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SPECIAL REPORT: THE ARABIAN HOTEL INVESTMENT CONFERENCE 2017 IN FOCUS
APRIL 2017THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL HOTEL MANAGEMENT
EventPreview
EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER FORUM 2017
P22
EXPERIENTIAL TOURISM
SPOTLIGHT ON ATM 2017’S THEME P86
LOYALGUESTS
THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST LOYALTY PROGRAMMES P18
DUBAI DAYS
CURRENT SUPPLY, OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES P79
GROWTHSPURT
WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP IS READY TO CONQUER
THE REGION P34
THE REZIDOR HOTEL GROUP IS ON TRACK TO HAVE 100 OPERATING
HOTELS AND 20,000 ROOMS BY 2020 IN THE MIDDLE EAST & TURKEY
3
CONTENTSAPRIL 2017. VOLUME 16. ISSUE 04
2 8Highlights
Rezidor’s Ramsay Rankoussi and Elie Milky were photographed
in ITP’s studio, after which they discussed the operator’s strategy.
THIS MONTH’S COVER:Volume 16 Issue 04
April
RVPInterview
44 STRATEGYCarlson Rezidor is set to have a bumper year with 17 hotels opening in the UAE this year, and much more.
22 EVENT PREVIEWThe advisory panel for the fifth annual Hotelier Executive House-keeper Forum unites to shape the forum’s agenda.
HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04
108 SUPPLIER ROUNDTABLESuppliers in the tea and coffee industry shed light on what’s hot and what’s cold in the region’s beverage vertical.
79 MARKET UPDATEAfter achieving 14.9 million overnight visitors to Dubai in 2016, DTCM looks to continue its success in 2017.
“Maybe people know us from the Ramada brand, but over the next few years we will bring a few more of them to the region” Ignace Bauwens p34
CONTENTS
4 HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04
EVENT PREVIEW: EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER FORUM
07 BULLETINMarriott reveals launch of unified
loyalty programme; Seven Tides
working on new World Islands resort;
Dubai hotel occupancy stays strong,
revenues fall; MGM and Bellagio set
for a 2021 Dubai debut.
20 NEWS ANALYSISThe truth behind loyalty programmes.
79 MARKET UPDATE We focus on Dubai’s sustained push towards achieving its target of 20 million tourists by 2020; 14.9 million visited Dubai in 2016.
20 NEWS ANALYSISOwners and investors weigh in on loyalty programmes.
22
22 EVENT PREVIEWExecutive Housekeeper Forum 2017.
27 COMMENTMartin Kubler on social media influ-
encers; Naim Maadad talks about
good service; Markus Oberlin says
sustainability is important; Shuja
Zaidi on mid-market; Louise Oakley
questions how hotels can engage
with communities; Dr Cody Morris
talks about connectivity in travel.
34 RVP INTERVIEWIgnace Bauwens reveals more about
Wyndham’s growth in the region.
40 FOH INTERVIEWWillem Du Plooy, sports and leisure
manager, Bab Al Shams Resort Dubai.
42 BOH INTERVIEWValerie Barrie, director of sales and
marketing, JW Marriott Marquis.
44 COVER STORYCarlson Rezidor Hotel Group has its
sights set on its 2020 targets, for the
Middle East and Africa.
51 AHIC SUPPLEMENTSetting the stage for the Arabian
Hotel Investment Conference 2017.
58 AHIC: OWNERSSeven Tides’ Abdulla Bin Sulayem and
Katara’s Hamad Abdulla Al-Mulla.
64 AHIC: OPERATORSMarriott International’s Alex Kyriak-
idis and Hilton’s Carlos Khneisser.
72 AHIC: GCC UPDATEA snapshot of investor and operator
sentiment across this region.
79 MARKET UPDATETourism in Dubai is on the rise, follow-
ing a 5% visitor increase from 2016.
