Hospitality Business ME | 2016 Jan

ISSUE 42

JANUARY 2016

Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El

Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair

Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco D r Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine

Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Sarava-

Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinna-

mon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih

Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna

Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi Saeed Al Abbar Issam Kazim Simon Barlow Rohit Sanluke Mark Napier Louisa Sumagui Chloe St Cyr Ali Yousef Al Saad Chef Dirk Haltenhof Clementine Rouan Sunjeh Raja Zaigham Haque Harikumar Nair Prasanna Rupasinghe Gerald Lawless Rabih Melhem Rabih Feghali Stefan Fuchs Holger Schroth Manav Fernandez Saad Moaswes Chef Uwe Micheel Chef Rosalind Parsk Suli Salloum Jareer Oweimrin Faiek El Saadani Tyrone Sinnamon Bobby Krishna Tatjana Ahmed Christine Saldanha Saravanan Alagappan Victor Bastian Paul Hawco Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi

Hospitality Business Middle East would like to thank all of the key figures and professionals that contributed their predictions and insights into the hospitality and F&B industries for this special edition.

We look forward to seeing what the year ahead brings!

Beth Burrows Deputy Editor

Surena Chande Deputy Editor

Dominic De Sousa 1959-2015

It is never easy to say goodbye to a friend, a father figure and colleague. When that person is the owner of the company and the driving force behind its growth and success, then the task is almost impossible.

The founder and publisher of Hospitality Business Middle East and numerous other titles from CPI Media Group, 56-year-old Dominic de Sousa died on 16th December 2015 of a heart attack on stage doing what he loved best – singing and entertaining people. Painfully we admit it would be the way he would want to go, living life to the fullest and passionately indulging what he loved most. So in this final farewell let us pay tribute to the man we had the honour and pleasure of knowing.

His publishing empire with more than 25 magazines, web portals and vertical industry awards began two decades ago.

A passionate lover of animals, Dom spent most of his life caring for and freeing animals from captivity often converting his home into a mini zoo. Love for those that could not care for themselves soon made its way from the animals in his living room to the countless people he helped in his stint here. His boundless empathy, coupled with his rebellious and independent streak, made him successful in business and provided him with the platform he was passionate about: CPI Media Group.

Success followed from a start-up in a small back office and the company now ranks as one of the leading B2B players in the region, thanks to his drive, his entrepreneurial spirit and his belief in people. Love and loyalty are common words used by his staff, when referring to him and his company, words uncommon in an organisation today.

In sharp contrast to other publishers, De Sousa wanted his staff to succeed, encouraging them to become his business partners rather than employees and the simple CPI start-up is now a web of intertwined companies and relationships that he forged and held together. Never content with the status quo, he would constantly challenge what his staff were doing, encouraging them to seek new opportunities and open new doors for others.

Unashamedly himself, Dom inspired everyone he met because he had the ability to remain authentic and real at a time we all struggle with perception and ego. A strikingly down to earth man, success only meant he was able to share more of his company, give more opportunities to people he met and save more animals.

For those of us who remain at CPI, he is – quite simply – irreplaceable. The number of lives he touched across multiple industries around the world is humbling and we, his colleagues, friends and family have been overwhelmed by messages and memories of those who knew him, respected him and loved him.

One of a kind, to us he was, always, just Dom. He will be missed more than we can express but his legacy lives on in the hearts of people he helped and in a company that stands for ethics and love instilled by a truly great man.

EDITOR’S PANEL Saad Moaswes, “With so much choice in the market here, people can be choosy so design is bound to affect booking. If I don’t like the design of a hotel and I am not comfortable, then I won’t come back.”

Design

Manav Fernandez, “I predict that hotel lobbies will become transformative social hubs as opposed to waiting areas for guests checking in or out of the hotel.”

Saad Moaswes, “People travel more frequently now and are open to more ideas that are often quite eccentric from around the world. Similarly, local designs from the region may also become popular globally.”

The average 250-room hotel produces 5,000 pounds of dirty linen per day, but that figure will double or even treble by Expo 2020.

The Spa Finder Wellness 365 report touts nature resorts, traditional Arabic treatments and alternative plantbased options as the top three trends for the year.

“Eco-friendly practices must become the norm, rather than the exception; we need to see more standard ‘green’ practices, products, programs and packages.”

Tatjana Ahmed.

Saad Moaswes, “New and future designs have to consider environment and sustainability with every product. ‘Green’ is going to continue to be a key word for hotel design in 2016.”

“In 2016 the need to minimise natural resources (water and utility consumption) is paramount. The recent 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris highlighted the need for international cooperation to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Victor Bastian.

Christine Saldanha, “Hotel guests may accept a slightly worn hotel, but they will never accept an unclean or unhygienic hotel and staff who do not provide highest level of service and care.”

Manav Fernandez, “In a world with an increasingly fitness-minded population, gyms can no longer be treated as peripheral add-ons.”

