SINGAPORE – 16 December 2019 – Known as an innovative disruptor with responsible entrepreneurship at its heart, Banyan Tree Holdings strengthens its founding competitive edge in people to future proof its mission of sustainable value creation for all stakeholders.
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, Banyan Tree Holdings continues to stand tall as one of the few steadfastly independent hospitality companies in a rapidly consolidating industry. “Set against an increasingly competitive and uncertain landscape, we are now in the middle of the river of change. We have left the home bank but not reached the safety of the farshore. And we need to be aware that we are in this zone. Being an independent company is to our advantage for timely business decisions and expansions. We have the conviction and the game plan of using our Group’s size to play to our strengths – being nimble and responsive to change. With an emphasis on integration, process redesign and strengthening of our digital infrastructure, we are confident of stronger brand delivery and performance as we step into the next 25 years and beyond,” said Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Founder and Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings.
Catalysing the next phase of growth, the Group is staking its edge on its agile organisational structure and lateral capabilities of an integrated hospitality ecosystem. It has evolved from a boutique chain to a multi-branded global hospitality leader in its own right, with a footprint set to double in the next five years and consistent brand recognition with over 140 awards in 2019 and 2535 awards won since inception. This year, the list included <Travel+Leisure US World’s Best Awards 2019 Top 25 Hotel Brands in the World>, , and <29th TTG Travel Awards 2019 Travel Hall of Fame Best Spa Operator> for the 5th year since induction.
Leadership with a difference
Banyan Tree Group prides itself in being a global company with a start-up mentality. It has a strong talent force from over 50 nationalities, yet stays simple in structure to drive quick implementation and results. Looking beyond, the Group sees the inherent collaborative strength of diverse talents to create innovative disruptions for its transformational leadership thrust forward.
A testimony to the Group’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for change to enhance the industry, Mr Ho Kwon Ping was conferred the prestigious HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP). He is the only recipient of both HICAP’s Innovation Award (2003) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2019) — in honour of his innovative outlook and accomplishments in the expansion of Banyan Tree Group and his contributions to advancing the hotel industry in Asia Pacific region and the world. An avid journalist turned hospitality veteran, Mr Ho embodies and believes in creativity and diversity of talents.
Drawing inspiration from its founder, the Group has injected 3 new senior appointments with distinct backgrounds and experiences into its management team. Combined with the current team in senior positions (whereby a notable 50% is promoted over the last 12 years through its internal talent development programme), the Group believes this newly reinforced team will take the company to its next leap.
Rosalynn Tay is the newly-appointed Senior Vice President, Head of Growth and Demand of Banyan Tree Holdings. With extensive geographical and multi-industry experience, Rosalynn has a 28-year strong track record in transformational work and leadership. She was most recently Dentsu Aegis Network Country Head and Dentsu CEO. At DBS Bank, she was Managing Director, Head of Marketing for Consumer Banking and also Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore, responsible for taking the airline public. Throughout these diverse appointments, her keen commercial acumen, ability to build high-performing team culture and push through change management initiatives were evident in her winning both Campaign Asia’s SEA Agency Head of the Year 2017 and Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Awards Business Leader 2017.
Rosalynn will be leading the charge to drive the Group’s multi-brand growth strategy while charting customer engagement across current and new digital channels. She will also define the strategic approach to sales, marketing, distribution, revenue and channel management.
Jonathan Ye is the new Vice-President, Head of Demand. He has recently moved from the consumer tech world where he was the Head of Digital Marketing, Asia Pacific since 2017 and Chief Marketing Officer in Singapore for the Chinese tech giant, Huawei. Prior to it and right after the acquisition by Marriott, he was part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific (including China) driving social, mobile and emerging technologies for the region. He has rich digital marketing experience across hospitality and telco industries with proven success. As the global head for marketing, Jonathan will be leading strategic integrated marketing directions and functions across offline and online channels for multi brands’ campaigns, digital performance marketing and content.
Boris Sertic is the new Senior Assistant Vice President, Head of Revenue. He is an accomplished travel industry professional with over 20 years’ commercial experience in the fields of pricing, revenue, distribution, group loyalty programmes and fares database. For the first 12 years of his career, he was in senior management positions for wholesale international tour operations, focusing on long-haul worldwide strategy. He next joined Centara Hotels & Resorts as corporate director in 2008 and had piloted numerous company-wide projects for revenue management structure implementation, distribution and commercial contracting strategies. Boris will provide global directions and implement group revenue management and distribution strategies in collaboration with the Growth & Demand team at the Group and Hotel levels.
More than a global lifestyle hospitality company, Banyan Tree Group is also in the business of developing a strengths-based culture to build individual strengths within its organisation. In every decision made, it goes beyond what is necessary to help its people maximise their potentials. This passion for talent development is a vehicle of purpose that reinforces its mission of sustainable value creation.
