Hello and welcome to this special episode of the BW Dialogues. My name is Banesh Kanna and I work with the BW Business World and the BW Hotelier. Today I'm joined by two exceptional global leaders. Our first guest is Jeff Botti, he's the President and CEO of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. He's flown in here from New Jersey. Welcome to the show, Jeff, such a pleasure.
We actually flew in from Udaipur, yeah.
Excellent. So a bit about Jeff, very short and crisp. Jeff has been at the helm of Wyndham when it went public as a pure-play hotel company in 2018, and he leads about 9,267 hotels across 95 countries. When I started writing the script, there were 9,200 hotels. All right, so take a guess. Welcome, Jeff. Thank you very much. All right, time to bring in my good old friend. Dimitri needs no introduction really to India. He's the President for Europe, the Middle East, Eurasia, Africa, and of course our part of South Asia at Wyndham. He's coming from London, and he's a man I don't know how many people travel like him. I'm sure Jeff does too, but I guess he needs his own plane. All right, so Dimitri overseas one of the most dynamic regions in the hospitality world. Welcome to the show.
Thank you, lovely to be here.
Gentlemen, welcome to the show. This is our second one, second one, but the first one in person. So with your permission, do we right away get on with the show?
You had Dimitri on in November. All right, great. Jeff, the first question: Wyndham has a massive global footprint with more than 9,267 hotels across 25 brands, 95 countries. Tell me, what are the top three trends shaping the global hospitality industry and how is Wyndham positioning itself to lead in this landscape?
Great question. Number one, I would say consumer confidence today, both here in India and certainly in the United States and around the world, is sky-high, and leisure is back with a vengeance. Not fully recovered, but certainly getting there in certain parts of the world. At the same time, we're certainly seeing a resiliency and a rebound in business travel here in India and certainly in the United States of America, where Wyndham has most of its footprint. And I would say the third trend has to do with experiential travel, and we've certainly experienced that this week from our travel so far here in India, and I'm sure we will continue to experience that as we head down to Goa for HOPE 2025. Technology has a big role to play in all of that, and that probably is what we're most focused on right now: how do we add technology to our booking experience to both bring down costs for our owners while making the experience a lot more seamless and a lot more enjoyable for our guests. And more than anything, what Wyndham has been focusing on over the last five, six years now since we went public is continuing to grow, making sure that system growth is keeping up with expectations. We believe that size matters and scale matters, and growth certainly is very important to us. And what I think we're most excited about is our growth here in India. It is one of the fastest-growing countries in Dimitri's region, and since he's taken the helm, we've seen a doubling of hotels here in the country. Last year it was one of the fastest-growing pipelines in the world for us, with a 20% increase in our development pipeline and a lot of good news to follow. I think today is a perfect example at the grand opening of the Wyndham Grand Udaipur. And India's just about only begun. Our best is yet to come.
Best is yet to come. All right, so Dimitri, the next one is for you. Are you ready for it?
All right, so tell me, how do you see the growth trajectory in your region, especially our part of Asia, particularly India and South Asia, and what's your regional strategy for capturing these dynamic markets?
Look, EMEA in the last 10 years is a very diverse region. One of the good things about EMEA is that you've got certain markets that perform very well at a certain point in time, and you've got others that are going through a recession or challenges. So overall, the region has done phenomenally well. As Jeff said, we are one of the fastest regions across the global portfolio. We're going to end up this year with 700 hotels, which is an amazing milestone for us. And the beauty about it is that we're not actually focusing on just three or four key markets. We are growing in the CIS. We are one of the top international groups in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. And I'll end up with India. We are growing in the Iberian Peninsula, Spain, Portugal. And again, to Jeff's point about the leisure growth, this is where the real growth is. We have seen double our presence in Greece. We just yesterday got approvals to open up two new hotels in Italy. So it's not just about the UK, Germany, traditional markets that we were always very strong. It's about the new markets across EMEA. Now coming down to India, as Jeff said, India has been one of our success stories. And it has been a success story not because it happened by chance. We are actually following the trajectory of the growth of the Indian continent. You guys are growing faster. Your GDP growth the last couple of years is faster than anybody else's. You're the most populous country in the world. Your infrastructure development. So it would be very odd for the world's biggest franchise not to follow that pace. We are not growing just for the sake of growth. I think we are very strategic on our growth. We were opportunistic when we started because you have to start from somewhere. Now it's about strategy, it's about the right partners, the right brands, the right locations. As India grows and as India captures that opportunity, I kept on saying, you remember the last time I told you this is India's decade. Oh, it is. This is it. And if you're not here, you're missing big time. You're not part of the game. And I always said to my team, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. And that's the worst place to be. So we are at the table big time. So India for us has huge potential, and the potential is not just about the growth. It's about inbound, outbound, it's about talent as well. These are the three pillars that we see growth in India in the next few years.
