The hospitable Hawaiian

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Justin York
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1 The hospitable Hawaiian Raymond Bickson was to the hospitality manor born and he has spent more than three decades nurturing and being nurtured by the passion of a business, and a vocation, where the guest is god 6

2 Raymond Bickson and Barack Obama share the same alma mater from back in Hawaii, and it was a remembered Polynesian tradition that prompted the presentation of a pikaki (jasmine) garland to welcome the American president when he stepped into the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on his momentous India visit of More than appropriate, then, that the managing director and chief executive officer of Indian Hotels was there as head of the welcoming party. There s much more, though, that is welcoming about Mr Bickson, a professional who has made it a personal mission to understand and absorb the many arts of the hospitality business, particularly so since he started helming Indian Hotels the crown jewel of which is the Taj brand in A big man with an even bigger heart, Mr Bickson started his career as an assistant manager at the Regent hotel in Puerto Rico, fresh from the École Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland and an advanced management programme at Harvard Business School. The next 30 years saw him move across countries and continents, working in New York, Chicago, Melbourne and Shanghai, before taking charge as vice president and general manager of The Mark in New York. Mr Bickson is associated with the World Travel and Tourism Council, the International Business Leaders Forum, the Leading Hotels of The World, the Cornell Hotel School Centre for Hospitality Research and École Hôtelière de Lausanne. He was named by Leaders magazine as one of the world s top ten hotel managers from 1997 to Mr Bickson was also conferred the hotelier of the world award in 2007 by HOTELS magazine. Here, the native of Hawaii talks to Christabelle Noronha about his work and the challenges that come with it, his life and the experiences it has delivered. What was your first experience of the Taj? I had stayed at the Taj when I visited Mumbai (then Bombay) twice in the early 1980s. Then, during my stint at The Mark in New York, I had my first meeting with Ratan Tata, who was there for a business meeting. Later, in 2002, I got a call about an opening at Indian Hotels, asking if I would consider heading the Taj group s luxury portfolio. So my wife and I came down and met Mr Tata and others. India was at an interesting stage of development and my wife and I were excited by the possibilities. That s when I decided to take up the offer. Going back to your formative years, how did you get interested in the hospitality business? I was born and raised in Hawaii, where my father was one of the founders of a company called Budget Rent A Car. When I was a teenager, back in the 1970s, Hawaii got transformed from a primarily agricultural June 2012 Tata Review 7

3 economy to a tourism economy. My father, as chairman of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, was at the centre of that transformation. We got close to many people in the travel and tourism businesses such as hotels, airlines, car-rental firms, cruise liners, travel agencies and so on. Two people played a key part in my decision to join the hospitality business: Richard E Handle, president of Hilton International, and Georg Rafael, one of the founders of Regent International (he later launched the Rafael group of hotels). They were my mentors and the people most responsible for me getting interested in the hospitality business. You have worked in several cities across many continents over the course of your 30-year career. Is hospitality different in different parts of the world, and how has the business changed over time? Well, whether it s Paris or New York, Shanghai or Sydney, Melbourne or Mumbai, there is a certain global mindset driving the hospitality business in luxury hotels. That said, while each place has its unique culture, ultimately people are the same. Everywhere you go, family is important and so are food, music, education and friendships. This business gives those involved with it a better understanding of people and different cultures. It embraces so many nationalities Raymond Bickson (right) welcoming the American President Barack Obama at the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, in 2010 under one roof and it teaches you the ethics of service. In Hawaii we call it the aloha spirit the way you welcome someone into your home. In India, we take service to a guest to a different level altogether. The saying athiti deva bhavo (the guest is god) is something that will always stay with me. This spirit was especially evident during the 26/11 terrorist attack on the Taj. The conduct and dedication of our staff what they did, what our regular employees did for our guests is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. While an experience like that is life changing, even everyday service levels in Asian hospitality are, I think, hard to match in today s world. You have been with the Taj group for close to a decade now. How has the experience been? It s remarkable to be part of an organisation that is 150 years old, to be one of the custodians of such a storied tradition and of the Taj brand. What I see here is that every employee, from dishwasher to manager, has a sense of pride of being part of the brand, the company, of the Tata group and what that represents. This is a powerful tradition and it s so unique. I have never ever seen anything quite like it. What is the potential for the growth of India s hospitality industry? Today the travel and tourism industry contributes about 5-6 percent to India s GDP. The country is inching up to what the numbers are in the developed economies of Europe and the United States, where hospitality s slice of the GDP is about 8 percent. Globally the figure is between 9 and 10 percent. India is growing steadily and it is beginning to realise its travel and tourism potential. When I came here in 2003, this country had 62,000 hotel rooms; today it has 167,000. India now attracts some 6 million tourists, but that does not compare too well with Hawaii s 9 million, Dubai s 11 million and Thailand s 21 million. Meanwhile, China has got 2.8 million 8

hotel rooms. India has to grow faster; if we continue at this pace we will have just 400,000-500,000 hotel rooms by the end of the decade.

