Greenwood Hospitality has steadily expanded by four to five properties each year since its start in 2009. Now, they have nearly 20 in their portfolio. Tom Conran, co-founder and current principal of Greenwood Hospitality, has more than 40 years of hospitality experience. Conran discusses the reasons for the management company’s quick success, the company’s future, and more.
Why has Greenwood Hospitality seen such steady growth?
At the end of the day, it is all about the results, and part of our process must be results-driven. Therefore, our operational track record is very significant. But at the same time, we consider our company to be very trustworthy, and we stress a culture based on integrity and communication. These two fundamentals have greatly impacted our ability to expand. They have also impacted our ability to retain clients, as evidenced by the number of properties we manage with the same owners.
What differentiates Greenwood from other management companies?
We have a strong presence in the food-and-beverage sector, and I think an expertise in that discipline has allowed us to grow within the full-service sector at a greater pace than our competition. A deep concentration in the food-and-beverage industry is one aspect of differentiation, but a second is our drive to create meaningful relationships with our ambassadors. We currently have more than 2,600 ambassadors who support our portfolio. We find it very important to get to know our ambassadors. This goes beyond the job they do; we get to know their lives as well. We get to know them, their families, and their achievements. We are all a part of the same team and we are going in the same direction.
We also put an emphasis on engagement, flexibility, and trust, as well as having a bit of fun along the way. We walk this walk every single day. As a corporate team, we have traveled to every single property, and we continue to reinforce this culture.
Why is your presence in the F&B sector so important?
While we have both full-service and select-service hotels, I would say that our bread and butter is the full-service sector, and within that sector, there is a large food-and-beverage component. We don’t shy away from that at all, but instead we have chosen to embrace it. We operate on a very high level within the food-and-beverage market, and we have been very successful in using that platform to enhance our storyline and grow our portfolio.
