hospitality business me | 2013 march

Trends: Industry insiders debate whether online education can ever replace face-to-face learning

Feature: Revealing how technology will change tomorrow’s hotels and why the trend will span budget to luxury

Interview: Sheraton Dubai Creek GM Heinz Grub on Starwood’s next step to success and how he juggles seven properties

Q&A: The outdoors may be great, but in our unforgiving climate making the most of them isn’t easy

Even more: Data, tenders, jobs and appointment news

In association with...

Publication licensed by IMPZ

GLOBAL HOTEL INDEX: Egypt 47.1% - Saudi Arabia 61.2% - South Africa 56.8% - UAE 81.1% (Average MEA occupancy January 2013)

Jumeirah Group CEO Gerald Lawless shares his lessons from Sheikh Mohammed and his vision for the future of Jumeirah Group.... even after his retirement

Jumeirah Group CEO GerLawless shares his lessonfrom Sheikh Mohammedand his vision for the futof Jumeirah Group.... eveafter his retirement

LESSONS FROM THE TOP

cpidubai.com HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST / 1MARCH 2013

CONTENTS

EDITOR’S LETTER REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS

DATA WATCHSTATISTICS AND ANALYSIS FROM STR AND ERNST & YOUNG

DTCM NEWSTHE DEPARTMENT’S MOST RECENT EVENTS AND INITIATIVES

TENDERS

GM INTERVIEWHEINZ GRUB ON STARWOOD’S NEXT STEPS

GULFOOD 2013ALL THE NEWS FROM THE AWARDS TO THE SHOW FLOOR

COVER STORYJUMEIRAH CEO GERALD LAWLESS ON LEARNING FROM SHEIKH MOHAMMED AND SECURING HIS LEGACY

ROUNDTABLEPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DISTANCE LEARNING ON THE TABLE THE GREAT OUTDOORSMAXIMISING OUTDOOR SPACE AND MINIMISING OVERHEADS

HOTEL TOMORROW THE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMING TOMORROW

PRODUCT WATCHTHE LATEST PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND LAUNCHES

DU

JOBS AND APPOINTMENTS

COMMENTINSIGHT FROM INFOR

04

28

06

12

16

18

22

28

34

43

48

54

56

20

43

48

64

61

22

20

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COMMENT / EDITOR’S LETTER

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4 / HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST MARCH 2013

A gimmick with soulUnlike the openings of last decade, the next generation of hotels

are celebrating with style

When 1300 people were invited to the opening of the world record breaking Marriott Marquis the general expectation was for another ‘Dubai Night’

There’s an element of the counter-

productive in Dubai’s most

prominent USP. For all the glitz its

glossy exterior imbues – attracting

millions of tourists annually,

whether to indulge, imitate or

imagine – the reoccurring criticism

of the Emirate is that is lacks soul.

So when 1300 people were invited

to the opening of the world record

breaking Marriott Marquis (The 355m

towers in the heart of Dubai with

giant diamond-shaped illuminations

atop) the general expectation was for

another ‘Dubai Night’.

Celebrity appearances and

diamond give-a-ways aside, what

happened over the course of the

evening told all the guests that,

perhaps, Dubai’s second dimension

was also launching.

The range of entertainment,

including cellos and live art, set an

unexpected tone and one that, for

me, signals recovered Dubai will be a

city with soul.

On the other side of town, on the

same night, Pullman Hotel launched

MELANIE MINGAS EDITOR

at Deira City Centre: a celebration

marked with art. Global marketing

SVP Xavier Louyot described the

vision for guests as such:

“In 2013, starting with Paris,

London and Brussels, Pullman will

start building with both emerging

and established living artists a

contemporary art collection that

explores an essential aspect of our

times: The re-emergence of cultural

identities in a modern world marked

by universality and cultural mixing.”

With 150 properties due to open

region-wide this year (up from 46

last year, according to STR Global

figures) perhaps it’s time to look at

how new properties can add depth

to the region’s image, and bring

lessons in modesty from further

afield, where austerity reigns

The Hotel Show 2013

Hospitality Business Middle East is proud to announce its official media partnership with The Hotel Show 2013. See page 18 for details

28 - 30 September 2013

© 2012 Avaya Inc. All rights reserved.

Avaya Mobile Collaboration and Networking Solutions let your guests and staff collaborate anywhere, with any device they choose.

Avaya solutions offer highly flexible and secure mobility that enables The Power of We™—keeping your people at their productive best, regardless of location or device and your guests delighted with superior hospitality applications and a robust network. See how faster collaboration and smarter decision-making can create a better business for hospitality with Rotana Group http://www.avaya.com/uk/case-for-avaya/customer-stories/rotana-groupFor more information, please contact [email protected]

Device-friendly hotel for a device-driven world.

NEWS WATCH

cpidubai.com6 / HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST MARCH 2013

MENA NEWS

$10.4bn VALUE OF ONLINE BOOKINGS IN 2012, UP 31%

The converted hotel will feature 259 rooms.

TripAdvisor has reported a 40% YoY

growth in the number of hotels listed

on the site.

To date more than 50,000

chain, boutique and independent

properties have upgraded to

TripAdvisor Business Listings to

harness advanced marketing services

and generate more business online.

Globally, there has been a more

than 40% year-on-year increase

in the hotel industry's adoption of

Business Listings, and according

to a recent Forrester Consulting

Total Economic Impact study, some

partners have converted up to $64 in

Hilton opens first Sharjah property Hilton Hotels has announced the

opening of its 11th branded property

in the UAE and its first in Sharjah,

with the launch of the 259-room

Hilton Sharjah.

Formally known as Corniche

Al Buhaira Hotel, the converted

property overlooks Sharjah’s biggest

lagoon and is only 10km from

Dubai International airport. It will

be positioned to capitalise on both

Dubai tourists and visitors to the

annual F1 Powerboat Racing,Sharjah

International Book Fair and

International Test Cricket matches.

On behalf of property owners Bin

Otaiba Investment Group, HE Khalaf

Bin Ahmed Al Otaiba said: “We’ve

been eagerly anticipating the hotel’s

conversion into the Hilton brand and

we’re delighted the property will now

bear the name of such a recognised

global leader. The company enjoys

an impressive reputation which will

add value to Sharjah’s ambitions in

developing the Emirate into a key

business and leisure destination.”

50,000 hotels on TripAdvisor Business Listingsincremental bookings through the

product for every dollar spent.

The news comes only months

since the announcement that more

than 300 million people view

TripAdvisor content on partner sites

through content syndication and

review collection partnerships.

"We're seeing more and more

brands adopt TripAdvisor

Business Listings because it's

a nimble solution that helps

accommodations upgrade their

online and mobile presence," said

Christine Petersen, president of

TripAdvisor for Business.

Hilton, Marriott and Four

Seasons are the most talked about

hotel chains online in forums such

as Lonely Planet and Hotelguide.

net, according to market research

by Maven Magnet and Brodeur

Partners. Using algorhythms to

account for the number of ‘likes’

and retweets a comment received,

The report concluded service and

location are the biggest “functional”

conversation drivers, followed by

rooms, recreation, and rewards

programmes. Ritz Carlton scored

highest for sensory relevance,

covering sight (view) and taste (food).

Online winners named

NEWS WATCH


276 HOTELS AND HOTEL APARTMENTS ARE LOCATED WITHIN 2KM OF

ONE OF FIVE MEGA SHOPPING MALLS IN DUBAI.

2015 Kuwait’s deadline to attract one

million tourism arrivals per annum

All statistics sources from the ATM

Roadshow

15.3% Increase in tourism, compared to 2011,

in Jordan.

18.8%

CAGR for Bahrain’s hospitality market

to 2016

$39m Investment into tourism development

of Dhofar province, Oman

$7.5b

Projected UAE hospitality market value

by 2016. A 67% increase on 2011

46% Of international visitors to GCC are Hajj

and Umrah visitors, driving a market

worth $16.5bn to KSA.

Soft launch of Corp Executive Hotel Amman begins Corp Executive Hotel Amman has

begun soft opening ahead of an

official opening next week, marking

Hospitality Management Holdings’

first step into the Levant country

where it could take a sizeable chunk

of the 16% occupancy increase

experienced last year.

The 108 room property is located

opposite The Royal Cultural Center,

Al Shmeisani. The hotel features

three multi-functional meeting

rooms, a ballroom and four F&B

offerings.

“We believe the market is quite

excited and will be impressed with

what they see," said GM Emad

Jawad Hussain.

VVVEVEEEEEEEEVEEEEEVEEEVEEEEVVVEVEEEEVVVVEEEEVVVVEEEVVVVEEEVVVVVVEEE

NEWS IN PICTURES - VIP LAUNCH FOR MARRIOTT MARQUIS

Marquis global brand manager Mitzi Gaskins was joined by VIP guests Arne Sorenson, Donna

Karan and Kathleen Matthews at the opening of the Marriott Marquis on February 27.

Visit www.hospitalitybusinessme.com for the full story and images.

NEWS WATCH


MENANEWS

63.9% SUPPPLY GROWTH PREDICTED FOR OMAN,

THE LARGEST RATE IN THE MEA REGION

London Lord Mayor ‘impressed’

by Saadiyat

The Lord Mayor of London,

Alderman Roger Gifford, has tourd

Saadiyat Island in an event hosted by

Abu Dhabi’s TDIC.

Greeted by TDIC chair, Sheikh

Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, the

trip highlighted “the significance

of cultural exchange between the

UAE and the world as Saadiyat

contributes a major part in this

aspect through its world-class

museums, such as the Zayed

National Museum being developed

in collaborations with the expertise

of the British Museum.”

The Lord Mayor also toured

With properties due imminently

in Turkey and The Maldives, he says

further UAE expansion is inevitable.

“I would like us to come in with

a resort, but one that has business

facilities.

“Ideally, I would prefer to come

into beach, rather than city, first.

But ultimately I do want both,” he

continued.

2013 has started strong for the

group with a new Manhattan

property also opening last

Manarat Al Saadiyat’s exhibition,

‘The Saadiyat Story’, which depicts

the development of island as

it emerges as an unparalleled

international destination of cultural,

tourism and residential offerings.

During the tour he received an

update on the Saadiyat Cultural

District which will also be home to

other cultural projects, including

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum,

a performance arts centre, and

Louvre Abu Dhabi museum, where

construction work is well underway

following the recent appointment of

a contractor in January 2013.

Alderman Roger Gifford toured the island with TDIC in February.

month, Viceroy New York. Of the

expansions, Walshe added: “One

of the things about Viceory is that

our expansion is based on opening

quality hotels in quality locations.

To be honest, we could expand faster

than we are doing but that would

involve compromising and I’m not

going to open in a B location, just to

get a name over the door.”

The full interview will Bill Walshe

will be published next month.

The North and South African

hospitality market is experiencing

differing rates of growth, evident in

the most recent ADR rates reported

by STR Global.

Northern Africa’s ADR declined

2.1% in 2012, whilst the rest of the

continent’s increased 2.6%.

The trend was replicated in

occupancy rates, with Northern

Africa experiencing a bounce

back in occupancy with a 16.85%

increase to 52% total. Its African

neighbours grew only 3.9% but still

reached 59.6% occupancy.

The MEA market opened 68 new

hotels totalling 15,735 rooms in

2012, with a further 480 hotels still

in the pipeline, totalling a grand

total of 118,023 rooms.

Among other countries in the

region, Oman reported the largest

expected supply growth (+63.9 %)

if all 4,613 rooms in the country’s

total active pipeline open. Saudi

Arabia, Algeria, Qatar, United Arab

Emirates and Kuwait all reported

expected room growth of more than

30 %.

Further market statistics from STR

Global can be found on page 14.

African market ADR "fragmented"

"I want Viceroy Dubai" says group CEO Bill WalsheWith a promise that he “won’t rest

until it happens” Viceroy CEO Bill

Walshe has told Hospitality Business

Middle East “Because of the

importance of the destination here I

want Viceroy Dubai and I won’t rest

until it happens”.

Walshe made the pledge while

speaking about the group’s first

foray into “a truly international

market”, following the opening of

Yas Viceroy in Abu Dhabi, the first

property outside the Americas.

P.O. Box 184432Trade Center Road

T:04 255 2560F:04 255 2561

E:[email protected]

Crafting hospitality

NEWS WATCH

cpidubai.com

GLOBAL NEWS

410 ROOMS ADDED TO THE BOOMING TURKISH

MARKET BY ARABIC BRAND ROTANA


The Westin Chennai Velachery

has opened in the Southern part of

India. It is the sixth Westin hotel in

India and the first out of seven new

Westin hotels expected to open in

2013 across Asia Pacific.

The hotel offers 215 guestrooms and

suites. GM Shrikant Wakharkar said:

“We believe that business travelers,

meeting planners and individuals

will be delighted with our emphasis

on well-being and the innovative

signature services that have earned

Westin worldwide recognition.”

Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Worldwide has announced the

opening of Le Méridien Atlanta

Perimeter, following a 12-month,

$20 million renovation. It is the

first Meridien hotel in the Atlanta

metropolitan area and one of nine

new Le Méridien hotels slated to open

within the next 12 months.

The hotel is owned by

RockBridge Capital and managed

by Wischermann Partners. said

Brian Povinelli, global brand leader,

Le Méridien and Westin Hotels:

Rotana steps beyond core marketRotana has announced the

development of the Tango Arjaan

and Burgu Arjaan, both in Istanbul,

increasing its portfolio by a total of

410 rooms in the country.

Rotana will manage the hotels for

the Turkish group Dap-Yapi, which

markets its properties located in the

Maltepe area of the Turkish city as

‘Residence-Hotels’, due to its ‘rent while

you’re away’ shared ownership scheme.

