Sawkins says the hotel runs successful occupancy numbers and gives an insight into the kind of guest segmentation. “We run very high occupancies out of which 75% is leisure, from which 55% are families and the other 20% are couples. We do about 5% of corporate and the remaining 20% is from groups. We are very versatile with groups because of our ballroom facilities and we even open our restaurant just for them, we do a lot of events outside. We try to stay away from massive groups as this allows us to be intimate with the small- and medium-sized groups. We have signed contracts three-five years in advance in some cases,” notes Sawkins.
Sawkins credits the hotel’s success to his associates. He tells Hotelier: “It’s the people, it’s always the people.” He adds: “I do a lot of potential new franchise partnerships for Fairmont and I’m always asked, ‘why is this hotel always so busy?’ And there is no secret to this — it’s the people we have working here,” Sawkins concedes.
He adds: “We have one of the best-hearted staff in Dubai — they want to be here and our staff turnover is so small that it gives them a great opportunity to grow within the company. And so if we do have people leaving the property it’s because we are moving them to other hotels. That is down to the culture we have from in Fairmont. There is no hierarchy as such, it’s family.”
“When I got here it was run like a typical hotel and I was lucky that the managers and senior level associates were on the same page [to turn around the culture]. Today, we manage it from the bottom up, the associates are the key to our returning guests because 50% of our weekend guests, staycationers if you may, are repeat customers. And the restaurants is at least 50% return diners, and we also have tourists from other hotels come to our restaurants,” Sawkins reveals.
The strategy is no different with the F&B operations as well, as Sawkins reveals further: “The strategy [even with F&B] is the more we respect our colleagues the more we get out of them, and the less we worry about them. I don’t have to go into restaurants and double check on stuff. I get them to run it like their own restaurant, and that’s been very successful.
“Frevo rarely has trouble getting filled — it’s our Brazilian restaurant. When I got here Seagrill was a very slow restaurant — doing about 10 covers a night. Now, it does about 150 covers a day, or more. It’s probably one of our highest revenue drivers for the hotel and it’s turned almost into a fine-dining restaurant,” he says.
While the brunch trend is alive and thriving in Dubai, Sawkins is looking at moving away from the ‘regular Friday brunch’. “I’m desperately trying to avoid brunches where there is a lot of alcohol involved. Through our Flow brunch, we are trying to stay as family as possible. And with the Seagrill brunch we kept it for couples and friends getting together on a Saturday afternoon.”
Sawkins is welcoming of the competition on The Palm Jumeirah. “We encourage it and love it, and I feel very strongly about that. We see a lot of colleagues panic, but as long as the demand and growth is there… But the more quality we bring on to The Palm… it’s a destination by itself, it’s something I never worry about. Our rates are very strong, occupancies are strong as well. With the Viceroy opening, and the Dukes coming along, and all the other properties still coming on the Crescent, I have no problem whatsoever. It will just encourage more bookers to come on to The Palm,” he says.
UK travellers continue to be biggest source market for the Fairmont property, much like for several hotels in the same sub-market. “It’s followed by Germany and Italy, the Middle East together with Russia and the greater Russia comes next. We have also been very strong to not put all our focus into one market. We also have a very good following out of Africa, a lot of corporates coming through are from there. We have also started to go into the Indian and Chinese market. But then again, we are very selective with the Chinese market — we don’t want the volume side of it, but more the high-end because Fairmont represents luxury,” he says.
Sawkins joined Fairmont The Palm after spending time in the Caribbean and South Africa.
His appointment to Dubai was on the back of strong owner-operator relations that he enjoyed wherever he worked.
He says: “For me it’s always been easy and I have always worked closely with owners. It’s their money at the end of the day, and they have picked us to run their hotel. It’s my responsibility that we follow all the brand guidelines and standards, but at the same time I need to think of the owner and the asset they put on to the market.”
He concludes: “The relationship between owner, operator and myself is very good. They are willing to give you their cheque book because they know they will get 10 times their investment.”
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