Doha GM to target luxury guests from Europe and US

Qatar hoteliers need to diversify from the traditional GCC guest base and focus on attracting luxury and leisure travellers from Europe and the US, according to general manager of The St. Regis Doha, Tareq Derbas.

Speaking ahead of the Hotelier Middle East Qatar Hospitality Summit on April 15, Derbas said: “There is no doubt the World Cup has put Qatar on the map, our next step is to — in collaboration with the Qatar Tourism Authority — attract more luxury-focused travellers from Europe and the US in addition to the already strong GCC base.

“The St. Regis brand is well established with exclusive travellers all over the world and we feel we play a vital role in attracting more exclusive tourism into the country in collaboration with tour operators and other travel professionals”.

Having just completed its second year of operations, Derbas said The St. Regis Doha had increased its focus on leisure guests.

“In the second year of our opening, we introduced the St. Regis Family Traditions programme heavily expanding our offering targeting a more leisure-focused customer. With the increase of tourism from the surrounding GCC countries we invested in improving the infrastructure of our private beach, [with] a dock and a yacht allowing our guests to enjoy our sea-side location,” revealed Derbas.

In positioning the hotel for success over the next five years, he continued: “Our main objective is to find the right balance between continuously attracting corporate business during the week and attracting more leisure destination during weekends and holiday periods. As a St. Regis hotel we have all the right standards, staff and assets in place to do that exactly. Expending the St. Regis portfolio across the region with a St. Regis opening in Istanbul, Amman and Dubai in the next few months and years will definitely assist us creating more brand awareness”.

Derbas added that the hotel was supported by the growing Starwood portfolio in Doha, with W Doha now well established, Sheraton Doha Hotel & Conference Centre currently under renovation and The Westin Doha set to open late 2014.

“Starwood Preferred Guest allows us to create loyal guests across hotels, brands and countries. Continuously rewarding our guests for their loyalty in an innovative and creative way will keep us ahead of our competition we feel,” he said.

Derbas will be speaking at the Qatar Hospitality Summit on a panel entitled Delivering World Class Customer Service. To attend, please contact Amanda.elisha@itp.com