Upon completion, the Burgu Arjaan

- divided into two connected towers,

Burgu 1 and Burgu 2 - will have a total

of 222 rooms, while the Tango Arjaan

by Rotana will be a 188-key hotel. The

Burgu towers will share facilities such

as the lobby, lobby café, business centre,

restaurant, health club, indoor and

outdoor pool and landscaped areas, as

well meeting and conference rooms.

“Arjaan Hotel Apartments by

Rotana are designed to close the gap

between hotel and home and we are

entering the vibrant Turkish leisure

market for the first time with this

concept. The new properties will

represent a milestone for Rotana -

the Tango Arjaan and Burgu Arjaan

will be the first step in taking our

brand, which is already iconic in the

Middle East and Africa region, to the

wider world,” Rotana president and

Located in Istanbul, Burgu Arjaan by Rotana (above) and Tango Arjaan add 410 rooms to the local portfolio.

CEO Selim El Zyr said, adding that

both make “great economic sense for

both residents and investors” due to

the ‘rent while you are away’ scheme,

which is “common worldwide but

is yet to gain ground in Turkey, the

properties provide an alternative

source of income for owners. The

weekly, monthly and annually rented

apartments will be operated and

managed by a professional system

and apartment owners will have the

choice of an extra income by renting

their places through Rotana.”

$20m makeover for Atlanta’s first Méridien"Since its acquisition by Starwood,

Le Méridien has transformed under

the company into a contemporary,

design-led lifestyle brand, and we

are proud to debut Le Méridien in

the Southeast's capital of business

and culture with such great

partners as RockBridge Capital and

Wischermann Partners,”

The 275 room hotel features the

Le Méridien Hub experience, which

re-interprets the traditional lobby into a

social gathering place for creative people

to "converse, debate, and exchange".

India's new Westin

542

752

826

973

709

746

639

407

609 627 69

1

503

283

289

75%

81%

76%

71% 71%

38%

46%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

ADR (EGP) RevPAR (EGP) Occupancy

-30.0%

-25.0%

-20.0%

-15.0%

-10.0%

-5.0%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

2009-2010 - 2011-2012

Rooms profit F&B Profit Hotel GOP

2010 2011

374

681 72

6

181

365

282

48%

54%

39%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Giza Heliopolis Cairo Downtown

ADR RevPAR Occupancy

50.9%49.1%

Domestic Spending International Spending

DATA WATCH


Egypt: Cairo focushotel market overview

KEY FIGURES

1.1% RISE IN LEISURE

SPENDING OVER

2012

77% HIGHEST DECLINE

IN ROOMNIGHT DE-

MAND, EXPERIENCED

2011

-4.5% DECLINE IN BUSINESS

SPENDING OVER 2012

5.7%INCREASE IN

INTERNATIONAL

SPENDING BY EGYP-

TIAN NATIONALS,

SIGNALLING MORE

LEISURE TIME SPENT

ABROAD

8.4%OF GDP SOURCED

FROM TOURISM,

2008-2010

SPENDING % OF DIRECT TRAVEL & TOURISM GDP 2012

Source: Colliers International Analysis

CAIRO HOTELS KPI 2006-2012

CAIRO PERFORMANCE 2012

DEPARTMENTAL PROFITABILITY (YOY % CHANGE)

Source: WTTC 2012

1,509

1,210

850

350

Unrated9%

5-star18%

4-star9%

3-star26%

2-star23%

1-star15%

FIT

/ Oth

erC

orpo

rate

Leis

ure

Tour

s / G

roup

s

-80%

-60%

-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%2009-10 2010-11 2011-2012

DATA WATCH

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST / 13cpidubai.com MARCH 2013

KEY FIGURES

1.9% DECLINE IN GDP

CONTRIBUTIONS

FROM TOURISM

IN 2012

11MTOURISTS REGIS-

TERED IN 2012

5.8% TOTAL NATIONAL

EMPLOYMENT IN

TOURISM, 2011

17.9%REVPAR

KSA HOTEL MARKET INDICATORS OCT 2012

ALEXANDRIA

2.2%ADR

20.5%OCC

30.1%REVPAR

CAIRO DOWNTOWN

-11.7%ADR

14.9%OCC

19.1%REVPAR

CAIRO GIZA

-10%ADR

7.3%OCC

21.4%REVPAR

CAIRO HELIOPLIS

0.4%ADR

-21.9%OCC

-19.3%REVPAR

LUXUR

-3.2%ADR

-21.9%OCC

15.9%REVPAR

HURGHADA

-4.1%ADR

11.2%OCC

27.1%REVPAR

SHARM EL SHEIKH

-5.0%ADR

20.8%OCC

69.5% YOUTH POPULATION

WILL ‘DRIVE DEMAND

FOR QUALITY ECONOMY’

HOTELS

YEAR ON YEAR VARIANCE IN ROOMNIGHTS BY SEGMENT

CAIRO FORTHCOMING ROOM SUPPLY

Source: Colliers International Analysis

CAIRO HOTEL CLASSIFICATION

70% AVERAGE OCCUPANCY

BEFORE ARAB SPRING

DATA WATCH

cpidubai.com14 � hospitality business miDDle eAsT mArCH 2013

45.6% peak occupancy in Cairo, the

largest gain in the report

15.1% occupancy increase in Amman,

Jordan, over 2012

14.3% occupancy increase in

oman, 2012 average

9% occupancy increase in

Jeddah, ksA, 2012 average

cpidubai.com

DATA WATCH

data watchglobal hotel data comparison from sTr global

deCember 2012 vs deCember 2011

AsiA pACifiC

oCC% ADr perCenTAge CHAnge from June 2011

2012 2011 2012 2011 oCC ADr revpAr

66.6 66.5 100.64 101.48 0.2 -0.8 -0.6

revpAr

AmeriCAs


2012 2011 2012 2011 oCC ADr revpAr

49.3 47.9 81.76 80.0 3.0 2.1 5.1

revpAr

europe


2012 2011 2012 2011 oCC ADr revpAr

55.0 53.5 96.95 95.71 2.8 1.3 4.1

revpAr

miDDle eAsT/AfriCA


2012 2011 2012 2011 oCC ADr revpAr

57.7 55.7 134.14 135.38 3.7 -0.9 2.8

revpAr

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0

10

20

30

40

50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2012 2011

67.07 67.50

2012 2011

2012 2011

2012 2011

key figures

7.9% oCCupAnCy

inCreAse in uAe, 2012 AverAge

-17.3% revpAr DeCreAse in beiruT

11.4% revpAr groWTH

2012 in DubAi, one of four mArkeTs

To see Double DigiT groWTH

-8.2% oCCupAnCy

DeCreAse in kenyA, THe lArgesT Drop in THe meA region

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0

10

20

30

40

50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

40.30 38.330

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0

10

20

30

40

50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

53.33 51.21

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0

10

20

30

40

50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

77.46 75.38

12-14 Data watch.indd 14 3/5/13 3:31 PM

MANUFACTURE OF UNIQUE HOTEL CONCEPTS

. Furnisher of the hotel industry since 1968

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Selva Middle East L.L.C. Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Tel. +971 4 3411933 [email protected] www.selva-me.ae

Do

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lbia

- I

taly

)


DTCM NEWS

We are working to promote the medical tourism in Dubai, since Dubai has an excellent infrastructure, modern hospitals and clinics and can offer a variety of medical services to visitors in search of quality health care.”Eyad Abdul Rahman,

executrive director for

media relations and

business development

at DTCM

Healthy outlook for medical tourism

DTCM in South Asia mega-expo

The Department of Tourism and

Commerce Marketing and Dubai

Health Authority held several

meetings recently to promote Dubai

as a leading health destination. As

part of the significant role which

both DTCM and DHA are playing

to boost the medical tourism comes

their participation in international

For the seventh consecutive year, a

DTCM delegation has travelled to

New Delhi to participate in South

Asia’s largest networking forum for

the hospitality industry, SATTE.

Mansoor Bawazir, DTCM’s head

of region in the overseas promotions

and inward missions department,

participated along with 35

representatives from the Department

of Tourism in the exhibition.

Last year’s overwhelming response

set the pace for SATTE 2013, with

more than 50% of the previous

year’s exhibitors confirming their

participation in this year’s show.

Of the growth tourism and

business growth between Dubai and

Asia, organisers reported Dubai

received a total of 763,846 visitors

from India alone in 2012.

Dubai-India relations in

particular have been showing signs

of rapid growth, which reflects

the eagerness and expansion of

economies on both sides.

India has remained one of the

largest trading partners of Dubai and

has been posting remarkable year-

on-year growth for two-way trade.

specialised exhibitions and seminars.

Eyad Abdul Rahman, executive

director for media relations and

business development at DTCM said:

“We are working to promote the

medical tourism in Dubai, since Dubai

has excellent infrastructure, modern

hospitals and clinics and offers a

variety of medical services to visitors

in search of quality health care.”

Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of health

policy and strategy sector at DHA

said: “DHA and DTCM held frequent

meetings to impalement the medical

tourism initiatives and achieve the

vision of Dubai to build on the core

strengths of the emirate, including

its current network of advanced

healthcare amenities, modern

infrastructure and strong credentials

in the tourism sector.”

DTCM NEWS

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST / 17MARCH 2013cpidubai.com

Green Exhibition dates announcedThe DTCM Green Exhibition

will take place from April 7 – 9 to

coincide with the Green Festival.

The exhibition aims to involve

businesses, individuals and

communities by encouraging

initiatives and efforts that aim

to increase ecological awareness

and preserve the environment for

sustainable development.

Eyad Abdul Rahman, executive

director of media relations and

business development said that

organising this first of its kind

green extravaganza in the region

comes in response to the UAE’s

aspirations for innovative solutions

E-boost for tourism plannedH.E. Ahmed Bin Humaidan, director

general of Dubai eGovernment (DeG)

Department welcomed the recent

visit of DG for DTCM, H.E Hilal

Saeed Al Marri to discuss how best

to enhance the eTransformation of

DTCM and the role that DeG could

play to develop the eServices provided

to government entities with the aim

of serving the tourist sector in general

and contributing to easing the needs

and transaction of visitors to Dubai.

DTCM is the latest government

department to benefit from

streamlined e-communications.

to environmental problems and

sustainable development.

He said the exhibition is dedicated

to achieving a host of goals, most

notably rationalizing environmental

behavior, supporting community

participation to preserve and

understand the surrounding

environment and its interaction with

biological, economic, social and

cultural aspects.

He outlined ecological challenges

facing the world and the importance

of promoting awareness among the

business community, individuals and

societies. He stressed the importance

of encouraging constructive

initiatives and efforts aiming at

raising ecological awareness and

preserve environment to ultimately

achieve sustainable development.

“The exhibition will provide a

precious opportunity for decision

makers, business leaders and

executives in government and

private bodies and institutions, as

well as representatives of leading

international companies specialized

in technology of preserving

environment and sustainable energy,”

noted Rahman.

For more information, visit: www.

dubaigreenfestival.com

cpidubai.com18 / HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST MARCH 2013 cpidubai.com

Hospitality Business Middle East named Official Media Partner for Hotel Show 2013DMG Events has named Hospitality Business Middle East magazine as Official Media Partner of The Hotel Show 2013, at Dubai World Trade Centre, from September 28 – 30.

As part of the contract, the

Hospitality Business team

will produce the conference

programme, official Show

Guide, map and Show Daily news

round-up, in addition to a special

edition of the magazine, the official

show preview and four co-branded

roundtable discussions in the run-up

to the event.

“This is a great opportunity for

Hospitality Business magazine and we

are excited to be working with such

a landmark industry show. Since the

launch of the magazine in 2012, we

have worked closely with all areas of

the industry to produce a title that’s

both on topic and on trend and this

partnership demonstrates the success

of that ambition,” said Associate

Publisher and Partner, Alex Bendiouis.

Magazine editor, Melanie Mingas,

commented: “We look forward to

working with DMG over the coming

months and putting together an

engaging and relevant conference

programme for visitors to the show.

The Hotel Show is a major industry

event and we look forward to bringing

our readers and contacts closer to the

action. Hospitality Business magazine

may be a young title, but its relevance

to the industry gains strength with

every issue and partnerships like this

are testament to the industry’s respect

for the magazine.“

Last year The Hotel Show

attracted more than 15,500 industry

professionals, a rise of 9% on 2011

visitor numbers.

Organised by DMG, The Hotel

Show is the largest full spectrum

hospitality and supplies event for

the MENA region, bringing the

best of regional and international

manufacturers together with qualified

buyers to meet the demands of

burgeoning regional hospitality

market. The esteemed event provides

unmatched networking and sourcing

opportunities and functions as an

unsurpassed business to business

platform for everyone and anyone in

the industry and satisfies a growing

requirement for a one stop shop for

hospitality organisations. The show

will be open from 11am – 7pm,

September 28 – 30, 2013.

Hospitality Business Middle East is

at the cutting edge of the hospitality

sector, delivering to the industry the

tools and information it needs to stay

on top in an increasingly competitive

market. With a focus on business

dynamics, it looks at the key revenue

drivers and pain points of the hotel

business through a mix of news,

interviews, reports, buyers’ guides,

networking events, round tables and

analysis. In short, Hospitality Business

Middle East focuses on how to drive

profits up while keeping costs down

We look forward to working with DMG over the com-ing months and putting together an engaging and relevant conference programme for visitors to the show

Magazine editor,

Melanie Mingas

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GM INTERVIEW


With a 60-step global

expansion strategy

underway and the UAE set

to take a lead in the plans,

Hospitality Business Middle East catches up with area

manager and Sheraton GM

Heinz Grub, days before the

launch of Starwood’s 14th

Dubai property


As far as prime locations go,

Pullman Mall of The Emirates

had it made. Adjoined to one

of the world’s most lucrative

malls and positioned to tap a top

2013 trend predicted at World Travel

Market (that of the ‘mall hotel’) it was

big news when Starwood and Majid Al

Futtaim Properties announced a deal

that would see the property reflagged

under Starwood’s Sheraton brand.

