New hotels think tank debuts with study of serviced living
PKF Hospitality Group has established a think tank intended to examine the future of the hotel, living, tourism and leisure sectors in the context of global change.
Dubbed the Future of Hospitality Institute, the new body will be headed by surveyor Paul Rands and aims to bring together industry stakeholders to identify important changes likely to affect the industry world-wide.
The institute’s first research project will be to examine “future living” and will bring together project partners to define feasible serviced living concepts on the basis of applied research and shared experience.
“Globalisation, urbanisation and digitisation influence our daily lives,” says PKF Hospitality Group global CEO Michael Widmann. “The advent of remote working, the development of a sharing economy and socio-demographic changes are just a few examples that will have a significant impact on our future living spaces and our lives as a whole.”
Widman says this leads to the intersection of residential and hotel in the area of ‘serviced living’which includes serviced apartments, aparthotels, co-living, student accommodation, branded residences, micro living, and senior & assisted living.
“Developers, investors, operators, architects and suppliers will have to follow these developments and react quickly to them,” Widman says.
Rands has 25 years´ experience in hospitality having worked for Allied Domecq, followed by CBRE and in development roles with Premier Inn, and hotel fund start up Quant Capital Partners. He joined US serviced living provider BridgeStreet Global Hospitality in 2013 where he led development and real estate in EMEA/APAC and was a member of the global senior leadership team.
“There is already great appetite for innovation in this sector, which is becoming acknowledged as a viable investment alternative,” Rands said. “Combined with rapid changes in user trends and demand, it has huge growth potential. It is therefore perfect timing for us to launch the future living project and over a 24-month period seek to identify key future trends and solutions.”