Event preview
CONTENTS
5 HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04
86 TRAVEL / ATMThe rise of experiential tourism.
92 CAREERSThe latest from the world of training.
93 NEW RECRUIT Mövenpick Jumeirah Beach executive
chef Martin Becquart.
94 MOVERS AND SHAKERSThe latest hospitality appointments.
95 BUYER’S GUIDESuppliers’ news and product launches.
102 EVENT REVIEWHighlights of the 22nd edition of Gulfood.
106 PRODUCT GUIDEA look at guest room toiletries.
108 SUPPLIER ROUNDTABLEWhat’s new in the tea and coff ee world.
112 MARKET DATAHotel performance data from TRI.
114 COLLIERS DATA Three-month forecast from Colliers.
116 COMMUNITYThe latest CSR news from hotels.
118 10 THINGSFacts about The Address Boulevard Dubai.
PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAETel: +971 (0)4 444 3000 Offi ces in Abu Dhabi, Dubai & London
ITP MEDIA GROUPCEO Ali Akawi
Executive Director Matthew SouthwellGroup Editorial Director Greg Wilson
EDITORIALEditorial Director Robert Willock
Tel:+ 971 4 444 3357 email: [email protected] Editor Devina Divecha
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Events Manager Natasha BhatiaMarketing Manager Dominic Clerici
ITP GROUPChairman Andrew Neil
Managing Director Robert Serafi nCFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies
Board of Directors Ali Akawi, Walid Akawi, Mary Serafi n
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are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is
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granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review.
Published by and © 2017 ITP MEDIA FZ-LLC. Registered in DMC, Dubai, U.A.E. under licence no. 30006.
BPA Worldwide Audited Average Qualified Circulation: 6,278 (July — December 2016)
118
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106
AHICSUPPLEMENT
Page 51
93
F ollowing a busy 2016, this year is set to be equally packed for the Carlson Rezi-dor Hotel Group
across the Middle East. The group is set to open 17 hotels this year across the region, bringing to frui-tion signings announced over the last few years. The openings are concentrated across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, markets which The Rezidor Hotel Group’s vice president business development MEA, Elie Milky, and senior direc-tor business development MEA, Ramsay Rankoussi assert are high growth areas.
The hotel openings in the UAE will see Carlson Rezidor add al-most 1,000 rooms to its operating portfolio, bringing it to a total of 13 hotels and 3,000 rooms in op-eration by the end of 2017. This includes: the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront; the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Motor City; the Radisson Blu Residence, Silicon Oasis; and, Radisson Blu Hotel, Ajman. And then the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Canal View is sched-uled to open in Q1 of 2018.
In Saudi Arabia, the opera-tor has 30 hotels and over 6,000 rooms in operation and in devel-opment, with this year seeing the company’s first hotel opening in
By Devina Divecha Portrait Photography: Ausra Osipaviciute
WHO’S WHO?
ELIE MILKY is the vice president business development Middle East &
Africa and responsible for driving expansion opportunities and leading
Rezidor’s strategic growth and hotel portfolio in the Middle East and
parts of Africa. A Lebanese/Gambian national, Milky has more than 10
years’ experience in development and asset management. He was
formerly part of the HVS team based in London and in Dubai, where his
focus was on conducting feasibility studies, valuations, ROI analyses and
strategic advice across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He joined
Rezidor in 2010 as business development manager quickly rising to his
current VP role within the organisation. Milky has a BA in Hospitality
Management & Tourism from Notre Dame University in Lebanon and an
MBA in International Hospitality Management specialising in hotel real
estate and finance from the IMHI — ESSEC Business School in Paris.
RAMSAY RANKOUSSI is the senior director business development
Middle East & Africa for the Rezidor Hotel Group, and he is based in
Dubai while co-leading Rezidor’s strategic growth and hotel portfolio
in the Middle East. A Belgian national of a multicultural background,
Rankoussi previously led the investment arm of Millennium Hotels &
Resorts. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an
MBA specialised in hotel real estate finance and asset management from
the IMHI — ESSEC Business School in Paris.
