July 2009 - Economics Expert to Examine Russia for Possible Global Economic Bounce Back
July 13 2009 – St. Petersburg, Russia: The Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference (RHIC) announced today that Dr. Daniel Thorniley, Senior Vice President of The Economist Group, will return for a second year at RHIC 2009, as an esteemed guest and speaker. His session will involve an in-depth discussion about Russia in 2010 as one of the first 15 global economies to bounce back and will analyze the reasons behind his expert opinion. The plenary session will kick off the opening day on 26 October, 2009 at 09:30.
Educated at Oxford University with a doctorate degree in Soviet political economy, Thorniley is now Senior Consultant to more than 250 client companies.
“At last year’s RHIC, Daniel delved into the specifics of the recession and the reasons the industry as a whole was experiencing a significant downturn,” explained Jonathan Worsley, RHIC conference co-organiser. “His belief that Russia had one of the strongest macroeconomic economies in the world will parlay extraordinarily well into this year’s topic of Russia’s bounce back in 2010. We’re eagerly awaiting his thoughts on the matter at RHIC this October.”
In his reports on the Russian business outlook 2009, Thorniley stated “the market will be back at its 2007 level by 2010, which means that companies will have “lost” 2 years of business. This is not bad compared to other markets and 2007 is not horrible when one remembers how good 2007 was.
He also revealed positive trends in Russia including stabilization of the ruble and the fact that most Russians have decent savings, limited exposure to the stock market and the highest real wages in the world in recent years. He highlighted risks for Russia in 2009 and into 2010 including oil prices, USA and their banking system, unemployment, GDP and the fact that real income, real wages and disposable income will go negative in 2009 for the first time in 8-9 years.*
“We need oil prices to stay above $50 a barrel and we must ensure that credit is flowing properly to avoid deepening the recession,” says Thorniley. “Threats to the Russian economy include a decreasing GDP, a rise of unemployment and the fact that investment trends will be brutally shrunk in 2009 due to an absence of credit. On the positive note though, in a recently conducted survey, we found that companies who reported a drop in sales earlier in 2009, said the downtown in April was less severe than in previous months.”
Thorniley concluded with the thought that “Russia tends to overstate on the upside as well as the downside. So this looks very bad right now, and it is, but I think we may come back reasonably quickly but of course not overnight.”
“Russia represents some of the greatest growth potential in the world today. There continues to be less brand penetration of international branded properties throughout the regional cities, and while some international hotel brands already have a foothold in Moscow and St. Petersburg, they have been slow to make an impact elsewhere,” stated Mike Collini, Hilton Vice President of Development for Northern Europe. “Supply is still very low and not growing at sufficient levels to meet domestic and international demand, so we continue to see a very real opportunity to fulfil the need for quality accommodations in these locations.”
About Daniel Thorniley
Daniel has written regularly for the Economist group for the last 20 years and is an invited keynote speaker at conferences and seminars around the world. He has published three books including one on Russia with Macmillan (UK/USA) and one with Profile books on “Doing Business in Global Emerging Markets”.
The Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference will be held October 25-27, 2009 at the Corinthia Hotel, St. Petersburg, and is jointly organised by Questex Media Group, Inc. and Bench Events.
Sponsors and supporters:
Platinum Sponsors confirmed to date include:
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels (Founder Sponsor); Corinthia Hotels; Grand Hotel Europe; Horwath HTL Hungary & Russia; Orient-Express Hotels and The Rezidor Hotel Group.
Gold Sponsors:
Accor Hospitality; AZIMUT Hotels Company; CMS; DLA Piper; DTZ Hospitality Group; Hilton Hotels; InterContinental Hotels Group; Interstate Management Services; Jumeirah Group; Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc; Warimpex AG and WATG.
Media Sponsors:
Media Sponsors: Hotel Analyst; Hotel & Motel Management; Hotel Design; Hotel & Restaurant Business Magazine; Luxury Hotelier; ProOtel Magazine; «Sovremenny biznes. Otel’»; The Hotel Times; The Moscow Times; St Petersburg Investment Guide; SNIP and TTG Russia.
Supporters:
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration; Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, International Hotel & Restaurant Association; International Tourism Partnership. Pulkovo Airport and World Travel & Tourism Council.
For more information please visit www.russia-cisconference.com or contact:
Jonathan.Worsley@benchevents.com +44 (0)1483 835794
Sally.Marwaha@benchevents.com +44 (0)1244 341956
Gillian.Powell@benchevents.com +44 (0)20 8297 2053
About Questex Media Group, Inc.
Questex Media Group, Inc is a global, diversified business-to-business media organization serving multiple industries, including hotel and hospitality, travel, technology, beauty, spa and numerous other specialty industries, with its well-established, market-leading publications, events, interactive media, research, and other marketing and media-related services. The company's combined operations include more than 450 employees in offices throughout North America, South America, Asia and Europe. Strategically, Questex places a strong emphasis on serving the hotel and hospitality market and has created the Questex HotelWorld Network, which provides access and opportunity within all facets of the hotel and lodging industry across the globe. Questex's HotelWorld Network includes events such as the International Hotel Investment Forum Berlin (IHIF), the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference, The Distressed Hotel Summit, HotelWorld Food & Beverage, the HOTEC series of three-day forums and introducing IHIF Asia Pacific, a newly launched hotel investment conference in the Asia-Pacific region. The HotelWorld Network also encompasses publications such as Hotel & Motel Management magazine, Hotel Design magazine, Luxury Hotelier and The Hotel Times.
Bench Events - A Portal for the Hotel Industry
As organisers of top conferences for the hotel and investment industry, Bench Events is a growing entity that currently hosts leading hotel investment conferences in Berlin (IHIF), Dubai (AHIC) and Moscow (RHIC). Bench Event’s sister company, JW Bench, is a benchmarking company that has successfully launched the Conference Bench and the Productivity Bench. An industry first, the Conference Bench, measures performance data for conference and banqueting space in hotels in Stockholm, Oslo, London, Brussels with other capital cities contributing shortly. For details go to www.jwbench.com.