However, Delfau is confident that with the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi and the various theme park openings planned for the city, tourist arrivals to the city will surge. He says: “We also have some very exciting projects coming up in the capital city. This will bring different types of guests to Abu Dhabi.”
Abu Dhabi was recently named the fastest growing destination city in the Middle East and Africa, according to the 2017 Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index. The UAE capital ranked fourth globally as a leading destination city with a projected increase of 4.5% in visitor figures, as well as the fourth fastest growing destination city out of 132 countries worldwide.
The emirate is looking to attract 4.9 million visitors by the end of 2017, to which Delfau says: “There is great potential for the city and I do believe that all the initiatives [carried out by the Department of Culture and Tourism] will bring in more people into the city. But we must also be cognisant that we must attract the right market for the right hotel segment as incremental revenues are necessary, not just for the hotel industry but for the city as a whole.”
Another factor which concerns Delfau is the incessant discounting of F&B products. “A major issue we see in the industry today is the heavy discounts in the region’s F&B industry that impact the profitability of the business. It is something that the industry as a whole should be looking at. It doesn’t make any economic sense these days to offer buy-one-get-one-free deals. We appear to be fixated on a 50% discount to entice people to come to our premises to enjoy a fantastic meal. Why do we offer 50% off? Why can’t the norm be offering a 20-35% discount?” he asks.
Referring to F&B operations as a hotel’s calling card, he is of the opinion that people only remember a “really good meal or a really bad one”. Disregarding the heavy discounting, Delfau believes it’s critical to ensure the highest level of service and quality in F&B.
Southern Sun Abu Dhabi takes pride in itself on offering top-notch service as its general manager believes in offering his guests their money’s worth. Having said that, he points out that the hotel focuses on its employees’ wellbeing as “they are the face of the brand”.
He says: “Our associates spend more time with guests so they have to be able to represent the brand for us. We, as general managers, need to limit the barriers that obstruct our colleagues in doing their duties. We promote an engaged workforce not only through our dealings with each other, but also with our guests, and this is evident in our guests’ feedback and comments we receive.”
Concluding, Delfau says: “Flexibility is something I demand from my team and I have to say that I have one of the best teams in the city.”
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