Makkah, with Park Inn by Radisson Ho-tel, Makkah Al Naseem. Added to this, a total of six openings are scheduled for the Radisson Blu brand, including the Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran and five openings for the Park Inn by Radis-son brand. The Group will also intro-duce the Park Inn by Radisson brand to Jeddah later this year.
Rankoussi agrees with these figures and says: “We cannot ignore the fact that those two countries have been the lead-ing growth engine for us, and for the re-gion, in terms of hospitality.” He attrib-utes the UAE’s growth to the looming Expo 2020 and Dubai Tourism’s Vision 2020, and KSA’s to the government’s drive to diversify the economy. With the latter, he reveals that while there was
HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 0444
STRATEGY
The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is on track to have 100 hotels and 20,000 in operation by 2020
in the ME&T region. Rezidor’s vice president business development MEA, Elie Milky, and senior
director business development MEA, Ramsay Rankoussi, tell Hotelier Middle East how years of
work behind the scenes has led up to 2017 being one of their biggest bumper years yet
ON THE DOUBLE
BRANDUPDATE
STRATEGY
QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS
WHAT ARE THE TOURISM TRENDS
YOU’RE SEEING RIGHT NOW?
RAMSAY RANKOUSSI: Experiential has
been a big year this year and last year,
and this has been the DNA of Quorvus,
which was created to deliver a sense of
authenticity in the location.
HOW DO GOVERNMENT DIRECTIVES
AFFECT HOTEL DEVELOPMENT?
ELIE MILKY: In Saudi Arabia, landlords are
now getting taxed for empty develop-
ments. This is encouraging landlords to
do something with the plots and some of
it is going into hospitality. So yes, they do
influence investments in hotel real estate.
HAS REZIDOR LOOKED AT THE
LEASING OF HOTEL ROOMS AS AN
INVESTMENT MODEL?
ELIE MILKY: The straight answer would
be no. If the developer wants to sell units,
our condition is that it should only be to
investors and not to end users — other-
wise you cannot manage the operation.
It’s easier said than done and in most
cases it doesn’t go through, because it’s
a complicated structure.
IS FRANCHISING ANOTHER MODEL
YOU’D CONSIDER; ALL YOUR HOTELS
ARE MANAGED I BELIEVE?
RAMSAY RANKOUSSI: Franchising is a
translation of a market that is maturing.
Market sophistication comes first with
diversification of positioning, which you
have started seeing in the region. The
Middle East does not yet having the
expertise and knowledge of franchising
—this has been brought in, in Europe and
the US, because of strong expertise by
third party providers, and also because
it was already a mature market. You will
see it moving forward, we are not ne-
glecting this trend, but today it is too early.
DO YOU HAVE A COMMENT ON NOT
OPERATING THE PROPERTY THAT
USED TO BE KNOWN AS THE RADIS-
SON BLU DOWNTOWN?
RAMSAY RANKOUSSI: It’s a decision that
we took mutually with the owner; we
tend to be amicable on that, whatever
the differences will be.
ELIE MILKY VICE PRESIDENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
RAMSAY RANKOUSSI SENIOR DIRECTOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04 45
STRATEGY
46 HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04
previously a growth in secondary cities, the company is now seeing a pickup in capital cities like Riyadh and Jeddah, along with the Holy Cities.
Milky adds: “The drop in oil prices has accelerated the Kingdom’s vision to di-versify — which has always been there —but in the last couple of years they have moved faster and that’s why you’ve got all these industrial cities, economic cit-ies and financial districts, which we are entering with several hotels under de-velopment and several hotels to design.”
He adds that while corporate demand in Saudi Arabia has generally always been impacted by turmoil — financial or economic or security-related — it’s domestic leisure demand and religious tourism that are strong and more resil-ient to fluctuations in the economy.
