“It will strive to help the guest at every step of their journey. We’ll be changing the look and feel and the service standards, we’re rewriting the operations manual and retraining the staff,” explains Al Badr, adding that the key USP of Makarim will be that the brand “understands more about what the traveller wants and expects on their religious journey” than international brands.
“When you want to go for a religious experience, we would assume that the traveller wants to have this experience extended to their place of residence.
“If you go to a new destination you want to be totally immersed in the culture and the experience rather than being in a bland, international hotel with unidentifiable features — one that you could find in any city.” Details of the Makarim rebrand are still being finalised, however Al Badr hints that the focus will be on “the colours, spirit and communication”.
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Understanding that religious tourists often book through tour operators, and sometimes only make one pilgrimage in their lives, Al Badr believes the key is to offer assistance, make the journey pleasant, and become a brand synonymous with religious tourism.
To this end, Al Badr suggests that the Makarim hotels in other cities — those in Riyadh, Jeddah and Tabuk — may be rebranded these under franchise agreements — the third category of the company’s operational strategy.
Dur Hospitality recently entered into a master development agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for the franchise of a number of Holiday Inn & Suites across the Kingdom.
Additionally the company has negotiations with other operators, however Al Badr asserts that Dur will only work with a maximum of three, and with IHG already enlisted, there is room for just two more, with Marriott hinted at as a potential.
Since the rebrand, the competition has been fierce, with many well-known brands the firm has never worked with before getting in touch. “We’ve seen interest from international operators in working with us. I believe our rebranding was successful enough in attracting their attention,” claims Al Badr.Franchising is something the company has never done before in its 39 years of existence and the reason for the introduction of this model is “two-fold”, he goes on to explain.
“One, is that we are successful in operating hotels,” comments Al Badr.
“Given our rapid expansion into new markets we identified areas we need to develop further, areas of know-how for targeting business travellers; the need for HR development, the need for resources for scaling and expansion.
“We thought that this would happen better by going along with a partner. That’s something a franchise agreement would offer. We don’t really need all the support you get from management agreements, so we found that franchise agreements give us the right balance between the assistance we need, while still retaining the control and relying on our own strength.”
Franchise agreements with international brands also have the advantage of drawing in international travellers, who may not be familiar with Dur Hospitality’s own Makarim brand.
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Apr 7, 2015 , USA
Congratulations to Dr Badr Al Badr! Rebranding is one of the most demanding Tasks in our industry; moving from set standards, culture, attitude and behavior - to a new approach, requires lots of stamina, dedication, and new blood.... that helps to create and implement the new Vision. Your new ...
Mar 23, 2015 , Saudi Arabia
Dr. Badr , Clear and Great strategy, definitely , moving in the right direction. All The best. Khaldoun Hayajneh