Ernie Els, Michael Scully in family hotel venture

One of Dubai’s most well-known ex-general managers and multiple major winning golfer Ernie Els have joined forces for a venture which will aim to fill the family-friendly hotel gap – with a CSR twist, to help children and adults with autism.

First & Foremost Hotels and Resorts is a hotel asset, development and operations company which was the brainchild of Michael Scully, former GM of the Westin and Le Meridien Mina Seyahi complex. Austrian operator Leading Family Hotels & Resorts is also involved in the venture.

Speaking at the launch of the concept yesterday, at The Els Club in Dubai, Scully explained how players the hospitality industry needed to up its game in the era of peer-to-peer services such as Airbnb.

“Hotels without a point of difference are going to start struggling,” he predicted. “If you haven’t got a point of difference, you are hugely disadvantaged.”

First & Foremost will target families with children in the 0-5 age group, meaning they will not be reliant on school holidays and will aims to achieve high occupancy levels and rates throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the hotels will be autism friendly, with staff trained to take care of children on the spectrum, and a limited number of rooms in each hotel customised for families with children with autism. Els himself is the father of a son with autism and founded the Els for Autism foundation.

The hotels will also aim to offer employment opportunities to adults on the autism spectrum, across departments such as accounts, maintenance, sport and play, and administration.

Although he pointed out that the venture was primarily a ‘business’ one, with a philanthropic element, he insisted there was a need for what First & Foremost will try to do.

“There’s a bit of a gap and I feel we can do better than what’s out there,” said Els. “We are going to be autistic-friendly, but it’s going to be a family hotel.

“We all have different needs. If you don’t have all the amenities and facilities you’re going to have a tough time with your family.”

Scully added that the company has already been in talks with owners and developers in the region, with promising leads in both Dubai and in Egypt.

He expects the operator to make its debut in the Middle East, with the hope that a first deal is confirmed within the next six months.

In a release accompanying the announcement, Scully said: "Through our partnership with Leading Family Hotels and Ernie Els we shall assist owners and developers of resort hotels to achieve higher than average returns on investment while maintaining risk awareness and being unique in product and service quality."