THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL HOTEL MANAGEMENT MARCH 2013

Supplier Survey Results revealed

p80

Hoteliers in Riyadh are bracing themselves for

a bumpy ride

YANNIS ANAGNOSTAKIS: The area GM of IHG Dubai Festival City reveals why he is revamping restaurants p32

BUYER’S GUIDE

GET AHEAD

Beds, bedding and designer bathroomsp73

Stop leaving social media to the last minute p59

MARKET UPDATE

HMH OPENS THE EMIRATE’S FIRST HOTEL IN A DECADE P44

Ajman PALACE

RED SEA REVIVAL

WHY EGYPT’S RESORTS ARE

MAKING THEIR COMEBACK P16

COMMENT: GUY WILKINSON / MARTIN KUBLER / PRATEEK KUMAR

THE CEO OF VICEROY REVEALS WHY HE’S AGAINST HIERARCHY, IN FAVOUR OF OXYMORONS AND WHAT HE OWES TO TIGER WOODS

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HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | March 2013 | Volume 12 Issue 03 59

ocial media has gone from being the latest buzz word to an essential tool for hotels, used for communicating with guests and colleagues alike, but an air of uncertainty prevails regarding who should be managing it, when and how to manage it, why it is worth managing and what to do during a social storm.

Developing a social media presence has become compulsory for all hotels, but whose desk does the task land on and what happens when it all goes wrong? Consultants and hoteliers say the secret to social media success is good planning by the PR professional, inspired by the team

HOTEL: Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates

HOTEL: Le Méridien Dubai

HOTEL: Dubai Marriott Hotels

CASE STUDIES

A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO SOCIAL

THE WHO Edition Hospitality digital marketing consultant Paul Parsons has assisted hotels throughout the region. He is typically approached by confused hotel marketing managers who are under pressure to summon a social media presence.

“The impression I usually get, to be honest, is that social media has been dropped on their desk and they’re trying to reduce the amount of time spent on finding content, replying to posts and so on,” he says.

On a positive note, at least the task has been dropped on the right desk. As Parsons explains, only the marketing and public relations departments should be passionate about posting.

“Some people think that traditional laws of marketing and public relations do not apply anymore, but that is wrong. You still have to be able to write proper copy and be able to communicate in an

understandable way,” agrees Iconsulthotels consultancy founder Martin Kubler.

You might as well drop social media on its head when your over-passionate and not-too-PR-savvy team members get involved.

Kubler cites the example of the Milanese chef of the new Giannino restaurant at Meydan Beach Club in Dubai, who vented his anger at unimpressed diner and food blogger Samantha Wood using a rather unpalatable

choice of language. Following her blog post complaining of a limited wine list and questioning the authenticity of the Milanese cuisine served at the restaurant, he told her to “contain the orgasm of your ignorance”, before going on to rant about the “ignorance” of all food writers, and finishing with: “All the above is directed

Bestpractice

Feature

Social media has changed the way people communicate.

B y L o u i s e B i r c h a l l

Dubai Marriott Hotels senior e-commerce manager Aftab Sayed.

JW Marriott Hotel Dubai is among those taking social media seriously.

SSocial Media is not a fad anymore

and it needs to be taken seriously by all hotels. It has changed the way people communicate and is very important in terms of online branding and reputation management” Madiha Zakir, Le Meridien Dubai.

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also to all ‘professors’ [who] without having a clue of what they are talking about [keep] writing, twitting, Facebooking [sic]. Guys get a life!”

The whole unsavoury episode, which made international headlines, posed a PR nightmare for the restaurant, and quite the opposite for foodiva.net.

This is not to say your passionate team members should be banished from the realms of social media. While the PR machine is responsible for publishing appropriately-worded, pleasant posts, ideas for content and resources should come “from as far up as the CEO down to the front-of-house executive — all should be involved”, says Parsons.

However, there is one party that should be exiled, the third party. Social media should certainly not be outsourced, even the consultant agrees.

“The problem with a lot of hotels is they will usually outsource it, which is the biggest issue. I advise them that they need to do it in-house, solely because of response times, and they know their brand better than anybody else,” says Parsons.

THE WHEN AND HOWSo now you know which department is responsible for social media — PR and marketing — the next question is, how long should they be spending on it?

CASE STUDY ITHE HOTEL: Sheraton Dubai Mall of the

Emirates, UAE

THE LEADER: Jitendra Jain, senior manager,

digital field marketing Middle East, Starwood

Hotels & Resorts

OBJECTIVESheraton is our largest brand and most

popular brand in the world. It was important

for us to build our own platform to resonate

with the Sheraton brand and also operate as

per our social media guidelines.

