Interview: Paramount Hotels CEO Thomas Van Vliet

The CEO of Paramount Hotels and Resorts Thomas Van Vliet explains why the stage is set for the introduction of a truly different hotel brand, inspired by Hollywood glamour, Californian lifestyle and a level of entertainment and technology normally reserved for film studios

There are several hotel brands under development that are the result of tie-ups with already established names, from fashion houses Fendi and Versace to restaurants Nobu and Hakkasan. With such partnerships, the common concern is how the brand will translate to hospitality.

Will it influence design only, or the entire hotel experience? Is it a case of sticking a name above the door, or are both parties jointly involved in the creation of something new and different?

At Paramount Hotels and Resorts, an 18-month old Dubai-based company, the emphasis is definitely on collaboration. The official licensee of legendary silver screen production company Paramount Pictures, now in its 101st year, Paramount Hotels and Resorts is inspired by the film company in all facets, from the creative process to the delivery of an experience.

Just as the famous film makers —the company responsible for blockbusters Titantic, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Godfather to name just a few —directs, designs and details a movie in its studios, it will do the same with each hotel.

Indeed, the first property, the 753-room Paramount Hotel Dubai — part of the monster US $1bn DAMAC Towers by Paramount development — is being conceived as a major release planned for 2016. The staff will be called the cast, the back of house will be referred to as backstage and various other non-techy film terminology will be integrated into the operations.

That would surely make the man heading up Paramount Hotels and Resorts, Dutch national Thomas Van Vliet, the director of such a production.

Currently holding the job title of CEO — something he admits will change in the future, though he won’t yet say to what — Van Vliet is a hotelier with 13 years’ experience at Accor, launching the French group’s brands in markets from Asia to Australia and being part of the team that repositioned the luxury Sofitel brand.

When he left the group, he was senior VP Sofitel Asia Pacific in charge of operations of 41 hotels and resorts located across a massive region spanning from India to French Polynesia.

He is well versed in the Middle East, having first worked here in 1984 heading up Sharjah’s Tourist Office and most recently, as SVP Middle East Swiss-Belhotel International since late 2009 before joining Paramount Hotels and Resorts in March 2012.

Article continues on next page ...

To be tasked with creating hotels inspired by the silver screen is no doubt a dream job — Van Vliet’s enthusiasm to partake in our photoshoot is testament to this — but coming from the safety of the Accor and Swiss-Belhotel stables, I am intrigued as to how one adapts to such a challenge.

“It is a big transition but I think it also depends on your background and what you have done in previous years. During my time with Accor in Asia and in Pacific Australia I was part of the team that actually spearheaded the development of the company in those two regions, going from zero to a large organisation with many hotels.

Therefore it is like starting up a standalone company. So I think that experience brought me a lot and helped me a lot. Also when I was SVP Sofitel I was part of the team that studied and executed the repositioning of that brand. So that was an amazing experience and that is what I can use today in starting Paramount Hotels and Resorts,” asserts Van Vliet.

He’s also gained insight from Accor’s successes and challenges, holding dear the lessons learned from the “power of a well-defined and consistent brand like Novotel and the difficulty of successfully repositioning a brand like Sofitel without changing the brand name”.

“I also learned that by all means you should try and stay away from adding hotels to your network that don’t conform significantly to the brand standards set for the brand since it will negatively influence your development potential.

And finally, if your company goes through major growth you should continue to focus on strong human interaction and allow teams around the world to operate within their own environments but of course, still following the general culture of the brand,” he asserts.

To take on the role, Van Vliet has postponed a sabbatical once again — his renovations on a house in France were cut short to join first Swiss-Belhotel than Paramount— but not many would be able to say no to the 22 stars Paramount is so famous for.

“It’s one of the most recognised logos in the world. So to have a chance to translate the Paramount Pictures Corporation business into a hospitality model is very exciting,” he says.
The first priority was to create the “brand DNA”, which Van Vliet tells me is now 95% complete. A key concern, of his and of the Paramount parents, was “what differentiates these hotels from the others?”

