VP Interview: Wyndham Hotel Group's Bani Haddad
When Bani Haddad visited Hotelier Towers last month, he was his usual friendly, affable self — relaxed, chatty and visibly passionate about the growth potential of Wyndham Hotel Group, the company he heads up in the Middle East.
Only half-way through our conversation did I realise Haddad had just returned to Dubai after a 21-hour journey from Las Vegas, where he had been among 6000 WHG colleagues, owners and GMs atending the group’s global conference, and had merely a few days’ grace before flying out to Kenya for the Africa Hotel Investment Forum in Nairobi.
Despite admitting the jetlag means he doesn’t know what time it is, Haddad evidently relishes his role at the helm of the regional headquarters for the world’s largest hotel company (with 7380 hotels), regardless of the extensive travel it involves.
Indeed, it was the opportunity to explore the world that lured Haddad into the hotel business, away from the more respectable careers of engineering, law or medicine favoured by his family.
“The reason why I wanted to join the hospitality industry is related to the fact that I wanted something, at that time when I was still in Lebanon, that was out of the ordinary and at that time the ordinary was being a lawyer or an engineer or a doctor,” he recalls. “I was excited to travel, learn languages, and meet people.”
Like many in the industry, he tested the waters, waiting tables and working in kitchens at a five-star hotel in Lebanon before heading off to hotel school in Paris for three years, then beginning his career as front desk clerk for Starwood in the French capital.
He then achieved his MBA in International Hospitality Management with Cornell and began a magical journey with Walt Disney Studios, under the tutorship of industry veteran Yann Caillère, who just recently left his role as CEO of Accor.
“I joined as special projects manager which means everything and nothing, but it was an amazing role,” laughs Haddad.
“I was working with him on a variety of development projects. It gave me an amazing overview of such a huge company from so many different aspects, whether HR, operational issues, or development issues — it was an unbelievable experience on such a diverse spectrum.”
Gaining a wealth of operational experience at Disney — arguably the hotel operator most obsessed with creating an unforgettable guest experience — Haddad moved into development, first introducing Holiday Inn Express in the Gulf with a company called Hospitality Management Services and then, in 2007, joining Wyndham Hotel Group in Dubai.
Of the change in career, he comments: “I quickly figured out that the key to being a successful development person is mastering the human relationship, which is very similar to what the general manager would do, and so that was how easy it was for me to transition from an operational role to a development role”.
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Driving Force
Having engaged the trust of the company’s dynamic president and CEO Eric Danziger, Haddad propelled the company’s development in the region, driving aggressive growth of the Ramada brand, and more recently, introducing Days Inn and Super 8 in the economy and budget segments, and the group’s flagship brand, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
In 2012 his remit was expanded to include operations too and in the past 12 months alone, Haddad has overseen the opening of seven hotels and signing of 10 more. Momentum is expected to continue, with Wyndham Grand Manama and Wyndham Grand Riyadh both anticipated to open by the end of summer 2014.
The group is also increasingly focused on deploying its management capabilities in the region, shifting from being a pure play franchisor to being a successful operator as well, investing in F&B development — with Brazilian outlet Fogueira setting Dubai’s churrascaria scene alight — and rolling out Wyndham Rewards in the Middle East.
Globally, there are 7.8 million active members in the loyalty scheme — which Haddad claims has the lowest threshold for redemption nights in the industry — and a “target to reach 10 million very quickly”.
The buzz around WHG in the industry is palpable, resulting in Haddad’s elevation to eighth position in the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 2013, but with so much going on, what is he most excited about at present? And as the driver of brand debuts in the region, are there more to come?
“The most important things are our growth with the different brands; being able to capture the different segments within the region, we are probably the only company who will do this because of the large spectrum of brands we have,” says Haddad, referring to the 15 hotel concepts.
“We have been extremely successful with Ramada in the region but as we’ve started increasing our presence we’ve also realised that now was the time to start introducing other brands to satisfy the needs of other market niches and other segments,” he explains, leveraging the strength of the company for owners and also guests, through Wyndham Rewards.
“I would love to see Wyndham in all major cities in the region. We have it under development in Dubai, Bahrain, Riyadh, and already have it in Doha,” says Haddad.
“We are getting there and that’s our namesake and that will create tremendous awareness for us.”
He is currently actively seeking opportunities to introduce the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham
extended stay product, a solution to travel needs from both large GCC families and expatriate relocations.
“I think this will be an answer and an amazing success in this part of the world,” asserts Haddad.
However, he is quick to add that the company will “definitely will not develop the 15 brands in this region”.
“Every brand that we develop will be an answer to a market need and will deliver both to the owner but also to the customer in terms of what they are looking for —product, service, value for money,” he says.
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Lessons Learned
Haddad is now responsible for 34 hotels in the region, plus six in the pipeline and a further 29 under master franchise or development agreements, largely in Saudi Arabia. But even now, he is first and foremost focused on people — the owners, colleagues and customers.
“It comes again from Eric; people are always at the centre of the relationship, our people are at the centre of everything we do whether it’s our associates or our owners; the people and the relationships are what we value the most,” he says.
And of all the lessons he’s learned over his 20 years in hospitality, Haddad says the main one has come from his time with Disney, where “you really learn how to deliver a magical experience for customers”.
“Yann Caillère put me in charge of the soft opening of the Walt Disney Studios, a huge project, a team of 35 preparing for an amazing opening. There were a lot of challenging moments but it was very exciting. The opening – when you see your first guests and see them experience it, it’s absolutely magical.
“I think the story telling and delivering of this magical experience is probably the one thing that I keep now, operationally speaking. Disney was receiving 45,000, 50,000 customers a day. That’s massive. In terms of managing the masses it’s an unbelievable experience,” he adds.
Haddad’s second most important learning also came from Caillère.
“He said I have two responsibilities in life: ‘one is to run a successful company and second is to train talent and mentor talent’.
He was the first person to tell me something like that. Now I feel this responsibility; if I didn’t come across someone like him who took it seriously to develop my skills and put me forward etc, I wouldn’t be here.
It’s almost a responsibility for me now to do the same for other people. It’s true; I only recruit people who really want to kick me out of my seat as there’s no point in having laid-back people in the office,” he asserts.
No point indeed, when it seems that Wyndham Hotel Group has only tapped the surface of expansion in the Middle East.