Sneak Peek: UAE's first InterContinental Resort in Fujairah

Nestled between the Hajjar mountains and the Indian Ocean is the newly opened InterContinental Fujairah Resort — the first InterContinental-branded resort in the Middle East. When the contract for the hotel was initially signed in 2007, the property was meant to be larger in terms of the number of rooms. However, that was tweaked over the years, and now the property comprises 190 keys.

The hotel’s team is headed up by 22-year IHG veteran, Philipp Economou, in his first pre-opening role. Having joined in April 2016, Economou was previously the general manager of the Holiday Inn Abu Dhabi, and has worked in the UAE, the US, France, Spain, Greece, Germany, and Switzerland.

During a site inspection led by Economou, Hotelier Middle East toured the spacious rooms, which start at 48m2. Twin rooms offer two queen beds, allowing a family of four to stay together in a single room, and every single room has an ocean view and a balcony. Each single suite is connected to a twin room, allowing them to be booked as a two-bedroom unit.

To emphasise the fact that this property is designed for leisure and relaxation, there are no desks in any of the rooms. All rooms do offer a Bose sound system, however, and also offer the ability for guests to display their own digital content on the TVs. To promote the balcony terrace as a spot for guests to hang out, the minibars have been created with an open design, and include the ingredients for various cocktails, and shakers.

The spa, by L’Occitane, has eight treatment rooms, including two treatment suites. Economou reveals that the property has the largest hammam in Fujairah, with capacity for up to eight treatments to take place at the same time. Each couple’s suite also has its own hammam, and all rooms offer a private terrace. The general manager adds that the InterContinental Fujairah has exclusivity with L’Occitane in Fujairah City in terms of products and treatments.

EASY SELL?

There are many selling points of the property that will make Economou’s sales and marketing team’s job easier, he asserts. But they certainly cannot rest on their laurels. Director of sales and marketing, Mohamed El Kot, joined the pre-opening team on 1 November, 2016, and implemented a three-pronged approach as soon as he came on-board.

First came the recruitment of the team, which was followed by a positioning workshop and meetings with key stakeholders. Finally, he built the entire sales and marketing strategy and plan. El Kot explains: “We are a luxury property and, as the InterContinental brand, we target a diversified market segmentation.”

In addition to targeting local residents and tourists, El Kot is keen to attract the MICE segment, where he says people are looking to get away from traditional markets in the UAE, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

He expects the top source markets to include Emiratis and locally based expats on the hunt for a staycation. Following that are three key markets: Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the UK, and Germany.

But El Kot doesn’t plan to stop there: “We are looking at new markets that did not come to Fujairah before.” This includes Scandinavia and other European countries, he says.

For a property that Economou says will attract a customer base of 90% leisure travellers, El Kot thinks there’s still some potential to accommodate the MICE segment. While the hotel has meeting facilities, it’s more about the rest of the experiences the property can offer MICE groups, however.

He says: “We want to take it away from the traditional idea of people sitting in a meeting room and having meetings. We want to take it outside, perhaps for team-building activities.”

Over the last five years, El Kot says the sales and marketing scene has changed,  and that teams have had to adapt.

“Sales and marketing people are more tech-savvy, so the traditional way of selling the hotel has changed. It’s more of a digital platform,” he explains.

“We use RFP systems, event platforms where people book events without even coming and to see the hotel. That’s why digital is really important,” he continues.

“The sales team became more of a business partner; they are accountable —responsible for bringing the revenue in. They’re not just people who go and meet clients and bring in business; [they’re] more into budgeting, cost involvement, the performance of the entire hotel.”

Economou is confident about his prospects when it comes to filling the rooms. In addition to his sales and marketing talent, IHG’s loyalty programme is another important element in the strategy.

Economou says: “The first bookings are coming through IHG, as the sales channel within the IHG loyalty programme is very strong. We are also starting to build up a relationship with international travellers, and wholesalers.”

Before going live in November 2017, however, Economou says there were many milestones in the opening process. The first, he explains, was when the hotel was closed to turn on the ventilation, to prepare the shell-and-core for fit-out. The second was on-boarding the team, while the third, he says, was when the hotel first fired up its kitchen — which is when he says that he realised the hotel was close to opening.

F&B FOCUS

Speaking of kitchens, the hotel offers a number of concepts for its guests, including Nama, which the hoteliers on-property have dubbed the “three-meal” restaurant; Drift, the hotel’s beach bar and grill, which also has three fire-pits; Horizon, the main bar and lounge; and Club InterContinental.