The news was confirmed in

December and on February 1 2013

Sheraton took charge of the 481 room

property, retaining all staff, and taking

the first step towards a 60-point plan

for global domination.

Having already opened 20 new

properties globally in 2012, over the

next three years Starwood will open a

further 60 in key emerging markets,

such as Asia. For example, 15 new

hotels will open in China alone over

the coming 12 months, aiding a target

of 80 properties by 2014.

As a brand, Sheraton has performed

robustly in the region since the first

hotel outside the US debuted in

Kuwait in 1965 and today represents

the most prominent brand regionally,

out of nine.

Of the new hotels confirmed for

MEA, the fourth Sheraton in Saudi

Arabia, Sheraton Medina, will open,

as will the first hotel in Tajikistan,

Sheraton Dushanbe, and of course

Sheraton Mall of The Emirates.

Two new hotels will also open in

Adana and Bursa, Turkey.

“We are expanding like every other

hotel company is expanding. Let’s face

it, we are in the Middle East with very

strong brands, like Sheraton, which is

most probably one of the world’s best

recognised hotel brands,” Dubai area

manager and Sheraton Creekside GM,

Heinz Grub shares.

“Our biggest expansions are in the

UAE, particularly Dubai, the Northern

Emirates and Saudi Arabia,” Grub

adds, specifying plans for Sheraton

Sheikh Zayed Road, due by 2013 end,

and the 1,600 room property planned

for the site of the former Habtoor

Complex and Metropolitan hotel,

Within a few years, Sheraton’s Dubai port-

folio will boast another ‘mall hotel’, when a

new retail and leisure development opens

on The Walk, at Jumeirah Beach Residence.

While developers are promising hoteliers,

restaurateurs and residents alike, an

‘enhanced community’ upon completion

of the sea-side shopping centre, it doesn’t

mean the ongoing construction phase has

been without issue.

One of 10 hotels currently operating on

The Walk, Grub says Sheraton JBR invests

€400,000 annually in the restoration, repair

and preservation of its beach and that

communication with guests has avoided any

major problems so far.

“Has [comfort] been affected? Absolutely,

but the team has coped so well and it all de-

pends on ‘how do I deal with this customer’.

“You cannot manage a massive high-rise

coming up next to you, which takes the

direct sun from your beach, but you can

talk to the customer and find out their

interests to help them find something else

to do,” he adds.

Under construction

1600ROOMED STARWOOD

PROPERTY PLANNED FOR THE SITE OF THE FORMER METROPOLITAN HOTEL.

also on Sheikh Zayed Road where,

by 2017, St Regis and W will be in

operation.

A number of other projects are also

in the pipeline, but are yet to move

beyond the contract stage; these are

expected “sometime between 2014

and 2016”.

It seems Starwood is announcing

new properties and further expansions

on a near daily basis, but when asked

how he personally keeps up with the

developments (while overseeing the

management of seven properties),

Grub simple responds: “I just do. It’s

very simple: You have to choose the

right people and focus on the right

people. You can’t do it all alone.

“We now have a lot of trained

people who we can draw from to

assist us in these expansion plans and

that is quite a substantial network,

so to speak, of people who we have

trained from entry-level. It’s a much

softer approach for the operation

and the individual and helps us quite

tremendously when supporting these

expansion plans,” he continues.

While evidently excited about the

group-wide developments, when it

comes to the numbers Grub maintains

a very reserved approach.

Declining to share first year

targets for Sheraton Mall

of The Emirates, he does

reveal an average 2%

occupancy increase and

“slight increase in rate”

compared to the previous

year, across the seven Dubai

properties he oversees.

“Projections for 2013 are for a

6.5-7% increase on revenue, mainly

driven out of rate and I think we will

have a good 2013. It started well with

January,” Grub adds, offering that

while Dubai may be much the same,

its affordability is improving, securing

the stopover market so desperately

needed to keep hotels, restaurants and

malls ticking over

GM INTERVIEW

Sheraton JBR

has experienced a

negative impact from

ongoing construction

work locally.

Dishes of the weekThis year saw the largest Gulfood exhibition to date, with 4200 exhibitors and many more visitors.

Hospitality Business reports the highlights of the week

INSIDE GULFOOD

22 / HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST MARCH 2013 cpidubai.comcpidubai.com


INSIDE GULFOOD

We are promoting the products that Brazil isn’t so famous for because we want to make that image clearer in the mind of buyers”Rafael Abdulmassih

Brazil: Country of honour and growingNamed as the ‘country of honour’

at this year’s Gulfood, Brazil is

aiming to achieve a 5-8% increase

on the current multi-billion dollar

GCC export market and to return

to Gulfood 2014 with even more

sectors represented.

Reporting total food exports to

the GCC reached $7.63bn in 2012,

Rafael Abdulmassih, secretary

general advisor with Arab Brazilian

Chamber of Commerce and Vinicius

Estrela, coordinator, image and

market access unit, Apex Brazil,

revealed that the growth target for

2013 is “conservative”.

“We are promoting the products

that Brazil isn’t so famous for

because we want to make that image

clearer in the mind of buyers,” said

Abdulmassih.

“The unique promotions of all

these Brazilian products, that are

more famous for coming from

other markets, is a unique branding

exercise for Brazil. Every day when

you take breakfast, lunch, or dinner,

we want you to know that you are

eating Brazilian food and that it

is tasty, is of good quality and is

Market % valueGCC 2012 total exports $7.63bnFood products top GCC in 2012 Meat (beef and chicken) $2.37bnSugar $1.37bnCereals $391m

Projected growth for 2012: 5-8% conservative forecast

UAE 2012 Exports $2.45bn over all exportsMeats (chicken and beef) $535mSugar $784mNatural oils and fats $22m

In numberscompetitively priced,” he added.

Participating in Gulfood since

2003, when only the country’s

fruit, beef and poultry sectors were

represented, next year Apex Brazil

and the Chamber of Commerce will

pave the way for Brazilian bakeries,

diary suppliers and chefs to enter the

lucrative GCC market.

Estrela, who was responsible

for closing the ‘country of honour’

deal and securing a larger and

more prominent exhibition space

for the Brazilian suppliers and

manufacturers, commented: “In

terms of business we expect two

different things this year. Firstly

partnerships between Gulf business

and Brazil in terms of investment

and secondly, to present new brands

and sectors from the Brazilian market

to the local gulf market, such as our

famous cheese bread, which is already

being implemented at coffee shops.”


INSIDE GULFOOD

For Peruvian food exporters,

Gulfood wasn’t just a trade mission

for their own individual businesses,

but an exercise in promoting

the South American country as

a gastronomically world-class

destination, as famous as its own

ancient wonders.

Speaking to Hospitality Business

Middle East, director of the Peru

Ministry of Foreign Trade and

Tourism, Alvaro Silva-Santisteban,

said: “Peru has been named as the

leading destination in the world this

year for gastronomy, beating Italy,

China and Thailand. Lima has been

named the culinary capital of America,

competing only with New York.

“Within that perspective we are

French beef aims for

300tn/year in sales

Despite the recent scandal in the

European meat industry, French beef is

back on the market in the UAE for the

first time since 1995, and suppliers are

eyeing up to 300 tonnes in annual sales.

With 13 companies represented in

the Gulfood French pavilion, export

manager for Gatine Viandes, Marc

Feunteun, said the sale of “quality

French beef products” to the UAE will

compensate the lesser demand for

high quality products seen in Europe.

Commenting on the impact of the

recent European beef scandal on the

sales projections, Feunteun added: “The

products affected in Europe were the

transformed products, not what we are

selling here. The traceability of each

client into the Emirates is fool proof.”

Trend-setting tea drinkersArend Redelinghuys, of Rooibos

Ltd, one of the founder members of

the South African Rooibos Council

(SARC), has said the UAE represents

one of two key target markets for

growers and distributors of the native

South African tea.

Targeting 50 tonnes in total exports

to Dubai alone for 2013, Redelinghuys

said equal focus would also be placed on

Taiwan as both markets are influential

across their respective continents.

“There are so many different

markets to choose from but after a lot

of research, we decided to focus on

these two because trends tend to be set

here,” Redelinghuys commented.

Currently, the two leading markets

globally are Germany, where much

Rooibos is blended and re-exported,

and Japan. According the literature

distributed by the council, in

independent lab tests, Rooibos tea was

found to have skin healing, calming

and antioxidant properties.

The way to a country’s hearttrying to build on our reputation

and bring people into Lima for

a culinary adventure that can be

experienced between our other nearby

destinations,” he added.

Some of the ‘little known facts’

about Peruvian food shared by Silva-

Santisteban, included the claim the

potatoes are originally from Peru and

that the country is a melting pot of

Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and

Arabic influences.

Silva-Santisteban continued: “People

know Peru for its ancient wonders, but

we are also rich in culinary heritage

and we want to grow the 48-hour

stopover market for the historical

tourists to stay in Lima and experience

its food and culture.”

NEWS IN PICTURES

The exhibition was opened on February 25, by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and

H.E Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi. It marked the largest exhibition in the show’s history.

Chef Christian Bravo.

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COVER STORY

In 2012 Jumeirah Group announced a string of ambitious new properties around the world, a reshuffle of the executive board, and

an extension of its flagship Dubai resort, Madinat Jumeirah. CEO Gerald Lawless reveals the plans and what it’s like to be mentored

by Sheikh Mohammed. Interview by Dave Reeder

For Gerald Lawless, the reserved

Jumeirah Group CEO who

forgoes media attention where

possible to maintain focus on

not just the brand, but the other

13,800 people behind it, 2013 will be a

milestone year.

This month marks Lawless’

seventh at the helm of Jumeirah

Group, fulfilling his instruction from

Dubai’s ruling elite to head Jumeirah’s

international growth strategy.

The appointment of Lawless to

group CEO in August of last year was

part of a board-wide re-shuffle that

also welcomed former Virgin Group

CEO Stephen Murphy, FlyDubai CEO

Ghaith Al Ghaith, former Hilton CEO

David Michels and Dubai Holding

COO Fadel Al Ali.

The move was deliberately

calculated to put Lawless in the

driving seat of an operation that will

double Jumeirah Group’s workforce by

2017; add 15 to 20 new properties to

the existing portfolio; and launch the

standalone F&B outlet Noodle House

across the UK (see box overleaf).


COVER STORY

cpidubai.comcpidubai.com

COVER STORY

Further to this plan, properties in

Baku, Azerbaijan and Kuwait continue

to progress, with official opening

announcements due imminently;

senior appointments have been made

in group-wide HR and F&B, with

the first Emirati GM appointed to

Jumeirah Living at World Trade Centre

Residences; and the global F&B concept

SupperClub has opened following its

partnership with Zabeel Saray.

Looking ahead, there are ongoing

negotiations for properties in Saudi

Arabia, Muscat, and the Jordanian

town of Aqaba. Five management

contracts have been signed in China,

to add to the existing Shanghai

property, and Bali is also on the radar

as are both North and South America.

“We are concentrating in the

immediate future on the Middle East.

In five years times we will be much

more significant as an operator both

here and in Asia because that would be

the short to medium term focus as well.

“Two to three years down the road

we will have to start looking at the

potential of places like South America,

and the Americas generally, but if you

think that we wouldn’t start focusing

there from about years three from now

and then you get the project and it

takes a few years to build, there’s your

five to ten year window.”

Speaking of desired location, he adds

of his home city: “It would be great to

get a top class Jumeirah hotel in Dublin.

Dublin is a top class destination.”

Remaining true to Jumeirah’s ‘stay

different’ tagline, Lawless describes

properties in each of these locations

as individual in terms of architecture

and atmosphere, while retaining

“the golden thread of the Jumeirah

standard of service”

“You see with all our hotels that

we have not only Jumeirah in the

brand name but the location name,

which also gives individuality.

I think that helps to encourage

innovation amongst the GMs and

management teams within these

hotels, whilst also applying the

whole Jumeirah culture through our

guidelines and principles.”

Acquire and inspireWhile the Dubai ethos to build

everything fresh is clearly

underpinning the expansions,

Lawless doesn’t rule out the potential

acquisition of existing properties,

should the right one become available,

as happened with Pera Palace Hotel.

“We would take over an existing

property if it were the right one like we

did with [Pera Palace] Istanbul. In that

case, it was absolutely the right thing

to do and we would certainly look at

others if we had the right opportunity

for a conversion. But we are being

realistic in that most of the new

opportunity comes from new build

because most of the existing hotels

already have branded management

agreements with other operators, so

there isn’t always that possibility.”

The surprising paradox in the

relentless ambition that Lawless will

drive, is that his personal approach

to an expansion plan that is set on a

dizzying scale, is all about realism.

Both measured and conservative

in nature, not only is Lawless acutely

aware of the gravity of the task in

hand, but his management strategy

is rooted in the empowerment of

Jumeirah colleagues in order to

execute growth. Jokingly describing

his management style as “chaotic”,

2013 PROJECTS OPENINGS

Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel, Kuwait

Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel, Baku

Under construction5 hotels in China, in addition to projects

in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar and British West Indies

and Jumeirah Mumbai, the first project in India.

Development pipeline18 hotels planned for the shor term future.

Jumeirah Creekside,

Dubai.



