Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #44
2019 Autumn Edition 5
5
WE’RE
LOOKING TO
DOUBLE OUR
PORTFOLIO OF 14
TO 28 HOTELS IN
THE NEXT THREE
YEARS.
Raffles Europejski Warsaw, Poland
AN ICONIC BRAND
talks about the past, present and future of the brand
For me personally, I am particularly excited
about our upcoming opening in London,
which is a transformation and careful
restoration of a beloved British heritage
building, that has never been open to
the public before, so it's quite a lot of
responsibility to be restoring and bringing
this property back to world travellers and
the British population.
My role as steward of the brand is really to
ensure that its DNA is intact through every
individual property. It’s about bringing the
dream of Raffles all around the world.
Because it’s not just opening a hotel; the
Raffles owners have a very specific vision
that they have in mind when they take on
a new Raffles property. So, whether it’s
in Shenzhen, where they are bringing a
new product and a new level of service
that the city hasn’t seen before; or
Boston, where we have a new build in the
historical heart of this iconic American
city, it's very much about assuring that
the Raffles DNA is kept throughout all the
different properties, but also, to keep up
with trends and the times.
What current trends have you
identified that fit with the Raffles
brand?
The area of wellbeing has evolved from
niche trend to a core offering that guests
want and expect. And for Raffles, we are
very much about providing emotional
luxury. So our wellbeing concept is about
emotional wellbeing. It has three core
pillars: Harmonious Design, Nutrition
for Pleasure and Rituals for Serenity. We
know that sleep is very important so what
is the whole journey before you sleep?
And when you wake up, how do you reenergise?
So everything from lighting to
music to the food that you eat, to reading
materials, to scents and aromatherapy
oils. And how your butler will personalise
your journey for you with your bath.
What has Accor brought to the brand?
The main thing Accor has brought to
Raffles is the development pipeline,
providing us with a strong distribution
network. Also, very importantly, the new
ALL loyalty programme from Accor –
Accor Live Limitless – which allows the
Raffles brand to have easy access to a
much broader group of luxury travellers.
We see our French market as very much a
feeder market, naturally growing, and we
are seeing more of our European markets
growing stronger.
Tell us about the grand re-opening of
Raffles Singapore.
In Singapore’s bicentennial year, we have
done it as a community event and all the
proceeds from that day will be given to
various charities across Singapore. The
re-opening is very important for us – it
was one of the most anticipated events
in travel and it allowed us to pay homage
to our flagship. But it’s also the timing
that was important, because shortly
after is the reopening of the Raffles in
Siem Reap – near Angkor Wat – which
itself is going through restoration, as is
the one in Phnom Penh. So, in October,
both properties are coming back after
restoration. And we’ll have a new global
brand campaign that’s going to come out
in Q1 2020
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