Louisa Sumagui, “If there’s one rule to follow in menu design it is K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple Stupid.”

“I think the best way to prepare a young chef for the industry is through work experience in restaurants and hotels – it teaches them what being under pressure is about,” Rosalind Parsk.

In the UAE, 60% of the total catch is made up of species that are fished beyond sustainable levels.

Hygiene

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EDITOR’S PANEL “The GCC, with Dubai at the helm, is a key contributor to [this] global growth and with 140,000 to 160,000 keys forecasted in Dubai alone by 2020, it is essential for our city’s offering to embrace and set hospitality trends.”

Issam Kazim.

Holger Schroth, “Thinking outside of the box and flexibility within an organisation will be essential to overcoming challenges caused by a well-informed, ever-evolving world that is technologically savvy and limited on time.”

By 2025, millennials are set to represent 50% of all travellers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Middle East hotel forecast ‘Accommodating Growth’ says, “The authorities in the region are very much aware of the potential problem of over-supply at the luxury end, and they’re putting their influence – and their subsidies – behind more three and four star projects.

Gerald Lawless, “To encourage ideas from everybody who works within a hotel is so important because very often these spark from direct contact with customers.”

Management

“As Wi-Fi is now viewed as a basic amenity, we now offer all guests a free basic connection equivalent to the maximum bandwidth of our old network,” Harikumar Nair.

According to research by www.emarketer.com, there are now more than three billion Internet users worldwide, accounting for 42.2% of the world’s population.

“The quality of products (ingredients) is largely related to the price the market is ready to pay. The Dubai market is not ready to pay premium prices, hence why we do not get the best quality in general, but there are exceptions.” Chef Uwe Micheel

Zaigham Haque, “There is a gap between the quality of Dubai’s top restaurants and the general quality of chef training in Dubai at entry level.”

Pro Chef

In a recent survey conducted by The World Council of Shopping Centres, assessing consumer preferences in 45 countries, wi-fi access actually ranks second in importance for customers of food and beverage outlets - and that’s ahead of other factors like price (only product quality is considered more important).

“Internet in hotels is now more important than having water in each room. You can go for an hour without water in a hotel room, but an hour without Internet creates problems.”

Prasanna Rupasinghe.

“We need to cater for the older generation, who are used to light switches and communicating with a human being, as well as millennials, who may want to avoid staff altogether.”

Prasanna Rupasinghe.

Technology HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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Management

MANAGEMENT Dominic De Sousa Founder

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DTCM’s direction A key industry forecast for Dubai and the UAE from the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

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Nadeem Hood Group CEO Georgina O’Hara Publishing Director

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Deputy Editor Beth Burrows beth.burrows@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9167 Deputy Editor Surena Chande surena.chande@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9156

ADVERTISING Sales Manager Lara Gambardella lara.gambardella@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9112 Sales Coordinator Marilyn Naingue marilyn.naingue@cpimediagroup.com +971 4 440 9103

Generation game

Room to grow

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Seeing green Saad Moaswes, Managing Director of Bond Interiors, delves into the dominating design themes for the year.

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© Copyright 2016 CPI. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

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Is your hotel gym fighting fit? Manav Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer of Insignia, shares his predictions for hotel design.

Exploring The St. Regis Dubai

Technology

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Hospitality heavyweight

Hospitality Business Middle East takes a tour of Al Habtoor City’s first hotel opening.

56 Head Office PO Box 13700, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 (0) 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 (0) 4 447 2409

Making ends meet Could a digital solution provide the future for meeting rooms in the region?

Design

Senior Designer Froilan Cosgafa IV

Printed by Printwell Printing Press

The road to Expo 2020 The essential facts, figures and insights for Expo2020.

We analyse what the year ahead holds for hospitality, and how to survive and succeed.

DESIGN Head of Design Glenn Roxas

Production Manager James Tharian Data Manager Rajeesh Melath

With staff forming the heart of a hotel, training and sourcing are essential factors for management teams to regularly assess.

Millennials are proving to be an increasingly important game-changer for the industry.

This year, it’s time to catch-up and adapt.

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At the core

At your service We speak to Prasanna Rupasinghe, Director of IT at Kempinski Hotel Mall of The Emirates, about how she is helping to transform in-house technology.

Paradise calling Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara works on its Wi-Fi offerings.

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Digital developments Wi-Fi access is now essential for any hotel. Here’s how to ensure it is enjoyed efficiently by you and your guests.

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CONTENTS

A quick cycle to success Victor Bastian, Assistant Vice President of Linencraft, offers a fresh look at the importance of clean hygiene records.

68 72

A clean sheet

76 Hospitality, greenlit

Dirk Haltenhof, Resort Executive Chef at Madinat Jumeirah, shares his thoughts and plans for sustainability in F&B.

Back to school

Pro Chef Water difference

SIAL sails into success An insight into the 6th SIAL Middle East exhibition.

