Audio Interview With Paul M. McManus, President and CEO, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd (IHIF Berlin 2002)
The Voice of Hospitality visited Berlin for the International Hotel Investment Forum in mid-March, where we had the opportunity to speak with a number of analysts, consultants and CEO's in the hospitality industry. Here is one in a series of 12 interviews from the conference.
While the luxury market took a big hit in business following 9/11, so did the entire hotel market, says Paul M. McManus, President and CEO, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. But business is rebounding and McManus is very optimistic for the future. He'll talk about a "Leading Hotels client," and the importance of adding value to a customer's experience as opposed to discounting when the economy turns bad. We were happy to catch up with Paul McManus in Berlin. Spend about eight minutes with us and hear all about it.
BIO
Paul M. Mcmanus
President And Chief Executive Officer
The Leading Hotels Of The World, Ltd.
And Hotel Representative, Inc. (Hri)
Appointed to the position in January of 1998, Mr. McManus has been successfully re-engineering the transformation of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. from the typical hotel representation model into the prestigious luxury marketing organization which represents over 395 of the finest five-star hotels and resorts in the world. Additionally, under Mr. McManus' direction, the company has been building upon the strength of its brand name through the launch of four new joint venture companies: Leading Marketing Services, Leading Group Sales, Leading Quality Assurance, and Leading Financial Services.
Mr. McManus joined The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in 1992 as Vice President of Marketing. He was promoted in 1993 to the position of Executive Vice President, at which time he assumed a number of duties of the President's office, while continuing his responsibility for the company's worldwide marketing efforts.
Prior to The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., Mr. McManus was President and managing partner of Reservation Systems, Inc., a company with 150 hotel accounts. During his hotel career, Mr. McManus has held sales and marketing positions with Regent International Hotels, Rockresorts and Princess Hotels International, in addition to on-property positions at The St. Regis and The Waldorf-Astoria Hotels, all located in New York City.
Mr. McManus is a noted industry speaker on a variety of topics affecting the hospitality industry. He is also an Advisory Board Member for the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Travel Administration at New York University and The Institute of Travel, Hotel and Restaurant Administration at Niagara University.
In 2001, Mr. McManus was featured in a major article in Hors Ligne magazine as "A Man of Luxury". He was also named among the top "People of the Year" by Travel Agent magazine. Lodging magazine also focused on Mr. McManus and The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in a lead article as being at the forefront in developing partnerships and alliances to exert greater market influence. Travel Agent magazine also named The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. as one of the four "Leaders in Luxury" companies in the hospitality industry. In addition, Mr. McManus received the Marketing Innovation Award from the German Tourism Industry Association, at the ITB in Berlin, Germany, for the development of the "Luxury Alliance" with Relais & Châteaux