Excellent. So Jeff, tell me, if you're looking at 2030, 2035, what are your top priorities for these markets, especially the emerging markets?
Well, they're very simple. As we said to our new owners in Dior, our job is to make sure that our market share and the performance of our brands continue to outperform. So we're very focused, more than anything, on continuing to drive direct contribution from our marketing, our sales efforts, the team that we have here to owners, so that our brands continue to resonate and our company continues to grow. For us and certainly for our competitors, growth is the name of the game. And you look out to 2035, which is 10 years from now, and we will be significantly larger than we are today. In 2035, time flies, so we've really got to be on the ball.
Yeah. All right, so tell me, Dimitri, what is your strategy for integrating Wyndham's various brands? You've got a diverse set of brands in the region to capture different market segments effectively.
I think this is a very fair point. We've got 25 brands. In India, Ramada is the brand that actually outperforms every other brand that we have. We started with Ramada, but you've got so many beyond Ramada. But that's how we started. We started with Ramada, and then we realized that it wasn't just about Ramada. We realized that the consumers and the owners were actually looking for far more from Wyndham. So now we have successfully launched Howard Johnson. We've got Wyndham Garden. It's one of our fastest-growing brands in India, which is a great opportunity for us. We've got Ramada Encore. As Jeff said, we're about to open the first Wyndham Grand in India, which is a huge opportunity for us. We just signed, and you talk about strategy, you know that we are a pure franchise player here in India. So we realize that the third-party management companies, the people who are experienced in providing management services, are very important in our growth. We signed Microtel with Nile Hospitality. We just signed a deal with Signum Hotels to open up Trademark both here in Dubai and in the UK. So strategic alliances, brands that make sense for the country, not just any brand of Wyndham. The ones that make sense, the right owners, the right locations. For me, these are the four main points of how we're going to grow. You start opportunistically, but then you become far more strategic because you grow in the marketplace.
Staying with that, why don't you walk us through the brand architecture of Wyndham in the region and also how do the economy, midscale, and luxury brands fit into your hospitality metrics?
So I'll start with the second. You know, I've been at most conferences in this country the last three or four years, especially after COVID, and you heard me saying repeatedly that the economy, the way that the US developed, right? In the US, every 10 minutes we've got another Wyndham. The way the US developed, I believe, is going to develop here in India at some point. The premium economy, the economy, the budget hotels, as the infrastructure grows and gets better, as more airports, highways, trains are opening up, I think this is a huge opportunity for us. And I'm extremely privileged to see some of our peers are actually repeating the same story and they're saying it's the premium economy and economy that is going to grow the country. But it's not just about that. Our Ramadas here fit in the midscale space. We've got full-service Ramadas. They've got a great future. We've got a great F&B. We cater 40% of our revenues or more based on weddings. So that's the second part of our revolution. And obviously, the third part of the revolution is how do you go into another scale? How do you go into the upper upscale? How do you bring more namesake brands like Wyndham? How do you bring more Wyndham Grands? And more importantly for me, I think branded residences in this part of the world, as the middle class is growing, branded residences is going to be one of our biggest successes. We successfully launched branded residences in EMEA about 18 to 24 months ago. We have seen tremendous success because branded residences was all about luxury. Everybody was talking about the Mandarin Orientals, the Four Seasons. There's a huge opportunity in the midscale. So I believe branded residences and extended stay in this market is going to be the next brands and the next opportunity that we're going to explore. So that's the brand architecture. That's where I see it. What are we going to bring? New brands? Are we going to bring more brands? Again, it's not about the number of brands that you have. It's about what fits with the industry, what fits with the market, what fits with the owners. And we need the right partners. That's absolutely critical for us. Today we only had in India, we had eight brands in India. Today we announced the ninth in Dior with the Wyndham Grand. We have 25, so the ability to continue finding owners who, we say all the time, owners do business with us because they know us, they like us, they trust us, that will be willing to do another hotel with us in another segment, to your question, and that's such an endorsement.
Yeah, yeah, it's the best. And also, you see, given the size of India, not just population, the geography, we are a very diverse country, so there's always room for more.
Sure, right. And the percentage of branded international hotels is among the lowest in the world here in India.
Yeah, yeah, but then it's all beginning to happen. You look at Ayodhya, 45 hotels have been signed up. So imagine, it's a brand new location. You've just got one operational branded hotel right now.
