NEW YORK — Larry Cuculic takes the CEO and president role at BWH Hotel Group this week and he’s ready to address industrywide challenges, but just don’t call them that.
“I don’t typically use the word ‘challenges,’” said the former Best Western senior vice president and general counsel in a video interview with Hotel News Now during a break at the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. “I put challenges in the category of opportunities and responsibilities.”
He agreed that labor is top on the industry’s to-do list and said Best Western’s approach — in addition to reviewing wages, benefits and flexibility for employees — has been to equip its members with what they need to make the hiring decision quickly.
“You have to have frictionless employment policies with regard to hiring practices,” he said. “Something else I’ve heard from our hoteliers is that when they interview an applicant, they have to be ready to make a hiring decision quickly because that person is probably looking for jobs elsewhere at the same time. … They need to be ready to make that hiring decision.”
In the 12 years Cuculic has spent at Best Western, he has worked closely with his predecessor David Kong and other executives as well as the company’s members to develop what he calls “a deep and wide understanding of our industry.”
Also playing a role in Cuculic's leadership style? His military background. The U.S. Army veteran said, “the first thing I would ask people to know about me is that I have a military background. And because of that, I believe that decision-making needs to be well-thought-out. And always recognize that any decision you make will impact people.”
Another priority for Cuculic as he takes on the new role is driving revenue to the company’s members around the world. Under Kong’s tenure, the company grew from a single eponymous brand to include three tiers of the Best Western brand, four boutique brands — Aiden, Sadie, Glo and Vib — two collection brands — BW Premier Collection and BW Signature Collection — and Executive Residency by Best Western.
The company also launched a white-label brand, SureStay, which encompasses four brands; and acquired the global upper upscale and luxury collection brand WorldHotels.
Cuculic said the company’s members are “a family of hoteliers that want us to ensure their future success, and really, that’s focused on brand delivery, but also making sure that we’re financially stable and well-capitalized.”
On top of a strong financial foundation, Cuculic said his belief “that every guest, every associate, everyone should be treated with dignity and respect … serves as the foundation for how we do business on a go-forward basis.”
Another thing he wants the industry to know about him? He’s a self-proclaimed “glass-full guy.”
“The prognosticators have indicated that 2022 will be a very good year for our industry,” he said. “So I believe that. We’re already pushing rate. We’re hopeful that groups and meetings will come back. And if that occurs, we’ll see occupancy come up at the same pace that we think [average daily rate] has come back. And so we think 2022 and into 2023 [will] be a terrific time for our industry.”
For more from HNN's conversation with Larry Cuculic, watch the video above.