Fresh off his vacation in Croatia, David Nath, Head of Hospitality CEE & SEE at Cushman & Wakefield joined Marina Franolic for the fourth episode of the IDEEA Podcast.

In the conversation, David shared his thoughts on the challenges for the hospitality industry in the first half of the year, the likely return of interest in urban destinations and how the pandemic has enabled brands and operators to relook Central and Southeast Europe as an area of opportunity and expansion.

Being an essential aspect of today’s hotels, Marina also asked David to share his thoughts on the current perspective of sustainability in the industry and whether it has become a must-to-have or is still a nice-to-have amongst stakeholders.

As the Vice President of Development for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in Europe, Christian Michel is at the forefront of the company's expansion plans. He joins Ali Shahid, Marketing Director at The Bench, on the third episode of the IDEEA podcast to share the focus markets for the world’s largest hotel franchisor, which includes the Balkan region and specific markets such as Turkey and Romania. He also shared his thoughts on the growing interest in the region, contributing it to the opportunity that markets with mesmerising coastlines provide for owners and operators to develop both leisure and business products that can ride out different economic cycles. He also spoke about the group’s strategy on extended stays and teased his thoughts on his panel topic at IDEEA in September. Listen to the full episode on the go or watch the entire conversation on video.

Live from the Radisson Blu Beke Hotel in Budapest, David Jenkins, Vice President of Business Development for Radisson Hotel Group, joined the IDEEA Podcast's second episode to share some of Radisson’s goals and strategies for future investment and development in Central and Southeast Europe. The discussions also highlighted the growing opportunities for conversions of unbranded hotels to branded hotels and the increasing preference for luxury products by both investors and consumers, such as the Radisson Collection. David also answered without hesitation when asked which destination he would most like to see the Radisson brand in. Find out which city it was and hear the insights from the conversation by listening to the episode on the go or watching the entire discussion on video.

Marina Franolic, Managing Director at The Bench, opened the first episode of the IDEEA Podcast with a 25-million-euro question to Marc Finney, Head of International Hotels & Resorts at Colliers. Listen or watch as Marc shares his insights on which markets in Southeast Europe (SEE) region are the no-brainer opportunities for hospitality investment and those that have the potential to be substantial investment opportunities. The conversation also touched on the growing interest in leisure products such as resorts, niche products such as pod or capsule hotels and the ever-increasing importance of ESG for hotel owners and consumers.

Listen to the full episode on the go or watch the complete conversation on video.