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QUO CEO David Keen speaks to Riccardo Tessaro of Gravity Co-living about how the shift in young professionals’ needs and urban isolation are shaping post-Covid spaces.
Hybrid Lives with David Keen is a limited podcast series from QUO. In each episode, David engages space-makers from around the world to discuss the evolving role of places. Join us in considering the impact our increasingly multifaceted lives have on the places we work, sleep and gather. -
Hans Meyer, co-founder and managing director of Zoku, and David Keen discuss the shift in working spaces, corporate culture clash, and post-Covid outlook on the real estate industry.
Hybrid Lives with David Keen is a limited podcast series from QUO. In each episode, David engages space-makers from around the world to discuss the evolving role of places. Join us in considering the impact our increasingly multifaceted lives have on the places we work, sleep and gather. -
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Rob Wagemans, founder of Concrete Architectural Associates, speaks with David about designing spaces that blur lines and test boundaries.
Hybrid Lives with David Keen is a limited podcast series from QUO. In each episode, David engages space-makers from around the world to discuss the evolving role of places. Join us in considering the impact our increasingly multifaceted lives have on the places we work, sleep and gather.
Concrete website: concreteamsterdam.nl
Episode 2 on YouTube: bit.ly/HybridLives2 -
David joins Hamza Khan, co-founder of Letswork, to ponder the future of where—and how—the world works.
Hybrid Lives with David Keen is a limited podcast series from QUO. In each episode, David engages space-makers from around the world to discuss the evolving role of places. Join us in considering the impact our increasingly multifaceted lives have on the places we work, sleep and gather.
Letswork website: letswork.io
Episode 1 on YouTube: bit.ly/HybridLives1 -
David and IHCL’s Veetika Deoras wax philosophical in this episode. They discuss India’s gradual unlocking, and potential sidestepping an all-but-certain second wave of infections. They ponder the virus as a catalyst for change and introspection amongst consumers in a country where rapid tech adoption is democratising knowledge, even in the most rural places.
And of course, these two avid philosophers eventually come round to the ontology of brand. And of how a brand’s purpose is nothing without action. -
Andrew Fay, President of The Gettys Group, beams in from Chicago to chat with David in this episode. The long-time friends and fellow Cornell grads cast a wide net: the state of Brand America; business as a force for good; the perks and pains of being grounded. And that’s all in the first few minutes.
Will 2020 turn out to be an accelerator for the hospitality industry? Andrew is carefully optimistic. Tech adoption rates have soared broadly over the last few months, and our industry is no exception. He expects to see hotels bringing the outdoors in through biophilic design and highly purified air. But in the end, he reminds us, a focus on what really matters now will be the greatest driver of future success. -
In this episode, Catherine is joined by David Abraham, co-founder of Outpost—a network of co-living, co-working and social spaces for location-independent professionals. A long-time remote-worker himself, David shares how an afternoon at a Tokyo Starbucks sparked the idea for Outpost. He discusses the key drivers of what he calls the ‘remote revolution’, the trend of offices becoming less about physical spaces and more about networks.
In David’s view, the COVID-19 pandemic validates the grand experiment: remote work is viable. From that, we can estimate the standard workweek will evolve, as will business travel. Rather than business leading leisure, he expects to see more leisure travellers taking their business with them. And for hospitality players targeting remote workers, their offerings must resonate with the brand. Providing a desk alone just isn’t enough anymore. -
In this episode, David is joined by Mark Hehir, General Manager of the new Ritz Carlton Maldives in the Fari Islands, an ambitious project that represents a new concept of high-end luxury for hospitality.
Mark has been active in the Maldives since 1997 and brings a breadth of expertise and experience to the conversation. He and David discuss the trajectory of tourism in the Maldives over the last two decades—and why it is that the Maldives is such a fertile ground for innovation. -
Old friend and fellow travel lover, Rob Hornman, discusses the differences between travel and tourism with David. He says real travel is about taking your time, enjoying the chance to explore a place, meeting local people and exploring.
Food in particular has shaped many of Rob’s travel experiences, offering a window into the true rituals and culture of the destination. Having not lived in his home country of the Netherlands for many years, he says his communities are global. You simply live your life and carry on that life in the different places you visit. The ability to do this has been a key thing he's missed during the current COVID-19 crisis. -
Anchalika Kijkanakorn, Managing Director and Founder of Akaryn Hotel Group, says COVID has given her the opportunity to sit down and really think about what she’s doing, where the world is going and how we can come out of this differently. She says she has appreciated having the time to work on new strategies and guest experience ideas for her portfolio of six hotels.
In order to stay focussed during lockdown, she started baking sourdough (thinking she was unique) until she discovered the whole world was doing the same! While she has been too busy to miss her regular summer holiday overseas, she’s holding onto the hope she can take her two young boys skiing at Christmas—a family tradition for nearly a decade. -
Going stir crazy on an island, the future of travel-related content and how the pandemic has impacted our quality of life are just a few of the topics on the mind of Simon Westcott, CEO and owner of the LUXE City Guides.