Gearing up for Gulfood 2016 The world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show returns this February.

114 120

A new order Louisa Sumagui, Group Marketing Director of Spilt Milk design company, explains how restaurants can kiss complex menus goodbye this year.

H2O is no longer a crystal clear matter.

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A market movement Pro Chef Award winner Chef Uwe Micheel discusses dining trends.

Rosalind Parsk, Head Chef at Pierchic, Madinat Jumeirah, talks training; a key focus for 2016.

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Lean, mean cleaning machines Robot maids are on their way!

Conscientious cooking

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Food fight Dubai Municipality’s new traffic light system signals new standards in the industry.

The Middle East’s hospitality industry is making headway in its search for a sustainable future.

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We talk to Talise Spa’s Director Paul Hawco about spa sanitation for the year ahead.

With the region’s hospitality industry set to keep growing, it’s essential to explore the housekeeping trends and troubles.

Hygiene & Housekeeping 78

Squeaky clean for 2016

The First Lady of Food We speak to the 2015 winner of the Taste New Zealand Chef Competition, Chloe St Cyr.

A community alight The hospitality industry shows a united front.

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“To encourage ideas from everybody who works within a hotel is so important because very often these spark from direct contact with customers.”

ility the box and flexib “Thinking outside of to al nti se es tion will be within an organisa ellw a by ges caused overcoming challen is volving world that -e er informed, ev e.” tim on d ite y and lim technologically savv

nials n e l l i m 25, By 20 to represent t are se all travellers 50% of

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Diagnosis

Dubai

The ultimate 2016 forecast for the emirate from the official authority, The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

T

he gateway to the GCC, Dubai’s importance cannot be underestimated.

Middle Eastern countries are colourful and contrasting; the region is perhaps characterised by its disparateness. As such, it is impossible to offer a blanket diagnosis for any of its numerous industries. That said, what happens in Dubai certainly set the tone for the rest of the region, no more so than in hospitality. The city is a trendsetter, so whether you’re a GM in Jordan, a marketing executive in Qatar or a housekeeping manager in Saudi, it’s worth tracking what Dubai is doing. We check in with Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), for the inside scoop on what to expect in 2016.

What do you think the top trends are for GCC hospitality in 2016?

The hospitality industry continues to boom globally, with the hotel industry alone expected to reach $550 billion in 2016, up $100 billion in just five years. The GCC, with Dubai at the helm, is a key contributor to this global growth and with 140,000 to 160,000 keys forecasted in Dubai alone by 2020, it is essential for our city’s offering to embrace and set hospitality trends.

A key trend for 2016, and something that was particularly highlighted at the SKIFT conference which I spoke at this year, is the ever-more important role technology has to play in the hospitality sector. With three out of four travellers agreeing that their smart phones are a critical component to the travel experience, Dubai Tourism is firmly committed to being a leader in the digital and social space. As Dubai moves to be a ‘Smart City’, we have been systematically building an integrated and smart digital travel journey across our key partners.

In the Meetings, Incentive, Conferencing and Events sector we have already begun to see a global shift towards the requirement for advantageous business opportunity and a chance to leave a lasting legacy over the importance of infrastructure in a potential conference or event venue. Dubai is perfectly positioned to provide this.

What are the primary challenges facing hotels at present?

A key focus for Dubai Tourism and the emirate’s hotels is the continued diversification of source markets. For example, over the past year while the devaluation of the Russian rouble resulted in a worldwide fall in the number of Russian overseas travellers, Dubai was able to offset the decline with increases in hotel guests from other markets, including

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

major sources markets such as the GCC, China and India, as well as emerging markets such as East Africa and the CIS countries.

Another familiar challenge for the hotel industry in the Middle East and beyond, is the availability of skilled service staff, particularly Arabic speakers. This is something that every hotel and restaurant in the region faces and Dubai Tourism has taken the steps to ensure the workforce needed to cope with the increase in visitor numbers and Dubai’s hotel portfolio is in place. We will shortly see the launch of the Dubai College of Tourism, a world-class vocational institute that will provide training and skills development for the new positions created within Dubai’s hospitality and tourism sectors. It will also ensure service standards remain at the highest level.

“The GCC, with Dubai at the helm, is a key contributor to this global growth and with 140,000 to 160,000 keys forecasted in Dubai alone by 2020, it is essential for our city’s offering to embrace and set hospitality trends.”

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How are things looking in terms of Expo 2020?

Are we still on track for success?

Dubai’s Tourism Vision for 2020 is a strategic roadmap with the key objective of attracting 20 million visitors per year by 2020. In order to achieve this, we require an annual growth rate of 7-9%, and while fluctuations are, of course, expected, our growth over the last five years has averaged 8%, indicating that we are very much on track. Full year figures are not yet available but with more than 11.7 million visitors to Dubai in the first 10 months of 2015 – a 8.3% increase compared to 2014 – complementing the 7% increase in hotel room supply over the same period (an addition of 6,302 rooms), Dubai Tourism and our partners in the tourism industry have not only driven a higher consideration for Dubai as a destination of choice, but to also fuel an urgency to visit from a diverse range of source markets.

