Russia revs up for football fever

As Russia prepares for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the 11 host cities are under immense pressure to accommodate the thousands of football supporters that will soon be arriving. Currently, the 108 hotel projects in the pipeline are exploring green solutions to lower energy costs, and water and waste consumption.

These factors are gaining importance as hotels strive to support sustainable development, as required by their guests and cities, and to achieve a greater return on investment through the implementation of green solutions, as demanded by investors.

Noppen's Third Annual Russia Hotel Expansion Summit featured more than 20 prominent industry leaders, who provided informative and inspiring discussions on the current needs and future development of the industry in the region. Leading local and global operators, developers, investors, construction companies, architects, financial institutes, associations, consultants and solution providers were among the participants.

Discussing developments

Among the many topics addressed during the event were expansion projects, current opportunities and pitfalls, financing in the current dynamic environment and green hospitality.

Tom Mundy, national director, head of research at JLL, Russia and CIS, knowledge partner of the event, opened the conference by providing an analysis of the current economic investment environment. Sergey Shpilko, first deputy of the head of the Moscow Department of National Policy, Inter-regional Communications and Tourism at Moscow City Government, delivered the official welcome speech and provided insight on the efforts of the Moscow Government to support the industry. He invited the stakeholders to communicate further in the upcoming forums to resolve current issues, and enable new investment opportunities and a healthier development of the industry.

A first panel session presented hot topics and insight on the possibilities of further investment. Updates on the current estate standings, localisation, gross operating profit and average daily rate were provided.

After the panel, Igor Dyadchenko, development director, Russia and CIS, at Hilton Worldwide, unveiled two new Hilton brands: Canopy and Curio Collection.

Electric (Russia) LLC demonstrated the latest HVAC solutions that are enhancing guests' experiences while financially benefitting owners. Olga Fazullina, manager, hospitality and leisure, corporate finance at KPMG, then chaired a discussion on management contracts and franchising with operators, developers and representatives of the legislative side of deals. Much of the discussion revolved around first-time owners, brand contribution and the realities of long-term relationships.

Reaching Russia

After lunch, Stanislav Ivashkevich, associate director, hospitality development, Strategic Consulting Department at CBRE, spoke about opening chain hotels in Russia.

A third panel focused on the development of mid-scale hotels and economy brands to boost revenues. This was followed by a presentation by Lev Gankin, sales account manager at Allied Telesis, who provided possible solutions for the hospitality market in Russia.

At the Green Hospitality session, Sergey Egorov, director of development for Russia and CIS at Wyndham Hotel Group, highlighted the company's success in developing an award-winning programme that contributes not only to the environment but also to the sustainable development of the industry.

The final panel discussion revealed the value of green hotels and how environmental performance could be improved, and the needs and expectations of the various stakeholders.