COVER STORY

As President and group CEO Jumeirah

Group, Gerald Lawless has helped establish Jumeirah as one of the premier luxury hotel brands in the

world. He joined the company in 1997 after a 23-year career with Forte Hotels, which culminated in him

setting up and grow-ing Forte’s operations

in the Middle East.Gerald is a Graduate

of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland and holds an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business

Administration in Hospitality Manage-ment by the Johnson & Wales University,

State of Rhode Island in the US, and an Honorary Degree

of Laws by the NUI Galway, Ireland. He is a member of the

Executive Committee and Vice Chairman –

Corporate Governance of the World Travel

and Tourism Council (WTTC); member of the Global Agenda

Council for Aviation, Travel and Tourism of the World Economic Forum (WEF); fellow

member of the Institute of Hospitality

(formerly HCIMA); member of the Advisory Group

for the Global Irish Forum; member of the Dubai Holding

Executive Committee and member of the

Board of Trustees of the Emirates Na-tional Development Programme (ENDP). Gerald also serves as the Chairman of the

Board of Governors of the Emirates Academy

of Hospitality Man-agement, and is a

former Non-Executive Director and member

of the Board of NASDAQ Dubai and

Travelodge.

Lawless maintains that it has been his

exposure to H.H. Sheikh Mohammed

that has shaped his professional

development and decision making of

late, an opportunity he describes as

“an honour”.

“To have had the exposure I have,

to see how a leader like HH Sheikh

Mohammed can execute a vision....

anybody can have belief in themselves

when they see what he has achieved

for Dubai and this country.”

Sharing the wisdom Sheikh

Mohammed has imparted to Lawless,

he recalls times when Dubai’s leader

has reminded him that “in the race

for excellence, there is no finish line”

and that “the road to success is always

under construction”.

“Achieving excellence is something

that he is so focussed on. The example

he has given us, the establishment of

Emirates Airlines, Jumeirah Group,

Dubai Holding.... it has been an

incredible journey.”

And that journey is far from over.

With ongoing work to essential

tourism infrastructure and the Expo

2020 drive, it seems that excellence

never rests.

“I really see Jumeirah as a prime

partner of the drive to get the Expo

2020 in Dubai and nowhere is more

appropriate than here. We are in such

an incredible location and with the

aviation advancements... how great it

would be to bring in up to 30 million

visitors over a six month period. With

that seven year window to prepare, if

any city in the world can do it, it’s got

to be Dubai.”

LegacyFor Lawless, the winning of the 2020

bid is about the only thing that could

tempt him out of his impending, and

well earned, retirement. Marking his

60th birthday last year, succession

planning for CEO duties has begun,

with the support of Dubai Holding,

and it is highly likely that retirement

will beckon within the decade,

meaning that somebody else will be at

the helm when the bulk of Jumeirah’s

expansion plans come to fruition.

But in the Lawless rule book of

hospitality, that’s ok. As he says,

Jumeirah is about the people and

properties, not the man at the top, and

the existence of that succession plan

he add: “Is the responsible thing for

anybody in my position”.

“If I disappear tomorrow the brand will

continue and life will go on,” he declares.

It’s a bold and noble statement

coming from one of only a handful

of people who have been pivotal in

building both the physical portfolio

and the brand’s values, – taking both

global – since he joined the group as

chair in 1997.

“As they say, graveyards are full

of indispensible people. So from

that point of view, the legacy that I

would like to leave for Jumeirah is the

advancement side and its potential

with or without me, and that’s the true

strength of having been involved in

establishing the brand.”

Insisting that he does not in fact

personally shy from the media

attention and the countless awards and

accolades presented to him, he does

staunchly maintain that neither one is

truly about him.

“I don’t have an uncomfortable

relationship with the media, I enjoy

the media, but I don’t, believe it or

not, subscribe to the culture of the

individual from a business point of

view,” he adds, referring again to

his philosophy of empowerment: “I

run a company that now has 13,800

employees and I have a role as far as

leadership is concerned, however I try

to inspire those people to achieve what

they want to achieve but also give them

enough space to be able to do that.

“[Personally] I don’t take myself

too seriously, and I love what I am

doing. We all develop through the

circumstances in which we find

ourselves, and I had a great grounding

in my career, both through my hotel

school in Ireland and also working

with 40 hotels over 23 years,” he

continues, describing the Jumeirah

break as “clearly the opportunity of my

lifetime”, following what could have

easily been the worst day of his career,

when Forte Hotels collapsed.

Madinat Jumeirah Aside from the physical expansion

of the group as a whole, Dubai’s

tourist and resident hotspot, Madinat

Jumeirah, will itself expand over

IN FOCUS: GERALD LAWLESS

A view of the Ocean Suite at Mina Al Salam, Madinat Jumeirah.

COVER STORY

the coming years. The final of four

phases of development. While the

plans, which were announced in

Q4 of last year, are still in the early

stages with no contracts awarded,

Lawless maintains that this will not

delay completion beyond the initially

projected “end of 2015”. Further

pledging that construction on the lot

will not disturb residents at Madinat’s

other hotels, piling work will be

scheduled for the summer months,

and rooms at Mina Al Salam that

overlook the site will themselves be

closed for refurbishment, as part of the

natural renovations cycle.

The area is yet to be named but

architecturally Lawless describes the

seven-storey complex as “an evolution

of the design within the Madinat

Jumeirah, the modern Burj Al Arab

and Jumeirah beach”.

“We will provide some new F&B

concepts and we are certainly looking

as well to bring some new F&B

concepts to be operated outside of

Jumeirah, which we think is very

much a trend appreciated by guests,

where you would have a restaurant of

a popular brand or popular celebrity

chef,” he reveals, before reiterating

the true ambition that underpins the

entire area: “We would like to have one

of the best beach views in the world.

“I think that Madinat Jumeirah is

one of the nicest resort areas in the

world. We told the architects that we

wanted something that was reflective

of the Gulf architecture without

creating a Disney World. We want

something that feels real,” he recalls of

the initial ambition.

The increased capacity of the

local honey-pot will also provide

a new destination for the region’s

share of a projected 100m outbound

Chinese tourists, due to embark on

a tour of the world’s most popular

destinations by 2020.

Burj al Arab is already experiencing

a noticeable influx in Chinese guests,

a development which has seen the

property ensure that a Mandarin

speaking colleague is available 24 hours

a day. There are no immediate plans

IN THE NEWS:

2013 TO DATE

Nadine Yetisener appointed director of

recruitment

Gert F. Kopera appointed SVP of food

and beverage

Opening schedule announced for

Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa, the first Jumeirah property in Kuwait

10 scholarships announced by

Emirates Academy of Hospitality

Management for 2012

SupperClub arrives in the Middle East at

Jumeirah Zabeel Saray

First Emirati GM, Samer Khanfar,

appointed to Jumeirah Living

World Trade Centre Residences

to tailor the property’s recreational

or F&B offerings to this burgeoning

market, beyond what is already offered

for guests from every country, but the

increase in business travellers from

China, India and CIS countries, could

influence things in future.

Challenges While good news is good news,

Lawless isn’t shy to admit that

regardless of the might behind

Jumeirah Group, challenges are still

very much part of everyday reality.

From the initial hiring spree in 1997

to the global financial crisis; once again

demonstrating his predisposition to

realism Lawless is fully aware of the

brand’s current position.

“The biggest challenge that we

face, and we are beginning to come

out of it, is in achieving our potential

where development of the brand is

concerned. Working on a global basis

we have to make sure that we have

the right infrastructure and the

right organisational structure to be

able to run what is not a very large

company, but needs by its nature to

be globally based as a luxury brand,”

he shares, frankly.

“It is difficult to be flexible in a

turbulent economy. We’re not an

aircraft you can turn around or park

for a while, but that’s the nature of

the business. Our risk is reduced by

virtue of the fact that our business

model is on a mass-management

basis as opposed to huge investments

outside our home base. So from that

perspective our risks are different but

you still have to make sure you have

the right product, that it’s finished to

the right specification and that it’s run

to standards that are commensurate

with the brand,” he adds.

Looking ahead once again to

when he passes the baton to the next

Jumeirah CEO, Lawless sums up:

“As things evolve and develop, as I

said, my legacy will be to make sure

Jumeirah goes on and on forever.”

As things evolve and develop, as I said, my legacy will be to make sure Jumeirah goes on and on forever”


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ROUNTABLE


EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION

In association with the Swiss-based hotel school, Glion Institute of Higher Education, Hospitality Business magazine gathers the top 10 HR directors, training managers and education providers to debate the benefits of online learning, how to tackle the issue of a shrinking talent pool and the role of professional development in staff retention. Event hosted by JW Marriott


ROUNDTABLE

How has training and professional development been re-prioritised in light of the global financial situation?

Savio D’Souza: Over the last year,

budgets specifically for training have

increased by 15% at our property,

which is positive and I would say recent

economic improvements spurred that.

Current conditions in Dubai have

changed drastically from a few years

ago: the growth opportunities for

employment have increased.

Karyn Williams-Sykes: We have actually

seen a slight increase in willingness to

invest in learning and development.

Hotels may have downsized, but they

now invest more in the people they

kept, rather than staying with the

Dubai trend of throwing more people

at something.

Martin Kubler: I certainly find, at

least with my clients that the quality

operators and those who are serious,

will not lower their standards.

Robert Gilbert: In the last five years we

have probably seen the level at which

global brands adopt certification

programmes, triple. For example, we

launched a digital marketing course

last year, an area that is going through

massive change, and many companies

have signed up to use that globally.

So we are seeing global brands adopt

certification at a different level,

whereas in the past certification used

to be an individual decision and in

many cases was paid for personally.

Now more global brands are trying

to mandate these, for example with

revenue management.

Particularly in areas such as

sales, digital marketing and revenue

management, where trends change

very quickly, we are seeing this more

and more and there is a re-certification

requirement, also.

I think part of the reason these

global brands are so focussed is that

these areas have a direct impact

in terms of capturing revenue and

managing distribution channels.

In the last five years the economy,

if anything, has forced companies to

focus on these areas much more.

KWS: Jumeirah does sometimes fund

courses for colleagues but only in

areas directly related to their work.

Lynne Bellinger: I have a client who will

fund 50% of a language course and the

employee has to pay the other 50%, but

when the course has been successfully

completed the employee is given an

allowance every month for speaking

that language, so there is an incentive.

From the GM perspective, how has the allocation of L&D budgets changes? JS Anand: I don’t think it’s logical to

look at training as an area you can cut

in terms of budgets. Today, retention

and employee expectations are

challenging but at this stage for us, we

are marrying the brand programmes

that exist in team handling, team

building, revenue management and

sales, with the other offerings.

Anouk Tenten: 85% of our students,

who are working professionals, come

to us on an individual basis. Of the

ones sponsored by their company the

most successful students are those

partly paying themselves. When it

comes to higher education, where a lot

of effort has to be put in, you need to

have that desire to grow. What we have

noticed is a definite look at ROI in

education in terms of what skills can

we teach for tomorrow, rather than

three year’s time.

Estelle Chambost: It goes back to

ownership. A company doesn’t want to

pay to train somebody who could end

up working with another company,

but what should be remembered is

that this trend works either way and

they will get somebody who has been

trained or developed elsewhere.

RG: Part of the issue is that the hotel

industry globally is very fragmented

between brands, management

companies and ownership. The

allocation of resources specifically

for training and development will

always be different as long as that

fragmentation remains because there

will be a different philosophy at each

end of that triangle.

Paarth Mathur: Guests and associates

are changing every single day. We

thought of all of this and moved our

skills training from a physical room

to an online portal, which has the

capability to post an online learning

module for the associate. It becomes

the ‘cooler’ way of learning things and

motivates associates to train. If you

invest in a programme like that you

will always see ROI.

We have a Facebook page and every

day we post a ‘standard of the day’ that

all the associates can view via their

smartphone. We took that aspect of

learning out of the training room in

order to deliver it by phone, because

that’s what the associates use.

How significant is the role of education in staff retention? KWS: It plays a huge role and

employers are now being asked by

job candidates how they will support

their professional development.

ESTELLE CHAMBOST DIRECTOR OF HR OF ACCOR MIDDLE EAST

ANOUK TENTENPARTNERSHIP MANAGER

AT THE GLION INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The most successful students are those partly paying themselves. When it comes to higher education, where a lot of effort has to be put in, you need to have that desire to grow

360° Hospitality,100% Success

DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE

Year after year, suppliers to the hotel industry exhibit at The Hotel Show, because simply put – it is the largest hotel supply event attracting key buyers and decision makers from across the MENA region. Thousands of decision makers use The Hotel Show to source new suppliers and sign new business deals for the year ahead.

· At least 1 in 4 attendees at The Hotel Show have a budget spend in excess of $10m

· At The Hotel Show 2 out of 3 people who visit your stand are either a buyer or a decision maker

Exhibiting at The Hotel Show is the smartest way to promote your brand and put your sales team face-to-face with the people that matter. With 495 new hotels currently under construction in the MENA region and the interior design spend in the GCC currently valued at US$56billion, can you afford not to exhibit?

Contact us today and make sure your company is represented at The Hotel Show, the largest hotel supply event for the MENA region:

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Download the 2013 Hotel Show Sales Brochurethehotelshow.com/download

www.hotelshow.com/exhibit


ROUNDTABLE

JS ANANDGENERAL MANAGER HOLIDAY

INN DUBAI, AL BARSHA

PAARTH MATHURDIRECTOR OF HUMAN

RESOURCES, SHERATON DUBAI CREEK

Candidates want to know about the

programmes on offer and how to

access them. But what candidates

should also remember is that

companies hire first and foremost on

personality. You can teach skills.