In terms of visitor source markets, as referred to in the previous answer, Dubai has strategically sought to ensure a fragmented source market approach, as this mitigates risks associated with over reliance on any specific region or geography. Much progress has been made in this regard, reflected in Dubai’s visitor demographic that reveals a diversity mirroring that of the resident society.

In the first 10 months of 2015, Asia showed the largest growth, with a 54% and 32% increase in international overnight visitors from the Philippines and China respectively, however established markets such as the UK and Germany also saw double-digit growth (both 11%), while other Western markets such as Canada and the US saw healthy increases in visitors as the city appeals to an ever-broader audience. The Middle East remains the largest

regional source market with a 24% share of Dubai’s total visitors, while Western European visitors contributed 20% to the total number of visitors.

The city’s strengthened and diverse offering means it is on track to achieve its ambition of attracting 20 million visitors per year by 2020.

In light of the Paris Sustainability conference, how is sustainability driving the GCC hospitality industry in 2016?

We know that conscientious travellers looking to choose hotels that are more environmentally-friendly are on the rise as are corporation’s recognition of their own responsibility to the environment.

Achieving the globally-recognised Green Key certification is therefore an important target for hotels, from both an operational and a marketing perspective, and one that Dubai Tourism actively encourages. As the largest global eco-label for accommodation, Green Key complements our existing initiatives and provides another framework for our partners at Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC) – the UAE’s Green Key National Operator – to promote sustainability throughout the industry. By achieving the Green Key label, hotels, and in turn Dubai Tourism, have another promotional tool with which to target guests. To date, 16 hotels in Dubai are Green Key certified, including Radisson Blu Deira Creek, Radisson Blu Downtown, Four Points Downtown and Grosvenor House Luxury Collection.

As an active supporter in the environmental arm of sustainability within the tourism industry since 2008, DTCM has hosted more than 30 educational workshops attended by more than 2,200 tourism stakeholders and fully supports the Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC).

Dubai’s biennial Green Tourism Awards – with the major objective of reducing the carbon footprint of Dubai’s tourism industry - recognise hotels and companies within the tourism sector that have demonstrated good practices in terms of reducing their carbon footprint and promoting sustainability. The Green Tourism Awards have been designed to improve the ecological performance shift of the tourism industry in Dubai and encourage hotel establishments and service providers to invest in green programmes and systems. The awards also aim to encourage the adoption of conservation management practices and energy management systems to minimize their negative impact on the environment.

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Hospitality

starts at home From cleaning to senior management teams, every employee of a hotel plays their own pivotal role in the day-to-day running of the property, without whom it would not exist.

Surena Chande explores the current state of staff training and sourcing, and offers an insight into what the coming year brings.

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L

ast year, Dubai welcomed a staggering 8.2 million international overnight visitors in the first seven months of 2015, a 9.3% rise on the same period in 2014. The number of guests visiting hotels in the UAE is only set to rise. By Expo 2020 The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) is aiming to host 20 million visitors in some 160,000 new hotel rooms.

And staff service will be under scrutiny.

This is something that Gerald Lawless is all too aware of and presents some extremely useful and easy-to-implement methods that can make an immensely positive impact on a guest’s stay in a hotel.

He educates his teams about the three pillars of successful service, something he believes must be upheld regardless of the size or star rating of an establishment: • Smile and greet the guest before they even have a chance to interact with hotel staff • Ensure that the first response of staff is never an immediate ‘no’ (regardless of whether it is the correct answer) • Provide a positive answer and understand why requests are made Motivation and stimulation The hospitality industry is gradually advancing in its use of technology, a trend we at Hospitality Business Middle East believe is rapidly progressing within this region, one that is innovative with big ambitions – Expo2020, need we say more – and eager to stay at the forefront of the industry. Stephan Fuchs, General Manager of Jumeirah Etihad Towers, has

Gerald Lawless Honorary President and Ex-Group CEO Jumeirah Group At the time of interviewing, Gerald Lawless had not yet announced his move and is now assuming a new tourism and hospitality role in Dubai Holdings Corporate Office

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Holger Schroth General Manager of Emirates Palace

Stephan Fuchs General Manager of Jumeirah at Etihad Towers

been following and implementing this trend for some time now. He explains, “We have taken skills learning to a new level by incorporating ‘Lobster Ink’, which is a hospitality education system within industry worldwide and uses the most detailed, high-definition courses on international skills, international standards and product knowledge.” This method of training is also used by Holger Schroth, General Manager of Emirates Palace who believes it provides focussed and measurable training outcomes.

