Boosting the bottom line
So through this evolution from franchised hotels to more managed hotels, Golden Tulip hopes to boost the bottom line as well as the brand reputation.
“The earnings for any hotel management business are higher than the franchise business so this enables us to invest more back into the system, our people and the product,” explains Moukarzel.
In addition to a new management approach, many of Golden Tulip’s existing properties in the region are being given a ‘brand-new’ look.
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“We have a continuous programme of renovation to maintain our brand equity. For instance our Khasab hotel in Musandam is undergoing a renovation at the end of the year and our Golden Tulip Seeb in Muscat is having a major refurbishment programme currently. Our existing Cairo hotel was renovated recently too, and they’ve done a marvellous job.
“At Golden Tulip Bahrain we just completed a substantial capital expenditure on renovation of the lobby, coffee shop and the extension of it. In Lebanon, the same motto applies. In Tunis we took over the hotels and made a three-year plan to complete the refurbishment.
In Amman we took over the hotel and have spent more than 15 million dollars on the renovation over the last three years,” Moukarzel continues. “Each hotel deserves better business so we’re working with owners to prioritise the expenditure on a long-term plan.
We do some floors and some public areas without neglecting the back office or the implementation of the latest technologies whether on lighting, mechanical, electrical, air conditioning, we move from the very old specs to the very latest specs saving on energy, improving on environmental practices and so on.”
Attracting staff and guests
Alongside the growth of the brand comes thousands of hotelier job opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. Golden Tulip has 14 hotels comprising 2175 rooms scheduled to open by the end of 2012 with an average ratio of one staff member to a room.
These 14 hotels include one property in Sharjah; one in Doha; four hotels in Saudi Arabia; two in Tunisia; three in Bahrain; two in Algeria and one property in Egypt.
“As we are expanding we need more employees and we support promoting from within the company – the people working with us already have the mentality, understanding and culture of the company.
For the management positions we like to promote, especially for heads of departments — promoting certain supervisors and moving good staff from roles in smaller properties to the same roles in larger properties,” says Diab. “We also have a few coming in from outside.”
Moukarzel expects the franchised-to-managed shift will also make it easier to attract new talent: “Many people in the industry like to work in a managed chain for the belonging, its trustworthiness and loyalty, and this is where best practice and management plays a role”.
As the brand continues to grow and develop in the region, the job of marketing it to employees, as well as potential guests, has certainly become easier, according to marketing and communications manager Viviane Khoury.
“In the past, marketing the hotels was more of a challenge because we didn’t have a big presence. Now when we’re looking to promote hotels we’re not talking about one or two and so we have the confidence in what we can offer potential guests and employees,” she explains.
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