Why Wyndham’s Dimitris Manikis sees big growth ahead in Europe, India

I'm very well. I'm really pleased you pronounce my name better than I do. Well done.

Exactly. That's fantastic.

No, not really. Because think about it, if you look at the US, 80 to 90% are branded hotels. In Europe, I think it's about 25 to 30%. So there's a lot of opportunity for us to grow in Europe. The other thing that we're doing which is really exciting for us, not that Europe isn't, is the new territories, the new markets that we're opening as people are looking for new experiences, as people are looking for new things to explore. Look at the CIS, right? Five years ago we made a decision. We said, 'Okay, where's the next big thing?' Because if you think about it, everybody talks about where's the next big thing, right? Either in their personal lives or business life, where's the next big thing? And we said, okay, what about if we go to Georgia? What about if we go to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan? And then we realized that this is where one of the next big things is. So today we're the biggest international brand in the country of Georgia. We are either leading position or among the three top international brands in places like Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. So these are places that when you go you realize what you've been missing. When I went to Tashkent for the first time I said, 'My goodness, what have I missed all these years?' I mean the people, the food, the experience, the archaeology, the history. And that is something that gives me the comfort to answer your question that no, it's not enough. The other thing that is happening, Terry, and you know that better than I do, is the way the world explodes and the way the world is actually changing travel habits. Tier two and tier three cities are now becoming more important. You know, yes, you talk about capital cities and metros, but now smaller cities in Denmark, in Sweden, in Norway, in Greece, smaller islands are becoming far more popular because why? Infrastructural development allows that to happen. So, is growth enough? The answer is no. You can still grow as long as you do it in a very sustainable manner and you do it in a way that actually respects local communities and respects the fact that you are actually invited in somebody's land to develop a new property or a new brand. That is something that we always have to keep in mind and that's what we've done in those new areas. We really respected the way the countries actually wanted to grow their tourism.

India is a very... but again, one size doesn't fit all. If you look at our trajectory in India, we have 100 hotels now in India in Eurasia. I think we have about 96 in India and another four in Bangladesh and so forth. We just opened our newest hotel in Nepal. India is twofold. We see the opportunity. We see the opportunity of growing in India. 80% domestic business, Terry, India to India. But the fastest growing middle class in the world, the fastest aviation order in the history of aviation, 800, 900 planes between IndiGo and Air India. An economic class or a middle class that economically... what is the first thing they want to explore? They cannot afford to buy an apartment. They want to explore the world. They want to go out. That population to us is the second biggest opportunity in India. So we grow in India for India. But at the same time we see the outbound of India as a huge opportunity for us. The other thing that is important for us is the inbound tourism to India. Think about this. Greece, 9 million people population, 34, 35 million tourists. India, 1.4 billion people, 10 million tourists. Think of the inbound opportunity for us. We have 120 million Wyndham Rewards members. A fraction of those that travel in our hotels in India. That opens up a completely new opportunity for us. That's why India for us, it's not just about growing within India. There are all sorts of other opportunities that we see in doing so. So, I'm very excited about India. I spend every second month I go to India. We have a great office, great talent. So yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned it because you know India for us, it's a huge opportunity for the future.

Look, it is tough. We have about 65 to 70 hotels in that region. As I said in the panel this morning, this is not... this is just a pause. That's the word I was looking for. It's just a pause. I'm not going to determine Wyndham's future in MENA or the UAE or Saudi or whatever of what is happening at the moment. I'm personally devastated because I'm a father of two. I'm personally devastated of what is happening, of course, from a humanitarian point of view. But equally, I look at my team and I get a lot of confidence in terms of this is not over. The destinations, they have a lot still to offer. It's just a pause for us. In cases like this, you have to mind for your own team members, your team members of the hotels. Make sure that you put the right measures in place to help the hotels through this difficult period. But we're not going to pack and go. I'm telling you categorically, we are not going to pack and go. We believe in the region. We believe in the perspective. We believe in the future. And one thing that I've learned through my 36 years of experience in this industry, when you fall, you fall fast. But when you rebound, you rebound equally fast. So when the rebound happens, we are going to be there because we're not going to leave.

That's a good compliment. Thank you. Yes. People between the two of us, we've got about 140 years.