STRATEGYAt Starwood we have our own social media

guidelines and best practices, which we

used to activate the platforms for Sheraton

Dubai Mall of the Emirates. It’s been a

complete team effort, between Starwood’s

digital marketing team, the hotels in-house

social media champion and a social media

consultant, to develop a social media

presence for the hotel.

The Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates

hotel is a new hotel for us, so it is important

to first build awareness of the hotel across

all major social media platforms, such as

Facebook and Twitter.

We are reaching out to our Sheraton

customers, our loyal SPG members, global

travellers and residents of the GCC, to

introduce the hotel, its signature Sheraton

experiences and other offerings.

All associates are aware of the changes

at the hotel, which include the new social

media platforms, in addition to other

communication tools.

RESULTSSince the launch of the Sheraton Dubai Mall

of the Emirates social media platforms, we

have significantly increased awareness

of the hotel and its features. Our focus in

the coming months will be to continue

building that awareness and to highlight our

upcoming offers and services.

If you’re finding yourself spending all day browsing Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you should probably get out more. According to our experts, it is not necessary, nor healthy.

You should sit yourself down with a cup of tea and dedicate around one hour every day to managing the hotel’s social media platforms, plus some extra time on the side to do the all-important yet all-to-often-neglected planning.

“Usually the biggest issue is there’s no planning,” says Parsons. “I still don’t understand why any department of the hotel doesn’t have social media content prepared in advance. When it comes to anything else, it’s planned months in advance. But with social media it seems to be a last-minute ditch. It should be planned in line with other marketing campaigns.

“The amount of time spent on social media can be reduced if hoteliers start planning. Spend 30 minutes in the morning reviewing what’s been said, what content needs to be distributed and then again in the afternoon.”

This method is not the only method, however. It depends how far you want to take social media. Le Méridien Dubai online marketing manager Madiha Zakir, who Parsons describes as

Le Méridien Dubai communicates with people daily on Twitter.

Le Méridien Dubai online marketing manager Madiha Zakir has transformed the hotel’s social presence.

People talking about Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates on Facebook, February 20.

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one of the most active hoteliers on social media in the region, says she does not have fixed timings to manage the platforms.

“Le Méridien Dubai accounts are always open on my desktop and smart phone throughout the day. I do however spend more time on Le Méridien Dubai’s Twitter profile assisting our guests with any query or responding to their feedback regarding their stay or dining experience,” she says.

Similarly, Starwood Hotels & Resorts senior manager – digital field marketing for the Middle East Jitendra Jain says it is difficult to put an exact time spend on social media.

“Our guests are active on social media throughout the day and night; at all hours, so we want to interact with them as much as possible. With the resources we have in place, we are able to continue an ongoing dialogue with our guests across our social media platforms,” he says.

Being a large international hotel operator, Starwood benefits from having a digital marketing team, in-house hotel social media champions and often uses social media consultants.

But monitoring social media can be made easier with cheap, some even free, tools such as Hootsuite.com, a social media

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CASE STUDY 2 THE HOTEL: Le Méridien DubaiTHE LEADER: Madiha Zakir, online marketing manager

OBJECTIVESocial Media is not a fad anymore and it

needs to be taken seriously by all hotels. It

has changed the way people communicate

these days and is very important in terms of

online branding and reputation management.

Conversations about our hotel brand are

happening online whether we like it or not. As

a brand, we need to listen and engage with

our customers to sustain our loyalty and stay in

tune with their requirements.

STRATEGY

We started the improvement of our social

media platforms in February 2011. The process

required dedication, taking us approximately

two months to streamline our presence on

Tripadvisor, Facebook, You Tube, Foursquare

and Twitter.

I had to identify the USPs of our hotel, what

works best for one brand does not necessarily

work for the other.

Le Méridien Dubai’s social channels were

primarily positioned as:

• Customer support: From providing special

rates for rooms to restaurant bookings or

dining experience feedback, our Facebook

and Twitter profiles provide real-time

customer support to our guests.

• Focus on fewer fans, more engagement:

More engagement with fewer, more loyal fans

or customers always drives better results.

• Drive incremental revenue: Exclusive ‘fan-

only’ offers launched for Le Méridien Dubai’s

Facebook fans.

RESULTSBy improving Le Méridien Dubai’s social

media presence, we have seen an enhanced

perception of our brand in the local and

international markets, improved guest loyalty

and a substantial return on time invested for

our rooms and restaurants.

The number of people following Le Méridien Dubai on Twitter on February 20.

3937Edition Hospitality digital marketing consultant Paul Parsons has worked with many MENA hotels.

dashboard allowing hotels to monitor, respond and manage their social media accounts from a single website.

The platform enables companies to utilise the built-in link shortening and tracking tools, as well as providing the ability to be able to pre-schedule posts at a time of convenience. Furthermore, its inbuilt reporting functionality provides a great way for hotels to be able to see what is working for them across their different social media accounts.