Fuchs focuses on ensuring that staff have continuous opportunities to progress, “We are constantly on the lookout for training needs within the hotel. These are sourced through guest feedback captured on our

Rabih Feghali Director at Ròya International Business Development

customer feedback system (Medallia), mystery audits within the hotel, and management or colleague observation. Needbased training programs are also offered, for example we have recently launched a training course called ‘Achieving Excellence – The Art of Conversation’. This course introduces skills that will impact the way we approach guests and assist us in emotionally connecting with them using a blend of facilitation and videos to deliver this training.”

To further encourage staff growth, management teams look to introduce incentives. With several China-based projects in the pipeline for Jumeirah, the company is drawing up contracts to for Dubai-based Chinese employees to work in the new properties for a fixed amount of time before returning with a guaranteed job, which not only motivates employees, but also helps operationally when acquiring visas and work permits.

Delivering diversity With international visitors accounting for 62% of arrivals in Dubai in 2014, and over 200 different nationalities residing in the region, it is essential that the city’s multiculturalism is reflected in its hotels.

Melhem explains, “It is always an important factor to have diverse staff within the hospitality industry, which we do at Media Rotana with 42 different nationalities.

Our guests come from all parts of the world and it is our job to make them feel they have a home away from home.”

It’s a phrase often touted by hotels in their marketing material. But in order for a resort to be a truly ‘homey’ destination guests must be able to speak their own language.

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FIVE FEEDBACK TIPS

Rabih Melhem General Manager Media Rotana

Lawless tells us, “We have a lot of Arabic speakers because we see a lot of strong growth these days in the Arabic side of the market, particularly for Saudi Arabia.” He also explains that certain properties, such as the Burj Al Arab, will always need to cater to nationalities that are regular visitors, along with ensuring that the correct staff are in place for peak periods – be it events or seasons – where there will be an increase in guests of a particular nationality. These trends should be monitored regularly in order to adapt to growth and changes within the industry (see page 28).

Instant improvements One of the most important and growing trends within hospitality is technology: it’s something each of our interviewees highlighted. Hospitality has been playing catch-up with new software and capabilities for years. However, with the implementation of digital-centric training courses and the rise of resources to deal with online feedback, we are seeing a shift in the mindset of management. A positive move, indeed.

In this issue we explore the ways hotels can utilise technology in order to collect feedback, (see page 18), but it’s important to consider how this knowledge can inform staff training practices. The rise of instant feedback sites such as TripAdvisor may give hoteliers a headache, but we believe management can make it one of their best assets for 2016 – if they handle it properly. And that means keeping staff clued up on customer praise and complaints, feedback which – of course – must be dealt with. Here are our tips for responding to online feedback:

1

Mind your manners

2

A personal touch

3

BE TRANSPARENT

Always ensure that you thank guests for taking their time to leave feedback. It shows that you have taken what they have said onboard positively rather than reacting defensively.

"To encourage ideas from everybody who works within a hotel is so important because very often these spark from direct contact with customers."

If it is a positive review where they have highlighted a particular point that they enjoyed, refer back to this rather than simply leaving a generic response.

Though hotel reputation is vital, it is key to show guests that you understand where your hotel’s mistakes and flaws may lie.

Explain that you intend on improving these particular points rather than responding with a non-specific, “we take your comments on-board and value your feedback”.

4

You snooze, you lose!

5

Set things straight

Some of the best hotels respond to customer feedback on social media and review websites instantly. The sooner the response, the better. Do not ignore guests - they may take to social media to air their grievances otherwise.

Once you have thanked the guest for leaving feedback and responded to their criticism constructively, remember to give the hotel’s side of events (without sounding like you’re scoring points).

An overview Senior management can get easily lost in the intricate workings of a hotel, but in terms of ensuring successful service it can be surprisingly simple. Follow the three pillars of service and everything should fall into place. Lawless explains, “There is nothing technological about that [the hallmarks], it is very much one human being to another, which is what our business is about; where we have the huge advantage of directly dealing with the end user.” Once the physical communication is successfully established, technology, new training models and anything else becomes added value, not the core proposition.

Communication is key in every facet of the hospitality industry, both with guests and internally. So to not just survive but thrive in the pre-2020 boom, management must sculpt and maintain communication channels, particularly with frontline staff who engage with the end user most often.

As Lawless surmises, “Those who innovate will win, they will be the ones who will really be ahead of the competition. But to encourage ideas from everybody who works within a hotel is so important because very often these spark from direct contact with customers.”

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Embracing an evolution Millennials and technology: two hot topics that were tirelessly raised and debated within the hospitality sector in 2015, and will only continue to be a trend and an area of improvement for the industry in 2016.

Hospitality Business Middle East speaks to our key industry figures about adapting to the trends and provides an analysis of what the future holds.

I

t is said that by 2025, millennials are set to represent 50% of all travellers. A statistic not to be taken lightly and one that the hospitality industry is quickly recognising.

Though the shift to accommodating for millennials and adapting to an evolving technological landscape has been slow, the industry is gradually understanding the importance and working quickly to catch-up.