LB: I agree. For LearnPurple in the

UK we have done 11 years of research

into what employers and employees

want and L&D is top five every time,

along with career development,

communication, leadership and shared

values and aspirations.

SD: Professional growth is probably

a key driving factor of this current

generation.

PM: From the employer’s

consideration, the fact a candidate

will ask how they can develop and

train during their career with the

organisation signals that they want a

career with a company and not a job.

MK: I feel that there is increasingly a

demand for development, but I find,

especially from a senior perspective,

that there is a lot more we could do to

provide guidance. We are very much

in the habit of boxing responsibilities

and when one person moves into a

new role, the old role has to be filled.

It has to be about the career of the

employee, in the long run, in the

industry, not just a company.

JA: There are employees who don’t

know how to climb the ladder. Some

expect to be grown within six months

and others expect to become GM

overnight, but it is our responsibility

to manage expectation. You want

ambitious employees, but there seems

to be this perspective that you can be

a GM in two years regardless of the

process, and that needs to be explained.

Anouk Tenten: In a way the ambition

of young people to grow is so positive

and if you still have those people who

ask ‘I’ve done my studies when can I

be GM?’ the answer should be that ‘we

have, as a company, the opportunity

and a plan in place’. It should be clearly

managed that the combination of

experience and education or training,

at the right time, brings you to a new

growth opportunity.

RG: In the fast paced hospitality

industry, there are many people who

are promoted prematurely. So now

all the brands are quickly working to

support these people in acquiring the

necessary skill sets to do the job.

Is there an issue with ‘over education’? MK: You can receive a CV from

a person who has a number of

qualifications, aspires to be GM, but

has never worked a day in their life.

Having gone through the MBA, I

do not understand what you would

gain from the programme if you are

20 and have no industry experience.

Of course you can go through it,

but if I had done the online MBA in

hospitality management at the age of

25, I would have wasted my money

and companies would have looked at

my CV and disregarded it.

KWS: To enrol on our new Master’s

programme students must have a BSc

and at least two years work experience.

We have turned away some BSc

graduates who want to go straight into

the MBA before working.

PM: It does give you some edge of

understanding data, for example,

because a qualification is a skill set and

if somebody has gone through that

qualification but cannot use what they

have learned, there is the problem.

JA: Irrespective of the level of

qualification, you still need to go

through the ranks.

LB: I entered the work place at 17

and worked my way up. L&D is

about pushing yourself out of your

boundaries and comfort zone and that

is what has driven me to this point,

rather than education.

EC: We use blended learning to bridge

the gap between theoretical and

practical education and out mentorship

and experience programmes are all

about continuous learning, on a global

scale, but that is learning not training.

It’s challenging: people think degree X

will bring this employee to point X, but

there is more to it.

AT: Relevance is selecting the right

Part of the issue is that the hotel industry globally is very fragmented between brands, management companies and ownership


ROUNTABLE

KATTIRI RAJAGOPALAN DIRECTOR OF HUMAN

RESOURCES, JW MARRIOTT DUBAI

MARTIN KUBLERDIRECTOR, ICONSULT HOTELS

programme at the right time. The

Glion online MBA is a hospitality

and service industry course and

our students are also from outside

the traditional hotel industry, like

consultants, marketing managers and

business owners. The curriculum

is generic to any MBA, but the

discussion topics are relevant to

sectors in the hospitality industry that

we do or want to work in.

RG: There are two issues on the table

here, the responsibility of the hotel

schools in managing expectations and

the expectations of today’s generation.

It’s very difficult for the schools and

companies to manage expectation.

They are both very mismatched.

JA: We need to look outside of the

industry when hiring. I have hired

people from real estate and telecoms, I

have even taken a paramedic as a duty

manager. It works.

PM: That has to happen to keep the

talent pool fresh.

SD: The talent pool here is shrinking

right now because of the competition

and we are hiring the right people

wherever we can find them.

MK: We are very good at looking at

guest’s personalities and meeting

their needs accordingly, but as an

industry we are not so good at doing

this with employees.

In industry, what happens after the MBA? KWS: So many companies do not have

a management training programme

anymore. I understand why, but I

think it would be excellent to re-

introduce.

RG: I would second that notion. The

economy has taken hold and every

year fewer companies invest in

hosting a small cohort of trainees in

a mentorship programme. For my

generation coming out of college that

was the place to go and you spent up

to 18 months with a big-brand chain.

JA: From the other side, these

programmes are full of people who

have the qualification and already

think they are GMs. That’s where the

programme literally collapses. The

essence of these programmes is to

experience, learn and move on, but

there is disconnect.

MK: And that’s between the operational

reality and academia. The gap

created by the lack of these mentor

programmes ought to be filled by

working more closely together with

education providers.

As hoteliers, how do you select your education partners and how important is face to face learning in this decision? EC: We have a partnership in place

with Glion Online, and we select a

number of managers on an annual

basis to enter the Glion Online MBA.

Funding is shared for this programme

and people are applying based on

personal motivation.

Additionally, we have a global

network developing programmes

for Accor Académie and they can be

easily applied to local markets. Then

for areas where we don’t have the

specialist knowledge in-house, we

work with carefully selected partners,

for example in languages. So there

is flexibility to assess our needs but

also partner with external providers

and those decisions are based on pass

rates, variety of specialisms, calibre of

the tutors and price.

SD: At Mövenpick we base that

decision on student convenience:

what is actually being offered and the

ability to link theoretical and practical

training. We have both face to face and

distance learning, via online.

JA: We only run programmes from

within the Holiday Inn brand, but if

we were to select an external partner

I would have to base that decision on

recommendations.

We took that aspect of learning out of the training room in order to deliver it by phone, because that’s what the associates use

Glion Institute of Higher Education

Ranked number 2* among all international hos-pitality management schools in the world for an international career, Glion’s 100% online pro-grams are dedicated to developing executive talent for the global hospitality and wider ser-vices industry. As a market leader in hospitality management education and with close ties to the industry, Glion delivers tailor-made online programs for corporate partners and individu-als. Contact us for more information.

Glion’s Suite of Online Programs:

* Statistically, three institutes occupy this ranking position (TNS Global Survey, September 2010).

For more information visit:www.gliononline.comEmail: [email protected]

“The Glion Online MBA is a perfect option, allowing me to work from anywhere and at any time.”Olivier Hick, Vice President of OperationsAccor Middle East, DubaiGlion Online MBA student

For more information about exhibiting at the INDEX International Design Exhibition 2013, contact us:

Tel: +971 (0)4 438 0355 Fax: +971 (0)4 438 0357 Email: [email protected]

20 - 23 May 2013 Dubai World Trade Centre www.indexexhibition.com


ROUNDTABLE

SAVIO D’SOUZAHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER, MÖVENPICK IBN BATTUTA GATE

ROBERT GILBERT CHMECHB, PRESIDENT AND CEO HOSPITALITY SALES AND

MARKETING ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL (HSMAI)

Is learning more effective for working hospitality professionals when undertaken on or off line? LB: Generational differences do have

a lot to do with it but you should look

at people’s individual motivators to

learn. Different personality types have

different learning styles, so to have

a mix of how training is delivered is

essential. People who can’t work alone

won’t excel online.

JA: You cannot say classroom or online

learning is more effective than the

other, it’s about moderation, attitude,

willingness to learn and practice.

KWS: We have feedback from our

clients on this issue and generally they

are saying online isn’t as effective as

expected. Firstly, it’s individual and

you have to manage and motivate

This industry is quite hostile to outsiders, because we think that people who spend their lives in the industry understand it, but if you can manage, you can manage

yourself, in your own time.

MK: There are a few common

misconceptions. Online learning isn’t

about technology, it’s about networks

and that’s why we are stuck. It’s not a

virtual classroom.

AT: Glion launched the first 100%

online MBA in 2010 and although we

did a lot of research it was still very

risky to launch then. We have found

that, despite the market demand

for a 100% online course, there are

always people who will still want the

face to face interaction. We’re talking

professionals with an average age of

37 and they don’t need to be held by

the hand. You have to understand

the platform and outcome of online

learning. People share their most

relevant experience and learn to think

in a more solution-based, strategic way.

This is what is requested from a GM in

this growing and competitive market.

RG: Blended learning is the way to go

when people are short on time.

Would you take on online course as a second degree? MK: I have met very few of my peers

face to face and it’s amazing how

the experience translates but all the

group nuances ad dynamics of a face

to face course still happen online.

I would take an online MBA again

but I say that because it’s my second

degree. The university environment

is part of growing up and your

personal development.

KWS: The networking is great face to

face but for hospitality there are some,

for example F&B courses, that cannot

be done online.

RG: I would encourage all the hotel

companies to think broadly about

what professional development looks

like. There are many tools and I advise

looking at it as what is proprietary;

what is unique to your brand?

AT: Online learning has just started

to pick up, and the possibilities are

endless. It can be relevant for your

2nd, 3rd, and even 4th degree, it is the

practical application of education that

makes online learning successful.

Hospitality Business Middle East

magazine would like to thank JW

Marriott for hosting this event at its

JW Steakhouse, Deira.


Naturally enhanced outdoor spaces set a tone for serenity and tranquillity that urban design cannot. Key landscaping experts

SPECIAL FEATURE/ LANDSCAPING



What’s the greatest challenge in the maintenance of landscaped areas?

Ajayan Vasudevan, landscaping manager for QBG Services: Our greatest challenge

would be the efficient management of

weeds in landscape areas. It is a tough

task especially during renovation and

reclamation of poorly maintained

areas to a better landscape or

recreational platform.

Malay J. Shah, GM Belhasa Projects LLC: Managing landscapes, especially in

arid and hyper-arid environments, is a

real challenge, and requires innovative

approaches, which include using

plants that are drought, heat and salt

tolerant; using the right irrigation

technologies; and safely utilising

treated waste water.

Additionally native plants have

a great role to play in the UAE

landscaping. Fragile and unfertile

sandy soils are easily affected by

drought and salinity problems. The

Ph requirement for most of the

ornamental crops is between Ph6 and

Ph7, however the Ph value of soil in

the UAE is at least Ph8.

Concerning landscaping techniques,

the key to improving sandy soil

structures for sustainable plant life

and combating salinity is to surrogate

missing soil colloids that we naturally

find in humus and clay particles and

to break up deeper soil levels, for tree

and larger shrub growth, down to a

depth of about 150 cm.

Good results have already been

achieved with soil amendments and

controlled irrigation.

Sebastien Weyer, director of engineering, Westin Abu Dhabi: At The Westin

Abu Dhabi Gold Resort and Spa,

and resorts share the experience of making the most of their great outdoors, in one of the world’s least forgiving climates



Promoted as Dubai’s newest eco-tourism

attraction, DubaiLand’s Miracle Garden is a

721,000 sqft oasis, expected to attract over

one million visitors in its first 12 months.

Like the majority of Dubai’s other tourist

attractions, Miracle Garden is also a Guinness

World Record holder for being home to the

world’s biggest flower clock, longest wall of

flowers measuring 800m in length by 3m in

height, and the largest pyramid of flowers with

a base area of 144sqm and a height of 10m.

Not only was the scale and diversity of the

garden a major consideration, but so too was

the environment. To minimise impact on water

supplies and existing flora and fauna in the

area, a ‘state-of-the-art’ eco-friendly irrigation

system was installed and the second phase

of the project – due to commence mid-way

through this year – will see the construction of

a plant nursery.

The project was executed by Akar

Landscaping & Agriculture Company, whose

GM Engineer Abdel Nasser Y. Rahhal, explains:

“We are very proud to open Miracle Garden

here in Dubai and we are confident that the

well-established DubaiLand district will serve

as a great location for the project. We are

pleased to be working with DPG on this project

which we hope will increase tourist numbers

to Dubai. In addition to the environmental

benefits associated with this project, the

Miracle Garden will provide visitors with

ample outdoor recreational space and a

number of retail outlets, making it an ideal

family day out.”

CASE STUDY: DubaiLand’s Miracle Garden

subsurface irrigation is not able to

meet the required irrigation suitable

for the lawn area. We overcome this

problem by manual watering of the

30% of ground that is landscaped

across car parking, guest room

terraces, the pool surroundings and

entrance road. Regarding the labour

requirements for this upkeep, Proscape

is contracted to meet our requirements

with a skilled team of gardeners, who

tend to the landscaped areas six days a

week. Daily maintenance is supported

by the replacement of locally sourced

seasonal flowers, water irrigation

control, pest control and fertilizing.

How do you adhere to environmental targets, particularly for water consumption and use of pesticides and fertilizers, while preserving outdoor areas?AV: We conduct eco-friendly

workshops and seminars to create

awareness amongst our clients,

prospective customers and even

among our operational staff. This

covers various safe environmental

practices such as water conservation

measures, use of soil friendly additives

and minimising the use of chemical

fertilizers. We also keep ourselves

updated with the latest technologies

and developments in all aspects related

to having a safer environment to work

and live in.

SW: We are saving water by using

automatic irrigation systems with

programming schedules, set according

to the necessary requirements. All

the consumables are Ministry of

Environment approved and follow

their MSDS.

