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For European hoteliers, mentoring – and Airbnb – top agenda

GOSTELOW REPORT—”My projects as president of the European Hotel Managers Association, EHMA, for the next three years are based around education, diversity and sustainability,” says Ezio Indiani, managing director of Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan, who was elected to head EHMA on February 15.

EHMA was founded in Italy in 1974. While there are 420 members across 12 areas of Europe, Italy remains the largest area, with 95 members and a waitlist of 20. To become a member, hoteliers must have been in the industry at least 10 years, five of which should be at general manager level. It is then necessary to have two proposers.

Ezio Indiani, president of the European Hotel Managers Association
Ezio Indiani, president of the European Hotel Managers Association

“Every area has two meetings a year, generally Friday through to Sunday, with a meeting Saturday morning and a gala that night – we stress that life is not only about business but it also includes having fun, and time for oneself and family,” declared Indiani, adding that the Italy area has an annual GM of the Year award and an Extraordinary Career award. EHMA is nonpolitical but in Italy at least tourism authorities are always invited to events.

Indiani joined EHMA because he saw it as an opportunity to make a difference, and today, as its leader, he manages it as he does his hotel. “I select projects and then delegate so that groups are created, to involve about 50% of members. This gets maximum participation and helps with general motivation,” he explained.

On education, he hopes that EHMA generally can expand the mentoring program he has already set up in Italy over the past 10 years. “We have an experienced GM mentoring someone, at head of department level, from another hotel. We already have 20 such pairings, and they are working very well. I do believe in capitalizing on experience and I want more of our members to go into hotel schools and talk to students,” he said. On sustainability, plastic-free currently tops a full agenda. To help spread more diversity, EHMA is working with a network partly funded by the EU.

Naturally, he must take account of hoteliers’ current concerns. He wants more understanding and integration of technology to help traditional work methods.

And what about Airbnb? “This is something we have to put up with,” he said. “We have pushed local authorities on regulation. In Italy we achieved a ruling that Airbnb should pay tax, but now that needs to be enforced,” he admitted.

While he runs the 300-room Principe di Savoia, which has been part of the Dorchester Collection since 2003, with a team of 430, the paid administration of the EHMA consists of 1.5 full-time staff, based in Rome. 

“Fortunately, there is a lot of goodwill among our members – my vice-presidents are the heads of the Austria and Greece delegations, and my committee includes such highly respected hoteliers as Claudio Ceccherelli, GM of Park Hyatt-Vendôme in Paris, and Manuel de Vasconcelos, GM of Le Méridien Beach Plaza Hotel, Monte-Carlo. We are all determined that EHMA will be recognized as the leading such association in the world. It must be trusted as the first source, for owners and big brands, and for media,” said the president.

Indiani is already looking forward to the next annual association meeting, in Lugano, Switzerland, in March 2020. The following year, EHMA will convene in Hamburg, Germany – where Indiani started his own career, as a bar assistant in The Atlantic Hotel – and he will hand over the presidency in 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. 

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