Reach for The

THE MAGAZINE FOR HOTEL EXECUTIVES/ MARCH~APRIL 2015 $20 A SLICE OF LUXURY CAPTURE A LOST Selling a service, OPPORTUNITY not a commodity Accessible hotels attract new clientele PLUS THE 2015 BUYER’S GUIDE REACH FOR THE TOP HOW CAN MORE WOMEN SCALE THE CORPORATE LADDER? CANADIAN PUBLICATION MAIL PRODUCT SALES AGREEMENT #40063470 MAIL PRODUCT SALES AGREEMENT #40063470 CANADIAN PUBLICATION hoteliermagazine.com Volume 27, Number 2 | March~April 2015 Contents Features 10 UNLOCKING THE C-SUITE Female powerhouses chime in on the status of women and how to shatter the glass ceiling in hospitality By Helen Catellier 15 MAKING IT HAPPEN Is the hotel industry doing all it can to promote women executives? Katie Taylor, chair of the Board, Royal Bank of Canada, and former Scan to view president and CEO of luxury leader Four Seasons our website Hotels & Resorts, shares her views on the issue of gender diversity Interview by Rosanna Caira 19 SOLID UNION In today’s purchasing world, success is built on strong, long-term relationships — not price By Rebecca Harris 23 THE 2015 BUYER’S GUIDE| 23 CATEGORIES INDEX 29 COMPANY DIRECTORY 45 ASSOCIATIONS 47 INSTITUTIONS Departments 49 PUTTING THE “AH” IN SPA Hotel spas and wellness centres are cashing in on the growing desire for 2 EDITOR’S PAGE mind-body renewal By Jennifer Febbraro 3 CHECKING IN 60 HOTELIER: Nicholas Gandossi, 53 AT YOUR SERVICE Successful luxury-segment Opus Vancouver hoteliers sell an experience — not bricks and mortar By Iris Benaroia 56 ALL-INCLUSIVE HOSPITALITY Creating accessible ON THE COVER: (l to r) Betty Anne hotel guestrooms isn’t just the right thing to do, Latrace-Henderson, president, Airline Hotels it’s a good business decision, too By Laura Pratt Ltd.; Nancy Munzar Kelly, GM, The Hazelton Hotel; Anne Larcade, president and CEO, Sequel Hotels & Resorts; and Joumana COVER ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES BENNETT COVER ILLUSTRATION Ghandour, GM, The Westin Edmonton hoteliermagazine.com MARCH/APRIL 2015 HOTELIER 1 EDITOR’S PAGE WOMEN ON TOP n an age where diversity rules, change is a constant and more women are working than ever before, why is it still I MITCH KOSTUCH FOUNDER rare to see women leading hospitality firms Feb. 11, 1931 – Oct. 23, 2014 or hotels? (see story on p. 10) In fact, when covering industry events ROSANNA CAIRA | EDITOR & PUBLISHER [email protected] and conferences it astounds me to survey the landscape and continue to see only a BRIANNE BINELLI | MANAGING EDITOR [email protected] handful of women. In Toronto, for example, HELEN CATELLIER | ASSOCIATE EDITOR [email protected] there is only a sprinkling of females leading JACKIE SLOAT-SPENCER | SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR [email protected] hotels as GMs, and when you look at the FATIMA SIDDIQUIL | EDITORIAL INTERN top 50 hotels, there are even fewer repre- MARGARET MOORE | ART DIRECTOR sented in C-Suites and on corporate Boards. [email protected] In this day and age, the painfully slow progress on this front is unaccept- DEREK RAE | MULTIMEDIA MANAGER able. Several hotel companies have been successful in moving the dial, [email protected] MEGAN O’BRIEN | DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER but sadly, there’s just not enough of them. Perhaps women are not actively [email protected] COURTNEY JENKINS | GRAPHIC DESIGNER seeking out executive roles. And, if that’s the case, has anyone tried to [email protected] figure out why or what can be done to remedy this? As Katie Taylor, chair BRENDA JAMES | SALES & MARKETING MANAGER of RBC’s Board, and former president and CEO of Four Seasons, told me [email protected] CHERYLL SAN JUAN | SALES & MARKETING ASSISTANT recently, “When you continue to do the same things over and over again [email protected] DANNA SMITH | SALES INTERN and nothing changes, then it’s time to say, ‘Oh well, what else can we do,’ and drive a different reality.” (see Q&A on p. 15) JIM KOSTUCH | DIRECTOR [email protected] But, statistics show more women are entering the hospitality industry CIRCULATION | PUBLICATION PARTNERS than ever before. They’re graduating from management programs, and [email protected] (905) 509-3511 they’re entering the industry in equal numbers to their male counterparts, but they don’t graduate into the upper echelon. DANIELA PRICOIU | ACCOUNTING MANAGER [email protected] Sure a handful might break through the glass ceiling, but they’re the TINA ALEXANDROU | OFFICE MANAGER exception and not the rule. The reality is many women land in sales, [email protected] public relations or human resources. There’s nothing wrong with that, but shouldn’t those positions also be stepping stones to higher growth, and ADVISORY BOARD: shouldn’t women in those departments be recognized and offered the same David McMillan, AXIS HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL; Bill Stone, CBRE; Anthony Cohen, CRESCENT HOTELS — GLOBAL opportunities to grow as men? EDGE INVESTMENTS; Charles Suddaby, CUSHMAN & At a time when more females are graduating