ILHA Webinar Series Continues with "How Luxury Hotels Prepare for The Recovery"

Hospitality leaders from Brookfield, Rosewood, Pinnacle & Paul Hastings talk about the future

News provided by

International Luxury Hotel Association

Mar 31, 2021, 13:08 ET

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., March 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA) opened their webinar series for the year with a discussion on "How Luxury Hotels Prepare for The Recovery." This webinar, which took place March 25, is part of the ILHA's virtual series that focuses on important post-COVID-19 topics as it relates to the future of luxury hotels.

ILHA Webinar: Luxury Hotels Prepare for the Recovery

Hosted by Multimedia Care, the webinar was moderated by Brett Hochberg, Associate, Paul Hastings LLP and included Romy Bhojwani, Senior Vice President and Head of Hospitality Asset Management, Brookfield; Sara Glenn, Senior Vice President of Operations, Canada, Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, Accor; Matt Arrants, Executive Vice President, Pinnacle Advisory Group; and Paul Arnold, Vice President Development, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.

Some of the webinar's discussion topics included the nature of the recovery, what owners and operators should be doing to prepare, medium and long-term implications of COVID-19, what markets are going to come back first, operational changes that will be permanent and how brands are going to evolve coming out of the crisis.

Speakers agreed that there has been an increase in leisure travel and drive in leisure destinations due to the increasing number of people getting vaccinated. Paul Arnold of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts noted that bookings are on the rise for the second half of this year and continuing into 2022 for leisure travel and weddings.

Sara Glenn of Accor believes that things will progress segment by segment. From the operations point of view, the key is cleanliness, care and consistency. Delivering on promises, providing outstanding service, hiring exceptional staff, and the fundamental building blocks are all essential going through recovery and post-recovery as well.

Romy Bhojwani of Brookfield felt that certain trends coming out of the pandemic will continue into the future. He also noted that there has been an uptick in preference for outdoor related experiences. The focus on health, wellness and unique experiences will also continue to be trends in the future. Romy predicts leisure travel will be the first to bounce back, then business, small groups followed by large groups.

All agreed that the future of luxury hotels will have to depend on the fundamentals which will continue to stay the same, such as great hospitality, food and beverage offerings, unique experiences and high-tech contactless technology.

The COVID-19 crisis has offered an opportunity to restructure your business so that it is more efficient and profitable in the long term, with strong leadership practices and forging great relationships with your hotel staff, guests and vendors. This is essential to adopting sustainable practices that are here to stay.

The webinar on "The Recovery of Luxury Hotels" was sponsored by Multimedia Care, a comprehensive health platform that introduces the latest in healthcare innovation, with business longevity and stakeholder well-being at the top-of-mind. To learn more about Multimedia Care's solution, Health Checkpoint, please visit: www.healthcheckpoint.com

Join the next webinar on "EU Market Recovery Trends" on Thursday, April 1 at 1:00 pm ET with hotel executives from Accor, Marriott International, Four Seasons and Questex Travel & Hospitality.

Learn more about the membership benefits of the International Luxury Hotel Association here and join our chapters and mentorship program so that you can get the support you need to advance your career and grow your business.

Written by CIIC

About the International Luxury Hotel Association
The International Luxury Hotel Association is the luxury hospitality's preeminent association promoting, unifying and advancing the industry through insight, opinion and research. ILHA reaches an audience of more than 500,000 hotel professionals in 90+ countries and produces LUXURY HOTELIERS Magazine INSPIRE SUMMITS in Europe, North America along with virtual events. They also run LinkedIn's largest hospitality and travel group which ranks in the top 100 of the more than 10 million professional groups on LinkedIn. Connect with us on theilha.com, hospitality and travel forum, ILHA Facebook, ILHA Instagram, ILHA Twitter, ILHA YouTube

SOURCE International Luxury Hotel Association