Recreation managers debate

Five of the Middle East’s top hotel recreation managers reveal business is still booming, but trying to satisfy increasingly demanding clients means it is not all fun and games

Meet the experts

Damith Weerasiriwardena, sports and leisure manager, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai

Ole Brom, recreation manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Hotel and Spa

Donna Kenyon, director of recreation, Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi

Danny Cordero, recreation manager, JW Marriott Dubai

Christoph Franzen, general manager, Grand Hyatt Muscat

LM: Please outline the main recreational facilities that are available at your property?

Christoph Franzen: Our recreation area, Club Olympus, comprises a gym fitted with cardiovascular and resistance equipment that offers a weekly schedule of fitness activities. There are three floodlit hard-surface tennis courts, a warm-up court and an indoor air-conditioned squash court with professional coaching services available. The hotel’s outdoor pool incorporates a lazy river, a waterfall feature and we have a toddlers’ splash pool.

Damith Weerasiriwardena: The Pavilion Marina and Sports Club is exclusively for registered members and hotel guests. It includes seven tennis courts, three squash courts, two table tennis stations and a gymnasium. We also offer Sinbad’s Kids Club and a teenagers’ club. Guests have access to the beach, seven swimming pools and Wild Wadi Water Park, as well as a dive centre, marina and a range of fitness classes.

Spa facilities include hot tubs, plunge pools, a steam room and sauna, and treatment rooms.

Ole Brom: The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Sports Club and Spa features a beautiful 600-metre beach with a private island and lagoon, a marina, a large outdoor pool and a kids’ pool, as well as a kids’ playground and four floodlit outdoor tennis courts.

There is a Hammam area with four plunge pools and a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. We also have a separate mixed gym and a ladies’ gym; both contain the latest cardio machines, strength exercise equipment and free weights. The spa is part of the sports club and offers a wide variety of treatments and retail products.

Danny Cordero: Griffins Health Club comprises a Nautilus-equipped gymnasium with machines and free weights, a cardio room, two international-standard squash courts and a roof-top swimming pool and jacuzzi, with F&B services.

Changing rooms include a steam room and sauna, and loungers.

There is an aerobics floor for group exercise, a juice bar, a personal training and weight management service, massage for men and women and martial arts classes among others.

Donna Kenyon: The Beach Club offers a range of facilities including a gymnasium containing Technogym equipment, a relaxation area and studio with Schwinn bikes. We have an aerobics studio, two air-conditioned squash courts, three tennis courts, a dive centre, a family pool with a swim-up bar, a baby pool, a children’s play area, a water-sports centre and garden and beach facilities.

We also offer a variety of personal training services including, tennis, squash, diving and personal training.

Cordero: Griffins Health Club is limited to 375 to 400 active members.

Kenyon: We have around 1000 members.

Franzen: Club Olympus has more than 300 yearly memberships and a host of day visitors, especially on the weekends; including families and children.

Besides the permanent members, hotel guests are using the facility on a very frequent basis. There are many different types of members at Club Olympus; fulltime regular members who reside in Muscat, hotel guests and occasional users mainly on the weekends.

Brom: On average we receive around 300 to 400 visitors daily during the week and about 600 during weekends or public holidays. All of our Sports Club members have access to the fitness centre and other resort facilities, including the private island.

Weerasiriwardena: We have around 1000 members including single-, couple- and family memberships.

LM: Is the hotel spa part of the recreation facilities?

Cordero: The spa services available are a part of the recreation facilities to provide convenience for guests and members.

Kenyon: Zen, the spa at Rotana, is a separate department to ensure we meet guest expectations as the Beach Club and Zen have specific clientele and therefore specific needs, so we must tailor our services and facilities to fit these.

Brom: The spa is seen as a separate department mainly because of the size and volume of users on each side.

The decision to separate the two gives us the possibility to provide better services and respond faster to the demands of our guests and members.

Franzen: Star Salon is incorporated into the overall experience within the hotel grounds, but it is operated by a professional spa company, whereas the hotel runs the Club Olympus facilities. We feel that the running of a spa requires the dedication of a specialised company providing professional, up-to-date treatments.

Weerasiriwardena: The spa is part of the sports and leisure department. When Jumeirah Beach Hotel opened 11 years ago, the spa industry had not yet reached the high popularity that it holds in the UAE region today.

As such, the health suite functioned under The Pavilion Marina and Sports Club and not as a separate department. We have found the spa facilities often go hand-in-hand with recreational facilities and physical activity for our guests and members.

LM: Is it difficult to find properly-certified staff?

Weerasiriwardena: We have strict requirements and go to great lengths to ensure that we only hire the most qualified colleagues possible. We are fortunate that as a reputable sports centre and through associations with Jumeirah — an employer of choice — we attract professionals of the highest calibre.

Franzen: Finding the right staff is a challenge. We look for internationally-recognised accreditations in physical education; some of our staff have a Bachelors degree or even a Masters. A must for all employees is to have an up-to-date first aid certificate; a course we repeat annually for staff at the hotel.

Cordero: Certified fitness professionals are readily available. Our trainers and lifeguards are certified and we are making sure their certificates are current by sending them for continuous training. International Certification is a must.

