IHG chief operating officer for India, Middle East & Africa Pascal Gauvin talks F&B, training, and the increasing need for a diverse range of hotels in the market.
1. Which hotels do you expect to open in the Middle East in 2014? In total, how many rooms do these hotels comprise?
Across the Middle East IHG has opened four new hotels this year (1,130 rooms) in 2013 in Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. In 2014, IHG is looking forward to Crowne Plaza Riyadh – ITCC and InterContinental Dubai Marina opening next year.
2. What is your hero hotel opening in 2014 and why?
The much anticipated InterContinental Dubai Marina will open in 2014.
3. How can the hotel industry best entice new, young talent?
‘IHG Academy’ is our programme developed in partnership with local education providers to attract and foster talent into the hospitality industry. It provides real-life skills and employment enhancing opportunities for local people and, through this, IHG helps grow young talent and deliver economic opportunity in the communities in which we operate. IHG Academies help develop a pipeline of trained, engaged, motivated people to work in our hotels and deliver better service for our guests.
In total we have over 250 IHG Academy programmes running around the world, with almost half of these in our Asia, Middle East & Africa region. More than 10,000 participants having received training to date and many more programmes are in development.
4. The rejuvenation of hotel F&B has been a hot topic in 2013, with some hotels restructuring F&B management, hiring at the corporate level, etc. What is your approach to reinvigorating F&B in 2014?
Food and beverage is key to the service and experience we offer to our guests and around 40% of IHG’s gross revenue in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) comes from our food and beverage operations.
IHG has been expanding our team of experts in our Food & Beverage (F&B) team in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) as part of the group’s focus on enhancing its F&B operations in the region.
The team, led by Phil Broad, is committed to creating authentic and enriching culinary experiences across the IHG portfolio, with an ever expanding team of top food experts, new restaurant concepts, fresh menus, and innovative ideas. A priority for 2014 is to drive performance and profitability across IHG’s portfolio by developing the organisation’s existing F&B operators and leaders and ensuring concept design and development is delivering excellent dining options that differentiate each IHG hotel brand for our guests and diners.
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5. What are the key travel trends you are seeing emerge
The number one stress factor when travelling is not being able to contact home – Over 53% of travellers globally told us that connecting with family is the top way to de-stress when they are away. This year, we gave our Elite members free internet at over 4,600 hotels globally and next year we will offer this to all our IHG Rewards Club members whether they are staying with us or simply dropping in on us for coffee.
6. Where in the GCC do you see scope for diversification of the market and how are you targeting price-conscious customers?
Whilst upper upscale remains strong in the region, with InterContinental Hotels accounting for nearly a quarter (24%) of our pipeline in the GCC, there is also increasing demand for a diverse range of hotels as the market matures.
Our mid-scale brand, Holiday Inn, accounts for 28% of our pipeline in the GCC. This year, for example, we signed a deal for Holiday Inn to open in Doha, joining the two InterContinental hotels and one Crowne Plaza already operating in the city. We also signed our first Hotel Indigo, IHG’s boutique hotel brand, in the region, which will open in Riyadh.
7. What is your vision for 2014?
We will continue to build on our strength across the Middle East– particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia – and invest in our people and our brands to ensure we’re the number one choice for our guests, employees and hotel Owners.
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