“The moment you put the name Paramount Hotels and Resorts as a logo or brand on a hotel people expect more: we are a luxury lifestyle hotel but it’s not enough if we only provide the facilities that are linked to a luxury lifestyle hotel. People, because of that logo, expect more.”

Before you get too excited, that is not to say guests can expect a Titantic-themed hotel or Godfather-style surroundings. The integration of Paramount’s history and film catalogue is far more sophisticated than that.

The focus is on the guest experience, “which will include elements of our primary associations with Paramount Pictures, being Paramount Pictures entertainment and technology, Hollywood glamour and California lifestyle, as well as our secondary associations being creativity, innovation, imagination and collaboration”.

A key element of the goal to differentiate the hotels was the recruitment of different partners, specialists in areas from F&B to corporate identity. Word clouds and mood boards were used to make the vision “touchable” and reiterate that the emphasis was on the “creative aspect rather than the direct application of the connection with the Paramount brand”.

Companies from Blau & Associates to POD Architects have been instrumental in creating the brand DNA, but Van Vliet won’t work with consultants once the hotels have opened: “Over time we will employ our own specialists in those fields that will form part of the team. By the end of this year we will have more than doubled our team from what we started with,” he says, meaning the group will grow to about eight people this year.

Article continues on next page ...

The First Hotel
As with all new brands, it’s vital that the first hotel — located close to the iconic Burj Khalifa — features all the signature elements of the Paramount brand. Theatrical and cinematographic elements will be of huge significance, including the stylish use of transformational applications like media mapping. The aim is to enable the operator the flexibility to effectively change set.

“One of the key elements is transformational elements, which means the use of media mapping, digital signage, moveable walls, a change in the lighting — anything that can change the ambience and look and feel of a certain area over time. You could have a restaurant that has media mapping on its walls and the ambience at breakfast, lunch and dinner is different because you change the media mapping,” says Van Vliet.

Obviously, access to the library of 3000 films is a given, but it won’t be through in-room channels — which would be “impossible to manage” on such a scale anyway —but via different themes each month.

“It could be that one month the theme is drama, so we select x amount of films from the Paramount library and people will get access to those movies. The next month is Western, Valentine’s Day month you have films about love or romance.

It could be on the iPad in the limousine when they drive from the airport to the hotel, it could be in the guestroom, it could be on the screen in the makeup area of the public restrooms — we are going to make it more elaborate, more glamorous. It could be on a screen on a treadmill in the fitness centre,” explains Van Vliet.

Again, the inspiration is a creative interpretation of the film industry, the films Paramount has produced and the actors and actresses that have starred in them.

“It’s not about a photo of Marlon Brando but it could be an artist’s interpretation of Marlon Brando’s face. Andy Warhol has spent his whole life done nothing but that,” hints Van Vliet.

“We will work with local and international artists like we will work with local designers and international designers, people who are extremely creative and will create the look and feel of this hotel.

“But we will try to find ways of doing that that’s out of the ordinary and our surprise mystery is one of our values, so we need to bring all these values into our hotels.”
casting the net.

With the first hotel planned for Dubai and the company based here, it’s little wonder most of the attention on Paramount Hotels and Resorts is focused on the emirate. But Van Vliet is quick to explain that he has plans to take the brand outside of the UAE, and without delay.

“We are definitely a global brand. The fact that the first hotel was signed in Dubai is probably related to the fact that the company is established in Dubai, registered in Dubai and our first contacts were made with the business community in Dubai ... but by no means are we a Dubai company or a UAE-only company or a Middle Eastern company; we are an international hotel company and I am sure within the next three months the people that would question that will have an answer through us signing deals for hotels outside the Gulf area,” he asserts.

Van Vliet adds that he expects yet more deals to be signed with DAMAC, the developer of the first Paramount Hotel in Dubai.

“We are very happy with our relationship with DAMAC, we understand each other and we work very closely together. I am convinced and we know that we are going to work together outside of the Gulf.”

He reveals there are several deals on the cards with various partners in “China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, in India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the UK, Dominican Republic and Brazil”.

