Aimbridge Hospitality is a leading global hotel operator company with a portfolio of over 1,200 properties and over 170,000 hotel rooms in 24 countries worldwide. Aimbridge's next project in Georgia will be the Wyndham Grand Residence.
Aimbridge Hospitality EMEA President David Anderson spoke with Giorgi Isakadze on the TV program “Business Weekly” about the company's activities, future plans, and ongoing projects in Georgia.
It's my first opportunity to speak with you pair to pair about Aimbridge. You run the largest hotel management company worldwide - what are the basics of the success story of the company itself?
That's a great question. We are a third-party operator in hotel management. Historically, brands have managed their own hotels, but over the last sort of 20 years, more and more branded hotels are being managed through franchises and third-party agreements. That's what has led to the growth of companies like Aimbridge. Today, we manage more Marriott hotels than Marriott itself. In total, we are operators of over a thousand hotels worldwide, and in this part of the world - about 100 hotels in 7 countries. We manage such branded hotels as Aqua, Marriott, IHG. Recently, we added Hyatt and are preparing to manage Wyndham in Georgia.
What are the criteria you have while choosing a new partner or making some sort of new agreement with the possible or future vendors?
An investor is looking for an opportunity to build a hotel. One of the processes that an investor goes through is to go to an agency like JLL or CBRE and say: I’m building a hotel and I need advice on which brand to bring in and how to manage it. That’s one scenario. In another case, the brand enters into an agreement with the new franchise owner and he can offer to manage the hotel himself, or the new owner may decide that he prefers to have a separate manager from the franchise.
Over the years, we have thoroughly studied how to optimize the brand’s performance and deliver superior returns to our owners. At the same time, we have learned how to act on the side of the hotel owner. Accordingly, we try brands, owners and participate in this tripartite agreement, and we manage the relationship between both parties. This is our success, because in all the projects we have, the essence of the management agreement is that we define a competitive target audience for ourselves and the owner, and then we adapt our activities to it. All this is completely transparent. If we were not N1 in our segment, I would ask myself the question - why?
And do you have an answer?
We are very well equipped to grow revenues, we have excellent revenue management tools and skills, we have extraordinary employees in the sales and commercial departments, therefore, given our scale, we belong to outstanding companies. Although we put our systems, data, competence into the project, we still adapt to local knowledge and the market, we have local experts in our field who understand the peculiarities of the region, the city, and hotels very well. And this combination is a recipe for success.
To what extent is it possible to identify the company’s priorities? Whether it’s skills, knowledge… In your opinion, what is the competitive advantage of the Aimbridge team, why is the company so requested in the world?
First of all, because we have such great relationships with all the brands, we're brand agnostic, we have a very open relationship with whoever gets selected in terms of the brand. Of course, we have competitors, but also the fact that, as you mentioned, we are the largest management company in the world, allows us to have excellent tools, to have the best employees in the market and to maintain a team with the best skills, we strengthen our leadership not only based on the experience of professionals, but also on technical knowledge, we have excellent people. With us, everything is about the relationship with our hotel owners and brands.
And the same thing happens in Georgia. The local Aimbridge team is staffed with amazing and very highly professional people.
Yes, and I’m saying exactly that, we work with highly professional locals and groups who know the region well, understand the cultural nuances, the regional economics and the hotel market. When we meet with the “owners” and they select projects, we can ensure this with our knowledge.
You mention a few scenarios of how Aimbridge selects the companies whose hotels it then manages. Tell us more about Georgia, when and how the country presented itself when Aimbridge became interested in the hospitality industry?
Under our previous name "Interstate", we started operating in Moscow since 1995. We were managing the most distinguished hotels in Moscow. Back then, we acquired excellent knowledge of the region. We also started observing neighboring countries and created an action plan for development outside of Moscow. Against the backdrop of US sanctions, we had to leave Moscow. We brought the team we had in Moscow directly to Georgia because we already had a roadmap for future projects. I didn’t want to lose the local knowledge, skills, and relationships we had built. I’m glad that we are already working on our new project. For an organization like ours, which manages hotels in Latin America, the United States, Canada, and Europe, adding countries and raising our flag in new territories is very exciting.
Does this mean that your future plans include expanding into Georgia and the region?
Yes, we already have several projects that are scheduled to open in the coming years. We plan to become a leading company among hotel operators in this region.
David, as the president of Aimbridge, can you share with us why Georgia, Georgian companies, and Georgian investors should be interested in cooperating with a company like Aimbridge? What is the primary benefit that a partnership with Aimbridge provides to local companies?
We offer them experience, a standard of hospitality that will give the guest the best experience in terms of service. We also offer experience in managing a branded hotel. We can manage sales and expenses at the highest level, we have tools that allow us to evaluate the productivity of our teams. Tools for revenue management to make sure that we have the best occupancy rate, no matter what day of the week it is. This is what we have been doing since 1965, since global brands were created. We have years of experience and close relationships in many countries, which gives us access to both existing skills and the ability to train the team ourselves when there is a need, whether it is revenue management, e-commerce or digital marketing…
Accordingly, thanks to US sanctions, you are now on the Georgian market.
Everything has its positive side…
We can already talk about the latest news from Aimbridge. Congratulations, you have achieved excellent results in the first quarter. Since the beginning of the year, you have added nine new properties to your portfolio, correct me if I’m wrong, and over 1,000 hotel rooms. You can share your future ambitions and plans with us, not only in Georgia, but globally.
We have a very active team of developers. We are delighted to have the opportunity this week to convert an independent hotel under our management in Spain, which we have been managing for 1.5 years, into a Marriott brand. Last month, we opened two new Hyatt hotels in the UK, along with a Latin American-themed restaurant. In January, we added 6 new hotels from the Aqua brand to our portfolio. New hotels are coming in regularly and we have a team of developers who are setting the action plan for us. Then, when our involvement is needed, the operations team is already involved, as well as our head office and technical experts. Therefore, we have the opportunity to enter hotels without any obstacles. Our main ambition is to continue to grow in the UK, continental Europe, Belgium, Spain. Also, in the coming years, we want to enter the Middle East, where we are already holding negotiations, we just need the right offer.
I wish you success and I hope to see you again in Georgia with new projects. Good luck and thank you very much.
