‘Innovation key to success’: Scully
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The managing director for Hospitality at Dubai-based hotel developer, Seven Tides, has pinpointed innovation and authenticity as the key dynamics for hotel differentiation rather than brand conformity and ‘corporate’ design aesthetics.Speaking at this week’s Hotel Show in Dubai, Mike Scully said that while strong brand identities and conformity to design have proved effective for hotels in the past, he emphasised the need for more pervasive innovation spanning every aspect of the guest experience.”Guests in the future will be more inclined to favour an authentic cultural experience, entertainment, ambience as well as creative food and beverage initiatives. These aspects need to come through a flexible design to create an overall experience that would be memorable by being different,” said Scully. He highlighted multi-branding strategic partnerships as an effective way for hotels to attract increasingly discerning guests and access untapped markets. This has already been seen to some degree in Dubai, with hotel chains leveraging the reputation of international designers such as Armani, along with other planned properties from Versace and Elisabetta Gucci. To make these designs cost-effective, such partnerships could be made on equity-share arrangements in maximising value for both partners. Another approach suggested by Scully involves larger hotel chains could look at a ‘fusion’ approach, integrating certain brand assets to create an individual hotel offering a unique guest proposition. Such innovation could assist regional hotels to capture increased business in a highly competitive international marketplace, especially with a considerable new regional hotel supply pipeline. “Gulf hotels presently focus too much on capturing western demand while reacting slowly to the growth potential in the booming economies in Asia and the Far East,” said Scully.”Innovative design will be essential if hotels here are to create new opportunities to exploit more niche markets and by doing so, broadening their overall appeal,” added Scully.Emphasising the need to access international markets, Scully highlighted the beach, sand and sun approach that is now synonymous with the region’s tourism experience. This has proven effective in capturing Western demand so far, but less so in catering to guests from China, India, Indonesia, Korea and other nations in Asia and the sub-continent.Demonstrating the huge potential of these markets in the East, Dubai hotel stays by Chinese nationals alone jumped 57% in the 12 months between June 2009 and June 2010, according to figures from the Dubai Department of Tourism Commerce and Marketing. More than 81,000 Chinese nationals visited Dubai between January and June 2010, up from 52,000 in the same period 2009. While being careful not to over-invest in guest-room technology, which is an expensive and often ineffective way of differentiating a hotel brand, Scully emphasised the need for intuitive technology in competing for customers. For both leisure travellers, he pointed to fast and secure WiFi, in-room management systems and the latest entertainment offering, along with video conferencing technology for corporate guests and conferences.
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