However, the adaption to technological advances is something that should be embraced and looked at positively rather than feared.

It is a trend that all of our sources cited in their trend forecasts for 2016 and a way in which key hotel industry people believed they could stand out from competitors. Holger Schroth says, “Thinking outside of the box and flexibility within an organisation will be essential to overcoming challenges caused by a well-informed, ever-evolving world that is technologically savvy and limited on time.”

This, in essence, summarises the characteristics of millennials and their needs, which is a positive sign from general managers who are increasingly ensuring that the needs of these guests are met.

This innovative forward-thinking will set hotels in the region apart from each other and could form the key to success. Given that millennials are extremely savvy, especially in terms of technology, it comes as no surprise that their loyalty levels leave a lot to be desired

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for in areas. For example, with the introduction of multiple booking sites encompassing hotel deals, unless a hotel is offering something exceptional for a higher price, many millennials will opt for the best-priced hotel that meets their needs.

Fortunately, hotels can utilise numerous methods in order to ensure that millennials continue to visit.

Before they book From the moment a millennial decides to take a vacation, hotels can work to ensure they are the go-to place for guests. Ensuring your hotel’s website ranks on the first page of Google for popular searches such as ‘Dubai hotel’, increases your chances of being seen vastly along with making your hotel visible on external hotel

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

“Thinking outside of the box and flexibility within an organisation will be essential to overcoming challenges caused by a well-informed, everevolving world that is technologically savvy and limited on time.”

booking websites such as booking.com. Schroth also tells us that Emirates Palace saw a 15% increase in online bookings from 2014 to 2015.

Another trend forecasted by Rabih Melhem was the rise in last-minute bookings done by individual travellers and groups. This can be attributed to the transformation of hotel bookings, which are increasingly being done online, and can be supported by the fact that research shows millennials now use a shorter booking window of 75 days, in comparison to the average 93 days for older generations.

Reviewing reviews According to a study by Deloitte, millennials check an average of 10.2 sources before making a travel purchase. But to truly stand out from competition, hotels must also ensure that

their online reputation is up to scratch. This is something hotels across the region have already begun taking into consideration using an array of methods and resources, while also creating teams of staff – both in-house and externally – dedicated to analysing feedback and utilising it efficiently.

Lawless explains that Jumeirah uses three key resources when handling and harvesting online feedback, which also forms a part of management KPIs. The first is J.D. Power, which describes itself as ‘amplifying’ the voice of consumers in order to help brands to improve the value of their products and services. Guests receive emails on a selective basis after their stay asking for feedback anonymously and this is monitored. Lawless says this is followed by, “an organisation called Trent Walsh, which

compares Jumeirah properties on a mystery guest visit to other luxury hotels around the world that also subscribe, but it is all done on an anonymous basis as it is with the emails.

It is good because you can benchmark where your hotel is versus your competition.” Finally, an organisation that Rabih Feghali, who is responsible for Ròya International’s business development, also recommends is Revinate.

Lawless tells us, “What they do is compile the results of social media, such as TripAdvisor and Facebook, and see what people are saying about Jumeirah. They take it down to each hotel and will present this back to us on a consolidated basis. Anonymously obviously.” He describes these as scientific methods that Jumeirah has continued to enlist for years.

Fuchs explains that at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, a dedicated Business Excellence department has been created in order to analyse guest feedback and recognise trends from social media platforms. Importantly, he tells us, “Should there be a complaint or even a small comment, this is immediately circulated internally, concerned departments are informed and the problem is addressed – mostly within 24 hours. For years now, we have consistently ranked number one in Abu Dhabi on TripAdvisor and this is proof enough that the mechanism works.”

Another interesting element for hotel management teams to consider is the incorporation of millennials themselves into key roles such as marketing, management and

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

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customer services. Eager to transform and innovate, they will guide hotel staff – be it senior or service level – in the right direction as they are well-informed and understand what those with similar needs and desires require. They are also versatile with the hunger to learn, an easy observation with the rise in instant news that they are able to absorb both at home and on-the-go. Therefore, not only will they be able to aid hotels with accommodating for their generation of guests, but also learn how to improve offerings for other generations of visitors.

Sharing is caring However, your hotel’s online presence now extends far further than reviews on websites and comments on social media. Included in the

average 10.2 sources that millennials refer to before making a travel booking can potentially be a hotel’s social media pages. Melhem believes a positive and consistent social media presence is proven to reap results, “The visibility of the hotel products and services on those platforms can give us a huge increase in footfall and revenue, and will be more and more important in the coming years.”

Hotels are now recognising the importance of providing visually stimulating posts, rather than simply conveying information. For example, Instagram pages of many hotels in the region share both its own professional shots of the property along with ‘regrams’ (a repost) of its guests snaps from their stay. This not only increases the diversity of posts on the original Instagram page, but also encourages guests

“The visibility of the hotel products and services on those platforms can give us a huge increase in footfall and revenue, and will be more and more important in the coming years.”