4 hotel rooms. India has to grow faster; if we continue at this pace we will have just 400, ,000 hotel rooms by the end of the decade. The principal challenge, therefore, is with infrastructure growth. To meet this challenge the private travel and tourism sector must work closely with government agencies. Most hotels under the Taj brand, including its overseas properties, seem to be unprofitable. What are the reasons for this? The company has been profitable overall but the problem has been with the timing of our foray into the United States. The crash of 2008 followed soon after we entered the American market. Our United States properties are gaining momentum but at a slower pace than our Asian hotels. The United Kingdom market, too, is important for us. This being an Olympic year, we expect high rates of occupancy and earnings in London. Overall, I expect the recovery in overseas markets to happen within the next 12 to 18 months. San Francisco is already breaking even and Sydney is making money, but Boston is a year away from profitability and New York a year-and-a-half away. What have been your most memorable moments as head of Indian Hotels and what do you see as your most significant achievement? What s been really significant is that we have grown from 62 hotel properties, from when I arrived in 2003, to 113, from 8,200 rooms to almost 14,000. We have also evolved our brand architecture, growing from one brand with everything being Taj to a segmented market with four brands: Taj, Vivanta by Taj, Gateway and Ginger. The launch of Ginger was extremely exciting, as was the branding of the Vivanta by Taj and the Gateway hotels and resorts. Also exciting was the acquisition of the Jodhpur Umaid Bhavan, the Falaknuma Palace and the revamping of the palaces at Udaipur and Jaipur. Our internationalisation endeavours Managing is one thing, but it s being able to connect with people that really makes the hospitality culture so stimulating. in recent years we have established a presence in countries such as South Africa, Australia, Egypt and Morocco and the company s vision of where the brand could go have been particularly invigorating for me. On a more personal note, my most evocative experience at the Taj was the heroic way in which everyone responded to and pulled together during and after the 26/11 terrorist attacks. What have been your big challenges as a leader, and how have you dealt with these? The most critical challenges were in dealing with the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai and the impact of the 2006 tsunami, which virtually destroyed our Maldives property. We had to keep our people motivated and energised, make sure the brand stayed intact from every perspective, and ensure the best for our company s shareholders, employees and vendors. How would you define and characterise yourself as a person and as a professional? June 2012 Tata Review 9

Mr Bickson with (from left) travel guru Peter Greenberg, film producer Shep Gordon and actor Michael Douglas at the launch of the book, The Taj at Apollo Bunder, in New York in October 2011 As a

5 Mr Bickson with (from left) travel guru Peter Greenberg, film producer Shep Gordon and actor Michael Douglas at the launch of the book, The Taj at Apollo Bunder, in New York in October 2011 As a hotelier you have to be passionate; you have to love what you do. I think that s a quality I always had, but I have grown further into it from the time I started in this profession. I continue to find it exciting to come to work, to walk into a busy lobby, talk to the bellman, the room service people, the waiters, all of those people that really make a hotel tick. The person who opens the door when you drive up to the hotel, the one who ensures you get your wake-up call, the one who makes your omelette for breakfast or cleans your room these people are important components of the team, they are the people who make or break the brand, they are what the group represents. Managing is one thing, but it s being able to connect with people that really makes the hospitality culture so stimulating. Then there s the pride of being part of an organisation that has so much tradition going for it. All of this I am grateful for. I count my blessings every day for being part of an organisation and an industry that is so nurturing. Are you able to maintain a worklife balance? I think the work-life balance is really about maintaining your personal equilibrium. And that is a challenge for any executive today, but I try. It helps that my family has found so much to enjoy in India. My wife, Kani, is an avid yoga practitioner and my daughters love it here; they speak fluent Hindi. What are the challenges the Taj faces in the years ahead and what are its plans and expectations for the next five-ten years? The biggest challenge we face is the onslaught of the international brands, which are muscling into emerging markets such as India. The challenge is also about maintaining our leadership position and continuing to be relevant 20 years from now, when our inventory would have tripled from what it is today. Additionally, there is the challenge of establishing ourselves as a global brand and growing our international market share. This involves identifying growth areas, niche markets, profiling next-generation tourists and so on. We have to make sure we do not lose our edge, that we remain a dominant player in tomorrow s market. 10

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