On the African continent, it was an-nounced towards the end of last year that by the end of 2020, the hotel group will achieve its target of more than 23,000 rooms open or under devel-opment. Egypt, for example, is a busy country, and the group will see the opening of Radisson Blu Hotel, Cairo Nasr City, a 298-room property, in Q4 2017. Rankoussi notes: “Where we see an acceleration is Egypt. That has been purely related to the cycle of events —
but the confidence remains because it was probably one of the strongest econ-omies in the region, and has the strong-est potential. We see Egypt picking up from an investment perspective and the sentiment remains positive.” Milky agrees and adds: “The security situa-tion in Egypt has improved; with Egypt you’re talking about a major market that is bound to rebound sooner or later.”
Other developments in Africa include the signing of the first Quorvus Collec-tion to be built in Lagos, Nigeria, ex-pected to open in 2019, along with five Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Angola, and expansion with Radisson Blu into Zimbabwe and Cape Verde. Milky com-ments: “With Africa, we have got the largest pipeline by far because of our early entry into this emerging market, so we are leading the market by far.”
Rankoussi comments that the areas of growth are correlated to government activity. “If you look at the UAE, there’s been a lot of talk about initiatives in rela-tion to visas. So the Chinese market was one that opened last year with visa on arrival. Saudi Arabia is doing the same in terms of leisure demand and domes-tic travel. Oman is building its infra-structure but you need to look at it from the key elements that you require for
infrastructure such as the Muscat air-port, which is not ready yet. Oman has the largest coastline in the GCC so the leisure potential is there, but it’s linked to the government initiative and infra-structure in place, which will probably take another 24 months to come.”
Both also mention Lebanon as being in recovery mode. Milky notes: “The political situation in Lebanon is improv-ing and the investor sentiment is coming back. If we get to do any more hotels in Beirut, it will be one or two more.”
From an investment perspective, the duo say that the demand for mid-scale hotel accommodation is increasing, with investors seeing the attractiveness of the model, including serviced apart-ments ranging from mid-scale to upper upscale. Milky says: “Lifestyle-select demand is picking up and that’s why we have signed our first two Radisson Reds in the region, in Dubai and in Jeddah.” He adds that the operator could poten-tially see more than one Radisson Red in Dubai, with cities like Abu Dhabi and Beirut as potential entry points for the new brand, while Rankoussi comments that even Riyadh and Doha would be of interest for the lifestyle-select concept.
Rankoussi adds that Qatar will prob-ably see the “highest acceleration in
A rendering of one of the restaurants inside the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ajman. The Radisson Blu Hotel, Ajman.
We are taking the advantage of first-entry mover in certain
countries, and we see the potential in emerging markets. And that’s why we see Middle East and Africa as a key growth journey for us” Ramsay Rankoussi
The drop in oil prices has accelerated the
Kingdom’s vision to diversify — which has always been there —but in the last couple of years they have moved faster” Elie Milky
STRATEGY
HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04 47
HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04
STRATEGY
4 8
The Park Inn by Radisson, Motor City in Dubai.
mid-scale development” as the country comes closer to 2022.
Furthermore, the company’s Park Inn by Radisson brand is the operator’s highest growth brand. Rankoussi contin-ues: “If we look at the active pipeline, at least 50% is translated through Park Inn by Radisson, although existing opera-tion is probably 15%.”
Rankoussi says that mid-scale options have been “justified from an investment perspective” as it is financially more ef-ficient. He adds: “There was a gap in the market where there was real demand for that kind of accommodation at that price.”
Milky says there’s been a fundamental shift in the thinking of investors in this region. He explains: “Traditionally, in-vestors focused on the luxury segment regardless of whether it was the feasible option or not. Today more and more in-vestors are telling us that they need to make money. That’s why we launched Radisson Red — we didn’t launch a luxury lifestyle product, we launched an efficient lifestyle select product in
the four-star segment. With Park Inn by Radisson, we made the mid-scale product more efficient by answering to the needs of the investor — by delivering higher returns on investment.
