By Chris Betros

Executive Impact Dec. 02, 2009 - 05:45AM JST ( 10 )

TOKYO —

Amid the economic recession, some hotels are struggling, while others are adapting their business model to the changing environment. One hotel doing that successfully is the Westin, located in Ebisu. The Westin has 438 guest rooms and suites, five restaurants, three bars, the Heavenly Spa and 12 meeting spaces, the largest of which can accommodate a banquet for 1,200 people.

Overseeing the hotel’s operations is Andreas Trauttmansdorff. Born in Graz, Austria, Trauttmansdorff graduated from Federal Commercial College and then went on to obtain a hotel and catering license. He managed a restaurant in Austria for four years and then worked as an importer of fine foods from Paris.

He started his career in the hotel industry with Sheraton in Australia in 1982 and has since worked with InterContinental in Bali, Malaysia, Singapore and Harbin, then back with Sheraton in Jakarta, Brisbane and Perth. In January 2007, he moved to another Starwood Brand, Le Meridien in Bali and transferred in the same year again to became general manager of the Westin Tokyo in November 2007.

Japan Today editor Chris Betros visits Trauttmansdorff at the Westin to hear more about the industry.

Do you find it easy to hit the ground running when you move to a new country?

Well, a hotel is a hotel. Of course, there are variances from country to country. International hoteliers have to be prepared to accept different cultures and fit in with them.

How has 2009 been for The Westin?

It has been an interesting year. The one step that everybody needed to take was to forget about the economic crisis and think of it more as a changed environment. Once you get your head around this, you then have to look at your business model and adapt it accordingly. What we have done is to look at new markets to see where we can find additional revenue. We started to focus on the domestic market rather than international market.

What is the mix of Japanese and foreign business?

On weekends, it is predominantly Japanese. During the week, it is about 50-50, or a little less foreign business, depending on the month.

How are your restaurants doing?

Every restaurant is different. Fortunately, we experienced very little decline for lunch. This hotel is lucky because of our location. A lot of local women come here for lunch. Some guests who live in the neighborhood even come here for breakfast every morning and have been doing so since we opened 15 years ago. For dinner, we had to make some adjustments with more special promotions than before.

How much of your revenue comes from room rentals and how much from food and beverages?

Since we have five restaurants and large extensive banquet facilities, it has always been about 60% from food and beverages. That hasn’t changed much because the restaurant business depends on clientele from surrounding areas more than house guests.

What about company parties?

There was a huge drop in bookings for Christmas parties and “bonenkai” last year because most financial institutions canceled their parties. This year, some companies are coming back. They realize they can only close themselves off from their customers for a certain period of time.

How are wedding bookings?

We do about 700 a year. Now is our peak time. In fact, we have been fully booked for weddings right up until Christmas since we put the tree up in early November. Couples like their photos taken in front of the big Christmas tree in our lobby. On Saturdays, the capacity is about 20 weddings – one every 30 minutes. Some couples even come here in mid-week to get their photos taken at the tree.

How is the MICE (meetings incentives, conferences exhibitions) business?

It is picking up, but Tokyo is a market that never really went after that business because hotels are busy during the week with normal corporate business and on weekends with weddings. However, a lot of hotels are now being more proactive about it. As an industry, we have to do away with the notion that the rest of the world has that Japan is very expensive. I think hotels in Tokyo are very competitive with Paris, London, New York and Sydney.

How do you go after business like that?

Our sales team is not just here in the hotel. Starwood has 1,000 hotels worldwide and there is a global sales force that has a close relationship with professional conference organizers all over the world. If there is demand for Tokyo, they will pass the lead onto us. All the sales force members for the whole group are incentivized to recommend other destinations. Our team in Tokyo goes actively after local conference organizers and feeder markets, as well.

Are online bookings growing?

Yes, it’s about 20% and rapidly growing. Frequent travelers prefer it.

Are you hiring staff?

We put a freeze on hiring staff after the recession hit, but now we are back in a hiring mode. We need to be careful and selective. With key positions, I get actively involved in the hiring process.

Why is it such a highly mobile labor market?

You start in a hotel and at some stage you hit a glass ceiling, maybe after 3 or 4 years. You might be ready for a promotion but you still have to wait until someone above you leaves. So the alternative is to go somewhere else. We try to create a training platform that allows everybody to drive their own careers to a certain level and then encourage them, if they reach their glass ceiling, to move on for the time being. In that way, you have a controlled turnover.

What is a typical day for you?

I walk to work and get here about 8 a.m. I have lived in hotels before, but I think it is better to live outside. I do a round of the hotel restaurants and talk to a few guests. At about 9 a.m., we have our morning briefing on the day’s events. After that, it is emails, meetings and I am in and out of the office. Some days I am more office bound than others.

How important is it for a GM to be in the lobby greeting guests?

Some guests want to know you and it’s important to be available to greet them. Others couldn’t care less. They just want to be shown to their room and don’t want to linger in the lobby meeting the GM.

Do you do much wining and dining?

A fair bit, especially as we try to regrow our business to previous levels.

How do you like to relax when you are not working?

I try to keep weekends free but more often than not, I fail at that. However, I do like playing golf, reading, music and hiking.

For more information, visit www.westin-tokyo.co.jp