Or, try Social Mention, a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user-generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information.

The site allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you, your hotel, even your neighbour’s hotel, a new product, or any topic across the web’s social media landscape in real-time.

If you do not like what they are saying, skip to the ‘When things go wrong’ part of this article.

To effectively plan — and pre-schedule posts, on your newly-downloaded Hootsuite account — you first need to learn how to engineer a social media hit. Think ‘viral’. Or at least try to post something interesting.

“Everything is social. Social Media can be used as a marketing, customer service or distribution channel. It is part of our everyday life now and the key to a hotel’s success is unique content. You have to ask yourself,

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‘what sets you apart from your competitors?’ ‘What are your fans more interested in… rooms or F&B content?’

Parsons breaks down social media content into three core categories, so you’ve got informational, conversational and incentivise types of content.

“So if you’re posting informational content, you might want to tell people if you have recently won an award, expose them to what is happening at your hotel,” he says.

“Then you’ve got conversational when people give you feedback. So chef may be creating a new menu and they can’t decide between tomato soup and mushroom soup so you ask

of theft or injury, Kubler advises the hotel to consult a lawyer to approve a statement to be posted.

“It’s nearly always possible to post a public statement,” he says, adding that hotels should not try to prevent people from commenting on the situation. “It’s better to keep the doors of communication open. If you have 10 people booking into your hotel and they’re all complaining, you don’t lock the doors”.

“However, there may be extreme circumstances where yes, the wall may have to be turned off, because some information at the time cannot be made public. Again, it’s all about communication, so you post the statement,” Kubler says.

“In Ireland a hotel had an outbreak of a vomiting virus and had to close during investigations into the cause, there’s nothing the hotel could do about it. It turned off its Facebook wall for a couple of days while awaiting confirmation whether the hotel was at fault or not. When it transpired that the hotel wasn’t at fault, it posted a statement with the evidence.”

Parsons says replying to every single negative post during such an incident only fuels the fire.

“The storm will die down, but often what happens in the case of a very bad incident is the hotel tries to engage with everyone who has commented on it. A lot of the time you’ve got people that want to join in the discussion for the sake of it”.

For smaller matters, Kreata Global Digital Media Services business director Sujith Mathew says take the negative sentiment and convert it into a positive.

“Social media is a platform to acknowledge it, address it and correct it – converting a negative sentiment to a positive sentiment. There are two ways of doing this. Often you can block explicit words, the second, and most important step, is just to face it.

CASE STUDY 3THE HOTEL: Dubai Marriott Hotels

THE LEADER: Aftab Sayed, senior e-commerce

manager

OBJECTIVETo improve the social media presence of the

Dubai hotels, in accordance with Marriott’s

social media guidelines

STRATEGYWe have the e-commerce team going

to various trainings on social media via

Marriott channels and then cascade this

information down to all the relevant

departments. All our social media activities

are managed in-house.

Every time we have an update, all the

relevant hotel teams are given trainings

on the updates to be aware of new

implementations and policies.

We also have a dedicated system set up to

monitor and track negative and positive

posts; we use a tool to see what the

sentiment is for each segment.

It allows us to get all the information in one

place and for us to reach out and see how we

can better guest experiences.

This is all managed centrally via the Dubai

cluster and cascaded down to each property

involving champions from each department

at a property level.

RESULTS

We started out with a basic Facebook page

for all our properties in accordance with our

Marriott social media guidelines.

We started engaging our following more

in 2012 and have seen remarkable results

in terms of reach. We do not engage in

Twitter for all our hotels, mostly just for the

JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai. We are

going to focus on Facebook, Foursquare and

Pinterest for 2013.

I still don’t understand why

any department doesn’t have social media content prepared in advance, when it comes to anything else it’s planned months in advance. But with social media it seems to be a last-minute ditch” Paul Parsons, Edition Hospitality.

your fans what they would like to see on your menu.”

And finally there are the incentive posts, or bribes, aimed at luring guests to your hotel with a special offer or a competition, for example.

Do not forget to link back to your website, Parsons — like your fans — gets angry when he sees hotel incentive posts minus a web address or even contact details, and he becomes even more infuriated when your staff are apparently clueless that such an offer exists when you telephone the hotel to book it.

“Too many hotels, when they’re promoting offers, they’re not linking to their website so how are they going to monitor return on investment for room bookings. It’s crazy,” complains Parsons. “And when it comes to dining, put a phone number and in preparation make sure the people that answer the phone know in advance what offer has been on social media”.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG In an ideal world, your hotel could do no wrong in the eyes of your loyal Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and the rest of your social media following.

Unfortunately, there is a lot that can go wrong in a hotel, on the worse end of the scale are incidents from thieving staff and guest injuries to an outbreak of food poisoning or a terrorist scare, for example.

