With some 25 years of experience on my shoulder and having survived three major crisis in my lifetime, I have perhaps found something that helped me through them and allowed me to thrive.
I see many industry professionals wondering what the immediate future will bring and, while everyone wonders I, more than ever, feel confident about hospitality – more so as I witness with clarity what is happening around us.
Contributed by Rocco Bova, managing director, Grupo Hotelero 1800, Mexico
Take for example, Saudi Arabia. It announced in 2019 to embark on a massive campaign to open the country to international tourism. Nearly every other month, the Kingdom is announcing progress and new giga-projects within the several megacities or precincts previously announced. It reminds me of Dubai 20 years back.
Have you seen a complete halt to new hotels opening around the world? I have not. In fact, while the pace has slowed, the announcements of new projects is continuing and most, if not all of them, are taking into considerations the necessary changes in design, architecture and operation which the current situation has been teaching us about. It includes meetings, F&B, co-living and communal spaces in hotels. The pandemic hasn’t stopped the birth of new brands (see SIRO by Kerzner) and there is M&A all around.
I have been based in Mexico for four years now and, honestly, I have never felt more secure and confident about tourism, and what it will look like in the coming months.
In fact, Mexico is one of the very few countries which has never closed its borders to tourists, neither obliged any form of vaccination or tests. I am not here to judge which form to managing this pandemic is best, but which attitude we all choose.
In Mexico, while the shift in travellers has moved from predominantly foreigners to nationals, it has become clear that we are not only resilient, but also fast to adapt to new situations.
I am currently assigned as consultant on a soon-to-be-announced tourism development, which will change the face of a small, dormant “pueblo’’ in the north of Mexico into one of the largest sustainable tourism developments in North America. The investors have never had a clearer vision of what this project means to them. They are Mexicans and firmly believe that this is the best time to invest.
The trademarks of these type of people around the world are recurrent and, to me, sound very familiar, as I have applied them throughout my life.
Let’s take, for example, the first pandemic some 16 years back (SARS). My son was just born and I was working for the Four Seasons Singapore at the time.
What did I do? I did not focus on the problem. I did focus on the opportunities and begun by communicating to my team, reassuring them that the company would do anything to keep us all safe and with a job (which they did). While we were working on diminished hours, I took advantage of this extra time to learn, increase my network and be clear in what I wanted to be once the virus would pass.
The same thing happened to me in 2008 with the global financial crush. At the time, I was in India. I lost my job, embarked on a educational trip with Cornell and decided to invest in my personal growth by taking the General Manager Program in Singapore. This investment (a substantial amount of money at the time) was a tough decision to make and one I will never regret.
Immediately after that I got a better job, in a better location and with a salary which was immediately proportional to the investment I made, allowing me to get back my money after the first year. Applying these simple rules truly opens up opportunities and suddenly, you see lots of light.
Looking at the leaders behind this project in Mexico, I can see exactly this clarity. They are catching the opportunity and take this “down time’’ to build upon their dreams.
The developer has defined what the future trends and needs of travellers will be to ensure his project fits perfectly once ready. It will cater to the type of tourists he wants there.
I wish to quote Amanda Gorman’s poem from U.S. President Biden’s recent inauguration. The final sentence is so relevant today: “For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are brave enough to be it.’’