Live on Bloomberg TV

00:00OBVIOUSLY THE WORLD OF EMERGING POST-COVID, I ' M WONDERING HOW ARE YOU SEEING THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY RECOVER NOW? WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT AT THIS POINT? > > GOOD MORNING, FIRST OF ALL, GOOD MORNING FROM DUBAI. CERTAINLY, I DEFINITELY DO SEE THAT THE INDUSTRY IS GOING THROUGH A VERY TURBULENT TIME BECAUSE OF COVID-19. BEFORE IN THE PAST, TWO YEARS AGO, IT WAS WHERE DEMAND SUDDENLY DROPPED BY ALMOST 90% ACROSS THE WORLD IN TERMS OF THE AIR TRAFFIC, AND THERE WAS MORE SUPPLY THAN THERE WAS DEMAND. BUT THE CURRENT PROBLEM WE ARE SEEING TODAY NOW FACED, AND YOU CAN SEE THIS IN AIRPORTS IN EUROPE OR EVEN IN THE U.S., IS WHERE NOW DEMAND IS NOW OUTWEIGHING THE SUPPLY, THAT THERE IS AN ENOUGH LABOR, THERE IS CHALLENGES ON THE INFLATIONARY WAGES, SO ON AND SO FORTH. RESTART THE CHALLENGE TO PULL FORWARD. THIS IS ONE OF THE CHALLENGES FACING THE ENTIRE TRAVEL INDUSTRY, AS WELL AS OUR INDUSTRY TODAY IN TODAY ' S ENVIRONMENT. YVONNE: HOW ARE THEY CAPTURING AND CREATING DEMAND FOR TRAVEL, ESPECIALLY LEE SEARCH -- LEISURE TRAVEL? THAT ' S TAKING TIME TO RECOVER. JONATHAN: IN THE PAST THERE WAS THIS IS TRAVEL AND LEISURE TRAVEL. GONE ARE THE DAYS OF BUSINESS AND LEISURE AS TWO SEPARATE CATEGORIES. SPEAKING TO A FEW AVIATION EXPERTS AND AIRLINE INDUSTRY EXPERTS, THERE IS A CATEGORY CALLED LEISURE. THERE ' S A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WANT TO EXPERIENCE THOSE NEW EXPERIENCES AND THEY MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE ABLE TO SPEND. SO THERE IS A RISE OF A CATEGORY OF WHAT WE CALL AFFORDABLE LUXURY, AND THAT ' S EXACTLY WHERE WE COME IN. IF OUR BUSINESS, REGARDLESS OF IF IT ' S OUR LOUNGES, IF IT ' S OUR MEET AND GREET SERVICES, WHERE HAVE YOU, SO LONG AS YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY A CERTAIN FEE, YOU CAN ENJOY ALL FORMS OF SERVICES THROUGHOUT OUR HOSPITALITY PORTFOLIO. SHERY: WHERE DO YOU SEE THE MOST DEMAND FOR THAT TYPE OF SERVICE? ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT YOU OPERATE IN SO MEAN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, WHERE DO YOU SEE THE MOST POTENTIAL AT THIS POINT? JONATHAN: OF COURSE, WE CURRENTLY OPERATE IN OVER 70 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS WERE 250 OUTLETS WORLDWIDE. THE LOCATION WHERE WE FIND THE MOST OPPORTUNITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE MAJOR TRANSIT HUBS. NOWADAYS, WHEN PEOPLE SAY, WHERE WOULD BE THE MOST DEMAND COMING IN, IT ' S ACTUALLY THE TRANSIT HUBS. NOW WITH AIRLINES COMING IN, AIR CUSTOMERS HAVE A PLETHORA OF CHOICES WHEN THEY CHOOSE THEIR RESPECTIVE HUB. WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE A CERTAIN AIRLINER CERTAIN HUB IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE GOOD FACILITIES, GOOD TRANSIT EXPERIENCES, AND THAT ' S WHY YOU SEE AIRPORTS LIKE SINGAPORE, YOU SEE AIRPORTS SUCH AS LONDON ' S HEATHROW, DUBAI, AND SO MANY OUT THERE WHO ARE INVESTING AND SPENDING LOTS OF THOSE RESOURCES TO ATTRACT THOSE TRANSIT PASSENGERS COMING OVER. THAT ' S EXACTLY WHERE OUR BUSINESS WILL FLY, ESPECIALLY THOSE LOOKING FOR A GOOD TRANSIT EXPERIENCE, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR LOUNGES, HOTELS AND WHAT HAVE YOU. SHERY: DO YOU SEE A SHIFT IN WHAT THOSE TRANSIT HUBS ARE THOSE DAYS? QUARANTINE