All articles by Ky Nikitha
Ky Nikitha
EHMA is trending
A study by consultancy company Horwath HTL has identified new trends that are impacting the activities of hotel managers. Ezio A Indiani gets to grips with these figures.
Guests of honour
The franchise model is expanding across Europe and into higher-end hotels, partly because of the success of third-party hotel management companies. Elly Earls meets Hilton’s Patrick Fitzgibbon, Interstate Hotels & Resorts’ Nicholas Northam, and RBH Hospitality Management’s Neil Taylor to find out about the benefits of the brand-owner-management company partnership and whether it can make for a more guest-focused experience.
A hospitality hub for the future
In April, operators from across the MENA region gathered at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference to discuss how best to synchronise for success. Hotel Management International looks back on those three days and the topics discussed, deals signed and challenges anticipated by regional stakeholders.
Hot property
The pipeline is bursting, and investor, developer and operator interest in the German hotel market is higher than it’s been in years. Elly Earls meets industry insiders to find out where opportunities still lie, who’s making the most of them and how long the good times are likely to last.
Public relations
Operators are having to fundamentally rethink the ways they deliver hospitality within the midscale segment, placing an ever-greater emphasis upon design, technology and public spaces. Abi Millar meets the hotel leaders trying to do something new in what has traditionally been the least ambitious of hotel tiers.
Master of all trades
Arguably no role has undergone greater transformation over the course of the past decade than that of the hotel general manager, so how do the best practitioners in the business stay abreast of such a fast-changing landscape? Tim Gunn speaks to Toshiro Maruyama of Shirouma-so, The Beaumont’s Jannes Soerensen, and EHMA president and GM of Principe di Savoia Ezio A Indiani about the flexibility needed to succeed in some of the industry’s most particular positions.
Get a room
Modular construction methods significantly defray development costs for operators but have traditionally resulted in economy offerings on greenfield sites. Now, the assembly of the AC Hotel NoMad in the centre of Manhattan promises to make prefabrication an urban affair as well. Greg Noone talks to Rob Wagemans of design firm Concrete, architect Danny Forster and Marriott International’s Eric Jacobs about whether the time has come for large-scale modular projects in the heart of our major cities.
The focus to grow
Hakkasan Group has weathered the many recent storms in the global restaurant market. Operations vice-president Michael Neuner tells Tina Nielsen about his plans for developing the company and the importance of finding the right partners in order to deliver this vision.
Guest who
Operators now have access to more data than ever before, with analytics being put in place to enhance customer service, and optimise revenue and loyalty schemes. Will Moffitt investigates which hotels are harnessing this technology most efficiently and the costly impact, financial and operational, of getting your data strategy wrong.
Walk the talk
Last year, Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) proclaimed it wanted to become one of the top three hotel operators in the world. It seemed a wildly ambitious statement of intent, but events over the period since suggest the company is charting the right course. Andrea Valentino talks to Elie Younes, executive vice-president and CDO at Radisson Hospitality, about where new development is focused and how a new ownership model could push it up the hotel league table.