The Luxury Travel Edit podcast is where leaders of the travel industry share insights about their world-class brands and companies. Hosted by the luxury-travel consultant and journalist John O’Ceallaigh, the series covers all things relating to luxury travel, from hotels to aviation to superyachts.

In this fourth episode of the first series, John speaks to Tom Rowntree, VP Global Luxury & Lifestyle Brands at InterContinental Hotels Group. In recent years, IHG acquired Regent Hotels - a once great luxury-hotel brand that in recent decades had lost ground to various newcomers. IHG is now in the process of revitalising the brand, which it has reinterpreted for a new and more modern global audience who have vastly different priorities from the first guests to stay with Regent in its 1970s heyday.

Here Tom speaks about just what it takes to develop an ultra-luxury hospitality brand in the present day, and elaborates on how IHG's vast customer insights allow the company to identify emerging trends, future hospitality hotspots and more. The duo also speak about the value of 'super suites' in creating a brand position that will win over UHNW travellers, the essential value of showing meaningful generosity when welcoming big-spending clients, and how some of the best tweaks you can make to service are often completely imperceptible to the guest.

For more on The Luxury Travel Edit podcast and future episodes, you can follow John O'Ceallaigh on LinkedIn or www.instagram.com/luxurytraveleditor. For more on Regent Hotels & Resorts, visit www.ihg.com/regent.

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