JA RESORTS & HOTELS: Raising the game

Having operated in the UAE for more than 30 years as Jebel Ali International Hotels (JAIH), the Dutco-owned operator relaunched as ‘JA Resorts and Hotels’ on October 1 following an 18-month rebranding process costing several million dollars.

Armed with a new name “born from Jebel Ali, but not an acronym of it”, a new look, new values and new positioning, as well as a newly-streamlined operation and an ambitious strategy, the Dubai-based company is ready to go global, according to chief operating officer David Thomson.

“It’s probably the most exciting time we’ve ever had as a company,’ he says.

“Up to now we’ve been a very good collection of properties — Jebel Ali Resort and Spa, Palm Tree Court, Hatta Fort Hotel, Oasis Beach Tower and Bateaux Dubai — but what we haven’t been is a brand.

“There were underlying principles we had as a company but you couldn’t pick up a piece of paper that would tell you what they were. What we wanted to do, and have been working on for about 18 months, is creating a brand that we can roll out that is meaningful and encapsulates all the things we think we are and were as JAIH. Take that and export it, take it overseas,” explains Thomson.

To achieve this, JAIH recruited the services of global branding agency ‘Interbrand’. “They came over here, interviewed the owners, board of directors, spent time with the management, stayed in all our properties — really just to get a sense of who we were as a company,” he says.

A frequently-used motto within the company had been ‘casual luxury, heartfelt hospitality’, which now forms the basis of the JA Resorts and Hotels brand values. “We’ve produced a brand-standards manual which can be picked up and taken by anybody.

This is something we really didn’t have before – we had policies and procedures, but there were tweaks and changes to fit individual properties and nothing particularly hard and fast. People will walk into a property in the future and even if they don’t see the name on the door we hope they’ll say ‘we’re staying in a JA Resort’.

“The emphasis is very much on resorts as that is what we are and that will be the same going forward,” adds Thomson.

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UNIFORM APPROACH
The rebranding has been applied to everything from staff uniforms and facilities to colour schemes and in-room amenities, including the introduction of giveaway rubber ducks.

“Element will still be our amenities [brand], but we’ve added a range of fairly interesting and eclectic collectable items to giveaway – one being different kinds of ducks to collect each time the guest comes to stay — we have a big repeat audience,” saysThomson, adding that the company is also revising its loyalty programme.

“The turn-down will be done differently and we’re also going to produce a JA Resorts and Hotels magazine which will be the only magazine that will feature in our rooms. We now have a colour palette so if you’re a resort on the beach you have one particular colour, if you’re a predominantly leisure hotel but not on the beach you have another colour,” he continues.

But it’s not just the visuals contributing to the new experience of JA Resorts and Hotels, the group has created a new spa concept ‘Calm’, as well as the introduction of ‘Your Space’ lounges to all of its properties.

“We’re trying to make it a more relaxed experience rather than guests feeling they’re being rushed through, we want them to take their time with us and enjoy things more,” says Thomson.

“We have a policy now that guests will be seated on arrival rather than standing at a reception desk. These things aren’t rocket science, just things we want to improve.”

Each hotel will offer an experience desk manned by a dedicated ‘experience manager’ — a new role created under the rebrand.

“Anything guests want to do in Dubai, or elsewhere, or within our own properties they’ll be able to find [details of] there. There will be a lot more associates in lobbies talking to guests, interacting.”

Increased service levels have led the group to recruit around 40 new people in its existing hotels. Changes have also been made to the roles of existing staff: “We found some anomalies across the properties; different titles for similar kinds of role for example, so everybody in our hotels now has the same titles for the same roles,” explains Thomson.

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BRAND COMMUNICATION
One of the main considerations in any rebranding exercise is how to get the message out without alienating or confusing clients. To make this task simpler, initial talks of having sub-brands were discarded.

“We were looking at having a JA Collection at the upper end, JA Resorts and possibly JA something else – so three tiers, but in the end we decided that we wanted to be known for casual luxury, heartfelt hospitality at whatever level so, for the time being, that’s not going to happen,” explains Thomson.

“Trying to launch a new brand is difficult enough without then trying to introduce different tiers and segments,” he adds.

A “brand boot-camp” is among initiatives done to communicate the changes to employees. For the clients, the operator has planned events and road shows in key markets including the UK, Germany and Russia, as well as trade- and consumer advertising campaigns.

“A lot of online work will go into supporting the brand as well. Part of the parcel of this is our central reservations office (CRO) we’ve launched, so we now have our own CRO with toll-free numbers from our key markets,” reveals Thomson.

The group’s new “re-skinned” website will go live on October 1 with a new look and feel, but the group is also in the process of producing a “completely new, all-singing all-dancing website”, says Thomson.

“That’s taking longer than we anticipated but it’s probably another six months away — it will be available in several languages including Arabic, Russian, German and English to start with then we’ll take it from there.”

The online overhaul is in line with targets to double the number of bookings made through its website from currently 10% of all bookings to “at least” 20%.

It is also expected that the company’s revenue will increase following the rebranding, though the positioning of the properties — mostly in the four-star market — will remain, as people feel more “comfortable” in four-star hotels, according to Thomson.

“We’ve made a conscious decision as a brand that the star rating isn’t foremost in how we want to deliver service to the guest. Ocean View [opening in Dubai’s JBR next year] is going to be stunning. People are going to say it’s comparable with any other hotel in the vicinity and they’re all five-star.

“We operated Oasis Beach Hotel at a higher rate frequently than a lot of our competitors because people still wanted or preferred to have a four-star experience than a five-star,” continues Thomson.

“That’s where the whole idea of casual luxury and heartfelt hospitality comes in, we do make families feel at home and relaxed regardless of whatever the star rating is and the Oasis Beach Hotel benefited from that. Ocean View is going to enjoy some good average rates comparable to the five-star hotels along The Walk.”

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FUTURE FOCUS
Equipped with the new brand, JA Resorts & Hotels is all set to grow its hotel portfolio.

“Part of the expansion process is bringing in management contracts and appealing to owners of properties and having this new brand will considerably improve our standing from that point of view,” Thomson believes.

And it has already paid off. In May, the operator’s president and CEO Kevin Wallace said the group had signed new contracts for Goa, Thailand and Sri Lanka, and the group is due to open its first overseas property 'Enchanted Island Resort' in the Seychelles next year.

“I was hoping to tell you about a second property in Seychelles but I can’t confirm that just yet but it’s definitely on the cards. The Indian Ocean is somewhere we’ve always looked towards and is somewhere we’re very interested in.

“Obviously Seychelles is a start but it’s a very small property. We haven’t turned our back on this market either, there opportunities for us here — in Dubai — so we are looking at that. I’d hope certainly by the end of the year we’ll be able to make some firm announcements,” reveals Thomson.

“We’ve enjoyed very good properties in this market for 30 years and the last five years we’ve seen a shift in emphasis and raised the game in what we’ve done locally and we’re now ready to get out and expand,” he concludes.