Netherlands: Cycas Hospitality has appointed Apurva Pratap to the newly created role of managing director.
He will join on May 1, bringing nearly 25 years of hospitality and investment experience to the role. He joins Cycas from The Student Hotel in Amsterdam where, as chief customer officer, he was responsible for the portfolio’s commercial performance.
During nine years in senior strategic and operational roles with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Pratap was instrumental in exceeding European revenue targets by $200 million while reducing commercial spend for hotels. Key to this success was his ability to drive performance improvements and engagement levels across the commercial and distribution teams.
Prior to that, he led a series of travel-related projects in the US, Europe and Australia for McKinsey & Company.
Matt Luscombe, CEO of Cycas Hospitality, said: “I am delighted to welcome Apurva to Cycas Hospitality. I’ve known Apurva for many years, and he’s an inspirational leader as well as having one of the sharpest commercial and strategic minds in the industry. His passion for people, values, energy and pioneering spirit are a great fit for Cycas. I’m very confident he will help us take the company to the next level, for our team and our investment partners, as we scale the business across Europe.”
“I’m very proud that, despite the pandemic’s challenges, we’ve doubled the size of our business since I joined Cycas two years ago. With Apurva’s deep understanding of how to maximise hotel performance across a wide range of markets and hospitality segments, I have every confidence that Cycas is well placed to double our portfolio again, drive strong returns for our investment partners, and bring in more fantastic hospitality talent over the next two years,” he added.
Pratap said: “Hospitality is a people business, and for me Cycas sets the perfect example of how a company can deliver the best returns for its partners by consistently following its philosophy of keeping people at the heart of every decision. At a time when the hotel sector across Europe remains highly fragmented, I look forward to helping Cycas build on its multi-market, multi-brand management expertise, secure new operator partnerships and cement its hotels’ reputation as the best places to work as well as stay across the region.”