Exactly right. So you got 44 more coming. And think about it, the more India becomes the backbone of so many international companies, those international companies don't want their staff, their people, to travel in places where there's no fire life safety, no security, no great rooms at an affordable price. That is a great opportunity for us. The days that you would risk your salespeople or your executives to travel anywhere without security and health and safety are long gone. Companies will treat their employees and they will say, look, I will guarantee you a good night's sleep in a health-safe environment, and that's what the brands are bringing.
And who knows India better than you do, right? So live here.
I'm half. We're giving him a passport. Yes, yes, yes.
All right, so Jeff, tell me from a global perspective, how does Wyndham position itself on the hospitality brand ladder and what's your strategy for balancing growth across classifications?
Well, our growth internationally has just been explosive. In Dimitri's region, as we were talking about, high mid to high single digits, double-digit growth in Asia Pacific right now for many of the same reasons that we're talking about. Our focus in the United States, we grew up with economy. We like economy. We continue to grow in economy with some great new economy brands. Our focus of late has been in the midscale, upper midscale, upscale, and upper upscale, and those brands are growing at higher fee PARs, fees per available room, and that's really been our focus. We believe we have the best economy and midscale brands, but we've added some great upper midscale and upscale brands both domestically and internationally. And we've done, where it's made sense, some great tuck-in acquisitions. The acquisition that Dimitri did with Vienna House, we haven't talked about that all week, but who knows Vienna House? A tuck acquisition that was immediately creative in some markets where we did not have that aspirational product that our 114 million Wyndham Rewards members just dream about vacationing in. The Munichs, the Dresdens, the Berlins, Austria, Switzerland. Those additions are just fantastic additions for a fanatical group of people that want to redeem their well-earned Wyndham Rewards points. We probably have the possibility to bring the house at some point, absolutely.
Absolutely. You see the Gen now, right? Our growth is in that next generation traveler. They're hungry for more.
Yeah, absolutely. They're not saving, right? So they're hungry for more, and they're well-traveled. Even if they're not, their awareness levels are way beyond sky-high, way beyond where we were at their age.
Right. So Dimitri, can you share insights into your long-term development strategy and what are your key focus areas for growth over the next 5 to 10 years?
Look, it starts with people. I think we've got a great development team. They've been extremely successful in promoting Wyndham exactly the strategy and the brand that I spoke about earlier. We have new hires. We're about to hire two new development resources that are going to enhance the presence of our team. Great geographical coverage. As you very well said, India is a vast country with a lot of cultural differences and a lot of different priorities in terms of development. I think we need to be in all the major markets across India. That's the fifth one. Retention, retention, retention. Absolutely critical. You talk a lot about growth, but in order to grow, you need strong legs. You need to stand on strong legs. So retention for us is key. We have one of the best retention rates in the industry. As Jeff said, not only do we keep our hotels, but those people who do business with us bring us more. So that's key. And then it's sales and marketing. It's how do you actually make sure that those franchisees get from you the value that they deserve from a brand that they actually signed on the top of their building, not just to have a logo, but to actually get the value out of it. I think one of the things that we do every day, you wake up in the morning and say, what am I going to do for my franchisees today? That's what I want my team to think about. The only thing they have to think about is what am I going to do today to add value to that franchisee? I was in a conference last week and a lot of people were asking me, why don't you talk about guests? You're the only company or the only guy that doesn't talk about guests. Everybody talks about guest experience. But guys, in a franchise world, your owner is the most important asset. If we don't have a healthy, financially healthy, happy owner, people are going to lose their jobs and guests will not have the great experience that Jeff spoke about. So for us, that owner-first philosophy is the pillar of our growth in India. It won't change. Now strategically, again, geographies, locations, brands, right owners, third-party operators. These are the five or six things that are on top of our heads at the moment. And beyond people, technology, experiences, the other thing that is important to us, and we're doing a big shift now, inbound, outbound. You heard me, I was in your event as well and I talked about the 150 million Indian consumers who are going to travel around the world. We want to capture a big share of that wallet. So being strong here with recognizable brands and through Wyndham Rewards, these people are going to travel and they're going to use our hotels, the Vienna Houses in Prague and in Berlin, the Ramadas and the Dolce and so forth. So that's one. And second is the inbound tourism. How can we make incredible India known to the world? I'll give you an example. 35 million tourists in Greece, 10 million, 12 million tourists in India. 9 million population in Greece, 1.4 billion in India. I mean, look at the potential. So for us, outbound, inbound is absolutely critical. So that's how we see it in the next, and if you were to see the numbers that have just happened at the Kumbh Mela, all right, so we're talking about 600 million people. You just came back from there, which is, by the time it closes, perhaps would be half the population of India. My goodness, right? So these are mind-boggling numbers. Now the world demand for travel, no matter what statistic you look at, spiritual and pilgrimage tourism is the next big horizon, far outpacing supply of hotel rooms in any of those spiritual markets.
