60 seconds with…David Thomson, Vice President - TFG Hotel Management Company / The First Group

How was the re-opening of your business and how was it carried out in line with safety procedures put in place to allow social distancing? 

Presently we have three hotels (6 more under construction or in final pre-opening stage) and two hotel apartments. The hotel apartments have remained open and have run at 90% plus throughout the crisis. Our three hotels closed in April and had staggered re-openings based on when we would lose-less open rather than remaining closed. We have implemented strict protocols around both our team members and guests and created videos to be shared with both guests and the team, which details what they can expect and what our expectations are of them. These have greatly helped instil a sense of comfort and security with guests and team members alike. The Dubai Government has also played an important role in creating a safe environment, with strict but sensible and clearly communicated, rules being imposed on all residents, visitors and commercial businesses,  and they have employed a large team of inspectors to ensure these rules are adhered to.

How is the general feeling and feedback from your team members and your customers now the lockdown is over? Dubai is fully functional, within the clear guidelines set out, which means that all businesses, including retail and hospitality operations are open and this is what has driven the recovery in Dubai and everyone, both team members and guests, have a real sense of optimism about the destination now and going forward..

What role has technology played in supporting your re-opening plan?

Of course, QR codes and online check in and check out have made a huge difference. We have also introduced new apps to make all guests interactions as easy and ‘contactless’ as much as our guests wish them to be. The use of online meetings has also played a significant role in allowing us to continue to conduct our business.

What market trends are you seeing since re-opening? 

Greater dependence on Online booking engines, the greater use of technology, converting ballroom and meeting space into alternative revenue generating functions such as introducing more leisure facilities, co-working spaces and additional F&B outlets and the move towards long term guests.

What techniques have you used to build sales and re-engage customers?

A switch of emphasis in the corporate market to long term stays has seen two of our hotels pick up approximately 100 rooms a day each. To achieve this, we had to significantly alter our room service offering and delivery. We also took two rooms out of the inventory of each property, which we effectively converted into laundromats (FOC of course).Teams/Zoom have played a huge role in maintaining our sales effort and ensure we kept in touch with our clients and I think it is fair to say that we have had more virtual meetings with our clients than we had F2F in the past. We have also introduced an online booking reward programme which has been very well received. Using OTAs more effectively has also helped us achieve and maintain 80% plus occupancies in the last couple of months. Ensuring we have focused upon markets that can travel and as everywhere staycations have been an important market segment for us. As a result of this and as we look to the return of the leisure market, we have also looked at how we can use existing space more effectively. We are now creating more leisure activities, children’s clubs etc in space previously used for meetings and events.

What positive lessons do we need to learn from what the industry has been through? 

There is no doubt that this crisis has made us more customer and cost focused. Technological improvements are improving our customer engagement and by reimagining our customer offerings we are finding new opportunities for revenue generation. Like everyone else we have also discovered that we can do far more with a lot less people and better outsourcing. I would like to think that we have always had a good handle on our operational costs but we continue to look at ways we can operate more efficiently and specifically at reducing our utility costs but given the market we are in it is not that easy.

The First Group website: https://www.thefirstgroup.com/en