Face-to-Face: Aekphon Phothiphrom
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Q) You recently took over as GM of the Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa; what kind of leadership style can your staff expect, and what qualities will you bring to the resort?
First of all, I am very pleased with my team here. All ambassadors here have set such a high standard in all aspects, and the level of service provided by all members here are second to none.
I always see myself as a leader that is open, approachable and respectful, able to communicate visions and measurable goals, and set clear expectations so everybody knows what is expected of them.
My team members will be empowered, allowing them to make their own decisions, take appropriate action and be accountable for their performance, to help them grow as a person and as a leader.
I also like to balance work and life. Everybody is entitled to enjoy their life outside the workplace. It is important that work is not hurting their relationships, health and overall happiness. To ensure efficiency and productivity I prefer people to work smart, not long hours.
Q) You return to Thailand after a spell working with Marriott in London. How does working in London differ from Thailand, and especially a resort destination like Koh Samui?
The main differences are the hotel pace, customer expectations, relaxing guests vs. business guests and cultural differences of staff. London is a multi-cultural city so it has a multi-cultural staff. There are lots of different systems in different sectors of the hotel, some of which can be applied in Asia. Lots of F&B trends in London would also be nice to apply here. The sophistication of London will blend well with charm and strong hospitality of Koh Samui.
Q) How is the Samui hotel sector performing at present, and is the Renaissance seeing similar trends to the island as a whole?
The positioning of Koh Samui as a boutique and exclusive destination differentiates it from other resort destinations and it continues to attract travellers from regional and global source markets. After slight demand drops due to last year’s political issues and the media coverage of the coup, pace has recovered and is at comparable occupancy levels of 2013.
After our deluxe room renovation between October and December last year, we invested in social media and PR initiatives which have brought excellent returns on investment. We are in line with several of our competitors and do have satisfactory demand, in line or in some months over our forecasted expectations.
Q) What is your current guest mix (in terms of source markets) and which areas will you be focusing on driving business from?
Our mix of source markets has become quite diverse. Traditionally Western European markets make up most of our nationality mix. However we see growing demand from Asian markets, specifically China.
Moving forward we will work towards maintaining a diverse nationality mix. This is increasingly important to be less vulnerable, considering the insecurity of several global currencies etc. China, Australia and India surely have potential to grow further. Also Russia in the long term. This however will depend on stabilisation of the ruble and resolving the dispute around the Ukraine.
Q) Although it is early days, what new initiatives and developments can we expect at the resort over the coming months?
Renaissance is a brand that encourages our customer to ‘Live Life to Discover’ and never stand still. We always want to be ahead of our competitors in regards of guest experience. I would continue to develop our ‘R Navigator’ with our team and local community. Beverage Rituals is also an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves from competitors.
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