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EVENTS


ABOVE: Encouraging words from Accor’s Denis Hennequin and Hilton’s Christopher J. Nassetta BELOW: Private equity executives from (L-R) Blackstone, Groupe B&B Hotels, and Patron Capital Partners have their say BOTTOM: Singing In The Rain – the lenders say it’s business as usual


Orient Express Hotels’ Sicilian portfolio, St. Pancras Renaissance London, and Firmdale’s Dorset Square refurbishment. Neal Ledger, Managing Director UK Property & Hotel Finance at Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, deemed the first part of 2012 to be constrained but is seeing green shoots, while Tim Helliwell, Head of Hotel Finance at Barclays, was confident about 2013 stating that it was “business as usual” for the group. Private equity lenders shared similar views with Marty Kandrac, Managing Director, Real Estate, Blackstone, stating that the volume of transactions coming through was lower, but of better quality, while Georges Sampeur, Chief Executive Officer, Groupe B&B Hotels highlighted the huge opportunity for private equity firms to invest in the growth of budget brands in Europe. In the final panel of the morning session, Sir David Michels invited two owners and two operators to the stage to talk brands and scale. Wolfgang M. Neumann, the incoming President & Chief Executive Officer of Rezidor, described a brand as a promise to the customer and said Rezidor would continue to grow its room inventory in order to reach more guests. Conversely, Duncan O’Rourke, Chief Operating Officer, Kempinski Hotels, was very much against growth, despite being on target for a record year. “We are the oldest luxury European company and we understand that luxury is limited and so size is not something we strive for. In fact we will cap our growth at 120 properties,” he commented. In a change to the usual format, the afternoon sessions – entitled The UK Summit – focused on London and the UK, hearing from leading hoteliers and investors as to how the industry has performed in the year of the London Olympic Games, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and the Royal Wedding. Marvin Rust, UK Hospitality Tax Leader at Deloitte, introduced his panel with an overview of the year’s performance stating: “London’s growth weakened in the run-up to the Games, with July being particularly weak. September though, came back strong and we’re expecting October to show further growth in RevPAR. As an investment proposition, London stands tall and proud with only 2009 showing a 6% decline in RevPAR.” So will the Games have a long-term positive impact? According to Oxford Economics, the Olympic legacy will deliver an additional 1.1 million visitors to the UK each year through the post games period of 2013-2017.


092 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM


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