“I have to say the interest in the brand and the company is enormous. It proves again I think that having a brand behind you like Paramount Pictures Corporation assists a lot because I think the developers and the owners believe that the brand can really create something that really differentiates itself,” observes Van Vliet.

Still, he is aware of the challenges a new operator faces when it comes to distribution and for this reason, has already partnered with Preferred Hotels, which will provide the reservation booking engine and sales and marketing platform for all the properties.

The stage it seems is set for Paramount Hotels and Resorts, with Van Vliet’s next steps to involve recruiting his cast and preparing for action. His sole ambition is the successful release of the first Paramount Hotel.

“I can’t have a more important ambition than that and we all are very much looking forward at that moment. I think the team is geared up for that and it will be an amazing moment. I am sure we will be able to show the hotel industry that it is not only words; it is reality.”

Article continues on next page ...

PARAMOUNT HOTELS AND RESORTS PIPELINE

• Paramount Hotels and Resorts (PHR-FZ-LLC) was established in March 2012 in Dubai following an exclusive, long-term agreement with Paramount Licensing Inc., the licensing division of Paramount Pictures Corporation, to establish a chain of Paramount-branded hotels and residences worldwide.
• The first management agreement was signed in February 2013, a mega mixed-use development with 2148 keys located in Downtown Dubai and called DAMAC Towers by Paramount Hotels & Resorts Dubai and including the 753-key Paramount Hotel Dubai. This was followed by the signing of a 508-key all-suite resort located in Boao on Hainan Island in the south of China, and which will operate under the name Paramount Resort Boao.
• Two more projects were added in Dubai, one called DAMAC Villas by Paramount Hotels & Resorts Dubai, with 163 keys and part of the Akoya Project launched by DAMAC Properties and one called Paramount Hotel Jumeirah Waterfront, with 276 keys.
• In May this year, Paramount also signed a 235-key serviced residences project in Riyadh, located opposite the Kingdom Tower along King Fahd Street.
• The “brand DNA” is 95% complete, so the current focus is on development, fulfilling obligations towards owners and developers and the technical services agreements already signed, and establishing a strong team.
• Van Vliet is currently negotiating management agreements for hotels located in China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, India, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, UK, Dominican Republic and Brazil.
• Paramount Hotels and Resorts is registered in Dubai, but is “definitely a global brand”, with Van Vliet expecting to sign deals beyond the Gulf by early 2014.

Article continues on next page ...

Career Highlights

• MARCH 2012-PRESENT: Joined Paramount Hotels & Resorts as CEO.
• 2009: Joined Swiss-Belhotel International as SVP Middle East.
• 2009: Left Accor in 2009 and took some months sabbatical in the south of France.
• 2007: Joined Sofitel as VP Sofitel Pacific, later changed into SVP Sofitel Asia Pacific, responsible for the operations of 41 hotels and resorts.
• 2005: Relocated to Auckland, New Zealand as regional manager New Zealand, Fiji & French Polynesia, responsible for the operations of 30 hotels and resorts.
• 1998: Returned to Brisbane, Australia as director of operations for Accor’s Resort Division in Australia and New Caledonia, overlooking the operations of 23 resorts.
• 1996: Relocated to Tokyo as chief executive Accor Japan, taking over the management of 13 hotels located throughout Japan, belonging to a company called “Hokke Club”, Japan’s first hotel chain initially created by a Buddhist Sect.
• 1993: Joined the Accor team in Australia, as GM of Novotel Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast, and at the same time was director of operations for Accor’s Resort Division in Australia and New Caledonia, and later Queensland properties.
• 1990: Joined a group of pioneers to start-up Accor in Asia, in the position of GM of Sofitel Central Hua Hin in Thailand; later given additional responsibilities as director of operations for multi brand properties in Singapore and Malaysia.
• 1986: Joined the Accor Group in Bruges, Belgium after 18 months transferred to the GM position of a large Novotel in Banjul, The Gambia.
• 1984: Accepted the position of general manager of a 235-key resort in Hurghada on the Red Sea in Egypt, at the age of 28.
• 1984: Completed a one year management internship at the Holiday Inn in Sharjah in 1984, while also fulfilling his role as GM of the Sharjah Tourist Centre.