Iconsulthotels director Martin Kubler, Zaya Retreats director of operations Stephen Gee and Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates marketing communications manager Elodie Patel.
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.”
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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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