“The point here is, we lead the inves-tor to value-engineer the investment that she or he is doing. For instance if a developer wants five or 10 food & beverage outlets, the advice is that maybe they should stick to three or four outlets. That would reduce their risk and their development costs, and that’s just an example of how we do it. It’s all location-related as well. If a location deserves an upper-upscale product like Radisson Blu, we will encourage the in-vestor to go for Radisson Blu and then validate it by a third-party study.”
Rankoussi jumps in and adds: “That’s one side of the equation in what makes an own- e r
This is a critical year that determines how we will
create an impact in this region. We are almost doubling our portfolio over the next 18 months, with openings this year and the next”Ramsay Rankoussi
STRATEGY
49 HOTELIER MIDDLE EA ST | April 2017 | Volume 16 Issue 04
choose an operator — the expertise and know-how in delivering a project and building it, and making it financially via-ble. But what we truly believe in at Rezi-dor is creating a relationship of comfort and trust.”
He says normally the hotel group signs up for long-term relationships with owners for approximately 20-30 years.
Milky notes: “We have been in the region for almost 40 years now with Radisson Blu Kuwait, and with most of our owners, we’ve got more than one property. This is where we have a track record.” And with this track record, the aim is to have 100 hotels and 20,000 rooms in operation by 2020 across Mid-dle East and Turkey. Rankoussi says: “That [number] is almost existing today because we already have 80 hotels and 20,000 rooms in operation and under development. We have approximately 8,000 rooms in operation and approxi-mately 12,000 rooms under construc-tion, so the translation of this objective is the maturing of our openings.”
He continues: “It’s in line with the philosophy and the DNA of the group; we’ve always been focusing on emerging markets. Rezidor has the most diversi-fied presence in terms of the amount of countries that we are present in and do business in, especially in this region. We are taking the advantage of first-entry mover in certain countries, and we see the potential in emerging markets. And that’s why we see Middle East and Africa as a key growth journey for us; we took the same journey 10 years ago when we entered CIS and Russia and today we are the largest operator there.”
Rankoussi re-asserts that 2017 is go-ing to be a stellar year for the group. He expands: “This is a critical year that de-termines how we will create an impact in this region. We are almost doubling our portfolio over the next 18 months, with openings this year and the next.
“In terms of development activity, we are concentrating on what is missing, and on the UAE and Saudi Arabia; that’s not going to change. The rest is oppor-
tunistic: where we can find the relevance of bringing a hotel in this current envi-ronment, especially as the trading envi-ronment has not always been the most positive — so it’s also a matter of timing.”
Milky adds: “We are looking forward to the opening of many flagship proper-ties, be it the Radisson Blu Hotel & ser-viced apartments in Riyadh’s Diplomat-ic Quarter, Park Inn by Radisson Dubai Motor City, Radisson Blu Waterfront, and more.”
Moving forward, he would like to see a mid-scale Park Inn by Radisson in Doha and a Radisson Blu Beach resort in Dubai, and establish a presence in Am-man, Jordan, which is one of the capital cities where the group does not have a hotel. Milky concludes: “This year is an opportunity, not only to double within 18-24 months, but also improve our product offering and increase our brand awareness in the GCC and the Middle East. We’re focusing on what’s missing — we are being more selective and look-ing at where we need to be.”
REZIDOR DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
MIDDLE EAST HOTELS ROOMS
BAHRAIN 1 207
Park Inn 1 207
Egypt 2 1213
Radisson Blu 2 1213
IRAQ 1 290
Radisson Blu 1 290
KSA 24 6406
Radisson Blu 13 2320
Park Inn 10 3806
Radisson RED 1 280
LIBYA 1 250
Radisson Blu 1 250
UAE 13 3444
Radisson Blu 8 2181
Park Inn 4 1092
Radisson RED 1 171
TOTAL 42 11810
REZIDOR DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE IN TURKEY
TURKEY
Radisson Blu 4 763
Park Inn 6 1115
TOTAL 10 1878
A rendering of the Radisson Blu Half Moon Bay in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
