A PLACE to call home
In Dubai the hospitality choices are endless. That is why Ramada Chelsea Hotel's strategy of incorporating customer feedback and sales teams’ insight in management has helped its numbers grow.
How did Ramada start its operations in Dubai and how has the company developed since?
Ramada Chelsea Hotel started its operations in May 2010. At the time, we were the fifth hotel in the Al Barsha region, though there are now more than 90. Competition here is extremely intense; there are approximately 8,000 to 9,000 rooms available to tourists within a several-kilometer radius. The unique selling point for all of these is their proximity to the Mall of the Emirates, and they all capitalize on this point. This hotel has five restaurants and bars and presents its guests with unique choices regarding rooms. We cater to different tastes in order to make each guest feel at home. Inside the hotel, we offer five main cuisines to cater to the main demographics of our guests, who mainly come from China, the US, the UK, Europe, and the Arab world. The government of Dubai has also opened up its visa policy to cater to more nationalities by offering visas on arrival, which has opened new markets for us. We have had nearly nine years of successful operations at the hotel. We thank all our guests for their patronage and are grateful for the various awards we have received based on guest satisfaction.
“We sit down with our sales team three to four times a week to look at our gains from our strategies and see what changes need to be made.”
How do you optimize costs and make sure your operations are progressing in the most efficient way?
We place great emphasis on effective cost management and making sure all our resources are put to the best possible use. We are meticulous when it comes to cost control. We are also mindful of expiry dates and the shelf lives of everything we use, and we are extremely serious about preventing losses. We make tractability reports, specifying when raw materials are received, when the food is cooked, when it is shelved, and how much of it is sold. Every six months, we do a popularity analysis on the menus; if an item’s popularity is below 20-30%, that item will be dropped from the menu. We also have a suggestion card given to guests after they finish their meals to receive more feedback about their dining experience with us.
What are your goals and objectives for the Ramada Al Barsha in 2019?
Since 2016, our occupancy rate has been steadily increasing. In 2017, the occupancy rate grew by almost 4%, and although 2018 was a challenging year, we still aim for 4% growth. 2019 was even more challenging. The supply of hospitality services increases every day in Dubai, and we have to stay competitive and make sure we stand out. We sit down with our sales team three to four times a week to look at our gains from our strategies and see what changes need to be made. We never implement a strategy and wait for a month to see what happens; we monitor the developments closely, and this sets us apart. ✖
Issam Slaimi
GENERAL MANAGER, GOLDEN TULIP MEDIA HOTEL
BEING ABLE TO SIMULTANEOUSLY ENGAGE
with both non-Muslim and Muslim markets is the key to success for halal-friendly hospitality. Hospitality should not mean only being hospitable to a specific class or group of people; it should be inclusive rather than exclusive. There are many avenues that function with halal hospitality that also appeal to a variety of audiences, such as wellness, family-focused activities, and arts and culture. When we start talking about purpose-driven industries instead of simply compliance, we open the doors to long-term sustainability. Many of UN Sustainable Development Goals are aligned with the goals of the global halal and sharia compliance bodies. For example, sustainability plays a key role in halal industries, as one crucial aspect of halal food is preventing not only food waste, but also any form of waste, including energy usage. Reducing waste also goes hand in hand with helping local communities. My main goal is to continue assisting hotel owners and established chains to drive profitable and sustainable operations in halal-friendly hospitality. Often, the reason why halal hotels fail is because of the hotel portion of the business, not the halal portion. Therefore, my role is to work with investors to bring proven and robust hospitality business models and to help implement the halal-friendly layer in the most tactical way. I want to help owners achieve these goals without compromising on what makes hospitality such a passionate and successful business.
is the perfect match, as our beach club can benefit from those who work and live in Dubai and want to have a great time, as well as tourists from all over the world who come here specifically to enjoy themselves. We came at an interesting time point in time: Dubai had almost all the hotel brands in the world represented here in one way or another. But we were the first lifestyle resort proposition to hit the market. The demographics of Dubai’s visitors have also shifted over the past years; it has become younger and more vibrant, and they come for shorter periods during stopover flights. On Dubai’s hotel demand side, tourists come through various channels. Our target group behaves slightly differently, as we have many people who book either through WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram. We do not have many people booking via travel agencies, though we do have many who use private concierges. We cater to the top tier C-suite, though we do not focus on typical corporate travel. The reason for our current success is that we are resilient to change; the urge for disruption is sometimes a weak excuse to implement poor ideas, and we have been consistent with what we know works. If we position our brand in a way that other high-end brands like to associate themselves with, the end result will be extremely successful.
DUBAI FOR US
offers a diversity of products, brands, locations, and attractions. It is home to some of the world’s most iconic hotels and resorts, renowned for incredible design, stunning facilities, and excellent service, and it continues to develop properties and concepts that push the benchmark. Dubai reports a high passenger volume and a high number of room nights. Halfway through 2019, Dubai welcomed 10.85 million guests and reported 20.55 million occupied room nights. Hotels benefit from this high volume, which allows operators to form a base for their revenue. This is relatively unique to Dubai. Since 2009, there has been a shift from an emerging economy to an established one. As Dubai’s economy diversifies and matures, so does the hospitality sector. There has been a complete paradigm shift from a revenue-driven economy to a cost-driven one. When the market starts stabilizing, hotel performance reaches a more regular and consistent level, meaning it is time to adjust cost structures. Hotel investors and operators must start correcting the way they do business to suit the cycle today, because the number of rooms in Dubai has increased and there is more competition to come. The same applies to food and beverage outlets; operators need to decide how to promote their restaurants in terms of pricing, menu, and quality in order to compete. The tax system has changed with VAT, so operators also need to adjust as it adds an extra 5% cost for consumers.
DUBAI’S HOSPITALITY SECTOR