BERLIN — European hoteliers finally met together again at a major conference, but the message from the first day of the International Hotel Investment Forum is that hoteliers cannot think of the industry in the same way again.

Attendees agreed that in hindsight, hoteliers could have learned more from the challenges and corrections posed by and needed for the Great Recession. Now hoteliers must analyze what has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the principal question being, will hoteliers learn from their mistakes or be doomed to repeat them?

Henri Giscard d’Estaing, president of French tourism company Club Med, said the industry needs to jump to the next step in its evolution, from what we all comfortably now call the “experiential” to what he called the “transformative.”

“And add to that safety, as we will never forget, at least for some time, what has happened,” he said of the pandemic, which others pointed out was still very much in the present.

Humans, including hoteliers, often do forget our lessons learned, or the next generation does not read deeply enough into the industry’s history books.

Marcus Bernhardt, CEO of German hotel brand company Deutsche Hospitality, said the pandemic remains a game changer from both operational and financial points of view.

“But it also is an accelerator to make sure we are fit for the future, to go to the next step,” he said.

The message was clear that those who feel sorry for themselves will not be in a position to feel sorry the next time there is a crisis, and there is every chance that there will be a next time.

Giscard d’Estaing said it is the responsibility of all hoteliers to make sure the damage is mitigated.

“We are not vocal enough as to what hospitality brings to the economy, and we should formulate what we believe is the right support from governments — infrastructure, training and investment support,” he said.

The European hotel industry is thrilled to have returned, but there is no point in doing so if we do not learn, progress and strategize in the three key areas of investment, sustainability and people.

“Be patient and disciplined. You do not want to do deals just to get cash out. Now is not the time to play hero.”
— Cody Bradshaw, managing director, head of international hotels at Starwood Capital Group.

The distress being seen today is not as bad as it was in previous crises, said Robin Rossmann, managing director of STR, CoStar Group's hospitality analytics firm.

Rossmann said the percentage of corporate mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) hotel delinquent loans that turned into distressed assets has been kept to a minimum. Various reasons for this touted by panelists throughout the first day of the conference included continued government support, robust liquidity and some periods of positive cash flow propping up operations, banks not closing on defaulted loans and competition for assets between bidders being strong.

Linda Yueh, adjunct professor of economics at London Business School, said that while the rate of vaccination in high-income countries is currently 88.1%, it is only 38% in upper middle-income countries and a very low 1.8% in low-income countries.