2015 Forecast: Mark Lee, GM, Media One Hotel

Mark Lee, GM of Media One Hotel Dubai, believes that softening of employment laws has put pressure on employers.

What are the major trends in sustainability and CSR in the Middle East hotel industry?

The reduction in overall energy consumption within hotels will be further highlighted in 2015 and beyond and the authorities will slowly start to focus more and place more legislation on mandating this reduction.

Digital marketing is increasingly occupying a higher chunk of budget. Does the responsibility for this fall under the marketing / ecommerce / revenue management team?

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Media One has realised the importance of digital marketing and appointed a community manager in 2013. This role reports into our director of marketing & communications but also works closely with the director of revenue & reservations. Digital marketing is an internal role with some outsourced assistance on specialised areas.

How does your company structure internal teams to accomplish digital marketing goals?

We work very closely together with the community manager, director of marketing, director of operations, director of revenue & reservations and myself in order to set strategies, goals and periodic targets. In 2015 there will be even more emphasis on digital marketing.

How are loyalty programmes developing?

As an independent hotel this is perhaps one of the few areas where we face a disadvantage by clearly not being able to leverage the international reach that the large chains can. However that doesn’t stop us from competing. In 2013 Media One launched its own loyalty programme that offers discounts on F&B in our four restaurants and bars. We target six different market types through this loyalty scheme. We have recently completed a series of focus groups with each loyalty group to take a temperature check on what we are doing right and what areas we need to improve in.

Are apps influencing destination experience?

Not so much from a choice of destination to go on holiday, but I do believe that certain apps will determine the choice of a restaurant or bar from a local resident perspective.