GM interview: Rabih Zein, Park Inn Muscat

With Oman’s travel and tourism GDP predicted to rise at an annual growth rate of 6-8% to 2017, the country’s rapid development presents both a challenge and an opportunity for its mid-market hotels. “Next year the projection is tough, as Muscat will grow its room inventory by 18%,” says Rabih Zein, general manager of Radisson’s 175-room Park Inn Muscat.

“It’s very challenging, but at the same time it’s motivating, because all of them are four- and five-star hotels, so we need to be on our game 24/7 if we want to keep our slice of the market,” he adds.

Being primarily a business hotel, located in the heart of Muscat’s city centre and deriving around 50% of its business from the corporate market, the Park Inn felt the disruptive effects of the oil crisis and the devaluation of the Euro during the final quarter of last year. Nonetheless, 2014 was the “best ever year for the hotel”, Zein says.

“The oil crisis has meant that some projects have been cancelled or delayed, and this has affected the business overall in Muscat. However, at the Park Inn Muscat we managed to keep our market share and we achieved all our key performance indicators. We lost a little on average house rate, but this was compensated by the occupancy, which is flirting around 70% as a yearly average.”

Vital infrastructure work will leave the small Sultanate poised for growth. Muscat International Airport is expanding and will soon have capacity to handle 12 million passengers annually, with further expansions planned in three phases to boost annual capacity to 24, 36 and 48 million passengers as demand grows.

This means that not only will Muscat need still more hotel rooms, but – with the promised influx of low-cost carriers opening routes into the country – “there is a big space in the market for three- and four-star properties, much more than there is for five-star”, Zein says.

“The opportunities today are stronger for the four- and three-star market. Short term, I’m not sure the investment in five-star hotels will be a great opportunity. The mid-scale is going to be the next big thing for Muscat.”

The opening of Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, scheduled for next year is further expected to give Oman’s local mid-market hotels a boost. Located close to the international airport, the facility plans to host international, regional and national conventions, exhibitions and business events. According to Zein, its opening will have stabilising effect on the ‘feast or famine’ nature of demand that the city’s hotel market experiences currently.

“Business in Muscat is only six months a year, and three days a week – during that time, the supply cannot meet the demand. Outside those days, however, it’s a totally different story – on Tuesdays, your occupancy and your average house rate is 100% different to at the weekends.

“With the new exhibition centre for over 7,000 delegates, we will be able to accommodate big exhibitions, and be able to compete with Dubai and other big destinations. It’s going to bring a lot of new business.”

To ensure the Park Inn Muscat is well placed to take advantage of these new opportunities, the team has been prioritising service and quality. The focus is on safeguarding existing market share and building customer loyalty before the market becomes even more cutthroat.

“We know that new hotels are coming. We are not waiting for the competition to come and take our clients – we are working ahead to create, build, and protect our relationships. We might be a mid-scale hotel, but the service is of a very high level, even better than some five-star hotels in Muscat,” says Zein.

“We don’t need to be four- or five- or six-stars – the client is looking for the personal touch. We say you should treat the client as though you are holding a butterfly in your hand,” he adds.

On a practical level, Zein’s focuses on the detail, for example ensuring that the Park Inn’s three restaurants – the RGB Bar and Grill, the Palm Restaurant all-day dining venue, and the rooftop Sama Terrazza – source the best local ingredients. He also believes that less tangible improvements can reap rewards.

“We do a lot of investment that the clients themselves might not hear about – we have invested over €150,000 (US $167,000) to increase the speed of internet access at the hotel. We did a survey and discovered that 80% of our guests have at least two internet-enabled devices, so this is something the guests will appreciate, but they will not necessarily realise they’re appreciating it,” he explains.

“We also invested half a million dollars this year on [a] machine to purify and clean the air inside the hotel. This is a two-tonne machine that sits on the roof – nobody sees it, but it improves the experience.”

The Park Inn Muscat is also Green Key certified, a label awarded to around 2,400 hotels and other businesses worldwide, acknowledging their commitment to eco-friendly business practices. The hotel has built close ties to the local community through its corporate responsibility programme, participating in activities such as beach clean-ups, recycling drives and supporting local charities. However, it is the focus on traditional Arabian hospitality that sets the hotel apart from the competition.

“Being an international mid-scale hotel, we believe differentiation will occur through our service standards,” he says.

“This has actually been demonstrated when a new hotel has been opened near us. We may have had some clients leave us temporarily, but they didn’t find the same level of service.”

Meeting – and exceeding – the guests’ expectations is the only sure-fire way to ensure customer loyalty, says Zein.

“When I know a VIP or a regular guest is checking in, I have an alert on my laptop, so when he’s checking in I personally come to the lobby to welcome him back. Or, if a regular guest is staying with us on his birthday, we go to his room with a bottle of sparkling and wish him happy birthday. It’s a personal touch, and it works. Regular guests can expect this level of personal service and we are only a mid-scale hotel,” he adds.

Zein realises that training is vital to make sure the hotel’s service standards stay top notch. As well as the usual role-specific training, a whole host of more generalised coaching and instruction is offered on a continuous basis.

“We invest a lot in training, both internally and from external suppliers. We have training on our brand concepts, on how to delight our guests and drive the business, but – because we have over 40 nationalities on staff – we also offer Arabic and English lessons. We also do computer courses, teaching basic skills like email and Facebook.”

Additional training programmes make staff feel happy and valued, says Zein.

“If you make the staff happy they will stay and deliver,” he says. “We have what we call internal climate analysis, and my score has been above 85[%] for the last four years. When I do the tour of the house every morning, I say good morning and shake hands with every single member of staff I see. The personal touch goes a long way with staff, as well as with guests.”

Showing staff that career progression is obtainable within the company also helps to breed loyalty. “I have staff that started at the bottom and who are now heads of department. It promotes loyalty and everybody can see there is a future for them within the hotel,” comments Zein.

“If I can’t promote someone internally, I can help them to get promoted to a sister hotel within the Park Inn brand – I would prefer talent stays in the company, rather than going to the competition, even if I can’t keep it at my hotel,” he adds.

This strategy seems to be working as staff turnover is low, and at least 80% of the staff have been at the hotel for four years or more, according to Zein. However, with new hotels opening all the time, employee appreciation is crucial.

“We must make sure our staff are happy with us. Sometimes there are things we can do to make staff stay, but if a new hotel comes and they offer a very big salary, we can’t do anything about that. But it’s not only about money, it’s about job satisfaction as well. Some people prefer to be told ‘thank you’ and ‘good job’, more than if you were to give them $1000. It makes people feel appreciated.”

He concludes: “I think it’s about being very visible, approachable and open – that’s it. There is no trick to it.”