Hotelier: Let’s talk in detail about bringing brands and celeb chefs to hotels.
Niki: It’s great to bring all these amazing celebrity chefs in, but the reality is we’re all chasing the same 10,000 people. The ones that are really active are four times a week. There is a huge market saturation, there’s so much choice; it’s an F&B mecca if you’re a customer. That’s the other thing that forces us to reinvent and reimagine the wheel all the time. You can’t stand still — everything from how you operate in-room dining, all-day and banquets. The customer knows more about food and beverage and are more interested than they used to be.
Adam: It’s interesting how all the big international hotel groups within 24 months of each other have recognised that their F&B spaces are not performing as well as they could do. That is on the back of a slow decline — the actual hotel business has become more difficult and sophisticated, and the job of the general manager has become more specialised. And F&B has become a distraction. We’ve done a lot of research internationally on why it’s changed, the challenges and solutions. And with that comes changing customer dynamics. Millennials are the next generation, they are the next customers to bring all the money to us. The millennial mind-set also influences the generation preceding them.
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Gianluca: The customer profile has really changed. The local customers here have travelled the world. They’re seeing what is possible outside, whether it is brand-named or not. They’re expecting the same to happen in places wherever we operate. So what we’re having to do, as hoteliers, is [make sure] that we’re able to provide the same experience. Whether that’s through a third-party operator or do it yourself, or find a mix between is very important. It’s also easy for ownership to get caught up in, ‘oh we saw this great concept, why don’t you bring it here?’ There’s this huge economy that is involved in bringing these guys in.
Niki: And not to mention, you can’t translate brands directly, you transliterate them. Brand arrogance is the biggest mistake people make in this market.
Mikael: It’s also about bringing the DNA of the restaurant, because you can’t just bring a name and think it’s going to work. It became well-known because of what it produced, not the name on the door.
Marc: There’s a difference between bringing a celebrity chef and bringing a brand. I can disagree with you in a sense that — the Dubai market is very brand focused. A good brand still needs to be well executed and implemented in the region, and that goes to whether it’s a celebrity chef or a brand. There should be a discussion between our owning company, operator, and brand owner to find the right sweet spot, whether it’s from a pricing, and training or recipe point of view.
Niki: The problem is — and I come at it from a restaurant owner’s perspective — the success of restaurants is about people, and you can’t replicate that genius, you can mimic it. Dubai is coming to understand the mid casual dining now, there’s a greater focus on the product itself rather than the fanfare that goes around it.
Miakel: Absolutely. Further to your point, we need to open it as a restaurant, not a hotel restaurant. It’s an independent restaurant, and if you take that approach, whether it’s a celebrity name or you’re running it, it will be successful.
Gianluca: If you’re going to commit, you need to commit 100% as a restaurateur and not as a hotelier.
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