RULES MAY BE EASING SOON, BUT THAT HAS NOT BEEN THE CASE. IS THAT ONE OF THE REASONS WHY YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MORE GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES, PERHAPS YEAR AND IN THE U.S., AND IN AREAS THAT WERE NOT NECESSARILY YOUR FIELD? JONATHAN: EXACTLY, THAT ' S EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED. COVID-19 ACTED AS A CATALYST FOR A GROUP SUCH AS OURSELVES, TO REALLY THINK INTERNALLY, TO REALLY DIVERSIFY AWAY FROM OUR CORE. OUR CORE WAS MORE FOCUSED ON INDEPENDENT AIRPORT LOUNGES UNDER THE BRAND NAME. IT WAS MAINLY FOCUSED WITHIN ASIA-PACIFIC, BUT WITH THE ONSET OF COVID-19, TRAVEL RECOVERY HAS BEEN A LITTLE SLOWER IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION. SO WE SET OUR SIGHTS OVERSEAS SO WE ARE LOOKING INTO EXPANDING INTO EUROPE, EXPANDING INTO THE AMERICAS AND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. AND WE ALSO LOOK AT, WE HAVE TO DIVERSIFY BECAUSE IT ' S NOT JUST FOCUSING ON OUR OWN INDEPENDENT AIRPORT LOUNGES, WE HAVE ALSO LOOKED INTO EXACTLY WHAT YOU MENTIONED, RAILWAY LOUNGES. IN MAINLAND CHINA WE OPENED UP THREE HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY LOUNGES THROUGHOUT OUR NETWORK, SO WE ARE NOT ONLY LOOKING WITHIN THE AIR, BUT WITHIN THE LAND AS WELL, EVEN POTENTIALLY EVEN THE SEA. WE END UP BECOMING AN AIRPORT HOSPITALITY COMPANY AT A TRANSPORT HOSPITALITY COMPANY ALTOGETHER. YVONNE: WE SPOKE TO YOUR SISTER -- I KNOW IT WAS LAST YEAR ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS, CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH WHAT YOU ' VE ALREADY LEARNED THROUGH THE FIRST GENERATION, FROM YOUR DAD, FOR EXAMPLE, OF HOW TO TAKE THE BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL? WHAT IS THE KEY TAKE AWAY? JONATHAN: AS A FAMILY BUSINESS, WE GREW UP -- MY SISTER AND MYSELF GREW UP INTO THE BUSINESS , WE LIVE AND BREATHE THE BUSINESS FROM A YOUNG AGE. WE ARE DEFINITELY VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE FOUNDATION THAT WE HAVE HAD TOGETHER WITH OUR PARENTS. I THINK IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS SECOND-GENERATION ' S TO TAKE THIS TO THE NEXT STEP. WE HAVE TO BRING IN NEW PERSPECTIVES. NEW PERSPECTIVES FROM DIVERSIFICATION, THROUGH PARTNERSHIP, THROUGH DIGITALIZATION AND THAT ' S EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE COMING IN FROM, TO BRING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL, TO ENHANCE THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE, TO DO EVERYTHING

No schedule data available.

Plaza Premium's Song on Expansion and Rise of 'Bleisure'

Airport hospitality firm, Plaza Premium Group, has opened new lounges in Frankfurt, Helsinki and Edinburgh as it looks to make the most of an uptick in travel with a push into Europe. The group is also adding services like "meet-and-assist" in places including Hong Kong where it already has an established presence. Jonathan Song is Director of Global Business Development, and one of the second generation driving the firm through the pandemic. He spoke exclusively to Bloomberg's Yvonne Man and Shery Ahn for Generation Next. (Source: Bloomberg)

Bloomberg Markets
"Bloomberg Markets" is focused on bringing you the most important global business and breaking markets news and information as it happens.
More episodes and clips