19 Nov CHICOS Conference 2018
CHICOS Conference 2018
BCQS Directors Liam Day, Simon Taylor and Chris Graham recently attended the 8th CHICOS Conference from November 8-9 at The Southampton Princess Hotel in Bermuda. The Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit has proven itself to be one of the premier hospitality conference in the region, since its inception in 2011. The event drew many returning guests as well as several first-time attendees.
The mood of the conference was cautiously optimistic with continued growth in the three industry KPI’s slowing, but still heading in the right direction and a significant pipeline of new room inventory coming on line in the next 12 to 24 months.
Whilst many of those islands hit hardest by last year’s Hurricane’s Irma and Maria are still in reinstatement mode, many of the hotels affected have either re-opened or are planning to reopen for the 2019 high season.
(Photo L -R: Tim Peck, Chairman – OBMI, Michael Register, Principal – Trust Hospitality, Liam Day, Managing Director – BCQS International, Ian Ricci, Vice President – Accor Hotels, Gene Budler, VP Project Development – DCK Worldwide, Parris Jordan, Chairman – CHICOS, Ahmer Naushad, Senior Vice President – Gencom)
Liam Day moderated a panel of experienced hospitality professionals that discussed lessons learned from past projects and the best strategies to use moving forward to mitigate project risk and how to get a clear understanding of the real cost of doing business in the region.
Chris Graham also participated in a lively panel discussion entitled ‘The New Normal – Building and Renovating for the Future’. The discussion centered around the lessons learned in the aftermath of last year’s two devastating hurricanes and how the majority of property owners have taken the initiative to reinstate to a much higher standard, to mitigate damage in the future, resulting from similar catastrophic events.
It can’t be all work an no play, this year CHICOS held their first annual football match, which provided lots of entertainment for all who participated. BCQS Director, Simon Taylor played on the winning team, and with a 9-1 victory for team HVS Consulting, the match was a great success!