Exclusive Feature: For the sake of full disclosure, I will open this Q&A by saying that I have known Daniel for the good part of the past 20 years from his former days as VP Marketing of the Isrotel Group in Israel and as a member of the Israel’s Hotel Association Marketing Committee.

For the past 12 years Daniel (Image: left with Joseph Fischer) is running David Fattal expansion to Europe. Needless to say that Daniel is instrumental to Fattal Hotels success story which recently went public at the TA Stock Exchange and is currently traded at a value of US $ 1.3 billion.

1. J.F. Daniel, you recently moved your residence from Berlin to London in order to supervise and head the smooth merger and incorporation of some of the Jurys Inn hotels you and Pandox own. Do you feel a difference between the way hotels are managed in Europe to the hotels you are managing in the UK?

D.R. We found in JI a chain of hotels with excellent locations in all the 31 cities they operate and a most professional management; the hotels are in top condition and the local management run the hotels efficiently and with a high degree of guest satisfaction. I don’t see a difference in the way the hotels are run in Germany and the UK

2. J.F. 11 years ago you launched your own brand “Leonardo Hotels” and moved away from multiple franchise agreements you had in some of your hotels with leading global brands. Is In your view what are the advantages of operating under your own brand?

D.R. David Fattal and I, being long time hoteliers with a rich background in Marketing felt that if we wanted to expand in Europe we should create our own brand, invest in technology, marketing and PR. Like this we could create our own identity, make sure the Look & Feel at our hotels would be similar in concept of colour scheme, general atmosphere and quality of product. Having our own brand enable us to control our inventory the way we see fit without having to follow rules of franchised hotels that depend on whatever the brand dictates. Nowadays traditional brands are losing their importance and it is only their loyalty member’s schemes that are an advantage for the brand.

3. J.F. About two years ago you launched a Millennial orientated brand to Europe: NYX. Ho is this brand developing?

D.R. NYX is our lifestyle brand and we are expanding it in important cities in Israel and Europe. By the end of 2019 we will already operate about 15 NYX; the experience so far has shown a great interest and guest satisfaction for this brand. Its appeal is especially greater with guests between 25 and 50 years of age who want to enjoy a different experience compared to traditional hotels and are ready to pay relatively higher rates than for four-star hotels.

4. J.F. So Far you didn’t enter the top end luxury hotels. You do have the Leonardo Royal brand in Europe and the Herods Brand in Israel. Would you consider going into the De-Luxe end in Europe with a distinct Brand?

D.R. I don’t think so…our Leonardo Royal hotels could be classified as deluxe but we prefer to concentrate in the 4* and 4* superior market as we believe that in Europe we have a greater potential keeping our focus on these categories of hotels.

5. J.F. Fattal hotels/ Leonardo are defined as highly opportunistic. The decision process on deals is rather short and involves a limited number of decision makers. Do you believe that now when your Mother company – Fattal Hotels has become publicly traded, the decision process might become slower?

D.R. We have many new projects in the pipeline and are continuing examining potential opportunities. We have always been very careful in choosing projects and the essence will continue to be to concentrate in hotels in major cities and in good locations. Our focus has not changed with the new reality.

6. J.F. As I hear, your partnership with Pandox seems to be a great success story. Both parties are extremely happy. Do you see this partnership growing using the same model of sale and leaseback to other parts of the world?

D.R. Yes, we are hopeful the successful cooperation will enable both Pandox and Fattal Hotels to continue growing and succeeding together.

7. J.F. The Global hotel companies are looking all the time to take – over strong local hotel brands. Marriott did that in Africa, Accor did that In Europe and North America. Do you see a possibility in which Leonardo hotels will enter into any M&A deal with a large global brand?

D.R. Right now Fattal Hotels are running about 170 hotels with many more being built for us. We want to make sure we continue to focus on strong management with aggressive marketing activities. It is early days to think of an M&A with a large global brand.

8. J.F. Distribution costs are becoming a major concern for owners and operators alike, what do you do differently in order to reduce your OTAs dependency?

D.R. We try to keep pace with all new technological features and be on top of changing patterns, continued analysis and benchmarking on online marketing development. Without doubt the influence of the major OTAs will continue to grow, they have already become worldwide brands with much higher recognition and acceptance than traditional hotel brands.

9. J.F. Marriott, Hilton, Accor are creating brands that would be more like Hostels. Do you consider going with Leonardo to this direction?

D.R. No

10. J.F. Most big global brands see their Loyalty program as a big part of their future growth. Do you have a Leonardo Loyalty system and how is it different from the loyalty program offered by the global hotel companies?

D.R. We are doing similar activities as the global hotel brands. We have about 600.000 loyalty members at Leonardo and at Jurys Inn and we have a monitoring system to make sure the number of members should continue growing. Guests appreciate getting an attractive deal and therefore the 10% discount offered exclusively to our Advantage Club members makes a big difference.

Joseph Fischer is the CEO of Vision Hospitality & Travel - An international lodging & hospitality consulting firm. He is a veteran hotelier with over 30 years of extensive management experience in the global lodging Industry. A strategic “out-of-the-box” thinker, visionary, with plenty of tangible and ready-to-be-implemented ideas. Joseph is a frequent contributing writer on 4Hoteliers.com global new portal.

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