Tea Ros: ISHC 2017 Conference Reflections - a GlobalHotelNetwork.com Exclusive

GlobalHotelNetwork.com (GHN) attended the 2017 ISHC Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. In an exclusive interview with Tea Ros, Managing Director, Strategic Hotel Consulting, GlobalHotelNetwork.com posed three questions.

GHN: What are three takeaways you got from the 2017 ISHC conference? 

Tea Ros: 1) Same, Same, Different. This was the theme of the conference and the same slogan could be applied to Asia Pacific. From outside, there is a tendency to generalise on the region, but in reality, Asia is enormously diverse. As the STR data showed us, the overall RevPar in the region might be up 3.3 % in 2017, but this is not much consolation for South Korea and Singapore where RevPAR is down 12 % and 5 % respectively. Even within the countries, the different destinations are in various states of maturity and cycle, each facing their own unique challenges and opportunities.  

2) China – but not the way we know it. China has dominated global travel for some years now. What is surprising is how fast the Chinese traveller and consumer is changing. They have moved from tour-groups to sophisticated and adventurous individual-travellers in a matter of years. What’s next? Hoteliers have to be open-minded and tuned into trends. On the consulting side, I make an effort to travel to China at least once per year, just to see what is happening on-ground. I call it trend-spotting. I used to see many concepts and ideas which had been imported from the West into hotels in China. Over the past 5 years, it has become increasingly apparent that there are plenty of excellent, creative local concepts originating from China, which are now increasingly being exported to the West. 

3) Pace of Innovation. There was a session on trends with a quote “40 % of Fortune 500 companies will not exist in 10 years’ time”. This is both scary and exciting! We live in an era where the pace of innovation is only accelerating, introducing disrupting technologies and new business models. These changes are likely to redefine entire industries, including our hospitality business. This calls for the constant questioning of existing business practises.  

GHN: You were on a “Getting to Know the Members” panel. What were some of the insights you wanted the delegates to gain? 

TR: The key message was that hospitality is a global and interconnected industry and this is how we have to think about our own businesses to remain relevant. I have worked and lived in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and the insights and experiences gained from this international exposure have been enormously valuable when advising clients on hotel investments. The other advantage is that you never run short of amusing stories.   

GHN: And finally, where is the next BIG play in the Asia-Pacific hospitality industry, from your point of view?

TR: Where, in this case, does not relate to a geographic location, but rather digital space. Technology is bringing tremendous opportunities and people in Asia know how to move fast. We are already seeing some fantastic innovations coming from Asia, and I anticipate that we will see more and more hotel-related technology solutions - perhaps relating to distribution, shared economies and guest data - coming from Asia Pacific region in the years to come.  

About Tea Ros, Managing Director, Strategic Hotel Consulting 

Tea has 15 years of consulting experience within Europe, Middle East and Asia. She founded Strategic Hotel Consulting in 2010 and prior to that spent several years in Asia with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and in the Middle East with TRI Hospitality Consulting. 

Tea’s areas of expertise include strategic analysis and planning; market assessment and demand forecasting; project concept and component analysis; project financial assessment; investment and sensitivity analysis and management contract critique and negotiations.

Prior to her consulting career, Tea worked in hotel operations. She has a comprehensive operational background, having worked with the Four Seasons (North America), Rosewood (Europe) and Starwood (Middle East) hotel groups.

Tea is a graduate of the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

About Strategic Hotel Consulting

Strategic Hotel Consulting is an international consulting firm specialising in hotel investments. The company is based in Switzerland and advises owners, developers, investors and operators on how to optimise project investments, enhance asset value and maximise profitability. www.strategichotelconsulting.com.

About GlobalHotelNetwork.com

Founded in 2000, GlobalHotelNetwork.com (GHN) is a highly respected online global media brand—providing actionable Market Insights and Thought Leadership to CEOs, presidents and decision makers in the global travel and tourism industry.