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

to share pictures of the hotel to their own followers too.

A hotel chain that that took this one step further was Loews Hotels and Resorts who took a ‘user-generated’ approach to their advertising. Enlisting the help of a creative agency, the hotel campaign was born, along with this philosophy from Doug Spitzer, Catch agency chief creative officer: “There are no tricks, wide angle, Photoshopped shots—like people rightfully complain about on social media. ‘Travel For Real’ is the real deal, through the eyes, and lenses, of our guests who loved the time they had at Loews.”

Many well-known brands from other industries have also adopted this approach, encouraging followers to snap creative images for campaigns or names for products that are submitted and voted for. In turn, brands gain exposure from the noise created around the innovative idea or competition, while consumers win prizes or simply coverage and

recognition. This is something we believe would be a welcome addition to the region and a great way for those in the hospitality industry to stand out and break away from clichéd and generic advertising techniques.

Another way to appeal to millennials is offering exclusive promotions on social media and via email. This is already a successful method of acquiring guests and monitoring where they stem from in the region. For example, if a hotel posted on its Facebook or sent emails to its database with a particular promotional code (for a limited time) that could be quoted upon booking allowing guests to receive a discount on their stay. Not only does this encourage viewers of the promotion to act quickly and book, but also makes them feel as though they are being rewarded for their loyalty.

Regardless of what methods are used, it is important that when hotels create social media content, it is: consistent, brandrelevant, clever and uncontroversial.

Our advice Bearing the points above in mind, here are some suggestions from Hospitality Business Middle East:

1

22

Though we are some way off in the region, face-to-face check-outs could eventually be a thing of the past or merely an option. According to a survey, 83% of millennials asked said they preferred a self-service alternative, a trend Hilton has recently adopted by unrolling digital check-in and check-out via smartphones.

2

Leave leaflets behind. Fuchs says, “As hotel we realise that our customers and guests are less and less interested in printed advertisements. Having spotted this quite early, we have now almost completely switched to online and digital information spread.” Utilising in-room TV screens, iPads, elevator screens and, of course, hotel websites are all becoming preferred mediums of information sourcing.

3

Convenience is key. A SmartBrief poll showed that 45% of hotel guests travel with two devices and 40% with three or more. Therefore, when designing hotel rooms, ensure that you keep convenience in mind with multiple power outlets all installed in convenient places.

4

Tailor your reviews. While balance is key, when sending guests feedback survey links by email, it could be worth extracting more use out of these. If a guest has given a medium-to-high level of positive feedback, they could then be encouraged to leave a review on a website like TripAdvisor, whereas if the response is predominantly negative, it may be better to redirect them to a customer service email address where this can be dealt with in-house.

5

Provide a home-away-from-home by allowing guests to plug their devices into TV screens – according to research, an average of just 9% of guests watch the given channels nowadays – a timely addition given the recent introduction of Netflix in the region.

6

We have saved possibly the most important point until last, a point that still proves to be highly debated, but one that we believe – along with 85% of travellers asked by SmartBrief online service – should now be a given: free Wi-Fi.

HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

2020 vision

From the moment Dubai won the bid to host Expo 2020, it was evident that this was an extremely promising event for the region. We explore what this means for the hospitality industry.

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O

ne of the most important and exciting announcements for Dubai was made on the evening of Wednesday 27 November 2013: the city, which is less than 45 years old, won the bid to host Expo 2020.

With innovative forward thinking from the UAE’s leaders, this highly-anticipated event has provided the city with positive incentives and benefits from the moment the bid win was revealed. Though we are not yet out of the woods following the 2009 recession, Dubai and the UAE as a whole continues to recover remarkably and projects that were once left half-completed, serving as bleak reminders of hope and excitement, are now rapidly approaching completion, while many new developments are now being pioneered.

However, a key attribute to this continuing growth and success is the Expo 2020 itself.

The hospitality industry was one of the predominant areas instantly affected and benefitted by the win and hotels in the region were quick to acknowledge this. Melhem says, “The hotel industry has already begun to boom within the UAE because of Expo 2020 as entrepreneurs race to increase the capacity for Expo visitors. We will be seeing multiple

new properties and lots of new brands coming up in the near future.”

Expo 2020 puts Dubai in the global spotlight as it attracts visitors for the Expo and tourists alike to the region. Therefore, it is vital for the city to put its best foot forward. It is not a farfetched claim that the city’s hospitality offerings and service standards are already extremely impressive, so this makes for the perfect opportunity to exhibit this to the rest of the world. This will mean observing a multitude of areas are covered, such as ensuring: staff are trained to the highest potential, rooms and public areas are pristine, allocating enough staff to cater to the high volumes of visitors, occupancy rates are monitored and rooms are utilised as efficiently as possible.

