Wayne Bunz boasts in excess of 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and is National Director of the CBRE Hotels brokerage business. After training with the Hyatt Hotels group, he joined Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in 2002 as a Senior Vice President.

After several years of leading the Queensland brokerage division for JLL Hotels Wayne joined CBRE Hotels in 2011 to lead the brokerage division. He is one of the key members of this hotels investment transactional team, which specialises in the disposal of all asset classes within the hospitality industry. Wayne's national role and core focus is on the top end of the hotel investment market.

Some of Wayne's numerous career achievements including the CBRE State Senior Managing Director Award, REIQ Commercial Agent of the Year and REIA Commercial Agent of the Year.

How did you get into the hotels industry?

I started in the industry as a dishwasher in Christchurch before moving to Auckland to start an apprenticeship with Hyatt Hotels. After becoming a fully qualified chef, I moved to Australia and opened my own restaurant. Following this, I moved to Tamworth where I progressed from Executive Chef to General Manager of the Tamworth and Brisbane Powerhouse Boutique Hotels.

After the Brisbane Powerhouse was sold by JLL Hotels I was offered a position in their brokerage team. In 2011, I joined CBRE Hotels where I am currently a National Director.

What are some of your career highlights from your time in the industry?

My highlights include meeting my wife in the hotel industry, having the freedom to travel and stay in exceptional hotels, the quality of people within the hotel industry and being involved in training rising stars. I started in hotel real estate after 20 plus years in the hospitality industry and since then I have applied what I learnt working in the kitchen and hotel operations to brokerage. My brokerage highlights include the sale of the Park Hyatt Melbourne and the Marriott Surfers Paradise where I also happened to get married.

What are the biggest issues facing the hotel industry at the moment?

The increasing dominance of online travel agents (OTA) and the rise of Airbnb is currently a hot topic. It will be very interesting to see how they shape the hotel industry in the future as there are conflicting schools of thought about the perceived threat that they present and what government regulation – if any – will be introduced in order to regulate these industries.

Labour costs are also a prominent issue for the hospitality industry. Rising labour and constructions costs are driving new hotel developments away from the traditional model to ‘rooms only’ hotels with limited facilities. The reduction in ancillary spaces not only saves construction costs but also maximises efficiencies in hotel operations and reduces the number of employees required.

Developers are utilising every inch of space, with new hotels featuring ever diminishing guestroom sizes whilst focusing on key aspects including social spaces, high quality bedding and in-room features.

These issues are not being helped by lazy management who are not prepared to adapt to changing conditions and an inability to utilise revenue management to their advantage.

How has the industry changed in the time you have been involved with it?

The role Generation Y and Millennials are playing in the hotel sector is having a profound impact on hotel design and features with many new hotels doing away with the traditional check-in desk and hotel lobby designs and opting for social spaces and innovative technology. There has been a shift away from standardisation and cookie cutter hotels to boutique lifestyle brands.

Hotel management agreements were in the past heavily skewed in the operators favour. However, as competition in the market grows the balance of power is shifting more to owners. There has been a change from base fees to more of a focus on the incentive fee which drives operators to perform well. More and more agreements are having clauses written into agreements whereby upon sale the new owner has the option of seeking a new operator immediately rather than having to wait until the current agreement ends. 

What changes would you like to see over the next two to five years in the hotel brokerage industry?

I would like to see more young rising stars coming into the hotel brokerage industry. This is a very male dominated industry and we at CBRE really focus on young talent, both male and female, working on all our deals to ensure that they are given the opportunity to establish their own relationships with hotel owners.

I would also like to see more innovative, boutique hotels by individual owner operators in the future.

What is your favourite hotel and holiday destination?

My favourite hotel is Halcyon House in Cabarita Beach and my favourite holiday destination is Queenstown, New Zealand.

See also:

Atura Edmondson Park Hotel for sale in Sydney Western Suburbs Wayne Bunz Rob Cross CBRE Hotels

Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise Gold Coast hotel for sale Wayne Bunz CBRE Hotels​