01 May 2013
Words Tim Admin

Feel the Passion

Gavin Faull, Chairman and President of global hotel management group Swiss-Belhotel International, explained the group’s approach this way: “You don’t see a Swiss-Belhotel. You feel it.” He is referring to the essence of the brand, a feeling when you walk through the door of being cocooned in an atmosphere of serenity, certainty and wellbeing. The brand is not described by rigid design guidelines or structural style. It is communicated through assured quality, hospitality excellence, efficiency, security and discretion. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Hong Kong, Swiss-Belhotel International is today recognised as one of the world’s top 100 hotel management groups and among the fastest-growing. It provides professional management services in all aspects of hotel, resort, serviced residences and golf club operations. Swiss-Belhotel International began as a small hotel consultancy set up by a former head of The Peninsula Hotels group, with whom Mr Faull had previously worked. Gavin Faull went on to be CEO of Kingsgate International Corporation, a publicly-listed hotel and property company in Australia and New Zealand, before joining his former Peninsula colleague at SBI in 1990. “With my Hong Kong partner, I bought Swiss-Belhotel International in 2000, and that’s when it became a fully fledged hotel management company,” he explained. The transition led to rapid expansion. Today, with a growing portfolio of more than 114 hotels, resorts and projects, Swiss-Belhotel International manages properties in China, Vietnam, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In addition to its corporate head office in Hong Kong, worldwide operations are supported by regional sales and development offices in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and United Arab Emirates. Mr Faull says that successful growth owes to the group’s firm-held view it should work with property owners as partners – not displace or dictate to them, but rather collaborate in a way designed to maximize their returns and realise their investment potential. “Our management philosophy is unique. We develop our staff, we embrace our guests and build customer loyalty. We welcome the participation of owners, work with them, and lift properties to the next level by adding Swiss-Belhotel International’s unique values.” The group’s motto underlines the approach: “Committed to excellence in service and management.” Another oft-cited catch-cry sums it up … “passion and professionalism”. They say their fusion of Swiss hospitality professionalism and Asian passion and service is what truly sets Swiss-Belhotel International apart from other hotel management companies. It comes back to that essential ‘feel’, the Swiss-Belhotel International hallmark. While each property is individual and distinctive, designed to express the unique attributes of its location and cultural influences, the reassuring constant is hospitality excellence, simple, warm and welcoming. At present, Swiss-Belhotel International carries six brands: Grand Swiss-Belhotel (five-star hotels), Swiss-Belhotel International (four-star hotels), Swiss-Belresort (mid- to upper-scale resorts), Swiss-Belresidences (serviced apartments), Swiss-Belinn (three-star hotels), and the newest addition, Zest Hotel (two-star hotels) introduced in Indonesia two years ago. “There is no need to make branding complicated,” Mr Faull insists. “We have our core four-star brand, and all names leverage off that. They all reinforce each other. We build and value customer loyalty across the spectrum. “The simple fact is, the same person has a need for different levels of accommodation at different times and under different circumstances. It may be four or five-star when the company is paying, or three-star when he or she is paying for the family.” The group is strongly focused on progressively and substantially increasing its property portfolio and promoting a globally recognised brand through a strong market presence and extensive sales and marketing networks. Naturally China is a significant growth market. And Indonesia has been particularly strong. Swiss-Belhotel International has been named that country’s Leading Global Hotel Chain for the past three years in succession in the annual Indonesia Travel and Tourism Awards. It also claimed the 2012-13 award for ‘Most Favourite 4-star Hotel’. In Australia, the brand is represented only in Sydney at The York by Swiss-Belhotel, where the group acquired management rights some years ago. While growth here has been subdued, Mr Faull now believes the time could be right for expansion ‘down under’. Informer spoke to him just as he was leaving Hong Kong for Melbourne, to look at a project. “I do see growth prospects in Australia,” he said. “Post GFC, there is now more capital around, but the appetite has not been there for the hotel industry yet, largely because hotel development has a long incubation period. “Most of the recent investment in hotels in Australia has been acquisitions, with little new product being developed, with the exception of Perth where the room supply shortage was and remains acute. “But for many reasons – because there has been little development, because of Australia’s economic strength, the fact that tourist and business travel is growing and the Chinese middle class are now travelling there – I think the time could be right. “I’m considering becoming an equity investor myself.” As the group pursues opportunities in Australia and the Pacific with the same ‘passion and professionalism’ that has driven its growth in Asia and the Middle East, we could soon be ‘feeling’ more of the elegant influence of Swiss-Belhotel International. For more information visit www.swiss-belhotel.com