Questex’s IHIF EMEA 2024 Day 2 is Full of Insightful Discussions and Partnerships
April 16 2024 - 2:06PM
Questex’s IHIF EMEA 2024 Day 2 is Full of Insightful Discussions
and Partnerships
Day two of Questex’s International Hospitality Investment Forum
EMEA (IHIF EMEA) brought deep insights into macro travel trends,
supply and demand, the drivers of profit, how capital is attracted
and invested, how global level deals are done and how changing
trends influence what owners, brands and operators do with the
customer offering.
The Capital Talks panel session is one of the most eagerly
anticipated spots on the programme. In a discussion moderated by
Kenneth Hatton, managing director, head of hotels, Europe at CBRE,
IHIF EMEA delegates learned about the underlying trends supporting
hospitality investment. Representatives from KSL Capital Partners,
Starwood Capital and AXA Investment Managers talked about the finer
points of the current hospitality landscape.
Josh Cleveland, partner & head of EMEA, real estate,
StepStone Group said that hospitality’s “strong inflation hedge”
had convinced the firm to invest in the asset class in an
increasingly significant way.
Hilton intends to establish “many more partnerships” with
independent travel and hospitality businesses, said the company’s
president and CEO Chris Nassetta from the stage. “You will see many
more partnerships on the experiential side. Why? Because our Hilton
Honors members, particularly, want more experiences, and the more
we can offer them those adjacencies, the more we think they will
remain loyal and we’ll get an incremental share of wallet,” he
said, in conversation with consultant Nick van Marken.
The day closed with compelling thoughts from operators on how to
differentiate the hospitality offering to maximise returns.
The presentations delivered market-making intelligence to
underpin the industry’s decision making in a year which the
conference believes has both promise and opportunity.
HAMA AwardsThe highly anticipated HAMA Awards
was presented today by IHIF EMEA and the Hospitality Asset Managers
Association (HAMA) Europe and co-sponsored by Questex Hospitality
and HotStats.
The winner of this year’s prestigious HAMA Europe Asset
Management Achievement Award was Iconic Luxury Hotels for its
Mayfair Townhouse project.
Iconic Luxury Hotels acquired and rebranded the Hilton Green
Park as The Mayfair Townhouse in 2020 due to underperformance.
Three years later, the hotel's revenue nearly doubled, and
profitability significantly increased, driven by a focus on
essential services and guest needs-aligned strategies.
Current Chair of the Awards Committee, Harriet Durbin commented,
“The HAMA Europe Award was established to recognise the key role
played by hotel asset management in sustainably growing asset value
and driving underlying investment returns. Iconic Luxury Hotels’
Mayfair Townhouse is an excellent example of the value provided by
asset managers in the development, pre-opening and post-opening
stages of an asset’s lifecycle, in an increasingly challenging
operating environment.”
Announcements from IHIF partners:
- Horwath HTL Italy launches 11th Edition of
Hotels & Chains Report, Unveiling Resilient Trends and Growth
Prospects in Italian Hospitality [Press release]
- Ando Living Group announces its financial
results for the fiscal year 2023. The group, comprising Ando Living
and Lovely Stay, manages 2,000 apartments in Europe and achieved a
turnover of €32 million, marking a significant year-on-year
increase. [Press release]
- Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund
(TDF) and Karisma Hotels & Resorts
International signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
exploring opportunities for developing luxury resorts in Saudi
Arabia.
For more information about IHIF EMEA 2024 and to register for
the event, visit IHIF EMEA website.
For a list of companies attending, please click here.
Stay connected with IHIF EMEA on X and LinkedIn.
About QuestexQuestex helps people live
better and longer. Questex brings people together in the
markets that help people live better: travel,
hospitality and wellness; the industries that help people
live longer: life science and healthcare; and the
technologies that enable and fuel these new
experiences. We live in the experience
economy – connecting our ecosystem through live events,
surrounded by data insights and digital communities. We deliver
experience and real results. It happens here.
Media ContactFrancesca RuggieroSenior Marketing
Manager, Hotel GroupQuestexfruggiero@questex.com