What's on the mind of global hotel leaders? Report from the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific, (HICAP) in Hong Kong by Yeoh Siew Hoon.

It was uncanny how alike they looked, the five global hotel leaders gathered for the "Outlook From The Top" panel at HICAP.

Even their names sounded similar – Raymond L Gellein Jr, president, global development group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Steven R Goldman, executive vice president, acquisitions and development, Global Hyatt Corporation, Matthew J Hart, president & chief operating officer, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Steven A Rudnitsky, chairman & CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group and Richard L Solomons, finance director, InterContinental Hotels Group.

All wore similar dark suits, other than Steven Rudnitsky, chairman & CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group, who chose to go brown. They said about the same things and agreed on most things.

And as hard as KP Ho, executive chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd, who moderated the panel, tried to get them to disagree and open up as much as possible, the five leaders on the whole stuck to their guns and lines and fielded questions with the prowess of seasoned politicians – in other words, saying a lot but never really saying anything.

Every chance they had, they also plugged their multi brands.

But Ho prevailed, determined to get his answers. The following are the highlights of the panel.

1. Other than your brand, which two other hotel companies do you think will be left in 10 years' time given the current consolidation going on?

Hilton and Marriott got the most mention, with Starwood and Hyatt coming in next. Ingredients for survival? Great brands, great people, strong frequent guest programmes. One said Hilton and Marriott were the two hardest companies to break up.

2. Timeshare's the new darling on the block and is set to take off in Asia, but it will take time for the concept to be fully understood and for the industry to correct its hitherto-negative image from over-aggressive sales practices. Observed Gellein of Starwood, "The timeshare market worldwide is worth US$11 billion and Asia only has a small share. It is an immature market. It will take time. In the US, people understand it. Here, people don't, not yet. We will see it in beaches and resorts first before we see them in cities. So we will see it in Australia and Thailand first before China."

3. China remains the land of great promise. The CEOs disagreed with KP Ho's observation that China was a difficult market and that most hotel groups were not performing as well as they say they are. All spoke of massive growth in China. One challenge was the development of limited service hotels given high land costs, with one CEO observing, "The economics don't pan out as well."

4. To the question as to why consumers should care about brands when they keep changing – for example, the HICAP conference was held at the InterContinental, which used to be the Regent, the CEOs agreed there was commoditisation "but it's about delivering something to the guest that they are prepared to pay for".

Another said, "It's about taking an ordinary box and creating an extraordinary experience."

5. The question: What is the top technology investment you are making?

Hilton's Hart said, "One that links all our guests all across the brands and across all properties worldwide. We are putting such a system in place.
It's about knowing your customer and having technology to customise that experience."

InterContinental's Solomons said, "You've got to continue to invest in your branded website. The vast majority of Internet bookings are through our own website – it brings you closer to the customer."

Q: Is there room for a niche player? Yes, there will always be room as there will always be travellers looking for a different experience. But even then, global hotel groups are launching niche brands – for eg, Waldorf Astoria by Hilton. But is this just Hilton by another name, asked Ho? No, said Hart.

Q: What keeps you awake at night? The list – replacement costs and costs of construction, margins and environmental regulation.

Q: Is it only finance people who can rise to the top of hotel companies these days? Where are the women? No straight answers here other than each counting on one hand the number of women on their executive committee but Hyatt's Goldman said, "Whatever gender, you've got to have creative people to fight commoditisation."

Q: What's the hardest thing you've had to do to rise to the top? Ho had the hardest time persuading them to answer this question candidly. In the end, it took Hyatt's Goldman to say, "Letting people go when circumstances demanded it was difficult."

Rudnitsky added, "The propensity for politics and what you have to do to rise above it."

To which Ho asked, "What did you do?" No answer.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection".

She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'.

Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460

Yeoh Siew Hoon's other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com. Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at Travel's Busiest Junction.