Laurent Voivenel took office in October 2013 as CEO of hospitality management holdings following a 13-year career with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Laurent Voivenel took office in October 2013 as CEO of hospitality management holdings following a 13-year career with Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

“You have so much demand, but is all that demand worth it? If the owner doesn’t have the understanding of the brand and starts to interfere, damaging its image, then you can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars rebranding the entire company and identity. Our brand is more important to us that one or two management contracts”.

His prudence when it comes to preserving HMH’s reputation is demonstrated by the company’s recent withdrawal from Coral Hotel Doha due to issues with the owner. However, despite this, Voivenel is keen to re-enter the market when the right partner is found.

The same applies to Bahrain, even though the company lost its Ewa Hotel Apartments back in 2011, and the troubles still haven’t completely subsided there. He also hopes to enter Kuwait for the first time, asserting that the goal for the company is “to be present in all GCC countries by 2020”.

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One confirmed new GCC market property is Coral Muscat Hotel & Apartments, set for a Q1, 2015 opening.
Additionally, the group has two Dubai projects in the pipeline; Coral Dubai Sports City Hotel & Apartments, also set to open next year, and another for which, at the time of going to press, no further details could be released.

Increasing HMH’s presence in the UAE, and entering emirates in which the company doesn’t yet have a presence such as Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi is another key goal, confirms Voivenel.

“Based on the history of the company, we have defined a new strategy when it comes to development. Instead of going to Libya, Syria and Egypt, let’s start by consolidating our foundations and doubling the number of properties we have in the UAE from seven to 14 to build a strong home base. Let’s not forget that we are a Dubai-based company and if we have cash we prefer to spend it here,” he says.

Focusing his efforts in Dubai, and further demonstrating his entrepreneurial spirit, Voivenel is looking to introduce what he describes as “the next star” — the Ecos brand. This will be the first truly budget, international hotel brand in the region, he says.

Launched a few years ago, but put on hold due to the Arab Spring, Ecos is set to provide a new benchmark for economy accommodation in the GCC. The first three projects are currently being considered for the UAE, one of which looks set to be constructed in Dubailand and open in 2016.

“It’s definitely going to be one of the very key brands of the group,” the CEO enthuses. “It’s not a hotel that’s been created for the UAE or for 2020. It is a budget hotel that has been created because we have anticipated the needs of our future customers. It will be much more economical than the Ibis, because we won’t have a pool, we won’t have restaurants, or a gym; we’re going after a different market.”

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