BACK ROW L-R: Executive assistant to GM Sothanee Boonvanit; director of engineering Andre Brinckman; security manager Khalid Khalil; director of revenue Jimmy Jacob; executive chef B.Pathmanathan. FRONT ROW L-R: Director of finance Parag Varshney; HR manager Jergen Arnade; director of rooms Rorie Ylagan; GM Scott Mawhinney; director of F&B Simone Stanco; hygiene manager Shahul Hameed and DOSM Stefan van der Kruyf.
The Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi isn’t an easy hotel to miss. As you’re driving along the Eastern Ring road from the Corniche, the 37-storey glass tower stood on the right demands your attention. Upon entering the hotel, your eye is immediately drawn up to the 125m high atrium, the third largest in the world.
Within minutes of Hotelier’s arrival,12 members of the hotel’s executive team assemble for the team photo in the atrium, which makes for an ideal gathering point. General manager Scott Mawhinney says he expects more than 3000 people to pass through the lobby each day.
In fact it’s the location, scale and function of the mixed-use building, with its 402 luxury guestrooms, 131 deluxe serviced studios and one-bedroom apartments, plus office space, which Mawhinney believes will make it a winner in Abu Dhabi’s competitive hotel market.
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“First of all we have a lovely property, our location is very easy to access from the highway, from almost anywhere in Abu Dhabi, and we have wonderful meeting facilities and a ballroom,” he says, referring to the 55,000 sq m of MICE space including a conference centre with a separate entrance, pre-function area, individual function rooms and 785 sq m ballroom that can host up to 2000 guests.
For a “premium price” executives can opt to stay on one of the five club lounge floors, located between the 30th and 35th storeys, and offering a range of exclusive benefits including private dining areas and business facilities, according to director of rooms Rorie Ylagan.
Director of sales and marketing Stefan van der Kruyf says the hotel is primarily targeting MICE business and rooms are already being sold at an introductory opening rate of AED 488 (US $133) including breakfast.
“Obviously we’re looking at MICE business; we’re primarily a business and MICE hotel. We will get support through Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre [ADNEC] which is 10-15 minutes away, but we’re also going out and acquiring business from the MICE market and local corporate market,” explains van der Kruyf.
“We’re going to all the events and corporate companies, the DMCs in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi, we have very good relationships with them already. The majority of the sales team has been working in the UAE for a number of years which is helping us a lot to get into the right channels immediately,” he adds.
Van der Kruyf is looking to have a presence at numerous exhibitions to bring the property to market, including IMEX in Frankfurt from May 21-23, World Travel Market (WTM) in London from November 4-7, Barcelona’s EIBTM from November 19-21, and he’s also considering CIBTM in China, from September 2-4.
“The Chinese market is a very interesting market for us,” reveals van der Kruyf. He also hopes to attract business from events coming to ADNEC in the second half of 2013, including ADIPEC from November 10-13, which he expects will “get the hotel filled”.
In addition to Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi’s comprehensive MICE facilities, van der Kruyf, Ylagan and Mawhinney expect free wi-fi throughout the property will be a big incentive for business guests.
“That is one of the key points that we’re stressing, it is one of the questions we are often asked, not too many hotels are offering free wi-fi, we’ve received already a lot of positive comments on that,” says van der Kruyf.
Mawhinney adds: “It’s free wi-fi throughout the building and the quality is fabulous, it’s been operational for over a year and it is unbelievably fast”.
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