BOH interview: Deveekaa Nijhawan
Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre PR and communications manager Deveekaa Nijhawan talks about managing an older property
What is your career background?
I started my career at this property, as a public relations and communications executive in June 2012 and, within two years, rose to head the department. I grew up in different countries, including India, Sri Lanka, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Dubai, and learnt to embrace different cultures along the way. It’s my love for meeting people and interacting with different nationalities that drove me to choose a career in PR.
What are your responsibilities at the hotel?
My responsibilities include interacting with the national and international media and PR agencies. It also includes brand management of the Starwood group in general, and Le Méridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre in particular. I am also the person in charge of all key promotions, specialising in launch activities for F&B promotions, implementing marketing plans for them and ensuring they drive top-line revenue.
How do you work on positioning 18 F&B outlets in your hotel?
Each individual venue has a different cuisine and its own loyal client base. We position each F&B venue independently, and we run tailor-made campaigns that target selected audiences through appropriate channels. Each campaign also depends on the cuisine served, ambience, experience and target market it focuses on.
How do you respond if a campaign for a particular outlet is not doing as well as initially planned?
As complex PR and communications manager, all campaigns are driven by top-line revenues. If a particular campaign doesn’t go as well as planned, the entire team reviews the campaign, from the food production to the overall experience and the mediums chosen to communicate this campaign. We try to identify the reason for the target not being achieved and take measures to rectify this. We treat every campaign as a learning opportunity to determine how we can better it the next time.
Does the hotel’s reputation translate into loyalty or has the new supply in the market affected business?
The travel world has undergone a substantial transformation in the last few years, and technology is one of the major reasons for this. I do see more dependence on technology in the coming years. Our property has been around for more than three decades and is privileged to have a very loyal patronage, both in the rooms and the F&B offerings. We are continuously re-inventing ourselves to keep pace with the market and meet the needs of our clientele. For example, we opened one of the largest and tallest ballrooms in Dubai, the Great Ballroom — complete with three live kitchens — last November. We are also re-opening Yalumba following a refurb this October. Our brand name and the SPG programme also come with their own benefits with regards to brand loyalty.
What are some of your proudest achievements throughout your career?
I would consider the successful launch campaign — in the presence of HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum — for the 196 Le Royal Club rooms that were added in 2014, and the recent launch of the Great Ballroom, as key achievements. I have also managed to pick up a few awards, and was featured on Ahlan’s PR Wall of Fame. I’ve also been given a pat on the back by my GM, Shaun Parsons, and my fellow directors of departments, Brendan McCormack, Inge Van Weert, Amit Biswas and Shamira Mitha, for having saved millions of dollars in PR advertorial expenses for the hotel.