42 REZIDOR ties intheUAE. a newMissonihotelinKuwaitandthetakeoverofmanagementformerJALproper- September 2011 P A fl Rezidor from substance and Style years, sincethelaunchofitsfi history datingbackmorethan60 dinavia, choosing Kuwaitasaloca- opened itsfi airport buses. furniture throughtoashtrays and erything fromthearchitecture and Arne Jacobsen,puthisstampon ev- founder ofmodernDanishdesign, world’s fi penhagen, apropertyclaimedasthe hotel –theSASRoyalHotelCo- CHAIN OF THE MONTH It was 30 years later that the group It was30yearslaterthatthegroup urry ofdevelopmentsthisyearhasenhancedtheprofi Hotel Group in fact has a Hotel Groupinfacthasa pitality sector,TheRezidor corporate nameinthehos- robably notthebestknown rst designerhotelwhere rst hotel outsideofScan- •

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Park Inn . Hotelier Middle East “The continued disruption in the “However, the growth of the mid- with RevPAR up 15.8% and 10.7% respectively, have offset a fall of 54% in Egypt and 77.9% in Libya. Middle East will certainly affect the region,” says Hytönen. “Increased security concerns worldwide will have an impact on guest choices in 2012, as we have seen in 2011. market will affect business positively in the coming years, and the increase liation,” says Hytönen. delivered to your doorstep The takeover of the hotel, alongThe takeover of the In the pipeline are 11 hotels in All of which makes the Middle “Our pipeline in the Middle East Of course, in line with other with its sister property in Fujairah,with its sister property presence instrengthens Rezidor’s operates ninethe UAE where it emirates —hotels and resorts in four 29 hotelsin total, the group manages Jordanthrough the GCC, Egypt, a currentlyand Lebanon, including in . problematical operation Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman, where the group will open its second Missoni in the region at Sifah next year, as well as a hotel in Sohar. A further 1500 rooms are under negotiation and will be announced later in the year. East of strategic importance to Rezi- dor’s move out of its stronghold in Europe, where it boasts the largest pipeline and is number one in Russia, the CIS and the Baltics, both in oper- ations and future developments. and Africa is the second largest and we will continue to grow across the region — to put it simply, in the EMEA we have more than 300 hotels in 60 countries with a further 100 in development,” says Hytönen. groups, Rezidor has been impacted by regional turmoil, with group half-year results showing a drop of 27.8% in RevPAR and occupancy down 23.1%. However, key markets such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, unique design and/or some sort ofunique design and/or historical affi . On-line, “For some corpo- agship in the region “We wouldn’t nec- major names in the midscale, upscale and the luxury life- style arenas. rates, it can be con- fusing with all the various brands – can you really differenti- ate between them?” he says, while indicating that a gap for a pre- mium name could be t m u on the cards since the disposal of Regent. o d essarily look at replac- ing Regent, but there is perhaps potential for a e i p luxury tier in the future — and meanwhile we l — are actively looking to grow the Missoni brand in key locations across a g IN THE EMEA WE HAVE MORE THAN 300 HOTELS IN 60 COUNTRIES WITH A FURTHER 100 IN DEVELOPMENT o o c In fact, Rezidor is already tinker- The former JAL hotel in Dubai, “These hotels differ from the aver- the world, with the Middle East the perfect location for this.” ing with a new sub-brand by adding a ‘Royal’ designation to certain Radis- son Blu hotels. taken over by Rezidor in July, has been renamed as the Radisson Royal, and will act as a fl for the group, being one of only two Royal hotels across the network with the other located in Moscow. age Radisson Blu in terms of luxury, and tend to have a higher positioning, Marko Hytönen, area vice president, Middle East, Rezidor. Middle East, area vice president, Hytönen, Marko & s n g i ecting the ecting .com s rst Missoni in e esigns & cool gifts esigns & cool east d

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Hotelier Middle East 1 SEA century, with near obses- st 1 1 * –Bold, Passionate, Passionate, –Bold, 1 ARABIAN – A Cosy St ay at a Comfort- – A Cosy St TRIPOLI * 1 1 MUSCAT SIFAH 1 GAMMARTH Hotel Missoni Fashionable. Luxury for the 21 sive attention to detail and the design stylesive attention to detail and of the Missoni fashion house. Country Inns able Price. hotel brandStandards of an international at a great valuewith the comforts of home, for money price. * 1

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D A A 46 REZIDOR Americas andAsiaPacifi tional synergies,especiallyacrossthe ment withCarlson,optimisingopera- will continuetostrengthenouralign- will beontopofouragenda,andwe will lookatcapitaldestinations. steadily andforHotelMissoni,we Radisson Bluwillcontinuetoexpand can takeoneorseveralhotels,while tial togrowrapidlyasmanycities markets: “ParkInnhashugepoten- growth wouldremaininemerging adapt toquickly.” will besomethingtheindustrymust of touristsfromIndiaandChina in KSA.” midscale hotelaward recently wonthebest where ourhotel and AlKhobar— Muscat, YasIsland following successin Radisson, especially nity forParkInnby mendous opportu- believe thereistre- be ourfocus,we son Bluwillalways says Younes. the nearfuture—notablyinQatar,” announcements inthesemarkets and wehopetomakesomeexciting assumed tobemissinglinksforus, opportunities ispayingdividends. Rezidor presence,andhispursuitof his region,thosecountrieswithouta on hisagendaisfi opment MEA,amongthepriorities For ElieYounes,VPbusinessdevel- OPENING UPOPPORTUNITIES September 2011 “Obviously revenue generation “Obviously revenuegeneration Globally, hesaidthefocusfor “While Radis- “QatarandAmmancanbe •

