Face-to-Face: Jeff Strachan, Area Director of Sales & Marketing - Middle East & Africa, Marriott International
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1) Marriott has tremendous success in building employee loyalty, and is regularly in Fortune’s ‘Top 100 Best Companies to Work For’. How are you able achieve this, and what benefits does it bring?
Our strong culture comes from the very top of the organisation. Mr Marriott is extremely visible and delivers our culture and principles on a daily basis. The culture is built on basic values which say “take care of the associate and the associate will in turn take care of your guests and they will return time and again”. If as an individual you practice this very basic human care then inevitably your organisation will be strong built upon mutual respect and a family type environment.
2) Dubai, like most global markets, has suffered from a downturn in occupancy recently. How confident are you that the emirate will recover from this and continue with the impressive growth we have seen in recent years?
Extremely confident. Over the last 10 years Dubai has been building a world class infrastructure, world class hotels and world class product offerings. We are blessed with year round sunshine and are accessible to billions of people. The emirate is home to one of the finest airlines in the world, an airline which is progressive in its thinking and wise in its expansion. With the growth in population in the immediate gulf and the need for a short break holiday destination for these residents Dubai will continue to grow into a very vibrant city for business tourism, convention tourism, leisure tourism and the key hub for Northern to Southern Hemisphere travel and East-West - West-East travel.
3) With so much development, especially in terms of tourism infrastructure, in the Middle East, how much do you believe that this region is becoming the key player in the future growth of the industry?
The Middle East is at the very bottom of the curve. Without a shadow of a doubt the Middle East will become an enormous player within the tourism and hospitality sector. The shift in global populations, centres of commerce, strength of airlines and improved infrastructure will inevitably drive this.
4) Marriott has recently announced further expansion in Saudi Arabia. What does this market offer, and to what extent are your hotels there tailored to the local market?
Saudi Arabia has a population in excess of 20 million and an average family size above four children. The demand on domestic tourism and movement will be enormous. Families on leisure and business people will move around the Kingdom, they will need accommodation which does not exist at present. New cities are under construction and population centres such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam will continue to expand and create new suburbs.
Our products are always tailored with the target customer profile in mind. Just as our Courtyard by Marriott Hotels in Kuwait and in Dubai have been specifically designed, so will our Courtyard by Marriott offering in Saudi Arabia.
5) What are your main development plans for the next 12 months?
Our development team continues to be extremely active throughout the Gulf. We are not yet represented in Oman and there are additional opportunities in all countries. In addition there is opportunity throughout North Africa where significant infrastructure improvements and tourism projects are underway.
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