SMACK Hospitality

Founder and General Partner Jan Valentin, Founder and General Partner at ennea capital partners, joined us for another SMACK story. Starting off as a travel journalist, he led us through the stages of his career, including travel24.com and KAYAK Europe, to the venture capital and M&A space. Giving us a current market check of the industry, he talked about how we are almost getting used to the state of “crisis”, how he remains consciously optimistic and how business travel is stepping up week after week. He gave us his take on what the effects of inflation for the present and future are, what the importance of innovation is and what the driving force behind becoming an entrepreneur and starting off his own business for him was. Also in the discussion pot: block chain, artificial intelligence, and future technologies for the hospitality industry. Enjoy the show!

CEO & Founder Amano Group Ariel Schiff, the mastermind behind the Amano Hotel Group joined us on SMACK for episode 12 of the podcast and told us all about his roots, his passion for F&B and how his family members supply the names for his hotels and their outlets. Ariel rarely does interviews and doesn’t even have a cell phone (!), so we are all the more thrilled he chose to speak to us about the expansion plans of Amano, the upcoming opening in London and the future of hotels. Enjoy the show!

CEO & Co-founder of Hosco A true entrepreneur joined us for this podcast episode. Olivier Bracard, CEO & Co-founder of Hosco. Olivier gave us an insight on his career path into hospitality from his early starts, over EHL, his first internship, his time at JLL Hotels & Hospitality and finally, how he became an entrepreneur and started Hosco. He talked about the challenging times of the crisis but also about the possibilities that arose from it, when being forced to leave the comfort zone and think creatively. We learned about the key aspects of an entrepreneurial mindset and how Olivier used his passion to develop Hosco and create a platform, both for employees and employers, that has become the world’s leading hospitality network. Enjoy the show! This episode is brought to you by apaleo, your platform for simplified digital hotel operations. Check them out at: www.apaleo.com

Global CEO @ JLL Hotels & Hospitality For the second episode of 2022 we were lucky to catch Gilda Perez-Alvarado for a chat. She talked to us about her time at Cornell University, her love for travel and cultures and how she found her passion for real estate finance in combination with hospitality. Leading a team of 350 professionals all over the world at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, Gilda explained how important it is to invest in people and to set them up for success and how the industry is shifting towards more diversity as well as more women in leadership positions. Lastly, we learned about Gilda’s mentors, how giving birth to a child during the pandemic has shifted her focus onto the next generation and how we will see a great amount of change through technology as the next major revolution.

Operator & Managing Director - Breidenbacher Hof Kicking off the year in style, we met Cyrus Heydarian, Operator & Managing Director of the Breidenbacher Hof in Düsseldorf. Having been in the business facing two crisis, he elaborated how the employee is the most valuable resource and how important communication is with all the uncertainty the pandemic has caused. He talked about the challenges and chances that arise from Covid-19 for the hotel business, how topics such as employee shortage, salary and price structures will affect the industry in the near future and how the Breidenbacher Hof managed to increase its rates during the pandemic. Cyrus also told us about his experiences with J-LO, the Rolling Stones and one of his close friends, Udo Lindenberg. Enjoy the show!

CEO - Montreux Jazz Festival For the final episode in 2021, Mathieu Jaton, CEO of Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland stopped by, just before Christmas. Having graduated from the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Mathieu gives us an insight on what hospitality has taught him and how his background affects his day to day job. He told us about how he and Claude Nobs, the co-founder of the festival and his predecessor, met and what he learned from both of them and why it is so important to create valuable experiences for people, welcoming them and creating a home-like-atmosphere. Mathieu further talks about how he and his team at the festival reacted to the crisis, why Montreux is so different and unique and what he and his team do to stay innovative, relevant and present year-round in a moving business. Enjoy the show!

CEO and Founder - The Student Hotel We had the chance to catch Charlie MacGregor, CEO & founder of The Student Hotel for a quick chat before the end of the year and he told us about how he got into the industry and the origins of his very unique hotel concept with TSH. As travelling is about experiences, Charlie explained how a hybrid company that accommodates students, young professionals, leisure and business guests all at the same time offers exactly that, by creating co-working spaces and areas for people to meet and connect, adding locals to join the conversations too. Beyond that, we spoke about the new generation of corporate travellers and students, how the needs of the young generation have changed and the business model of TSH allows more work flexibility than traditional hotel companies. Lastly Charlie talked us through the importance of tech in hospitality and vice versa and preview what the future holds for TSH. Enjoy the show!

Travel Industry Lead at Meta (formerly Facebook) For this episode we met Jan Starcke, Travel Industry Lead at Meta, formerly Facebook. He allowed us some interesting glimpses behind the scenes of his work and told us, what it was like to join Facebook back in 2013, being part of the first one percent of the company. We learned about trends and evolvements emerging in the world of Meta, especially communication apps such as Instagram or virtual reality like Oculus. We also got an insight on which investments didn’t pay off, what the covid reaction on a global scale was like for Meta and what the differences between the old and new economy are. Further, Jan spoke about the consumer behaviour towards certain apps, the impact of Meta on the social and private life and how Meta is driving an upfront mindset when it comes to change and development. Enjoy the show!

President, Austrian Hoteliers Association (ÖHV) and Hotel Director, Boutiquehotel Stadthalle in Vienna This episode takes us back to the German Hotel Convention 2021 (Deutscher Hotelkongress 2021), hosted by the dfv Mediengruppe and ahgz, where we caught up with Michaela Reitterer, President of the Austrian Hoteliers Association (ÖHV) and Hotel Director of the Boutiquehotel Stadthalle in Vienna. Michaela talked to us about the structure and organisation of the ÖHV, tourism policies and the significance of hotels and gastronomy for the industry. Beyond that, she explained how important solution-focused thinking is and how and in which areas work 4.0 should be redesigned. We also got an insight into the sustainability management of the Boutiquehotel Stadthalle Vienna and learned about the very unique idea of implementing 17 sustainable development goals into the interior design of the hotel. Enjoy the show!

CEO Deutsche Hospitality In this episode we spoke to Marcus Bernhardt, CEO of the Steigenberger Hotels AG. He talked to us about the chances that arise from Covid, how Deutsche Hospitality has rebuilt and reorganized itself, how new brands like Porsche Design Hotels, House of Beats or MAXX by Steigenberger where established within the portfolio and how the demand for lifestyle and experience has grown. Further, Marcus gave us an insight on security and one-system-platforms, the benefits of franchising, the role of gastronomy for hotels and how important it is to be goal-specific, but also flexible when it comes to your career. Beyond that we also explored what the airline-, car- and hospitality industry have in common but also can learn from each other. Enjoy the show!