Heading up the food and beverage operations are an inseparable duo: director of food and beverage, Jan Hollunder, and executive chef, Jaehak Lee, who joined the resort on the same day in December 2016. Hotelier Middle East witnessed their camaraderie, during the tour of the property, throughout the interview, and while the photoshoot was underway.

Both Hollunder and Lee emphasise the importance of fresh ingredients and natural flavours. Lee adds: “We are looking to combine fun with the culinary experience for the guest. What I’m doing now for the team is engaging and encouraging them to select the finest ingredients and use the right cooking technique to enhance flavour.”

Hollunder says one of the highlights within the resort is the silver Airstream food truck, which was not yet open when Hotelier visited the property. It will offer gourmet Italian street food, and will be located near the family pool and kids’ club. Lee believes it will be a major draw, especially for children and families.

The pair are also excited about the concept of Drift, which is the hotel’s fresh seafood and grill restaurant.

Lee says: “It’s all about simple and fresh food. We are using seafood and fish from the local catch, and serving premium-quality meat from our Josper grill, giving a charcoal-y flavour.”

Hollunder adds: “We will use Omani lobsters and prawns, and are working with the Dibba Bay oyster farm. We have a very talented Greek chef there — who is a spear fisher in his spare time.”

Club InterContinental is also a focus for the F&B team. It offers a casual guest experience, and specialises in themed high teas. Guests can also access the show kitchen within the club for a buffet experience, which results in an authentic, homely experience, and promotes interaction with the chefs.

The final element in the F&B offering is Horizon, where the focus is on The InterContinental Worldly Classics cocktails, and the resort’s own signature drinks.

The F&B director says that the InterContinental Fujairah is a culinary destination, although the perception that the property is far removed from Dubai can be something of a mixed blessing.

“We are 1.5 hours’ drive away from Dubai. It feels like a different area once you get here, of course, but that is to our advantage. Our supply chain comes from Dubai, so we have fewer deliveries, but we work around it. So did we have a challenge? Not any more so than what you’d find in another city.”

Lee continues: “It’s all about the experience; it’s not just about feeding guests while they stay. It’s about culture, and represents another step in hospitality — to discover and experience through food. Nowadays many businesses try to compromise quality to make more profit, [but this results in] losing the flavour. What we want to achieve is the real flavour, which is hard to find nowadays.”

Hollunder adds: “We work hand-in-hand, and that is reflected in our teams.”

Lee agrees, and points out that while both come from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds, their shared experiences and values have created additional synergies between them.

TEAM TIME

Creating a tight-knit teams is not easy, but Economou says he’s happy with the skillsets of those that he’s employed to work at the resort. Keeping the team highly motivated, however, is one of his top priorities.

“We were lucky enough to open the hotel with everyone [highly motivated]. We proved that during the last few simulations we did, where we received comments from people saying that they didn’t realise it was just the pre-opening of the hotel,” he says proudly.

Training played a key role in keeping these engagement and commitment levels high, and team-building activities also helped, he adds.

“I was always inspired by the story of the janitor that [former US President John F] Kennedy met when he went to visit NASA. He asked the janitor, ‘what are you doing here?’, and he replied, ‘I’m helping people to go to the moon.’

“We don’t only provide service to our guests; we create lifetime relationships. What I’m trying to promote within the team is this vision. They are not just cleaning a room, for example; they’re creating a lifetime relationship with a guest,” Economou says.

“We are a people industry, and if you want to make a difference, it will always be through people. A room will [always] be a room, a restaurant will [always] be a restaurant, but if you want to make a difference to the service, it will always [come down to] the people. So, I’m a true believer that you have to treat people well, and develop them. If they develop, your company will develop as well. Empower them — who knows better how to serve a guest than the person who is in front of that guest?”

As the first InterContinental resort in the Middle East, Economou’s aim is to be an example for those that follow, starting with the InterContinental Mina Al Arab Resort.

“We want to create best practices for the second resort that will come in to the region. We have the know-how of the Asia resorts, but we want to create this know-how in the Middle East because the market is different. Our guests have different needs. If I copy and paste what we have in Asia, it might not work here.”

Reflecting on the pre-opening experience, Economou says: “It’s been stressful and there were a lot of unknown areas to discover. But it’s been a great learning curve. A lot of people told me that if you do an opening, either you hate it or you love. Judging it now, I would do another opening if I had the same team. The opening was not easy, but it [succeeded] because of the team that we had.”

Now that the property has opened, Economou has just one goal, he says with a twinkle. What is that? “To be the best resort in the Middle East.”