BERLIN – A panel of some of the top CEOs in the hotel sector have encouraged the industry to embrace change, whether that’s new technology or an evolving leadership style.
Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels said the hospitality industry had been “quite backwards” historically and needed to focus on transforming digitally to ensure a seamless experience for guests.
He revealed at the International Hospitality Investment Forum in Berlin that the business was in the process of developing its own cryptocurrency to be used to pay for food-and-beverage, spa and hotel rooms at its properties.
“We’ve got a lot to work to do apart from folding toilet rolls,” he said.
Federico González, CEO of Radisson Hotel Group, said he had seen opportunities in the changes over the last two years, with owners more willing to question which brands they were with. The group announced during the conference that it had 330 planned signings in the Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific regions this year.
Meanwhile, Larry Cuculic, CEO of retained-profit membership organisation Best Western Hotels & Resorts, encouraged business owners to allow their leadership style to evolve over time.
“My jobs changed and who I was as a leader changed,” he said. “We need to realize that we can change and adapt as leaders. There are some fundamentals that are associated with that—communication, truth and culture—but how we do that can change,” he said, having himself stepped into the leading role at Best Western last year.
He added that a positive company culture was the key to retention: “It’s easier to quit when you’re not a part of the culture or the family.”
Rajakarier added that the company culture at Minor was driven by entrepreneurship and not limiting team members with policies and procedures, but allowing them to take full ownership of their decisions.
Minor Hotels parent company Minor International is a global hotel owner, operator and investor with more than 520 hotels under brands including Anantara, AVANI, Oaks, Tivoli, M Collection, NH Collection, nhow and Elewana. It recently appointed an advisory board to oversee its strategic decisions in the U.K.
Cuculic said that the changes over the last two years had refocused Best Western on the extended-stay market as a “tremendous opportunity” it wants to leverage in the future.
“We knew we had to grow not just in terms of scale but across all the sectors to continue to be relevant,” he said. “One of our challenges as the world changes is, how do you effectively market? You have to be relevant and be where the guest is going to book.”
This article originally ran on Hospitality Insights, a sister publication to Hotel Management.