Kenyon: Ideally internationally-recognised qualifications are best, but they’re not always possible to find and with standards still not set by the government, it’s still very much a grey area. However experience also counts for a lot. There are now internationally-recognised training organisations in the UAE, which provide the qualifications needed to develop individuals and therefore improving on the services offered by hotels.

Weerasiriwardena: It is extremely important as regular members utilise the facilities consistently all year round, unlike the tourism sector, which has both peak and off-peak seasons.

Having a regular stream of users helps ensure equipment is kept conditioned and we can trial new ideas and initiatives that our hotel guests may enjoy as well.

Brom: Any club offering a certain level of facilities, services and trained staff to accommodate its visitors will say having a membership base as a revenue generator is very important.

Cordero: Membership revenue is used for recreational facility maintenance and employee compensation. The remainder will then be added to hotel revenue so membership is very important.

Franzen: The membership component of our recreation department is very important, representing more than 70% of the total recreation revenue. A healthy membership base is a must for Club Olympus and it motivates us to ensure we are staying at the top of our game in terms of services and classes offered.

Kenyon: The membership sales are what drive business for the department. Hotel guests are interested in facilities and services, but they are not consistent.

Members give the department stability from taking up and renewing their membership to forming habits depending on their interests. That’s why it’s good to have a variety of services to meet varying interests — therefore maintaining a steady income from members once someone has paid their membership fees.

The entire hotel benefits from members as they provide revenue in terms of membership fees, but also for other services such as water-sports, food and beverage, and also rooms.

LM: What other recreational aspects generate revenue for the hotel?

Brom: We have professional instructors offering personal training, swimming classes, tennis and squash, as well as the boat trips our marina team offers.

Furthermore, we have an events team taking care of kids’ camps, themed parties and additional activities.

On the recreation side, these are very important factors generating a significant amount of revenue for the sports club. The juice/pro bar is something we are looking into for the near future and we anticipate that will also drive revenue.

Cordero: Aerobic classes, personal-training services, sales on juice bar and health products, and rentals on lockers, racquets and headphones all generate additional revenues for the hotel.

Franzen: Besides regular memberships, Club Olympus offers members the options of personalised workouts, tennis and squash lessons and different types of classes. Local people who do not have a Club Olympus membership are welcome to use the facilities against a daily fee. There is also a wide range of merchandise that we sell, which adds to the revenue stream.

Kenyon: Additional ways of generating revenue include selling sports drinks and supplements (where the revenue comes under recreation and not F&B), as well as sports accessories and clothing. If the coaches are using/wearing particular products, it is almost guaranteed that members will want them. It’s all about role models and image.

Cordero: Recreation and fitness demand remains high in spite of the economic downturn. In my opinion people will always invest in staying fit and living a healthy lifestyle. Campaigns by the local government and the World Health Organisation to promote a healthy lifestyle increase awareness and as a result, more people are joining health clubs.

As long as there is work and life-related stress, the fitness and spa industry will remain strong.

Weerasiriwardena: People are looking for ways to incorporate fun into their fitness routine. They’re looking to engage in activities that don’t always include a traditional gym session, such as rock climbing, kayaking, etc. People are also becoming more aware and interested in the fitness industry, so there is more interest in high-technology equipment and machines to get the most out of activity sessions.

Kenyon: The majority of trends focus on gym equipment and the latest group-exercise class. People hear or see someone using a piece of equipment that someone famous is using and automatically think it’s the best thing for them.

Brom: We’ve seen a growing demand for team-building events; small and large companies want to improve communication and team work within the group.

Recreation facilities are now required to offer a wider variety of services.

The club is increasingly used as a place to meet, bring family and enjoy full days. A lot of clubs now offer massages, swimming pools, racquet sports, a juice bar and a relaxation spot. This is what consumers want. A one-stop-shop seems to be the name of the game.

Franzen: There’s been a shift towards a holistic lifestyle approach. Spa has taken off over recent years and from a business perspective they are great revenue earners; guests and members look for a more complete approach these days.

They are asking for tips relating to nutrition and workout plans for daily, light exercise. While we had a lot of high-impact classes in our repertoire until recently, there has been more demand for classes and exercises that calm the mind and body, such as yoga.

Top 10 recreation roundtable revelations:

1. The growth in the popularity of spa over recent years means many hotels now choose to have a dedicated spa department, independent from traditional recreational facilities.
2. While recreational managers mostly look for staff with internationally-acclaimed qualifications, these are not always available in the regional market.
3. A good membership base is crucial to the success of the recreational facility as it is a key, year-round revenue generator for the department and the hotel.
4. Additional revenue generators for recreational facilities include F&B outlets, personalised fitness services and group exercise classes.
5. Recreation and fitness demand remains high in spite of the current economic downturn.
6. Consumers are increasingly looking beyond traditional gym sessions for new, fun ways to keep fit.
7. Consumers are responding to regional and global campaigns promoting a healthy lifestyle and are generally demonstrating a greater health awareness.
8. Consumers are easily led when it comes to fitness role models so facilities are encouraged to get their fittest-looking staff to model the latest secondary spends.
9. Guests are looking for a one-stop-shop in the hotel’s recreational facilities and in response more hotels are offering a more diverse facility.
10. Meeting guests’ high expectations and retaining membership was agreed upon as the most prevailing challenges for hotel recreational managers.