from the nation’s law WAKEFIELD LTD. — HOSPITALITY & GAMING GROUP; Chris- tiane Germain, GROUPE GERMAIN HOSPITALITE; Ryan Murray, schools, more women doctors are practising medicine than ever before, HARBOUR HOUSE HOTEL — NIAGARA’S FINEST INNS; and an increasing number of women helm several male-centric industries Michael Haywood, THE HAYWOOD GROUP; Lyle Hall, HLT ADVISORY; Drew Coles, INNVEST REIT; Scott Allison, MARRIOTT such as tech, finance and automotive (IBM, Yahoo, Facebook, Hewlett HOTELS CANADA; David Larone, PKF CONSULTING; Geoffrey Packard and General Motors all have female leaders), why is the hospital- Allan, PROJECT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT HOTELS; Stephen Renard, RENARD INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY & SEARCH ity industry not equally hospitable to women? CONSULTANTS; Anne Larcade, SEQUEL HOTELS & RESORTS; Isn’t it time to dispense with the antiquated excuses of what’s truly David Whitaker, TOURISM TORONTO holding women back, and accept that women are talented enough, smart HOTELIER is published eight times a year by Kostuch Media enough and capable enough to juggle work and family? Ltd., 23 Lesmill Rd., Suite 101, Toronto, Ont., M3B 3P6, (416) 447-0888, Fax (416) 447-5333. All rights reserved. As with solving any problem, the first step is recognizing there’s a Subscription rates: Canada: $25 per year, single issue $4, U.S.A.: problem. Beyond that, it’s time for hospitality leaders to fully engage and $30 per year; all other countries $40 per year. Canadian Publication Mail Product Sales Agreement #40063470. Member commit to this dialogue. They need to remove the barriers that exist and of Canadian Circulations Audit Board, the American Business stop paying lip service to this issue. Anything less is a disservice to women. Media and Magazines Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. ROSANNA CAIRA Printed in Canada on recycled stock. Editor and Publisher [email protected] FOLLOW US: For daily news and announcements: @hoteliermag on Twitter and Hotelier magazine on Facebook 2 MARCH/APRIL 2015 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com CTHE LATESTh INDUSTRY NEWSe FORc HOTEL EXECUTIVESk FROMin CANADA g AND AROUNDI nTHE WORLD TALENT POOL “Make sure you work for a great company so when they sell it, you get a great employer coming forward,” quipped Bill Pallett, SVP of People Resources at Toronto-based Delta Hotels & Resorts, during his presentation, on retaining and recruiting top talent, at the Hotel Association of Canada conference this past February. The pending transaction between Victoria-based BcIMC and Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott Interna- BRAND POWER tional will see more than 6,000 Delta Delta Hotels & Resorts prepares to fly the Marriott banner associates enter the Marriott family. BY HELEN CATELLIER “From the employee perspective, it gives them a world of opportunity,” said anadian snowbirds travelling south of the border could soon be booking Michael Beckley, SVP of Lodging Devel- their stay at a Delta, thanks to new synergies that will accompany a opment for Marriott Hotels of Canada, Cpending ownership change at the hotel brand. based in Mississauga, Ont. “We have Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International recently signed a definitive agree- 4,100 hotels in 79 countries, so the ment to acquire the Delta Hotels & Resorts brand and management and franchise potential for growth from the employee business from a subsidiary of Victoria-based BcIMC for $168 million. “As we are perspective is dramatically different.” a global institutional investor, we routinely review our investments,” reads an emailed statement from the company. “Current market conditions, combined with the successful repositioning of the Delta brand, has led BcIMC to conclude it is an appropriate time to realize the value of our investments in Delta.” Under the terms of the agreement, BcIMC affiliates will retain ownership of 13 Delta hotels (and one under development) and will sign new 30-year management contracts with Marriott. Third parties own the other 25 Delta properties, including 15 managed and 10 franchised. When the transaction closes (possibly in April) Marriott will become the largest full-service hotel company in Canada with more than 120 hotels and 27,000 rooms. CAN’T BUILD? The transaction will introduce Marriott to new markets and capitalize on THEN BUY Delta’s broad customer base. Case in point: the brand has about 94-per-cent “There are barriers to entry in getting Canadian loyalty, according to Michael Beckley, SVP of Lodging Develop- big full-service hotels built, not the ment for Mississauga, Ont.-based Marriott Hotels of Canada. And he wants to least of which is cost,” said Michael capitalize on this allegiance and open units south of the border, since Canadians Beckley, SVP of Lodging Development book 20-million room nights in the U.S. annually. for Mississauga, Ont.-based Marriott But, there’s more to the equation than that.

Load more