Great GM Debate: Talking point predictions
What do the experts think will be the main talking point of this year’s GM Debate, and why?
COMPETITION: “Increased competition as it is obviously happening and how we can leverage it collectively for the good of Dubai.” - Burj Al Arab general manager Heinrich Morio.
OWNER NEEDS: “From a local perspective: the increasing number of new hotels/room inventory in Dubai and how can the current business levels be sustained to keep owners happy with the high returns that they have once again become accustomed to. From a regional perspective: Will Qatar host the 2022 World Cup?” - Media One Hotel Dubai general manager Mark Lee.
GUEST-CENTRIC PHILOSOPHIES: “At 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 to surprise guests, and to wow them. Service is and will be a big influencing 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.” - Atlantis The Palm, Dubai managing director and president Serge Zaalof.
TECHNOLOGY: “New technologies and social media are big influencers of success. We have to adapt to these developments and be cutting edge, interacting with future guests on social media or having a new app which makes navigation through the resort very simple for guests.” - Serge Zaalof.
NATIONALISATION: “In terms of HR, one of the things is nationalisation — Saudisation, emiratisation etc. This is a big, big discussion everywhere now. In Saudi Arabia, we are having a really hard time. You have to find the Saudis; you have to train them. So the balance between expats and locals is an interesting discussion. What hotels are doing to attract locals and train them and take them to the level of general manager.” - FRHI Hotels and Resorts senior vice president, operations, Middle East, Africa and India Sami Nasser.
WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT: “What about a study into the salary [difference] between men and women? We started working on this [to address the disparity] between men and women, in terms of role but also in terms of salaries. We are pushing this region really to have more women. And mainly in Saudi, because people say that in Saudi, women don’t work but that’s not true. In Makkah we have more than 60 women at the Fairmont and I was impressed when I went there. So we have to push in this direction because in Europe, the salary is not clear either, it’s not only in the Middle East. This could be an interesting discussion. Secondly, how do we push to have this balance of men and women in the industry? If you check the biggest statistics, they are saying the best performance companies are the ones that are mixed — not female or male majority, but mixed.” - Sami Nasser.
F&B INNOVATION: “Today you see a lot of F&B consultancies being established in Dubai. The first thing when you sit with them is they talk about concepts present either in Paris or New York or in these big cities so again always reactive, always following the trend. I think what’s adding to the problem is hotels were protected before because of the whole alcohol element, which was only available in hotels, so we didn’t have to think forward. So I think in the future we’ll have less F&B outlets in hotels — maybe we can be specialised with one or two outlets and the rest will be your usual all day dining and hotel bar — but you cannot keep running 12 restaurants.” - FRHI Hotels and Resorts director, operations support, Middle East, Africa and India Eddy Tannous.
MARKETING: “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.” - Serge Zaalof.