While he—and many others in the travel world—are ‘hibernating for the winter’, Simon says he’s made the most of a slower pace of life, enjoying more time for walking and hiking. He even packed a bag recently and took a staycation up the road from his home, just to feel the thrill of travel in a small way. He believes humans have always both nested and explored, and thus is optimistic about the future, believing the yearning to travel won’t keep us away for long.
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How do we support the people who work in our hotels? The individuals who have families to provide for and communities to protect? That’s the big question on the mind of Jan Tissera, President International, TravelClick.
In a reflective and personal conversation with David, Jan says that while the industry is global, the reality is very local. Hotels are about people and these people’s whole livelihoods are at stake. He says he’s working on small projects with individual communities—such as one in his home country of Sri Lanka—but that a much wider, larger-scaled initiative is needed.
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Kicking-off season 2 of The Future of Travel, Abhijay Sandilya, IHG Vice President, Development – Australasia, South Pacific & Japan, joins David for a candid conversation about the impact of the virus on our mental wellbeing. A former frequent traveller, Abhijay says he misses the buzz and adrenaline of always being on the go, as well as the chemistry you build from sitting in a meeting room, nurturing relationships face-to-face.
Such dramatic changes take a toll, impacting both our professional and personal lives. Abhijay stresses the need for travel leaders to recognise this impact and ensure they take time for themselves—at IHG they’re encouraged to take a day off per month to rest and recharge.
Abhijay says the idea that we’re all in this together keeps him going during this tough time. Travel broadens horizons, and as soon as we’re able to get back out there, there’s a bright future for the industry ahead. -
Reopening the world’s tourism industry will be a complex and slow process, warns James Crabtree, author and faculty member at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He explains that while countries with a good record at beating the virus will be at an advantage, significant political elements will come into play—with the powerhouses of China, the US and the EU calling the shots.
And while pent-up demand will see an initial surge in domestic and international travel, James says this will most likely be a short-term blip rather than a longer-term return to ‘normal’. Getting back to pre-virus travel patterns will depend on a destination or brand’s ability to innovate and cut through the social-media ‘scrum’ to reassure and convince travellers to return.
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The travel industry has to realise that everything has changed, says Vivek Wadwha, Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program. Talking to David, he explains that the current crisis has fundamentally changed the way we live and work, moving us forward five or even 10 years in terms of technology. Business travel will not go back to pre-crisis norms, with at least a third of our meetings staying as video calls rather than face-to-face.
The winners, Vivek suggests, are those who embrace and acknowledge this change—who figure out what’s going to happen next, take a leap forward and leverage this reality to their advantage. -
Irene Kronenberg and Alon Baranowitz of the award-winning interior design studio in Tel Aviv, Baranowitz + Kronenberg, talk about their passion for disruption and change. They believe now is the time for hospitality to move beyond its typical boundaries, to cater for the changing nature of our cities and working cultures.
To become agents for change.
But change, they argue, cannot come from within. Hotels should on-board industry outsiders—whether from theatre, cinema, music, events. People who bring bold ideas and a different mindset. With more innovative collaboration, hotels can move beyond their current status as white elephants in the city to become active community members. -
Driving purpose and changing American politics are the major passion topics of renowned architect and landscape designer, Bill Bensley. Chatting with David from his studio in Bangkok, Bill talks about his greatest desire for hospitality—namely that every hotel built from this moment forward have a purpose, or at least one small detail that’s sustainable. He also discusses, among other things, his vision of a post-Trump presidential trifecta involving Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall.
Bill’s lifelong purpose focuses on conservation. In his latest project in China’s Guangdong province, the ‘human zoo’, he’s hoping to educate a whole generation of Chinese children that wildlife must stay in the wild and not end up on dinner plates. He believes that if we, as a species, continue to ignore the interconnectivity between man and nature, then ‘we’re done’. -
If you’re only in the tourism business for the money, then why would you continue? This is the fundamental question on the mind of Willem Niemeijer, CEO of YAANA Ventures—an owner, partner and operator of entrepreneurial travel and hospitality ventures in Asia. Willem believes that those brands with a higher purpose are the ones that will come through this, because they have a reason beyond financial gain to persevere despite the challenges.
Referencing his own business, which includes a DMC and eco lodges, he says they don't expect to make money for two years. But they can't wait to get back to business because they do so much more than just provide a facility for guests—they help to prevent deforestation, protect the jungle and feed local families. -
How do you maintain momentum when your hotel opening keeps getting pushed back? John Blanco, General Manager of the soon-to-open Capella Bangkok, discusses the challenges of ensuring his team of 240 ‘Culturalists’ remain focussed and engaged. Once it opens, he has high hopes the Capella will shake up Bangkok's luxury market, with a new, more disruptive approach to high-end hospitality, from a different style of operations to a more bespoke, tailored service culture.
While John acknowledges many of Bangkok’s key international source markets will take time to return, he is confident that, for affluent consumers at least, travel will be a top priority as we emerge from this crisis. - Se mer
