EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Atlantis The Palm's Serge Zaalof

Ahead of The Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate 2014, being held in Dubai on September 2, advisory panel member Serge Zaalof, president and managing director of Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, shares his views on the most pressing challenges, and exciting opportunities, facing today’s GM.

What are the challenges with benchmarking and obtaining hotel performance data in UAE? What else would help you manage and monitor performance and comp sets?

The challenge with benchmarking and obtaining hotel performance data is the discrepancy of data which is used. There is a lack of consistency for room revenue reported to firms like STR, one of the reasons being the service charge. For example some hotels report the total room revenue including service charge others take it completely out and others calculate it partly in the figure. A common standard of how hotels and resorts report their numbers would definitely help with having a correct benchmark for the industry.

The talent now in Dubai means new openings recruit up to half their staff from within the city. What can GMs do to retain staff?

We are successfully operating an iconic destination resort; we do not rest on our achievements but challenge ourselves daily to deliver excellence to our guests.

Dubai’s economy is dynamic and has attracted the attention of other hotel operators from around the world. Atlantis, The Palm has a great reputation to blow away our customers and to keep up with this we need to attract and retain talented and passionate people.

A genuine focus on training and professional development of all our team members is crucial because these are the people who will ultimately deliver the guest experience. Employee engagement is the key to retaining.

Allowing employees to gain an intimate understanding of the purpose of their role, allowing them to be innovative so they have the autonomy to deliver service excellence based on their interpretation of the company’s vision and investing in their development so they master the necessary skills will keep them engaged and motivated to produce excellence.

With increasing openings planned, hotels will need to go back to the ‘old’ style recruitment trips, but at the same time, create careers, not jobs, for these people to keep them. What is the GM’s responsibility on this front?

I believe a GM’s role is to create the brand image that promotes the purpose behind the organization’s business strategy. Successful organizations are filled with employees who understand the purpose and positioning of the company – this attracts and keeps employees engaged.

Employees are not looking for a job but rather for an opportunity to learn, grow and to add value. Recruitment campaigns, fairs and career pages should communicate the opportunities for candidates to reach their full potentials and how the company is prepared to invest in their future. Before employees even join an organization, they should know what career paths are available to them, the training courses they must complete with defined measurable outcomes and the ongoing skills and competencies they need to develop to ensure they are prepared to take on more meaningful roles within the company.

The GM needs to be an active and visible champion behind this message so new and existing employees know that they have a future and that they are seen as a good investment. Living in a transient market such as Dubai, creates its own share of risks and challenges. Some in the industry are stuck in the old methodology of only providing the very basic training for employees to perform their jobs and fail to understand that they should be developing their employees for long lasting careers and excellent guest service.

Third party intermediaries such as booking.com and expedia are very important, but commissions are getting higher. How can you balance this? What are you doing to drive business to brand.com?

Third Party intermediaries such as Booking.com, Expedia, Orbit and others, play an important role in Atlantis, The Palm’s multichannel marketing strategy. These channels drive brand awareness and bookings in key emerging markets. They also provide a billboard effect which benefits atlantisthepalm.com by driving online traffic to our site.

Looking at longer terms strategic partnerships with third party intermediaries enables us to keep a check on commissions and the value these channels bring. At various times of the year, Atlantis collaborates with these suppliers on strategic marketing activities to attract visitors from key emerging markets and drive bookings.

The Atlantis brand is about wowing the customer. We aim to impress our guests before their journey begins. The Atlantis online customer experience is far greater than that experienced on the third party intemediaries, which tend to be more commodity driven.

We are an entertainment information portal to all the activities guests and day visitors can experience at this iconic entertainment resort. The Atlantis website provides rich information and imagery to help guests plan their trip in advance, whether that is making a room reservation, planning a meal at our numorous award-winning restaurants, booking a ticket to watch the latest music artists at our Sandance and Live@Atlantis events, or simply checking out the weather before they land in Dubai. We’ve partnered with EarthCam, the world expert in live-broadcasting, to provide two incredible real-time views of the resort, overlooking Aquaventure, the number one waterpark in Europe and the Middle East.

We also have offers and packages some of which are specific to atlantisthepalm.com

To find out Zaalof's views on social media and targeting the younger generation, click through to the next page.

GMs are responsible for their hotel’s reputation. How do you use social media for this? What are the challenges / opportunities?

