Heinrich Morio, general manager of the Burj Al Arab, has revealed how the Dubai hotel identified the potential growth of the Chinese visitor market as far back as 2008, and how targeting that market has benefited the hotel today.
Speaking at the Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate 2013, Morio also identified potential obstacles for hotels hoping to tap into growing visitor markets, and why GMs need to start rethinking how guests will use the facilities inside their hotels.
“It is a market that you have to work hard at, but I don’t need to tell anybody here that the Chinese market is ‘it’. It is what we are all after and it is where the biggest growth is going to come from,” said Morio.
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"However, there are, for lack of a better word, frictions for a hotel with having many Asian guests compared to other nationalities. For example the Asian market uses the hotel’s facilities completely differently to other groups, and are less prone to use the pool or the beaches. We therefore had to learn very quickly what our Chinese guests like,” added Morio.
Morio made the comments during the event’s ‘Attracting Guests From Across Rising Markets’ panel which was moderated by Chiheb Ben-Mahmoud, executive vice president - head of hotel advisory, Jones Lang LaSalle MENA.
Morio was joined on the panel by Thomas Tapken, area vice president - Dubai & Northern Emirates, Rotana Hotel Management Corporation; Stephan Schupbach, general manager of the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray; Stewart Selbie, general manager of Mina Seyahi Complex, Dubai and Stefan Viard, general manager, Vida Downtown Dubai.
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