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HOSPITALITY SERVICESConcierge Staff

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Back Office Staff

Lifeguards

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Health & Safety Staff

SECURITY SERVICESSecurity Guards-Male/

Female

VIP Guarding

Control Room Operators

Store Detectives

MANPOWER OUTSOURCINGContract Staffing/

HR outsourcing

Temporary Staffing

Promotion and Events

Staff

Specialized Airport

ground handling

Multi-skilled Staff

CLEANING SERVICESHousekeeping Services

Room Boy Supply

Laundry Staff

Stewarding

Façade/ High Rise

Building Cleaning

Marble Maintenance

LANDSCAPINGHard & Soft

Landscaping

Swimming pool

Maintenance

Gazebo & Decking

Fountains & Other

Water Features

INTERIOR SERVICESRefurbishment Work

Masonry &Plastering

Work

PaintingWorks

Carpentry

TECHNICAL SERVICESInstallation &

Maintenance

MEP Works



Water

Use of efficient drip irrigation system for

landscapes that require water delivered in

the root zone

Automated irrigation system for

landscapes with proper supervision by

qualified staff

Use sprinkler systems only for turf areas

Prohibit hose watering and watering using

the hose of transport tanker

Irrigate early morning or late evening

to maximise absorption and minimize

evaporation

Adopt irrigation schedule to suit season,

temperature, humidity, wind and hours

of sunlight

Use of soil moisture additive to improve

the water holding capacity

The application of Mulch reduces the

growth of weeds and water loss through

evaporation

Fertilizer

Apply fertilizers based on soil test report

Encourage use of organic compost fertiliz-

ers to improve the soil condition and water

holding capacity

Pruning

Prune to remove intertwining and

diseased branches only

Avoid hard pruning that encourages lot

of new growth thus increasing the water

consumption

Pesticide

Wear clothes that protect you when using

pesticides: long sleeve shirt, long pants

and closed-toe shoes in addition to any

other protective clothing or equipment

required by the label

Mix pesticides outdoors or in well-venti-

lated areas

Mix only what you need to use in the short

term to avoid storing or disposing of excess

pesticide

When applying pesticides as a spray or

dust outside, avoid windy conditions and

close the doors and windows of buildings.

Landscaping maintenance tips from Belhasa Projects

How often should outdoor areas be re-designed?AV: We recommed every five to six

years to avoid monotony of the garden

elements. This can be stretched to an

extended period for bigger landscape

projects depending on the level of

deterioration, modern methods,

budget, etc. We would suggest

deciding it based on the requirement

of the end user.

MJS: This purely depends on

the property owner’s personal

requirement and budget. There is no

hard and fast rule for redesigning

outdoor areas after any particular

duration. What does change is the

planting from season to season,

especially flowering plants.

A variety of flowering plants can

be grown from October to April and

very limited varieties survive the harsh

summer from May to September.

SW: Minor changes are incorporated

to suit the hotel’s requirements from

time to time, however being that

the property is so new we have not

undergone any significant changes to

landscaped areas so far.

The changes made so far, include

the selection of some plants that were

not suited to our water Ph levels and

the replacement of these with further

plants in different areas due to weather

conditions. All were replaced with

locally sourced plant species.

What is the average price per square metre for the upkeep of outdoor landscaped areas?AV: There are a number of factors

to consider and working through

these will help a figure to come to

mind. Roughly, most landscape

maintenance costs are based on the

number of employees, machineries,

consumables, etc.

MJS: The average price for landscape

maintenance is about AED 1-2 per

square metre per month depending on

the type of landscaping and area. For a

larger area and areas with more lawn,

this price would be reduced.

SW: We’re ensuring to upkeep the

landscaping for areas including

the maintenance of landscapes,

specifically grass cutting, the

replacement of plants, sculpting

of trees and plants and irrigation.

In addition to these measures, we

also incorporate seasonal flowers,

appropriate fertilizers and pest

control and employ the right, skilled

labour force

The Coral Beach

Hotel project by

Belhasa.


of compartments and extra fittings (deposit slot or insert cassette) can be configured individually. Deposit Safes - convenient and secure HARTMANN deposit or drop-down safes are perfect for quick and simple stowing away of large quantities of cash in restaurants and bars. Back Office Safes – certified and specifically designed for your needs HARTMANN TRESORE offers burglar-proof and fire-proof fortified filing cabinets and safes in a range of sizes and resistance grades. Special data media safes to securely store electronic data carriers complete the product range. All products are tested and certified in accordance with the highest European standards. Join over 100,000 satisfied customers Market leading top-of-the-range hotels like Jumeirah, Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, InterContinental, Kempinski, Westin, Le Meridien, Crowne Plaza, Novotel, IBIS and Mövenpick are only a small excerpt of the long HARTMANN reference list.

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00 Hartmann Tresore advertorial.indd 16 3/6/13 4:25 PM


SPECIAL FEATURE/ FUTURE ROOMS

When it comes to predicting

tomorrow, it seems only the

wackiest of ideas gets a look

in. From the hover-cars of

Back to the Future to the naive albeit

crack-pot prediction that we would,

by now, be taking holidays on other

planets, when people try to anticipate

the future it seems the possibilities

truly are endless.

Making the news last month was

talk that within the decade hotel

room walls would feature touch-

sensitive capabilities allowing guests

to integrate content from their own

smart phones and tablets (if such

humble devices still exist in our sci-fi

pseudo-future) onto the very walls of

their hotel room.

The ITK Experience, as developers

Serrano Brothers called it, “employs

futuristic technology, such as multi-

touch transparent wall-screens, which

can be controlled via smartphone,

Microsoft Surface Tablets, interactive

floors and mirrors, and fingerprint

payment systems.”

Referring to the combination of

all this technology as “the ultimate

hotel room for techies”, the overall

end-user’s experience falls somewhere

between a personalised induction to

a Matrix-style reality and a video-

gamers’ dream holiday.

The true reality however, hints at a

strong trend emerging for the future of

hotel design.

Amin El Khalifa, MD for IT

solutions provider Omnix credits

the recent boom in technological

capabilities with a combination of

factors from the investment potential

of Dubai’s hospitality industry, to

the shift to High Definition TV and

economies of scale.

Crucially, he adds, this a sea-

change from the development

trends of last decade: “In the

boom period technology was the

differentiator between the top hotels.

With invstment in technology now

unavoidable and every hotel high-tech,

the primary concern of the hotels

is flexible ‘future ready’ solutions

that will maximise the safety of their

investments,” Khalifa adds

cpidubai.comcpidubai.com

Predicting the future is an open invitation to let imaginations run wild, but according to the innovators who are shaping tomorrow the future could, as they say, already be here. Hospitality Business explores the possibilities

Predicting the future is an open invitation to let imaginations run wild, but according to the innovators who are shaping tomorrow the future could, as they say, already be here. Hospitality Business explores the possibilities



To some, the automisation and

touchless functions of washbasins

and toilets today are innovation

enough, but for manufacturers and

product developers they mark only

the beginning of what is possible.

Introducing the iShower, the USP

of this product is a 3D “amplifier

switch”, activated when users swipe

their hands around the edge of

the interface, clockwise or counter

Locked and bolted

Bathroomclockwise for control of temperature

and flow as well as other parameters,

such as lighting.

WoW Switch 3D works on

horizontal and vertical swipes in

addition to other ‘custom installers’

that clients can specify directly

with British-based manufacturers

Unique Automation, or regional

contact Omnix.

Other products from the same

manufacturer include the Corian

bath, which allows bathers to pre-set

temperature, fragrance and bubble

preferences; the appearance of an

end-of-bath TV, featuring world-

wide TV channels and internet

functions; and even beverage

requirements.

With a nod to the bath’s less flashy

heritage, the Corian also features a

Whirlpool jacuzzi.

VingCard Elsafe

supplies, locks, energy

management solu-

tions and safes with

enhanced features.

It happens to the most organised of

people; you leave the room and wonder

if everything is switched off and locked

up. For VingCard Elsafe, such worries

are a thing of the past. Supplying safes

that lock remotely, via RFID technology

VingCard Elsafe has secured seven

million hotel rooms globally, with both

its safe and locking systems.

Manit Narang vice president and

managing director, explains: “There is

always demand for hi-tech security and

access control solutions. It is critical to

lead and pioneer innovative solutions

that provide additional security benefits

to guests and bring increased efficiency

in hotel operations.”

Predicting the hotel room of the

future as one that is centered on the

guest experience , Narang adds that

the hotel lock is the first step in this

transformation as it is the first element

a guest interacts with when entering

their room and as the developer of

the first ‘invisible room lock’ Narang

is well placed to make his next

prediction: “Technology wise, there

is trend to move from the standard

traditional plastic keycards (magnetic

or contactless RFID keycards) towards

using smart cell phones as hotel

keycards. Here again, VingCard Elsafe

started opening the technology solution

to apply smart NFC-compatible cell

phones as hotel room keycards and we

see this trend moving forward rapidly.

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Dometic Hotel Systems More than 85 years of experience

Dometic Door Lock Elegant design –

smart technology inside

Advanced access control

technology – for conventional

microchip cards or proximity

transponder technology

drac eht fo noitresni latnoziroH

minimises opening failures

(microchip card models)

Choice of two styles –

Slim Line or Design Line

Interchangeable door handle

Suitable for new Hotel and also for

refurbishment

Dometic miniBars Smart technology cuts

operating cost

Installed as free-standing

and built-in

Fuzzy Logic and CUC – reduced

energy consumption and unique

safety

Very long life time – no moving

parts, no maintenance

R&D, quality control, engineering

and design – Out of ONE HAND

Temperature adjustable via

remote control

MiniBars Made in Europe

Dometic proSafeThe new generation of

room safes

New modern design

ADA compliant illuminated keypad

RAL colours for project orders

SAM – New innovative emergency

opening

Audit for your safety – stores the

last 1.000 events of the safe

Master key with

Anti-Tamper system

Dometic Middle East FZCO, P O Box 17860, S-D6- Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates,

Phone + 971 4 8833858 Fax + 971 4 8833868 E-mail: [email protected]

the perfect choice. No other miniBar manufacturer has a comparable worldwide network to assist you, be it guidance for product selection, spare parts or mock up room units. Our extensive quality and performance testing ensures reliability, excellent cooling performance and as a result – a miniBar that works for 15 years and more and let’s you decide when to change.

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MiniBar (manual and automatic) - Guest Room Safes - Door Locks - Energy Saving Device



There’s an app for that Since the introduction of the iPad,

similarly functioning control panels have

been installed everywhere from cars to

the first class cabins of Emirates A380s.

Both Marriott and Mövenpick use

touch-activated tablets to centralise

the control of room features such as

AC, lighting, multi-media devices and

internet and following in the touch-

steps of these innovations, Mövenpick

Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai has

launched a new, custom-developed

app to allow guests to explore the hotel

before they arrive.

Detailing amenities, room features,

business facilities, restaurant menus,

spa treatments and special offers,

The application was specifically

designed for the hotel and allows the

property to update the content daily

or even hourly, rapidly and effectively

disseminating information to guests.

Hotel GM Horst Walther-Jones,

explains: “Today’s tech-savvy guests

and customers expect easy access to

information from their devices. With

this iPad and iPhone app, we provide

our guests with instant, convenient

information, while also creating a

new platform for us to communicate

with these guests. We continue to

review and research the preferences

of our guests in order to further

enhance products that will improve

guest experiences.”

The primitive control of in-room

technology may aid the guest, but one

company is developing such products

to add energy efficiency into the mix.

Introducing the Room Master,

from ABB, the technology creates a

Guest Room Management System

(GRMS), by setting controls for

lights, heating/AC, shading via blinds

or curtains and switching of socket

outlets. More advanced functions can

be achieved by combining the system

with a presence detector.

Communicating the settings via

a KNX Bus, safety features on the

devices also allow for emergency

signals to be sent from the rooms to

the Property Management System

(PMS) or even directly to the hotel’s

reception desk, when necessary.

“Energy efficiency has become a top

priority for the hospitality industry as

hotels are high energy consumers and

have to cope the new rules for energy

efficiency in the buildings,” explains

ABB’s regional manager for KNX

Energy efficiency

building technology, Tarek Zakaria.

In its simplest form, the KNX

technology will re-set the AC from

20°C to25°C on standby and switch

off lighting when the guest leaves the

room. When the guest returns to the

room the system will switch back to

the ‘comfort mode operation’ to ensure

the comfort temperature is set and the

right lighting activated for the guest.

“ABB’s technology solutions include

a smart control system that helps

increase flexibility, security, economic

efficiency and convenience. Up to a

40% energy saving can be achieved in

buildings by getting the right control

of air conditioning and lighting.

“As the demand for comfort and

versatility in the management of

air-conditioning, lighting and access

control systems in hotels grows,

efficient and sustainable energy usage

is also an urgent necessity. The ABB

KNX technology installed achieves

the maximum energy saving,” Zakaria

continues.

“We began to see the hotel industry

starting to focus more on automated

solutions five to six years ago and

many companies now look for

technology providing greater energy

efficiency alongside convenience

and usability. Buildings with energy

efficient technology are easier to

manage and control,” he adds.



The silver screen

Refreshing developmentMuch more than a convenience

service for guests, the hotel minibar is

now an in-room marketing tool that

needs to ensure its profitability.

In developing a minibar that has

been certified as having the lowest

energy consumption of all absorption

minibars currently on the market,

Dometic uses a refrigerant composed

of water and ammonia that operates

in silence, while also minimising

environmental impact, due to its

‘Fuzzy Logic Energy Control’.

In terms of user experience,

temperature can be controlled

remotely and, to keep room designers

happy, the entire system can be

tucked away in a unit that also

integrates products such as TVs

and safes, or can be installed as a

standalone unit, either with a glass

door or changeable decor panel.

It’s not just the innovation of

individual appliances and installations

in hotel rooms, but their integration

also. Leading the way for TVs with

both Wifi and Widi capabilities

that not only unite TV and internet

services, but also act as a digital

concierge, LG describes its Pro:Centric

TV as a “unique and dedicated hotel

data broadcasting platform” that

“extends programming boundaries

for hotels, including the ability to run

highly customised applications”.

