Event Review: Hotelier Great GM Debate

Engagement on social media, the evolving role of the general manager and diversification of the Middle East hotel market all came to the fore at the fifth annual Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate in Dubai

Around 200 general managers and regional hotel leaders gathered at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai on September 2 for the fifth edition of the Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate. The event comprised a lively day of panels, networking opportunities and presentations and Q&As, punctuated by a series of workshops, which drilled down into some key issues.

As expected, one of the major themes that came out of the Debate was the need for diversification of the Middle East hotel sector across a number of areas whether in terms of property star-ratings or within a hotel’s food and beverage offerings.

A panel session moderated by Viability managing partner Guy Wilkinson took a close look at the push by Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) for more three- and four-star properties and JA Resorts & Hotels COO David Thomson was among the panellists who commended the efforts being made by authorities.

“If Dubai is going to be a viable market it’s got to have more three-star and four-star offerings,” he said.

“We talk about Dubai’s average rates being too high. That’s not actually the case. The average rates for five-star properties are fine. What you’ve got is not enough three- and four-star properties, which would make the average rate more comparable with other cities around the world.

“So what I think is going to happen now is if you want to have tourism on the level you’re looking at, and you want to have more business, there have got to be some more affordable options.”

Thomson also dismissed any suggestion that the introduction of more three- and four-star properties to the region could result in downward pressure on five-star hotel rates.

Amit Arora, CEO for hospitality at SKAI Holdings, also chimed in on the subject. While his company may be developing the luxury Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah, it is also behind a four-star project in Jumeirah Village Circle.

“To sustain the Chinese, Indian and GCC business, you cannot just rely on high-end [hotels],” said Arora.

“You already have 62% of hotels in luxury. Compare that to London, where it is only one part luxury and two thirds mid-scale and upper scale.

“So we need to really diversify and develop our product in both markets.”

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Beyond the types of property, another aspect to diversification is within the hotel’s operations, in terms of the focus on food and beverage.

Michael Martin, general manager at the upcoming InterContinental Dubai Marina and regional general manager of IHG, detailed how a strong reliance on F&B — expected to account for 50% of revenues — meant the hotel would need plenty of business to come in, beyond that generated by the guests staying at the property.

“Food & beverage is absolutely at the heart of it. We don’t have enough residential to service our F&B outlets. We’ve got to get business from the market to be a success. We see a real opportunity in the market for us.”

One crucial tool for hotels as they seek to maximise their revenues and capture a market share that extends beyond just their guests, will be social media.

Robert Ancill, chairman and CEO of The Next Idea, moderated a panel session on this very issue, in which hoteliers were unanimous about the need to control the hotel’s social media activity in-house, rather than outsourcing it.

“You need to have a team that is dedicated to social media and is able to communicate with each and every department and have quick access to all the different kinds of information and heads of departments if there is any issue,” said Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates marketing communications manager Elodie Patel.

Meliá Dubai general manager Marko Janssen agreed with Patel, saying it’s always better for the people who provide the service to respond to client feedback, which becomes especially important when the comments are less than positive.

Janssen explained: “We invite our staff who are in charge to answer particular comments. We believe in personal experiences… and the person providing them can give the right answer. And if they are not people from the hotel, and instead an external company, they might have another point of view and may not send the right message.”

Choosing which social media platforms to focus on was another topic discussed during the panel session.

Martin Kubler, director, Iconsulhotels commented: “I get this question a lot about which platform to focus on, and the answer is always the one where your guests are. You have to prioritise in order of the platform that most of your guests use, but you have to have a system in place that monitors everything.

“Because even if it’s a bizarre platform and there’s a negative comment, you shouldn’t let it slide if you can reply to it.”

Zaya Retreats director of operations Stephen Gee pointed to software and systems to monitor multiple social media platforms, saying: “We have a system in place that monitors a number of different channels in one place. I think that’s becoming quite popular.

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“There are systems that are becoming more sophisticated so you can monitor actual conversations and content that is coming in on a number of different channels. We do see that guests actually use a number of different channels at the same time.”

Gee also explained how guests use different social media platforms based on their experiences.

“It may well be that you get a photograph on Instagram and you get a Tweet. It also resonates with the way they want their feedback to be perceived. If somebody is having a fantastic experience, and they want to share it with their friends, then they use different media – they’ll post the pictures on their Facebook page, and that will have a ripple effect of positive brand reinforcement, as opposed to somebody that isn’t having a good experience talking about it on Twitter,” he said.

Of course, positive experiences will only be shared if the right environment is created to foster them, and a key part of achieving this is a fruitful relationship between the owner and operator.

It was therefore appropriate that the final panel session of the day on the evolution of the general manager — moderated by Rupprecht Queitsch, CEO & senior partner, INHOCO Group — grappled with this issue.

The topic was hashed out by panellists Simon Casson, regional vice president & GM, Four Seasons Resorts Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, Margaret Paul, resort GM Madinat Jumeirah, Laurent Chaudet, GM Pullman Dubai Deira City Centre and Jan Monkedieck, GM at Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah.

Monkedieck highlighted relationships with owners as the most significant evolution of the GM role.

He commented: “The expectation of the owning company is that they know the GMs, and they expect ROI.”
Casson agreed, adding that the ownership and asset management has changed.

“The number one thing for a GM now is to have a relationship with the owner. If you don’t have this, it is very difficult to be an inspirational leader because you’re pulled into what the owner or asset manager wants,” he commented.

Chaudet highlighted that the shift in a GM’s role from purely operational to overseeing revenue management took place in the 1990s, and this has continued to evolve.

“We used to be purely focused on the operations and then with new age revenue management I think this took the GM role from an operational focus to a commercial focus.

“If you take that experience as the best indicator for what will happen in the future, you’ll see that commercial and operational role continue.”

Chaudet added that having an expert team was now crucial to supporting the GM role.

“Today we’ve got an expert team of 10 people and we’re much more competitive than we used to be,” commented Monkedieck, while Chaudet agreed, saying: “We’ll be successful in our jobs if we’re able to get a team of experts.”

Leveraging the skills of the team, according to Paul, is another part of the evolved GM role. “Being an expert in relationship management is extremely important. We are constantly juggling the many relationships.”

While Paul explained that the GM role now involves “being skilled in many areas, and dealing with a diverse range of disciplines and topics”, Casson argued that much more has remained consistent than has changed, and being a leader still requires the same qualities as ever.

Queitsch, a 40-year veteran of the hospitality industry, and the general manager that led the pre-opening team of JW Marriott Marquis Dubai — the world’s tallest hotel — also offered some sage words earlier in the day during his ‘Take 5’ presentation.

“Vision without execution is hallucination,” he said.

With plenty of food for thought offered, the fifth Hotelier Middle East Great GM Debate certainly equipped delegates with that little extra to help make their visions become a reality.