Reputation management will be really important for the hotel industry in upcoming years. Considering there are millions of reviews written each day across a plethora of different platforms, the world wide web has the power of influencing one's decision making process; being able to manage your businesses reputation will determine success or failure.

Social media and mobile already live in symbiosis and we will only continue to see them merge over the course of this year. Mobile activity has allowed social media to live in real time by allowing users to create updates, tag friends and check in on their mobile devices. Smartphones represent 50 percent of new mobile devices being purchased and the growth of connected devices will only continue to rise. Ericsson estimates that there will be over 50 billion connected devices in circulation by 2020, including laptops, tablets and smartphones. In North America, 2014 will mark the first year that online access is greater from mobile devices than a desktop or laptop. Keeping an eye out for authentic ways to make use of emerging social/mobile applications will be of great value for hotels.

What are you doing to target the younger generation? How are you balancing their needs with your more traditional guests base?

Atlantis, The Palm is the first entertainment resort destination in the region. Opened in September 2008, our unique ocean-themed resort features a variety of marine and entertainment attractions, as well as 17 hectares of waterscape amusement at Aquaventure Waterpark, all within a 46 hectare site. It is home to one of the largest open-air marine habitats in the world, with over 65,000 marine animals in lagoons and displays including The Lost Chambers Aquarium, providing a journey through ancient Atlantis. Aquaventure features 18 million litres of fresh water used to power thrilling waterslides, a 2.3 kilometre river ride with tidal waves and pools, water rapids and white water chargers. Dolphin Bay, the unparalleled dolphin conservation and education habitat, was created to provide guests a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about one of nature’s most graceful mammals. Atlantis, The Palm is also known as the culinary destination in the region with a collection of world-renowned restaurants including Nobu and Ronda Locatelli. The resort boasts an impressive collection of luxury boutiques and shops as well as extensive meeting and convention facilities.

With all these attractions we inspire guests of different age from everywhere in the world to come to our resort. Especially families enjoy the numerous entertainment opportunities with special kids activities. Atlantis is constantly innovating and providing new experiences for our guests – just in September last year we added a new tower to the waterpark with cutting edge technology rides or this year we launched the new Sea Lion experience. We are listening to our guests and always adapt to their changing needs but not only that we are surprising them what Atlantis has to offer and we never stand still.

What do you think will be the main talking point of this year’s GM Debate, and why?

In the centre of the hospitality industry is the guest; we should never lose sight of this fact. I believe that we have to be always a step ahead of guest’s needs and dreams of an ideal vacation. In my point of view the key to success in this industry is how to surprise guests, how to wow them.

Service is and will be a big influence factor. Service consists of four levels: basic, expected, desired and WOW. Basic service can be found at the post office whereas expected service can be found at most fast food restaurants and many businesses. Desired service is often found at good hotels and restaurants but WOW Service is the only way to ensure repeat business. By creating an impressive, unique guest experience that exceeds all expectations, you are able to capture the customer.

New technologies and social media are big influencers of success. We have to adapt to these developments and have to be cutting edge be on the website, interacting with future guests on social media or having a new app which makes navigation through the resort very simple for guests.

And last but not least tapping into new markets and bringing Dubai onto the travel map for guests from Australia, Brazil, US, China etc. is another key to success.

What is the main challenge Expo 2020 presents, and what is the main opportunity?

This win marks a new era of Dubai’s economic development and reflects the Emirate’s leading international position. Hosting the Expo 2020 is a clear testament to Dubai’s economic excellence and solid competitive fundamentals, which comprise modern infrastructure and advanced legislative systems attracting regional and international investments, in addition to the Emirate’s safe haven status and the social harmony enjoyed by its multicultural community.

Winning the World Expo 2020 bid is fantastic news for the hospitality industry, reaffirming Dubai as a world-class tourism destination and is a well-deserved win for the United Arab Emirates. Dubai will not stop there, with the additional demand created by World Expo 2020, the emirate, which has adopted the best standards in organizing exhibitions and events, will go from strength to strength. Dubai continues to implement a clear vision that leads this emirate and the UAE to more successes in various fields and sectors, travel and tourism in particular. Both the Exhibitions and Tourism sectors are achieving great growth in Dubai, the investment allocated to embrace Expo 2020 is very large.

Atlantis The Palm has always shown great support and excitement in the bid to host Expo 2020. As the leading entertainment destination resort in the region, our dedicated team is looking forward to showing our extraordinary hospitality in the lead up to Expo 2020 and beyond.