The open platform TV was

introduced in 2010. D.Y.Kim,

president of LG Electronics Gulf FZE,

explains: “Since IP infrastructure was

introduced five to seven years ago, the

possibilities of enhancing the level

of in-room entertainment changed

drastically. HD content and a variety

of entertainment can be streamed

effortlessly since the bandwidth on IP

is higher than that of RF.”

Pro:Centric provides an easy

way to interface with interactive

programme guides and internet data

feeds, as well as applications

designed to connect guests to hotel

services such as room service menus

and spa reservation and the ability

to update on weather forecasts and

other local and hotel information.

“Finding the right mix of

guestroom technology is a fine

balancing act. There are many

different types of travellers, and LG’s

aim is to create a home away from

home with technology that is easy to

use for guests,” Kim adds.

“The hospitality industry trend

has definitely reached a stage where

content and connectivity are the

most important components. As long

as the hotel is providing a reliable

internet service in their property

and hardware manufacturers are

providing wireless connectivity for

guest devices, then guest satisfaction

can be achieved.”

Product watchThe most useful and innovative new designs for hospitality

TRENDS / PRODUCT WATCH

Infor has announced the release of a new mobile

application, specifically for the hospitality

industry, which will improve both FoH and BoH

processes.

The Infor10 Hotel Check-In iPad app enables

staff to access real time information away from

the check-in desk.

The app provides staff with the freedom to

provide room assignments, registration cards

with online signature options, credit card

swipes and hotel room key generation straight

from the iPad.

Concierge services can also be streamlined

with the app, as well as check-out, with up-to-

date charges, easy access to the guest folio and

remote printing available.

RAISING GLASSESFOH AND BOH MOBILE MAKEOVER

Advanced Interactive Media Solutions (AIMS)

has installed its digital signage solutions at the

Amwaj Rotana, Dubai.

The network of 32” Mirror Displays are

positioned near elevators, with screen displays

scheduled and controlled using SCALA 5 content


DIGITAL SIGNAGE FOR AMWAJ ROTANA

A series of new glass and tableware ranges

will be introduced to the region by glass and

tableware supplier, Artis.

Sourcing newly launched products from

European brands such as Duralex (manufacturer

of tempered glass, pictured), Libbey, Luigi

management platform. The signs allow for the

display of news, entertainment, promotions and

announcements for guests waiting for the lift.

Amwaj Rotana is the third Rotana – after

Murooj and Towers – to adopt the SCALA

platform as a digital signage network.NEW MODERN-CLASSIC RANGE FROM SELVA

Following in the footsteps of Luna, Eleganza,

and Marilyn, the fourth instalment in Selva’s

modern classic series, Sophia, has been

introduced to the global market.

Described as “modern, with clear lines, no

frills, and yet playfully cheerful”, the range will

be available from Selva’s Dubai showroom after

the International Furnishing Show in Cologne.

“The feedback from the visitors that was

positive in every respect proved that with our

modern classic, we are completely with the

trend,” said CEO Philipp Selva.

Bormioli, Durobor, WNK, Tramontina, Tognana,

Costa Verde and DMD, artis also promoted its

offering of own-branded products.

The new catalogue and price list is available

this month and all products will be on display at

The Hotel Show in September.


ARMANI CASA RETAILER EXPANDS SHOWROOM

Armani Group last month celebrated the

opening of a 270sqm Armani Casa store in

Dubai, that will be operated by exclusive

Armani/Casa distributor, Finasi LLC, part of the

Gargash Group.

The products displayed range from furniture

and furnishings to accessories, décor and fabrics,

for both day and night zones.

The store, located on Al Ittihad Road Deira,

Dubai, also stocks Armani/Dada products and

Checkers kitchens. The original Finasi store,

located next door, opened in 2009 and today

sells products by Molteni&C, Dada, Citterio,

Okalux, KME and Cazzaro.

Armani/Casa is present in 40 countries

worldwide with a total of 63 outlets, comprising

36 single brands.

PRODUCT WATCH / TRENDS

56

Contact centre solutions for hospitality sector bets on cloud With the popularity of online booking systems among leisure, hotel, and travel businesses, the hospitality sector has become an early-adopter of cloud services to keep up with demand.

S ince familiar cloud service, like online booking systems, are effectively shared across several users, they offer businesses a ‘one-to-many’ economy of scale, making them more cost-effective than if each buys, installs and

manages a system on-site. Businesses sign up for cloud services and pay a monthly fee per user in return.

It’s investment-free. There’s no need to install expensive IT servers, and no IT personnel are needed on-site to maintain the set-up. A major pull of cloud is

this potential to reduce IT capital expenditure, because cloud services can be bought on an as-needed basis and treated as variable operating expenditure. Because these types of cloud services are housed remotely and hosted in state-of-the-art data centres guarded by high levels of security and resilience, they are extremely reliable, too.

The cloud services provider markets in the UAE, Qatar and KSA in particular are developing fast. They have now reached a point where there is a comprehensive basket of cloud services available, with pricing menus that are

57ADVERTORIAL FEATURE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Managed Contact Centre Solutions from du

server and software infrastructure, supported by a

safe business service operation.

with voice and data networks in a single common infrastructure, allowing hospitality customers to reduce maintenance costs. As it is a hosted service, there is no need to purchase or manage on-site equipment and infrastructure. A hotel’s customer service team is able to set up sophisticated call distribution rules to ensure that guest and customer calls are directed to an appropriately skilled agent.

the level of customer satisfaction, by building in technology solutions such as intelligent routing and Interactive Voice Response which help keep operations smooth running. The systems will automatically identify agent status across the call

customer calls are answered at the earliest possible time.

provides contact centres with automated front-end call management which provides self-service for callers by identifying and understanding their requirements and then distributing the call according

designed to appeal to businesses with a wide variety of needs. As well as cloud-based reservations systems,

storage systems, customer management systems, remote service desk offers and various front-of-house and back

Customer contact goes cloudThe adoption of cloud-based guest and customer contact centre solutions is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, according to DMG Consulting. “The cloud-based contact centre infrastructure market is exploding - more and larger companies are moving their contact centres to the cloud

and the freedom to focus on their core business rather than on managing in-house solutions.

Companies that needed contact centre infrastructure without large capital expenditures gave the cloud a try as a short-term solution, and soon realised there were more benefits than challenges. DMG expects to see the rapid adoption continue, even as the economy strengthens, now that organisations appreciate the benefits of these solutions. Over the last three years, adoption has nearly tripled from 2.2% to 5.9%, with the number of seats growing from 268,794 in 2008 to 871,717, as of the end of June 2012. Rapid adoption will continue to drive and speed the pace of innovation as larger companies consider moving their contact centres to the cloud. Cloud-based contact centre infrastructure vendors are agile, innovative, and delivering new functionality to market quickly.

DMG projects that the cloud-based contact centre infrastructure market will continue to build momentum, growing by 45%, 40%, 40% and 35%, each year, respectively, between 2012 and 2015. DMG estimates that a minimum of 18% of all contact centre seats will be in the cloud by the end of 2015.

There are now reportedly more than 700 call centres in the Middle East and around 300 in the UAE, which suggests that call centres are no longer the province solely of big businesses such as Emirates Group, Abu Dhabi National Bank, or DEWA. Many large hotel and travel chains in the region also rely on call centres to manage their incoming customer service calls. Not only does it help streamline the booking operation, but helps maximise revenue per reservation too.

Managed customer contact services are available from established telco providers like du and its partner ecosystem. Together these companies have proven and well-established skills which makes them well suited as cloud service provider.

Although cloud service can theoretically be delivered

in partnering with a supplier like a local telco. Localised presence brings a level of intimacy and understanding of customer needs, on the one hand, and promises access to a network with a global reach, on the other.

58

Making the business case for cloud contact centreAdoption of cloud contact centres is gathering momentum in the Middle East hospitality sector, as the business appeal of hosted services becomes better understood. Contact centres were originally provisioned through expensive on-site infrastructure dedicated to telephony processes and intelligent call routing.

For the last few years, however, this model has

infrastructure through different consumption models, including subscription based managed services. These options can be provisioned remotely or in the cloud.

Most contact centres still rely on premise-based equipment for most of their infrastructure. However, the buying decisions for a wide range of contact centre operations and management tools must now include some consideration of cloud suppliers. Guest and customer interactions have become more complex, incorporating a wider variety of transaction types, and hospitality businesses need include factors such as

administration in their purchasing decisions. This is increasingly important, as latest research

indicates that 74% of consumers now use at least three contact channels when interacting with a hospitality company’s customer service.

contact centres targeted small hotel and travel chains with the argument that the cloud would help them look ‘big’ at a relatively low cost. The conventional wisdom has been that cloud contact centre services are best suited to the low end of the market, to small or informal centres that have limited growth prospects and extremely tight budgets. That assessment is not as accurate as it once was, and may lead some contact centres to make

and where or when it is the most appropriate solution.When the total cost of ownership is compared for

multiple configuration possibilities for both cloud and premise-based equipment for contact centres, it becomes clear that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. The best deployment option for any given centre depends variously on size, available budget, technology readiness, the interoperability of existing assets, and, most notably, the range of additional applications that a centre might choose to deploy on top of the core call-routing infrastructure.

In its early days, cloud infrastructure appealed to hospitality companies that did not have the capital expense budgets to invest upfront in automatic call distributor and voice recognition systems. The ability to

attractive proposition for small and growing hotel chains. The contact centre universe was divided between

59ADVERTORIAL FEATURE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

mainly large centres that relied on virtualisation and economies of scale to afford full-featured call routing, and smaller ones that either used ad hoc systems to handle interactions or operated without technology solutions.

In recent years, vendors have begun adding complex applications such as work force optimisation and analytics to their basic call routing suites. This has occurred in both the cloud and on-premise worlds. This has allowed cloud vendors in particular to move up the value chain and target their offerings to larger centres in more complex environments, ones that would rarely have considered cloud solutions before.

Building on the advantages of cloudOne advantage to a cloud-based service can be the short-term price break that allowed a company to quickly ramp up an infrastructure for a limited period without having to carry the long-term cost of technology ownership and the personnel to manage it.

Over time the range of features in cloud offerings has

The range of products now on the market presents a reasonable, functional alternative to premise-based systems. Other applications are moving toward the cloud because they are relatively new and do not have a strong,

established constituency for on-premise deployment. Speech analytics, for example, can be costly and time-

resource allocation and more of a grid-type computing environment.

With the hospitality sector constantly needing to offer a personalised service, customer service becomes a key differentiator, and some cloud customer service solutions are very good at incorporating customer profile data into call routing decisions. These solutions combine data that is pulled from different applications and will organise and analyse that data to give contact centre agents the fullest of views of the guest or prospective guest. Information on previous reservations and past stays, billing details, and guest preferences about room service

customer service staff.The red boxes opposite, illustrate how the hosted

deployment model of cloud appeals to the operational

and scalability may gravitate towards cloud-based systems as they can obtain access to leading-edge technology without maintenance contracts or time-consuming product upgrades. Cloud-based systems

60

model, as it is easier to provide technology to distributed agents. This essentially virtualizes a contact centre into a group of contact centre assets that exist in different physical locations but function as a single, fully integrated, seamless contact centre operation. By using virtual contact centres as an adjunct to existing in-house and outsourced operations, enterprises can eliminate facilities costs, reduce overheads, access new agent talent, and reduce agent churn.

Many hosting providers are able to support uptime of between 99.99% and 99.999%, providing a level of performance guarantee that betters the on-premise average. Clear disaster recovery plans are also vital, and hosting providers typically have the ability to back up customer data in secure data centres.

Today’s hospitality business is likely to look at the spectrum of applications that it is using and see cloud deployment as an attractive option. They will see lower

risk and cost of the pay-as-you-go cloud option as very appeal. These trends have the potential to upend the traditional notions about how companies can and should buy and budget for technology.

The choice of whether to deploy contact centre infrastructure via premise-based technology or cloud-based services involves many variables. Research shows that there are situations in which large, multi-site service

In fact, as the table above demonstrates, the more applications and functions an enterprise includes with

hosting compared to traditional premise-based systems. Any hospitality company looking to hedge a movement into complex multichannel interaction environments or to ensure that its technology stays at the cutting edge of innovation would also be wise to consider cloud solutions. For more information, please contact du at [email protected]

APPOINTMENTS NEWS


Appointment newsThe latest appointment and promotion news from the region

Andrew Abram, Raffles Dubai.

NEW RAFFLES DUBAI GM BEGINS Andrew Abram has been named as the

new GM of Raffles Dubai by Raffles Group

president, Peter French.

Joining the team in late January, Abram

joined Raffles from the Mandarin Oriental

Group, where he has held a number of positions

since 2003, most recently at the Mandarin

Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai. He joined

the group as resident manager of The Excelsior

Hong Kong, and went on to lead the renovation

and reopening of the Mandarin Oriental

Jakarta, where he was GM for eight years.

DOUBLE APPOINTMENT FOR BIN MAJID HOTELSBin Majid Hotels, which owns four properties

in Ras Al Khaimah, has announced the

appointment of both a new director of

operations and director of F&B.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez will work at the

Mangrove Hotel and F&B director Berk

Ozkeresteci, will work across the portfolio,

following a 13 year career with Sheraton,

Hyatt, Rotana, Kempinski and Rixos.

Dr. Ali Kasapbashi, group GM, said: “We

would like to welcome Mr. Carlos and Mr. Berk

to our team. Both will definitely be an asset

to the whole operations of the group with

their experience and expertise in ensuring the

highest guest satisfaction. We are confident

that both will play an instrumental role in

helping us achieve our business targets.”

KEEPING COMPETITIVE EDGERuth Swamy has begun her new role as

business development manager at the Park

Regis Kris Kin Hotel Dubai, following time

with Mondo Hospitality where she was

corporate sales manager for three properties.

