The burgeoning hotel management company Swiss-Belhotel International keeps Taranaki-born Gavin Faull constantly on the move between New Zealand, Asia and Europe. At last count, it manages 145 hotels – 10 more than a year ago – and the latest plan is to launch at least 60 new properties over the next few years.
This expansion was unveiled at Swiss-Belhotel’s general managers’ annual conference held in Jakarta. It was attended by 90 managers and senior executives from Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Middle East and Europe.
The company will also expand in Australia and New Zealand by doubling its properties from five to 10 within the next three years.
A new hotel in Auckland in the Victoria Market will be complemented by openings in Sydney and Melbourne.
The largest presence is in Indonesia, where the company has 64 properties and aims to increase this, with 30 projects in the pipeline representing its five brands.
Vietnam will have 10 hotels by 2021 and seven will be completed in the Middle East by the end of this year. These will include the first in Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Four are scheduled to open in China, while Europe will see new properties in Italy, Bulgaria and Georgia.
Faull’s three sons, Oliver, Edward and Matthew, are all involved in the business. Oliver is based in Auckland as head of Australia and New Zealand operations and assistant chief financial officer; Edward Faull heads group technical services and projects; and Matthew is senior vice-president of IT and e-commerce.
While hotel management is high-profile and rapidly expanding, the Faull family’s origins in dairy farming cannot be overlooked. Faull Farms is based at Tikorangi and is employing a fifth generation. It is jointly owned by Gavin and his four brothers, Allan, Bernard, Nigel and Richard. All have achieved distinction in non-farming careers, notably Sir Richard Faull, who was knighted last year for his work as a medical research professor.
Gavin’s Taranaki connections also involve a hotel management school started in the late 1990s before he took control of Swiss-Belhotel in Hong Kong after a stint managing the New Zealand business of Singapore-based Kingsgate.
A personal project is his support for the $15 million seismic strengthening of the country’s oldest stone church, Taranaki Cathedral, where his parents were married.