Numinous talks with Jan Arnold, VP of Sales, Rocco Forte Hotels
With Australia announcing (some of) its borders opening up soon, it was a great time for our MD, Tamara Kobiolke, to catch up with Jan Arnold and hear his experiences of the last 18 months, and what the future looks like at Rocco Forte Hotels.
Jan started his career at Four Seasons in 2002 as a trainee in operational and administrative departments in Boston, USA. He quickly rose through the ranks of the company, occupying positions such as Associate Regional Sales Director in 2008, London, Regional Sales Manager, Global Sales Office, Frankfurt, 2010, and EMEA Sales Director, UK. Dubai headquarters, in 2016. A native German, Jan holds an MBA from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Jan is passionate about architecture, design, food & golf.
Jan, you started with Rocco Forte Hotels in November 2019, right before the pandemic struck. How did you feel when it because clear how damaging the pandemic would be?
Oh, I’ve gone through all the emotions but I think fear and helplessness have been two of the strongest feelings I’ve experienced. We are over 18 months into this and still, we don’t know where this journey will take us. As I see it, there are three main challenges to deal with mentally & emotionally. Firstly; we don’t know, nobody knows - still - how long this will go on for, and when the end will come. Secondly, the global decisions are totally out of our control, being made by governments. It does feel like we are understanding the pandemic a bit better, and I think now we have a better hold on it all, but there is still so much uncertainty. Thirdly, it’s been so frustrating to not have control over our earnings for the company and personally, it’s not like we’ve gone through a pandemic before to have something to compare against.
With the backing of Rocco Forte Hotels, how have you supported your teams, and how did that feel from your side?
The most important element in a leadership role is constant communication and compassion. Being open and honest with people and sharing as much as you can share, especially in an environment characterised by uncertainty, by fear and by helplessness, I think it’s very important to wrap your arms around your team members and share as much to help people come along on this journey together. That’s what I’ve tried to do, and always believed in. Often we might not actually even have the answers, but even honesty around that goes a long way with people.
How did your team grow and up-skill during this time and what initiatives did you put in place to support them?
We implemented regular Teachable Moments with various themes and it included everyone from US, across Europe and all the way to Australia! Everyone appreciated a regular line of communication, giving people an opportunity to stay connected, even through periods of furlough. They were fun, some very basic, some a little more in depth, but it kept us all together. People needed to learn to be flexible and agile. When I was first employed by Rocco Forte almost two years ago, I had a specific job description, but if I look back at that now, I’ve probably not achieved any of that; my job has been totally different to the one I was employed to do. And I have learnt so much in the last 18 months. I’ve learnt more in this short period than I have in the 10 years prior! And I love that. I think this will make us all better people.
What do you foresee as the lasting impacts on the business model for Rocco Forte Hotels?
Leisure business will drive our success. It’s always been important and will be even more so. Some hotels are very dependant on specific geographical markets, and they have been hit the hardest, so we need to recalibrate that moving forward and almost create a United Nations within our hotels. The MICE segment will continue to be very strong for us also and it’s been great to see consumer confidence coming back from the corporate market for this already.
How has the customer journey changed from either a travel trade or a direct customer perspective?
At the start of pandemic, a lot of business came direct, as it was mostly all local domestic for each individual hotel. But the importance of the travel trade will always be so strong, and to us they’re our number one partners to really make sure that we bring this industry back. Sir Rocco has always clearly articulated that the travel trade is very, very important . Just as we are reinventing ourselves, the travel trade are also doing this to see how they can even further add value to the travel decisions people are making.
What we have observed is that consumers are wanting to seek a lot advice and guidance before making decisions and commitments. Our reservations teams are spending more time with our customers and travel trade to make sure they fully understand the destination as well as the hotel, what does it look and feel like…., what are the cancellation terms with respect to covid. This consultative element has certainly been much greater which means people are better informed. And that’s always a good thing.
What keeps you focused and inspired during these challenging times?
A true love of what we are doing, is what keeps me motivated. If you love what you do, and always believe in it, you’ll always be successful. What I’ve been so inspired by, has been the leadership of Sir Rocco. He has been truly exceptional. Maybe he’s not always on zoom or Google Hangouts, but he always communicates through his Executive Team, and he has been so supportive and committed to making sure that Rocco Forte Hotels would get through this challenging time. You and I both have many friends in other industries an hotel groups / tourism providers who have had terrible experiences because their employers didn’t have the vision and longevity that Sir Rocco has. He loves this business, this industry and he would stop at nothing to secure the future of the business, and to keep as many people employed as possible. His leadership through this pandemic is something I will never forget and have learnt so much from him.
“Luxury” it’s such an over-used word. What does luxury mean to you?
For me, luxury is not just the gold studded marble bathrooms… it really has to do with peace of mind… to be able to switch off to make time for what you don’t normally have time for. I actually took a proper holiday last month for the first time in years and I actually read a book. I have two young daughters and up until now, they’ve always wanted my attention and to play, but now they’re a bit older and can play with each other, so the luxury of reading a book was just amazing. Luxury is also about a genuine service experience. I went shopping recently and handed over my credit card, and the gentleman serving me must have looked at my card and on returning it simply said “thank you very much, Mr Arnold”. I was delighted! Name recognition is not necessarily luxury in it’s purest sense, but it was just one of those wow moments for me and I know I’ll go back to that store - those are the moments that stick in my mind.
Let’s talk about parallel lives… if you were not in hotels, what you would be doing?
I love interior design and architecture…. I don’t know anything technical about it, but I just know what I like… so maybe if I was to start again, this would be something that I would think about studying. I also absolutely love cooking. I have so much respect for the Chef’s for their creativity. The new generation of Chef’s are people people and they like to have open kitchens to interact with guests and I think I would love that. Being German I love a schnitzel although I’d actually go Austrian version and have a Vienna schnitzel over the more traditional German schnitzel. It’s an all time classic and it just lifts the spirits!
Any last words for the Australian & NZ travel trade….?
We miss our Australian and New Zealand friends! They’re such a fun, sociable and friendly bunch of people, and so great to have in our hotels - having Aussies and Kiwi’s staying with us just raises the spirits of everyone in the hotels. We are eagerly awaiting our friends from Australia and New Zealand.
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