As a hotel, it is important to know about such incidents, communicate with those involved and resolve outstanding issues. If you hear of negative experiences via a guest complaint on a social media platform, the whole world is listening. If you fail to adequately resolve the complaint, the whole world makes a mental note to avoid your hotel.

If the complaint involves a potentially legal matter, such as claims against the hotel in cases

Kreata Global Digital Media Services business director Sujith Mathew says turn negative to positive.

People like JW Marriott Dubai Hotel on Facebook, on February 20, 2013.

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The recently reflagged Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates hotel is communicating the change through its social media.

“Call the concerned person or send a private message and take hold of the situation. About 90% of people will be happy because you communicated with them,” says Mathew.

Furthermore, it is important not to forget that feedback received from social media is a big asset to hotels. “We appreciate the feedback that our guests provide us with. In today’s technology-driven world, travellers expect a dialogue with their favourite brands, where social media plays a key role,” says Starwood’s Jain.

“Travellers today know what they want and when they want it, and they expect personalised attention and experiences.

“Our social media platforms are linked back to our website where we give our guests the opportunity to review their experiences directly through ratings and reviews,” he adds.

EUROPEAN MEAT - TRADITION, QUALITY AND TASTE

In March 2013 the residents and guests of Dubai will have the opportunity to tingle their taste buds with the culinary delights of beef and poultry from the European Union, including Polish dishes. Meat and cold meat constitute an important ingredient of the human diet both red meat and poultry being a good natural source of protein. In the European Union and in Poland great importance is placed on natural ways of food production. Widespread stock-raising areas with access to fresh water and natural fodder for the animals are some of the many factors that contribute to the unique taste of the meat and cold meat.The cattle and poultry, and also the relevant animal fodder, are subject to strict veterinary controls, guaranteeing that the meat is a 100 per cent pure quality product which retains all its healthy nutrition and taste.The beef and poultry are grown in a humanitarian way in accordance with the relevant animal protection Acts and in accordance with the correct production practice that observes norms defined by the Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP), the commercial standards of ISO aligned to the standards of good manufacturing practices (GHP) and the Good Hygienic Practice (GHP). The meat and cold meat on offer are the result of a special production method that is controlled at each step of the slaughter in the prescribed HALAL manner, processing, storing and the distribution.The essential element that decides the quality of European Union meat and meat products is the preservation of its traditional taste, smell and appearance, while using state of the art processing technology. The traditional cold meat that come from the European Union are prepared based on centuries old recipes which have been prepared and appreciated for many years by consumers beyond the European Union. They have been recognized with many award winning prizes in many culinary and gastronomy competitions.Meat and cold meat from the European Union, thanks to their unique attributes, can be consumed unprocessed or kept refrigerated or frozen. For that reason they are an excellent product for exporting even to a distant consumer.The European Union meat and cold meat producers will present their best quality products during the International Agribusiness Trade Event AGRA ME 2013 that will take

th thplace from 26 to 28 March, 2013, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre on Stand P20, Pavilion 2. The products to be presented will include fresh cold or frozen beef (e.g., bullock's shank, beef tenderloin, sirloin), poultry and processed products. During the trade show there will be a presentation of the natural farming and animal health prevention methods used, and the production process resulting in the final product meat, meat products and cold meat. The stand from the European Union will invite you to try best quality poultry and beef, and also a wide variety of cold meat. Films, advice, tasting and also live cooking stations will bring you closer to the quality and taste of meat and cold meat coming from the European Union. We are certain that the products presented by us will become a culinary delight on every table as they will satisfy even the most refined food tasters.Details about the EUROPEAN MEAT - TRADITION, QUALITY AND TASTE programme that promotes the meat from the European Union and their organizers the Association of Butchers and Producers of Meat of the Republic of Poland are available at: www.eu-meat.eu.

Once the problem is resolved, communications should also be posted online, where the original complaint was posted, according to Kubler.

THE WHY When all appropriate preparation and planning has been done, you’ve published the day’s insightful posts, converted negative sentiments to positive and finished your afternoon cup of tea and half hour or so of monitoring, you may stop and think ‘what is the point’.

Even if you only started developing your hotel’s social medial presence because every other hotel was on Facebook, or the job rather rudely landed on your desk, done properly you’ll soon be glad you did.

While our experts say direct return on investment, in terms of direct bookings, can be difficult to

monitor, they say the exposure for your hotel’s brand, and the added channel for engagement with your guests and colleagues is priceless.

“Social Media is not a fad anymore and it needs to be taken seriously by all hotels. It is no

longer a question of whether hotels should use social media or not, but how effectively these channels are being utilised to improve the brand recognition —loyalty is paramount,” concludes Le Méridien Dubai’s Zakir.