Global Markets recently interviewed Mark Tamis, COO of Setai Hotels and Resorts, about his expectations for the global travel industry and how Setai, a luxury concept targeting “the world’s most coveted and affluent consumers,” stays on top. An excerpt of the conversation follows:
Global Markets: Let’s talk about the past several years in travel.
Tamis: “Challenging would be an understatement. We felt it coming two years ago but never understood the full magnitute in the decline of travel. The very top of the market was severely affected. At that end, people don’t have to travel or if they travel they can choose scaled down accomodations; so the higher up you are in a category the more affects you will feel.”
Global Markets: Are we seeing a recovery?
Tamis: “Knock on wood we’ve seen the bottom. We’re fairly conservative. 2010 is more about stabilization. 2011 is more of a recovery, 2012 a strong recovery. But it won’t be til 2013 that we see the same numbers in travel that we saw in 2007/2008.”
“For example, Miami is such a Northeast travel market. As Wall Street recovered and confidence returned, we started to see an uptick in the first two quarters of the year. We’re also getting the European and Latin American travellers.” [Setai Group operates The Setai in South Beach, one of the world’s most exclusive hotels]
