HI Design Asia – 11-13 November 2009

Despite being in the midst of a global economic crisis, Atticus Events Directors Jonathan Needs and James Burke believed that Asia was in need of an event that serviced hospitality design professionals, their clients, and supply base. As a result, the inaugural HI Design Asia took place in November at Shangri La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, Penang, Malaysia.

A total of 147 delegates, including 50 buyer companies and 48 supplier companies, participated in HI Design’s specially formatted event that offers an effective platform for those driving hospitality design in Asia to interact. Over the course of two days, 947 one-to-one meetings were held, not to mention the unofficial ones and evening networking events.
Alongside the scheduled meetings, a mini-exhibition gave suppliers such as Flos, Grohe, Cempaka, and Dedon the opportunity to showcase their products. The event also hosted a series of educational seminars and panel discussions moderated by hotel Consultant Guy Dittrich.

First to present was Gloria Chang of Horwath HTL Asia Pacific with an in-depth update of the hotel market in Asia. Chang reported Hong Kong as one of the strongest markets in the region despite a disappointing 2009. Beijing, however was a different story as the colossal increase in supply in the run up to the Olympic Games in 2008 led to dramatic falls in occupancy and ADR in 2009. The next three years don’t hold much hope, said Chang, as an additional 3,000+ hotel rooms are expected to come to the market.

Data showed that Kuala Lumpur has seen a fall in occupancy, down 10% for the year-to-date to September 2009, as well as an 11% fall in ADR when measured in US Dollars. “With no new rooms in the luxury sector expected before 2011,” explained Chang, “we expect economic recovery and GDP growth of 2-3% stabilising the market.”

Recovery was also predicted for Bali and opportunities were said to be plentiful in Manilla with existing hotels being old and little new supply in the pipeline.

In Thailand, a reported increase in demand in Q4 2009 has given confidence for 2010, whilst in Vietnam, the recent focus of much development in Asia, it is expected that the huge new supply growth slated for West Hanoi will be postponed to 2012.

Leonard Lee, Executive Design Director of Wilson Associates continued this thread in a ‘One-to-One with Rising Talent’. He believed that the most notable emerging market was Vietnam: “Forget about China and India,” he said, “they will always be there. Vietnam is really on the radar now.”

Lee also put to delegates that current market conditions in Asia have changed the face of design for the better by ensuring focus is on satisfying the simplest needs. “Design is being overwhelmed by technology and gimmicks,” he explained, “so I see it going back to basics.” Lee’s philosophy applies not only to the guest areas but also to the operations, which he sees as equally important, if not more so.

As the conversation moved on to Asian design, Lee touched on the trend of owners bringing in standalone F&B outlets to attract more revenue. “In the past, the owner wanted the interior designer to design the entire project so that there was a common thread running throughout, but now this is not the case,” he said. “Now they want each outlet to have their own unique look.” For example, Wilson Associates designed the lobby, bar, and half of the guestrooms at Four Seasons Hong Kong with another designer creating the remainder. In this case it was because the owner wanted East and West influences.

In the third seminar of the event, Arnfinn Oines, Responsible Conscience for Six Senses Resorts & Spa, spoke of the steps the hotel group is taking towards carbon neutrality and its 20/20 Vision of decarbonisation. Through responsible practices in site planning, design, construction and operation, Oines proved that hoteliers could achieve improved average room rate, improved operational costs, and therefore improved profitability. And contrary to popular belief, payback was significantly quicker than expected.

Rounding out the seminar programme, panellists on ‘The Future Solutions for Asia Hospitality Design’ shared their views with the audience on the solutions and innovations that will take Asian hospitality design into the future. Jason Pomeroy, Director of Broadway Malyan Asia began by putting forward the prickly topic of who should drive sustainability: the guest, the developer, or the designer. “We all need to be more conscientious when it comes to sustainable hotel design,” he said. “The issue hasn’t impacted us as quickly as the public sector... slowly but surely it is creeping in to hospitality.” Although all were in agreement, it was Barbara Allen, Founder and CEO of HLA who admitted that it was ultimately a cost issue.

Offering some insight into his time as Vice President at an international hotel group, Cameron McPherson, now Managing Director of CBM Hospitality, told of the approach Carlson Worldwide took to reducing running costs. By turning down the air conditioning in the guestrooms to switching off the mini-bar between the hours of darkness, a single hotel could save 10-15% of its energy consumption.

The debate turned to authenticity – a popular topic at this season’s conferences – with Pomeroy paying tribute to the strong design culture in Asia. John Miller, General Manager, Design & Planning, Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels Ltd., explained the cycles of design in the region, moving from typically Asian, to über modern, and now to a much more sophisticated concept with subtle Asian influences and a sense of place. Pomeroy’s example of a Broadway Malyan project in Tronoh, Malyasia, demonstrates this by taking its grey and metallic colour palette from the historic tin mining town in which it is situated.

In the final minutes it became apparent that there was one trend that hadn’t yet realised its potential in Asia: budget hotels. Gloria Chang of Horwath HTL alluded to this earlier in the day saying that there was huge potential in China for development in this segment. “Try convincing an owner here to build a budget hotel,” concluded McPherson, adding: “It will come in time.”

A farewell dinner was held on the final evening with many delegates reporting a successful event. “There are a lot of people here that we can’t get to see because of time constraints,” said Ahmed Akudi, VP Global Projects at Grohe. “The facilities here have made that feasible for us. We have also picked up a number of new leads.”

Barbara Allen, Founder and CEO of HLA said: “To be able to focus on exactly who we want to see made for a very efficient twenty minutes. In a very short amount of time we were able to let the supplier know what we’re looking for, and learn about the products.” Allen added: “Just by participating, getting to know people, and exchanging information, we have opportunities for three different projects.”

www.hidesign-asia.com

Words: Catherine Martin  Photography: Becky Thomas