The ultimate goal of Aimbridge Hospitality’s new operational divisions structure is to meet the needs of hotel owners faster.
In his new role as global president of operations at Aimbridge Hospitality, Mark Tamis is overseeing those six new divisions that are built on Aimbridge’s prior verticals structure. The divisions will allow owners and on-property staff to further lean into Aimbridge’s scale and expertise in order to address their needs quicker.
The time is right for Aimbridge to evolve its vertical focus into true operating teams, Aimbridge President and CEO Mike Deitemeyer said. With this structure, the team will make faster decisions through nimble planning and a keen expertise for specific property operations.
“Our commitment to investing in talent ensures Aimbridge is equipped with the absolute best resources possible to drive value for our owners,” he said via an email interview. “Mark has quickly activated the new divisional structure and empowered our new divisional presidents — a potent combination that will ultimately deliver even greater value for our owners’ properties.”
Global President of Operations
Tamis joined Aimbridge in May with more than 35 years of experience in hospitality in the hotel industry and cruise operations. Prior to Aimbridge, he served as the senior vice president of hotel operations at Royal Caribbean International overseeing hotel services across the cruise line’s fleet and destinations. He has also worked for Carnival Cruise Lines, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Setai Hotels and Resorts, Ian Schrager Hotels, Morgans Hotel group and Ian Schrager Company.
Over the first couple of weeks in his new role, Tamis met with owners, starting at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference and then visiting Aimbridge’s top 10 owners who represent nearly 40% of the company’s portfolio.
While the goal is to create amazing customer experiences in the hotels the company manages, Aimbridge’s customers are the owners, he said.
“It felt very important to be able to spend time with our owners and really hear from them what is most important to them,” he said.
That also afforded him the opportunity to share with owners his and Deitemeyer’s vision in setting up its new divisional structure and receive feedback to make sure they’re all heading down the right path, Tamis said.
“It was really a great way for me, in the first couple of weeks, to establish those relationships, talk about structure and really hear from them what’s the most important thing from their perspective and what success looks like from their perspective going forward,” he said.
New Divisions
Aimbridge implemented its verticals structure almost five years ago, putting the right people with the necessary skills in charge of each vertical, such as select-service hotels or full-service and resorts. The rollout of the company’s six new divisions builds on that foundation, and the divisional presidents are all company veterans.
In North America, the new divisions cover full service for hotels and resorts; Evolution Lifestyle for independent and lifestyle properties; enhanced select service; and select service. The geographically focused divisions intended for international growth are EMEA, with plans to expand beyond the U.K. and Europe, and LatAm, growing from a foundation in Mexico.
The six divisional presidents are Rob Smith for Full Service, Will Loughran for Evolution Lifestyle, Ben Perelmuter for Enhanced Select Service, Simon Mendy for Select Service, David Anderson for EMEA and Leandro Castillo for LatAm.
“Each of those leaders has deep, deep industry knowledge and industry expertise at the vertical perspective,” Tamis said.
Leaning further into the vertical structure Aimbridge set up years ago will make the company stronger by having more dedicated expertise that can be delivered to the properties, he said.
As he met with owners over the last six weeks, Tamis said what he heard loud and clear from them is the importance of relationships. Hospitality is a people business, so having the right relationship with existing owners makes them comfortable working their divisions’ teams. Keeping those relationships intact with people who support particular ownership groups through a vertically focused structure is key.
The difference in the new division structure ultimately means faster solutions, he said. There’s regular communication between owners and division presidents, and when issues arise, the structure gives the presidents more autonomy and support to act quickly.
In the past, the issues that arise during the normal course of business may have taken longer to elevate to higher levels of leadership, Tamis said. The key thing here is that each divisional president has an entire executive committee with subject matter experts dedicated to the division. The committee isn’t a part-time job; instead, the members are focused on the division.
“When someone gets on the phone to address that issue, it’s not as if [the president] has to say, ‘So let me get back to you on this. I’ll reach out to finance, I’ll reach out to HR,’” Tamis said. “His team is dedicated to him, and that division is on the call, making decisions in real time and then implementing the decisions with the owner.”
Mendy and his Select Service division recently had such a call with an owner dealing with a particular instance that involved making significant decisions, he said. The team was making these decisions over the phone with Mendy giving them some direction on work that needed to be done overnight. The next day, the team got back together and rolled out the decisions and made the changes at the property level.
Within the structure, there’s above-property leadership providing support to the hotels, he said. At the same time, anything that person needs to make a decision, the structure gives them access to the division president to make those decisions quickly.
“It’s going to make it that much more impactful at the general manager level, at the property level,” he said.
This much autonomy requires the right people in the job, Tamis said.
“The divisional presidents are those right people,” he said. “They really do have not only deep experience with Aimbridge but also deep career experience within those verticals."