Eyeing Swamy’s experience with Emirates

Towers, Coral Hotels and Resorts, the Dhow

Palace, Dusit Princess, Traders and Royal

Ascot, she has been appointed to help Park

Regis secure its competitive edge ahead of the

thousands of new rooms due to open in Dubai

over the coming 12 months.

“With wide knowledge of the Dubai

hospitality sector, Ruth will be a welcome

addition to the business development team,”

said GM Scott Butcher.

MAROOJ ROTANA HEADS NEW HRAl Murooj Rotana Dubai has announced the

appointment of Wissam Beiruty (below) as the

5-star property’s HR director. Beiruty joined

the company in 2003 as a HR trainee at the

Rotana Corporate Office before moving on to

Al Ain Rotana in 2004, Towers Rotana in 2005

and Amwaj Rotana Dubai in 2008.

“I am highly optimistic that with our

combined hard work, dedication, passion

and experience, we can all look forward to

bringing the unique and wonderful experience

of working with Rotana to existing and new

colleagues,” he commented.

Ruth Swammy.

Job watchTime to move on? We can help. All jobs can be applied for throughthe Hozpitality Web site

EXECUTIVE CHEFIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Food and Beverage ServiceLevel: Top ManagementLocation: AfricaSalary Description: Expats RequiredStart Date: ImmediatelyRecruiter: CHA InternationalAn Expat Executive Chef urgently needed for a 5 star Luxury Hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh, with a fantastic view over the Red Sea. It has from 7-9 Restaurants, about 7 outdoor swimming pools and more.Skills required:

The candidate must be highly experienced in All Inclusive Hotels and Resorts.

At least 5 years work experience in 5-star Hotels in the same position (Executive Chef ).

Must be fluent in English. Hard Worker. Cost effective. Create new Menus and new concepts.

Urgently send your updated CV and recent photograph, Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING, DOHA, QATARIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Sales and Marketing/PRLevel: Corporate /Group, Department HeadLocation: ME/GCC (Except UAE), United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: AttractiveRecruiter: Hozpitality ConsultingThe ideal candidate will have a proven track record in a similar role in Leading Large International Hotels in the Middle East.This position is accountable for managing the total sales efforts, This includes the generation of all revenues consistent with the company objectives; implementation of sales performance management systems; Revenue Management systems, and market segmentation analysis for Group, Corporate, Wholesale, and Transient. Additionally,

this position is strongly involved with Key Customer relationships and takes an active role in the business community by being involved in the various trade organizations.

SALES MANAGERIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Sales and Marketing/PRLevel: Middle Management, Top ManagementLocation: United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: Attractive Salary/ BenefitsRecruiter: The Royal International HotelFemale/ Male candidate, preferably Arab national with Hotel experience in the UAE for atleast 3 to 5 years. Competent, productive portfolio in Abu Dhabi, has a valid driving liscence in the UAE.Duties & Responsibilities:

The position is accountable proactively soliciting and handling sales oppurtunities. Ensures business is turned over properly and in a timely fashion for proper service delivery.

Assists in leading all day to day activities related to sales with a focus on long term & valued-based customer relationships that enable achievement of sales objectives.

Achieves personal sales goals.

HEAD OF GUEST EXPERIENCEIndustry: Airlines, Hotels Clubs and Spas, Travel IndustryDepartment: Customer Service, General Management/ GM, Travel ManagementLevel: Corporate /Group, Department HeadLocation: United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: Attractive salary and benefitsRecruiter: Etihad AirwaysThis leading role will be responsible for the strategic brand and experience development of the end-to-end journey on Etihad. You will design environments/experiences that meet guest needs/expectations, brand strategy/values and, while working with key

stakeholders, ensure they can be delivered operationally and within budget. You will measure guest satisfaction through research, industry benchmarking and feedback channels and use insights to drive strategy.

DIRECTOR OF F&B, 5-STARIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Food and Beverage ServiceLevel: Department Head, Top ManagementLocation: Europe, ME/GCC (Except UAE), United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: Attractive salary and benefitsRecruiter: Hozpitality ConsultingQualifications 5 Star Experience is a must Last 5 years Experience in same position as Director of Food & Beverage 5 Star HotelBasic Salary: AED 16,000 – 18,000 per month Family Status: (Spouse+2 Children) Including Medical Insurance & Air ticket Entitlement Accommodation: 2 Bedroom Apartment of Allowance amounting to AED 7000 per month. Transportation Allowance: AED 1000 per month Telephone Device: Blackberry with Company line Bonus : 1-3 month above the revenue budget

Please apply with your CV and photo.

VICE PRESIDENT F&B Industry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Food and Beverage Service, Head Office/CorporateLevel: Corporate /GroupLocation: Worldwide, Africa, AsiaSalary Description: Highly competitiveRecruiter: CHA InternationalVice President Food & Beverage for a well known Hotel Operator with properties in Sudan, Libya, Kenya, Dubai, Zambia and Pakistan.The company includes some international branded properties as well as the “House brand” which has already established itself to a highly respected brand.All properties have extensive F&B operations, incl. various themed restaurants and all have large banquet and catering facilities. The

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I’VE MISSED MORE THAN 9,000 SHOTS IN MY CAREER. I’VE LOST ALMOST 300 GAMES. 26 TIMES, I’VE BEEN TRUSTED TO TAKE THE GAME WINNING SHOT AND MISSED. I’VE FAILED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN MY LIFE. AND THAT IS WHY I SUCCEED,” MICHAEL JORDAN, SPORTSMAN


post is based at the regional Head Office in IslamabadThis position requires a “youngish” candidate with Multi Unit exposure, preferably with some experience in South East Asia and/or Africa.

GM, CARIBBEAN RESORTIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: General Management/ GMLevel: Top ManagementLocation: Worldwide, Americas North and South, Caribbean, EuropeSalary Description: AttractiveRecruiter: FJ Recruiting and International Consulting Service

HEAD OF BFE MANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENTIndustry: Airlines, Travel IndustryDepartment: Engineering and projects, Travel ManagementLevel: Corporate /Group, Department HeadLocation: United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: Attractive salary and benefits Recruiter: Etihad AirwaysDuties & Responsibilities:To support Vice President Commercial Technical in managing all contracts for line fit aircraft and retrofit programs in regard to aircraft/equipment BFE (Buyer Furnished Equipment) and provide support to administer required BFE material in support of meeting on dock date requirements. Ensure that all technical products & services associated with BFE equipment are accomplished in accordance with the data and quality standards specified by the relevant GCAA regulations (i.e. Parts IV & V) and the corporate governance defined within the EY Manual of Authority.

DIRECTOR OF SPA - 5 STAR RESORT DUBAIIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Spa and Health ClubLevel: Department Head, Top ManagementLocation: United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: Attractive salary and benefits Recruiter: FJ Recruiting and International Consulting Service

Duties & Responsibilities: We are looking for an Arabic General manager, with hands-on approach and hard working, for our client, a renowned hotel in Al Ain.

-Willing to join immediately.- Age 45 plus better with high level of maturity-Strong supervisory and Managerial skills-Good in Training-Business Oriented -Salary and benefits according to experience

Please send your CV with photo urgently.

DIRECTOR OF ROOMSIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Front Office/Rooms DivisionLevel: Top ManagementLocation: AfricaSalary Description: Competitive Recruiter: CHA InternationalDuties & Responsibilities: The Resort is one year old & after a very successful Opening in 2011 the Team need a hands on , very communicative and high end, professional new Team Member.With 550 Rooms which are placed directly on the water front , with 16 F&B Outlets & 1 Casino & a wonderful aqua park design, the Resort is the largest in the Region.This role requires a high end 5* background , with 3 years’ direct experience and Eniglish and French language skills ( Arabic would be a plus) Apply to: [email protected] be kindly informed that only Candidates with all mentioned requirements are contacted

CFO / CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: Finance and Accounts, Head Office/CorporateLevel: Corporate /Group, Top ManagementLocation: DubaiSalary Description: AED 35,000 net basic ++ Family PackageRecruiter: CHA InternationalDuties & Responsibilities: Preferably of Indian nationality; aged between 40-50 years old; international and multi property experience.

Duties & Responsibilities: An exciting opportunity has arisen for a talented Spa Director. The main purpose of this role is to strategically direct the progress and performance of the Spa through sales and marketing. You will be responsible for taking ownership and responsibility for financial growth and development and controlled performance as well as ensuring a positive, motivated and focused team. It is essential that you have very good people skills and are fully customer focused. A good command of the English language (verbal and written) is required as well as proficiency in MS Office packages.Position is department head A, contract is married. Schooling is available.Full expat benefits, tax-free salary, yearly flights, incentive program, medical and life insurance, pension plan

THAI GENERAL MANAGERIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: General Management/ GMLevel: Top ManagementLocation: Worldwide, Asia, ME/GCC (Except UAE), United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: AttractiveRecruiter: Hozpitality ConsultingDuties & Responsibilities: We are now looking for a Thai GM who have many years of experience in GM position and have the background knowledge in Rooms, Sales and F&B. salary 120,000 Baht.The hotel has 150 rooms and suites, there are two restaurants within the hotel and located on the edge of the City’s Chinatown district, a five –minute walk from the Hua Lampong mainline railway station and the MRT SUBWAY’S Hua Lampong terminus.

Please apply with your CV and photo urgently.

GENERAL MANAGER (ARABIC), AL AIN, UAEIndustry: Hotels Clubs and SpasDepartment: General Management/ GMLevel: Top ManagementLocation: United Arab Emirates (UAE)Salary Description: Attractive salary and benefits Recruiter: Hozpitality Consulting

cpidubai.com

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“I’M REALLY VERY SELF-CONFIDENT WHEN IT COMES TO MY WORK. WHEN I TAKE ON A PROJECT, I BELIEVE IN IT 100%. I REALLY PUT MY SOUL INTO IT. I’D DIE FOR IT. THAT’S HOW I AM.”MICHAEL JACKSON

MARCH 2013 HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST / 63


COMMENT

A seven-star future? Technology driving personalised service in Middle East hotels.

Some of the most iconic images of

the Middle East feature its most

prestigious hotels whether it’s the

Burj al Arab or Atlantis The Palm

with its world renowned aquarium.

But behind such well known pictures

is the need to consistently deliver levels

of services that match up to the grandeur

of the buildings and the expectations of

guests. Technology has been a key tool

in delivering these levels of excellence for

many hotels around the world and the

Middle East is no exception.

One of the most profound shifts

of recent times has been that many

customers now expect, if not demand,

the ability to interact with service

providers (and that includes hotels) via

their mobile device.

According to a study by Ipsos, four

out of five US smartphone owners use a

mobile phone to help with shopping and

70% use their phone in store. Applying

those figures to the travel industry and

hotel “purchases” might seem a little

far fetched but according to Jupiter

Research, by 2015 over 750 million users

will either have a ticket delivered to their

mobile phone or buy a ticket with their

phone, compared to 230 million today.

In 2010 airlines issued 160 million

mobile boarding passes. By 2013, this

will be 480 million. Today 30 airlines

offer mobile boarding passes and half of

these also offer mobile ticket booking

and purchasing.

Against this backdrop it is vital that

hotels offer the ability to book rooms and

outline preferences and requirements

via mobile devices across a range of

operating systems. The smartest hotels

will then plug this intelligence straight

into the property management systems

(PMS) enabling access to this information

at all guest interaction touch points

within the hotel.

Whilst certain services such as VIP

pick-up and transfers from the airport

extend beyond the hotel, the first

opportunity to personally interact with

a guest is upon their arrival at the hotel

itself. If that experience is defined by

waiting in queue before delays with

checking in and key issue, guests form

negative associations and ultimately,

the hotel misses an opportunity for

service excellence.

By comparison, the technology now

exists to meet guests on arrival, escort them

to any area of the hotel, check them in and

take their preferences for their stay using

tablet PCs. This not only drastically reduces

(if not eliminates) queues, but also provides

a superb opportunity to pull a great deal of

information from the guest whilst offering

them a VIP type experience.

This also confers many operational

benefits as reception staff are no longer

chained to a specific desk, releasing

personnel to other tasks.

However, the personalisation that

would result from a single interaction

would be limited. The ideal situation

is to integrate guest preferences across

issues such as the room, dining, leisure

facilities and entertainment. This

necessitates an integrated set of systems

from the check in desk to restaurant to

spa and in the room itself.

Consolidated into a single guest

profile this becomes a very powerful

tool to improve the guest experience.

Additional services and facilities can be

recommended with confidence and the

stay tailored to precise preferences, leading

to increased repeat business and growth.

Beyond the individual level, there is

also the need to need to track hundreds

and thousands of preferences in a

meaningful way. Hospitality has long

been one of the most advanced users

of CRM technology in this regard.

However, luxury hotels cannot rest on

laurels and across the Middle East the

predominance of luxury marques means

that this customer data will be a key

weapon in the war for repeat custom

among the ultra-wealthy.

At a more mass market level, there is

also now the opportunity presented by

social media sites. On one hand, social

media has created a new distribution

channel and opened a deep well for

marketing research. On the other,

however, social media has changed the

way travellers determine where they will

stay—particularly leisure travellers. Again

it is critical that the intelligence gleaned

from these sites can be accessed by those at

a given hotel—especially those as iconic as

those found in the Middle East.

Hotels in the Middle East have a truly

exciting future with powerful growth

ahead. Technology is set to play a key

part in driving that growth by enabling

a truly personalised experience before

arrival, throughout the stay and after

departure

Andrew Turton, director of sales, APAC and MEA, hospitality solutions, Infor

hospitality business me | 2013 march

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