Globally, the hospitality sector has faced challenging times due to Covid-19, which has resulted in reduced travel demand and booking cancellations. Moving forward, there will continue to be changes to the hospitality and travel sectors as consumers adapt and review their travel plans, experts said at the Future of Hospitality Summit.
Hospitality industry leaders and experts from across the globe came together virtually for the 2020 Future of Hospitality Summit to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the global travel and tourism industry. The immersive virtual hybrid summit which took place over two days, was organized by the Saudi Ministry of Tourism and the Saudi Secretariat of the G20 as part of the International Conferences Program, honoring Saudi Arabia’s G20 presidency this year, and was attended by over 6,000 attendees across 140 countries.
As one of the headline sessions of the summit and key note speakers, Federico J. González, CEO Radisson Hotel Group, CNN’s John Defterios, and Cyril Ranque, President of Travel Partners Group, Expedia Group, discussed the necessity of planning in times of crisis and shared their insights.
Many hotel groups and industry standards such as STR have suggested a recovery by 2024 / 2025, but Radisson Hotel Group remains prudently optimistic their timeline is looking more at 2022, dependent upon the continued development of the pandemic and hopefully positive news about the vaccine.
While the Group had to shift some timelines and focus on cash as a number one priority throughout Q2 and Q3, it remains determined to continue implementing their five-year development and growth plan in the coming three years. Radisson Hotel Group’s unique position to offer owners and investors a portfolio of strong brands as well as strong GOP to ensure the increased revenues convert to profit, makes them one of the leaders in the industry.
Federico J. González, CEO, Radisson Hotel Group said: “One of Radisson Hotel Group’s core beliefs is ‘we are many minds, with one mindset’. This time has most certainly proven that we need to stand together as we are all faced with common challenges. In times like these, we need to look ahead to the future, inspire our teams and remind them that there will be an end to this crisis, and that the hospitality industry will come back stronger than ever.”
The Middle East region remains one of the key focus markets for Radisson Hotel Group’s global development strategy, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia playing a key role. With over 20 hotels, resorts and serviced apartments in operation today, Radisson Hotel Group aims to double its Saudi Arabia portfolio by 2025.
