Making a Mark
Having opened in July, which coincided with Ramadan, the resort relied heavily on its sales and marketing strategy to fill rooms.
“Adhering to the standards of the group and to ensure we have a cohesive marketing strategy in terms of positioning, in terms of familiarisation trips, in terms of media coverage geographically – we focused on that a lot. We also don’t undermine the marketing in Dubai itself in the UAE as well because we don’t want to be known as a fabulous destination for holidaymakers only,” says Schnyder.
The resort also turned to social media to drum up interest, including a contest in August, where participants created their ‘dream holiday package’, which was shared on platforms such as Facebook, and the entry with the most ‘likes’ won.
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“Social media is very, very important,” declares Schnyder. “We have a full time person looking after the packages and online travel agencies etc. We’ve just crossed 15,000 fans on Facebook — it’s a fantastic number.
I was not expecting it honestly,” he admits, “And the way I saw it grow… I’m not a Facebook member myself, but I know from my boys that it’s very good.
But the number really grew exponentially; initially it was really slow and then quickly we reached 2000 members. So in three months it’s quite a big achievement.”
The efforts seem to have paid off, with the resort achieving 85% occupancy during Hotelier’s visit.
“We are fortunate to open in July, which is traditionally the lower business period in Dubai but we associated ourselves with travel partners who have the right clientele even for this kind of climate at this time of year. As the new kid on the block, we were amazed to see that right away there was a positive response from these markets,” says Schnyder.
Operating on the Palm has also brought its own set of challenges and opportunities for the new resort.
“It’s challenging because it’s not a natural environment, it’s not a natural beach. But the advantage is that it’s so widely publicised that as soon as you mention the Palm, people know it’s the Palm Jumeirah.”
With all the hotels on The Palm located on the crescent, the resort has to compete with existing properties such as Atlantis The Palm, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Rixos The Palm Dubai, and at least two new properties — Anantara Dubai the Palm, which opened in September and the Waldorf Astoria, which will open in 2014.
“You really need to position yourself differently and make sure that your services are really five-star services because we are all competing with five-star hotels on the Palm Jumeirah, which is not necessarily the case in the city where you have three-, four- and five-star hotels,” observes Schnyder.
However, he states that if hotels on The Palm are to compete with city hotels, they have to work together to promote the island as a luxury destination.
“Competition is good as long as we all have the same approach toward the destination, especially for the Palm, which has been so widely spoken about — before there was only the Atlantis, now you have five or six hotels. So it’s important to position and promote the Palm as a luxury destination in Dubai, which can offer similar service levels as the established hotels in the city,” he asserts.
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