Newsmakers: Marriott Vet To Fill Ritz Post
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. this month named 20-year Marriott International veteran Bruce Himelstein senior vice president of sales and marketing, and set him to the task of getting Ritz-Carlton's deluxe properties on more preferred supplier lists. Himelstein's appointment follows the departure of Jim Schultenover, the longtime Ritz-Carlton veteran who last month became chief marketing officer for Ian Schrager Hotels.
Himelstein acknowledged that in a difficult year for the lodging industry overall, the upper upscale and deluxe price points have experienced the greatest downturn, but he is cautiously optimistic. "The business is gradually coming back and it will continue to strengthen as the year progresses," he said. "If you look at the numbers, the recovery is really inconsistent. On a market-to-market basis, some markets actually are performing quite strongly.
Himelstein joined Ritz from a senior marketing position at Marriott Senior Living Services. Prior to that position, he was Marriott North American Lodging vice president of field sales. Ritz-Carlton is part of the Marriott organization as well, but always has been managed separately. "Marriott's overriding strategy has always been to sell the way the customer wants to buy, and our customers continue to tell us they want to deal with Ritz-Carlton's own salespeople. So why would we want to change that?" he said.
Another factor Himelstein cited in Ritz-Carlton's favor is that the brand nearly has completed the aggressive expansion it began in the late-1990s, through which it nearly doubled to 45 properties. "Consequently, we have the distribution buyers are looking for, not just in key U.S. markets, but internationally," he said. "It's imperative to be in the destinations to which your customers are traveling." Himelstein cited New York as an example. Ritz-Carlton had been without a New York presence for four years, a situation rectified this year. "We're back and with two distinctive hotels in high-profile business travel destinations—Battery Park and Central Park South," he said.
New York also is the city where Ian Schrager Hotels first achieved prominence for its emphasis on style and cutting-edge design. The company now has nine properties and a presence in Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and London. "The current economy has shown there's still a place in the market for the kind of lifestyle experience our hotels are about," Schultenover said.
While the lodging industry rebound has taken longer than analysts had projected, Schultenover expected recovery to remain steady. "For Schrager Hotels, the good news is that there's always significant demand for hotel rooms in the cities we're in, though it may take a while before it returns to 2000 levels, which was a banner year," he said. Among the cities where Schrager has a presence, San Francisco certainly "has the steepest hill to climb." Schultenover added that his objectives are clear: "I want to make it easier for buyers to work with us."