Dusit & Motel One: The CEOs and their sons at the 7th ITB Hospitality Day
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| Luxury or budget - what do young hoteliers think about the industry's future? |
Berlin (March 2, 2012). The countdown for ITB Berlin 2012 is on. The participants of the hotel conference "ITB Hospitality Day" are getting ready to travel. Chanin Donavanik and his son Siradej are arriving from Thailand, Dieter Mueller and his son Daniel are coming from Munich. The sons have decided to participate in their fathers' businesses Dusit Hotels & Resorts and Motel One. This year's "CEO Panel" is dedicated to the "next generation". What motivates the young ones, how are they being prepared by their manager fathers? In a time, where the industry is desperately searching for young staff members, this will be a very fascinating panel.
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| Siradej Donavanik. |
In the first internship years in the investment and development industry, Siradej Donavanik (26) deliberately decided in favour of his father's company: now, he is absorbing everything in order to learn. Daniel Mueller (32) has liked the industry from the very beginning but did not plan a career in the family business originally. The reputations of their fathers was not easy for either of them: in Bangkok, the traditional and listed family business around Dusit Hotels & Resorts is highly respected, and in Germany, the young and family-dominated business Motel One gained its laurels as a pioneer in a profitable, design-oriented budget hotel industry.
Today, the luxury hotel chain Dusit ranges between classical grand hotels and young and progressive design hotels. With four brands spread over 14 hotels in five countries, the management has to cope with many challenges. The hotel group wants to increase its pace of expansion, also outside of Thailand.
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| Daniel Mueller. |
The same is true of Motel One: the chain is a point of interest due to its enormous rate of expansion. Today, there are 39 hotels, 21 additional hotels will open by the end of 2014. The chain expands over the borders of Germany and Austria; at the end of this year, the first hotel in Great Britain will be opened. Additional locations in Southern and Eastern Europe are planned.
New beginning with Motel One – continuity at Dusit
"Today, Motel One's requirements are higher than the requirements of Astron Hotels that time," says Dieter Mueller, Chief Executive of the parent company One Hotels & Resorts. Before he started to establish the budget chain in 2003, he had expanded Astron Hotels to a chain with 54 hotels and successfully sold it to NH Hoteles in Spain. Because of this, he was able to start with a fresh concept from scratch.
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| Chanin Donavanik. |
In Thailand, on the other hand, Chanin Donavanik took over a difficult heritage: in 1949, his mother opened the first Dusit Hotel in Bangkok; today, the agile lady is 90 years old and still very much interested in the hotel business. Chanin not only has to cope with the daily business but also with many other challenges caused by the changing political history of Thailand.
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| Dieter Mueller. |
All panels summarised
after the ITB
How fathers and sons are keeping private and business affairs apart and how they are debating different views will be revealed at the "CEO Panel: The Next Generation. Senior Executives and their Successors" on Thursday, March 8, from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm in ITB Hall 7.1b/Auditorium London. The panel will be moderated by Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief hospitalityInside.com. All trade show visitors have free access.
You will find the entire programme of the 7th ITB Hospitality Day at this link. The summary of each panel is available on the following Fridays after the ITB – you can always click on the ITB banner on the first page or on "Network". hospitalityInside is the exclusive media partner of ITB Hospitality Day. / kn
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