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The Lounge at Radisson Royal Dubai. quick entrytokeydestinations. Regency hotelsinKSA,enabling Crowne PlazaSharjahandtwoHyatt Continental inDeira,Dubai,the Rezidor managestheformerInter- takeovers underitsbelt. increasing numberofmanagement strategy ispayingdividendswithan but onekeyelementofitsexpansion duce CountryInnstotheregion, impact willbeshort-lived”. can reasonablysuggestthatsuchan ient topoliticalupheavalsinthepast, Egypt, hasproventobeveryresil- the factthatregion,andnotably cal instabilities:“This,combinedwith were toacertainextentusedpoliti- were fromtheregion,andassuchthey market, hesaidmanydevelopers impact oninvestorsentimentinthe selves,” saysYounes. for ourpartners/ownersandour- tive, andhencesecureabetterROI from arevenuegenerationperspec- perfectly complementourportfolio UAE, notablyDubai,whichwould a coupleofresortpropertiesinthe opportunities inNorthAfrica. when themarketrecoversandother ondary cities,plusafocusonEgypt the cards,inbothgatewayandsec- Elie Younes, VP businessdevelopmentMEA, Rezidor. “Part of our strategy is the taking “Part ofourstrategyisthetaking As wellastheJALproperties, The grouphasnoplanstointro- While currenteventshavehadan “We arealsofocusedonsecuring Expansion inSaudiArabiaison THE NEARFUTURE–NOTABLYINQATAR ANNOUNCEMENTS INTHESEMARKETS HOPE TOBEMAKINGSOMEEXCITING TO BEMISSINGLINKSFORUS,ANDWE QATAR ANDAMMANCANBEASSUMED explains Younes. explains Younes. and ownerslookingforaquickfi ready-to-go packagesforconversions contemporary andcost-effective and Urbanroomtypes. Cool, NYMansionHouse,Ocean launched AndRelax,Naturally offered byRezidor,withrecently is thebouquetofdesignconcepts ects,” saysYounes. a healthymixwithnew-builtproj- over ofexistingproperties,creating House are perhaps the most suitable House areperhapsthemostsuitable Naturally CoolandNYMansion two conceptsfortheirproperties— time andincostchoosingoneor are astonishing. environment and onthebottomline may behigherbuttheimpacton Marko Hytönen. costs “The start-up and hopefullyotherswillfollow,”says wholesale totheseguidelines. company intheregiontocommit fi rst internationalhotelmanagement environmental bestpractices,the Green Keycertifi ed tounderline Ethisphere Institute. Companies in2010and2011bythe as oneoftheWorld’sMostEthical and thegrouphasalsobeennamed by Rezidorforthepastfouryears, sumption perguesthave beencut than 11million of itsannualguestturnovermore setting, aimingtolessentheimpact hotel grouptoofferguestscarbonoff- hospitality sectorandwasthefi rst at theforefrontofgreenidealsin place forsome15years,Rezidoris With anenvironmentalprogrammein GREEN IDEALS “Some ownersseethebenefi “Our roomdesignsareeffi One keyadvantageinthisroute “We areleadingfromthefront, In theregion,allitshotelsare Water, wasteandenergycon- cient, cient, t in in t x,” x,” brand promise, which delivers clearly brand promise,whichdeliversclearly located inbusinessareasofacity.” Urban mightbesuitableforhotels Ocean conceptsfortheirroomsand cat recentlyusedtheAndRelaxand Kuwait, buttheRadissonBluMus- in therenovationofRadissonBlu for thisregionandtheywillbeused ers, providingevery daynecessities. 10,000 boxestodistributelabour- aiming toencouragedonorsfi ll a monthat10hotelsintheregion, for running peal —thatiscurrently charity campaign— The Box Ap- Rezidor hasrelauncheditsshoebox Middle East”. — we hopewe cando thesamein piloting theircriteriaatRezidorhotels their operationstonewcountriesby helping eco-labellingbodiesexpand number growingrapidly,andweare currently eco-labelled,withthis “More thanhalfofourhotelsare that Rezidorcanmake adifference: Middle East, Hytönenisoptimistic is lessthanoverwhelminginthe responsible businesspractices.” them toseekthose(hotels)with their overseasHQsarepressuring contracts withlocalcompanieswhere tion whenwenegotiatecorporate energy, wearealreadyinasitua-

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Hotelier Middle East A growth in religious tourism will can challenge current performance, but Dubai will continue to grow and strong oil prices will drive economic activities in countries such as KSA.” boost Makkah hotels, and stabilisa- tion on occupancies in mature mar- kets give rise to optimism that room rates can rise, but only in those cities unaffected by turmoil, he adds. nancial crisis, gures are showing “While business has been “The fi a challenge in 2011, with regionala challenge in 2011, with recoveryevents mitigating the from the global fi but he is upbeat about overall prospects for the MEA region. impacted in Egypt, Libya, Bah- rain, Tunisia and Lebanon, we have seen a large portion of this business shift to other cities, hav- ing a positive effect on destina- tions such as Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah and Istanbul,” he says. slowly but surely that the areas t a that were affected earlier in 2011 are improving — in other devel- o o opments, I believe a second wind of supply growth in Abu Dhabi

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