because you cannot buy your way to a successful occupancy rate . You have to be the hotel of choice . HOTELS : How do you fit in at what has been a family-controlled business ? ED : I ’ ve had the good fortune of having a little bit of training in that regard as it relates to working for the Crowe family when we were private with old Wyndham , and then again with the Carlson family .
My name is not Trump ; my name is Danziger . Their name is on the building , not mine , and the credit fully goes to the next generation of Trumps because they didn ’ t have to go get a CEO . But they chose to get somebody who could help move them to a different space . I think it ’ s going to be fantastic . H : Are you going to be more focused on the development side ? ED : I think so . We have a lot of operating people that have done a fine job . I ’ m going to be 70 % growth , 30 % managing the people who manage the operations . H : How do you manage a hotel company when your boss is an outspoken candidate for president of the United States ? ED : I know this may sound Pollyanna , but all our hotels are up in RevPAR ;
38 HOTELS October 2015 www . hotelsmag . com