Event Description

Everything works differently in Japan and that is especially true when introducing international brands and concepts. As a pioneering developer who has introduced multiple new hotel brands to Japan, Seth Sulkin has had to cope with the exacting standards of big franchisors like Marriott and IHG while at the same time adapting them to the needs of the Japanese market. Mr. Sulkin will discuss how he chooses brands for each project, geographic and cultural differences throughout Japan and how the boom in international visitors to Japan is transforming the hotel industry.   

He will also talk about how he goes about choosing general contractors, architects and interior designers and how the high cost of land in Japan influences design choices. He will discuss why it is almost impossible to build stand-alone luxury hotels in Tokyo, how developers and investors increasingly prefer renovations of existing hotels to new builds and why office to hotel conversions are so rare in Japan. 

Speaker

Seth Sulkin, CEO, Pacifica Capital K.K./ Pacifica Hotels G.K.

Speaker Bio

Seth R. Sulkin is President and CEO of Pacifica Capital K.K., a Tokyo-based developer of hotels and commercial properties with more than 30 years of real estate investment experience in Japan. He is also CEO of Pacifica Hotels G.K., a franchise operator of Marriott and IHG hotels. In October 2017, he developed and opened Moxy Tokyo Kinshicho, the first lifestyle hotel in Japan.  He is also the developer of numerous other international hotels under a variety of brands including Westin, Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn & Suites, Garner and City Express by Marriott. His projects range from Hokkaido to Okinawa and everywhere in between. 

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Sulkin is a member of the Executive Committee of ULI Japan. Fluent in Japanese, he received a master’s degree from Stanford University’s Center for East Asian Studies and attended the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama.