Emaar Hospitality Group has been widely respected for its operation of the luxury Address Hotels + Resorts brand for several years, but now it is rapidly diversifying, with Vida Hotels up and running and Manzil and Dubai Inn on the horizon.
Chief operating officer Philippe Zuber reveals why the Dubai company needs a response for every market segment as it starts to venture overseas
All eyes were on Emaar Hospitality Group at Arabian Travel Market (ATM), after it added another hotel brand to its portfolio, contemporary Arabesque concept Manzil, and revealed the location for its first Dubai Inn, in Zabeel, Dubai.
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The group has long reserved ATM for major announcements, since first unveiling The Address Hotels + Resorts back in 2008, celebrating the opening of Armani Dubai in 2010 and more recently, adding boutique brand Vida to the collection in 2013. But, the group has been less forthcoming when it has come to Hotelier’s repeated requests for interviews; until now.
Finally, after a year in his post as chief operating officer at Emaar Hospitality Group, Hotelier has pinned down the rather affable Philippe Zuber. A Hyatt veteran, with postings taking him from LA, Hong Kong and Casablanca to Paris, Berlin and Seoul, Zuber’s first role in Dubai was two and a half years ago as general manager of The Address Downtown Dubai; the allure to the emirates being, quite simply, “Emaar”.
Since then, Zuber was fast-tracked to the area GM role for The Address Hotels + Resorts, and in September, promoted to COO. Strategic when it comes to his career, Zuber says the attraction was to take responsibility for mixed-use hotel developments.
“I was at the stage of my career where I had to choose whether to stay on single unit hotels, which I was very used to and had already [built] an extensive career [around], or if I embarked on what I believe is the future, which is hotels that are related to an entertainment area, whether a mall, golf, anything which is something different, as well as having a residence component.
If it’s international, any new build will have to have this business model. I did not have this expertise at that time so I joined this company, Emaar Hospitality, because I was willing to prove myself in this particular segment,” Zuber explains, adding of the Downtown flagship “it’s a dream hotel to be GM for”.
As GM and area GM, Zuber has played a critical role in helping Emaar deliver an impressive performance record across its portfolio of 12 hotels and resorts, comprising 1900 rooms.
According to Emaar Properties Q1 2014 results, the hospitality and leisure business recorded AED 483mn (US$132mn) of revenue, more than 21% of the developer’s total revenue and a 16% increase on the division’s Q1 2013 revenue.
Growth was attributed to the addition of serviced residences to The Address Hotels + Resorts brand and the launch of Vida Hotels and Resorts.
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