“MICE business is something we are intending to grow, also weddings is one area where we had a very good start but we want to grow and develop this further. We have held a couple of wedding fairs.
“And now corporate, because we get the opportunity to get into the contracting season so we will see more corporate companies, which we couldn’t do last year because we were new, so those are the three markets we continue to grow. One of the biggest areas is conference and events, because we have such great facilities so that will take care of a lot of other things,” Jersabeck asserts.
The two ballrooms, separated by one floor, enable two entirely separate functions to take place at the same time — rare in any market and surely I ask, great for sales but a nightmare for operations?
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“It requires a lot of planning, a lot of organisation, a lot of discipline and dedicated team members, which we have. They have been well trained and they continue to get training,” says Jersabeck.
“The market in Dubai is changing so fast — it’s about ongoing improvement, ongoing changes, and we keep on adjusting our offers. We keep on fine tuning — who is your customer, who is your client, what do they want, it’s not about us telling them.”
Executive chef Terry Styles has also become heavily involved with conference pitches, tailoring menus for groups.
“It’s good to step away from the buffets for a conference and I think Sanjay’s team was quite surprised to do gala dinners when I said ‘let’s do plated dinners, let’s go for it, rather than buffets’. You can put so much more emphasis and unique style into something that’s plated than doing something on a buffet,” says Styles.
Arguably, this is what clients expect at a luxury level, but director of F&B Andreas Senn says the service element has also boosted positive feedback.
“In a buffet set up there’s not much interaction, but with this different approach to set up, you also get more personalised service. It has been very successful,” reports Senn.
Meeting planners are also swayed in their bookings by the wealth of other facilities at the hotel, from dining and entertainment offerings to leisure and spa options. The Conrad Concierge app offers added benefits too; the hotel can target everyone booked on the group rate with reminders of functions and facilities, or the group leader can use it to notify the Conrad team of last minute changes in their schedule or requests for amends.
It’s the extensive range of amenities at Conrad, from the 3000m2 urban pool club, Purobeach to the signature celebrity chef restaurant Marco Pierre White Grill, that open the hotel to other markets, namely leisure guests and the local resident base.
“There is about 20-22% leisure business, especially during the holiday periods,” says Nair. “What this hotel has unique in its offering for leisure guests is it gives a very viable alternative to a beach property and that’s because you are close to all the entertainment and city attractions; you have Purobeach, which is a beach club in the heart of Sheikh Zayed Road.
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