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.
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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.
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