CEO’s check in & Tell all at NYU Conference - June 2023

Although we all sit and listen at the end of our chairs for what the Leaders & CEO of major Brands have to say; we all know most of their replies to the moderators’ questions are rehearsed or scripted since an off-handed comments or a negative remarks will be printed in the NY Times the next day and result in the change of the value of their stock.

The CEOs Check-In panel at this year's NYU International Industry Investment Conference included CEOs from major hospitality companies. From left: Moderator Sara Eisen from CNBC; IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Keith Barr, Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor, Anthony Capuano, president and CEO of Marriot International; Leslie Hale, president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust; Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyat Hotels Corp.; and Christopher Nasseta, president and CEO of Hilton. (Hotel Management) NEW YORK CITY. With both domestic and international travel numbers on the rise, industry leaders gathered at the 2023 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference for two panels over two days to share insights on travel trends and how new normals will affect hospitality worldwide.

Anthony Capuano, president and CEO of Marriot International, said that if anyone in the room had questions about the resilience of travel, the questions had been answered. "If you've listened to any of our earnings calls, we've all seen business come roaring back across geographies, across business segments," he said. "We're well ahead of where we were pre-pandemic."

Significantly, he added, the "phenomenon" of customer spend shifting from "hard goods" to experience is expanding across generations. "And we don't really see any slowdown, even in the face of some pretty troubling economic headwinds. Forward bookings look pretty compelling."

The hospitality industry faced more headwinds during the pandemic than "probably" any other, IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Keith Barr added, but it now has more tailwinds than any other industry, "especially with the global recovery."

Crossing Borders

The strength of international travel over years of restrictions at borders is likely to help hotels worldwide. Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor, noted the growth of India as an emerging outbound market as its middle class becomes larger (Bazin estimated the segment to be about 500 million strong) and willing to travel further. "Those 500 million would go five hours away [to] Southeast Asia [or the] Middle East," he said. "If you get 10, 20, 30, 70 million of them, it's a game changer for the industry."

This may be a vital market as outbound travel from China has not caught up to its pre- pandemic levels. In April, Capuano said, cross-border airlift in and out of China was only restored to about 40 percent to where it was before the pandemic. "So there's still 60 percent recovery in cross-border air capacity in and out of China"

Christopher Nasseta, president and CEO of Hilton, suggested this may ease in the second half of the year, but for now, he believes the Chinese government is hoping to boost the economy with domestic customer spending.

Since China was the largest outbound market before COVID, Barr said he has "every confidence" it will be the largest outbound market again. And the experience of catering to outbound Chinese travelers can prepare the global industry for the outbound Indian market"You're going to have a significant outbound travel impact on this industry for years to come."

Mark Hoplamazian, president, and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corp. described Europe as being "on fire" in terms of travel trends, with business travel across the region tracking ahead of 2019 levels.

Leslie Hale, president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust, noted that international travel goes both ways, and pent-up demand from U.S.-based travelers will have an impact on leisure numbers at hotels worldwide.

Group and Business

While leisure demand is "normalizing as expected," Hale said that she was encouraged by midweek booking trends and interest from national accounts from a business travel perspective. When COVID hit, there were all these prognosticators that travel was forever changed, that business travel was dead," Barr said. While leisure travel has outpaced business travel in terms of recovery, travel is one of the last things businesses want to stop spending on. "We're on the road more now than we were probably in 2019, reconnecting with customers and developers all around the world today. And we're seeing that happen in so many different industries, too."

Leadership and ESG On the second day of the conference, a different set of leaders gathered to discuss new demands, including sustainability and environmental, social and governance policies.

Michael Deitemeyer, president and CEO of Aimbridge Hospitality, said demand for sustainable hospitality is driving operators and brands alike to seek out partnerships and solutions. Through a partnership with Ecolabs, he said, hotels in Aimbridge's portfolio.