As an extremely multicultural country, the UAE’s hospitality industry has already adapted to its diverse inhabitants and influx of international visitors. However, it is now more important than ever that hotel management teams are keeping diversity in mind, especially for the duration of the Expo itself. Therefore, though this has already been demonstrated by the sources we have spoken to in this section, it is vital that hotels in the region offer staff from a highly diverse range of nationalities. Fuchs describes how he plans to prepare for this with Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, “Proven concepts may not be enough and extended training for colleagues and their multilingual abilities will play an important role in keeping the diversity of guests satisfied.”

Sustainability is a key issue that needed addressing following the announcement, however, it forms as more of a concern for hotel developers than managers. Lawless says, “From a business point of view, not only do you have to have visitors, but you also have to have investors for the projects.” So, though there is a direct correlation between the projected increases in visitors, it will not be a simple task of accommodating to them by rapidly increasing rooms, though it will prove to be easier than before. The demand for the increasing hotel rooms being built in the city also needs to continue following the passing of Expo 2020, therefore it is important that hotels do not become complacent and allow standards to decline.

Though it is hard to see exactly where Dubai will be in four years, the following infographic provides an interesting insight into what we can expect to see within the hospitality industry in the lead-up to and during Expo 2020.

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

The vision

20 million visitors per year to be attracted to Dubai

70%

Dubai

98 million

25 million

visitors are expected to pass through Dubai International Airport (DXB) in 2020

visitors to Dubai in the 6-month period of Expo 2020

3rd

$23 billion

largest event following the FIFA World Cup and Olympics

is the predicted amount that Dubai’s economy will be boosted by

This will account for

277,149

24.4% of Dubai’s overall GDP

of these visitors should be from overseas

the number of jobs expected to be created in the UAE by 2020

THE ROAD TO EXPO 2020 26

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

The progress

11 million staying visitors came to Dubai in 2013

In 2014, this increased by to

82%

An industry insight

160,000 the number of rooms expected to be built by Expo 2020

A FURTHER

Average daily room rates need to stay around

10,000

$185

rooms are said to be in need of refurbishment

per night

13.2 million visitors

Growth continued in 2015 to

14.2 million visitors

In the first quarter of 2015, room rates were on track for this target at

This is a vast increase of 68.8% from 2010 when Dubai had

$186

8.41 million visitors

as the average daily room rate

7-9% rate of growth is needed per

has occurred per year for the past 5 years

This is almost double the average global growth rate of

4.7%

291,500

employment 53% of overall in the region

$7.1 billion

year in the lead-up to Expo 2020

8% is the average growth rate that

In 2013, the hospitality sector accounted for nearly JOBS OR

Guests from over

150

DIFFERENT COUNTRIES will be visiting the city

Rotana is aiming for

100 properties

by Expo 2020

is expected to be invested into the hospitality industry

14

of these are predicted to open by the end of 2016

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Room to grow A resilient region, in comparison to European and American markets, the UAE’s growth continues to look positive. After a turbulent year for the hospitality industry we review 2015 and look to the years ahead.

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T

he UAE, Dubai in particular, has returned to its familiar crane-laden skylines. Construction is rife, world records are being broken and headlines are once again featuring multi-million dollar investments into the region’s real estate and hospitality industries, which are proudly displayed with artists’ impressions on billboards across Sheikh Zayed Road.

The region’s hospitality sector has experienced positive growth overall (all highlighted as in Expo2020 infographic).

However, there have been struggles that attribute to external factors – which will continue into 2016.

Rough times for the rouble Due to the ongoing decline in oil prices, the rouble fell to its weakest level against the dollar in December (72.47 roubles). With oil being Russia’s key export, the currency fell coinciding with a slide in Brent oil futures to below $37 a barrel.

In turn, this has led to an ongoing decline in Russian visitors, which form a key market for the UAE, who have begun seeking ‘better value destinations’ such as Sharm El Sheikh. However, His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), took this into account

at the beginning of 2015 and said, “The 2014 figures demonstrate healthy year-onyear growth for hotel establishment…The 5.6% increase in the number of hotel guests occurred despite the decrease in the number of Russian visitors - a result of the current geopolitical situation and the decrease in the value of the rouble. Dubai’s tourism industry is insulated from any short-term fluctuations within any one market, and in 2015 we will continue to work with our partners to increase market share from newer markets.”

Though it is not entirely immune to external influences, this points to a positive

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“Dubai’s tourism industry is insulated from any short-term fluctuations within any one market, and in 2015 we will continue to work with our partners to increase market share from newer markets.”

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sign in the risk-management of the region by sustaining a trend in increasing growth.

To balance – and potentially outweigh – the decline in Russian visitors, the region has seen growth in business travellers and visitors from China (by 24%), along with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), India and the United Kingdom (UK). According to the Deloitte ‘Middle East Hotel Market Insight Report’, KSA accounted for 1.5 million visits, India followed with 0.9 million visits and the UK with 0.8 million.

Growing pains As highlighted in our analysis of Expo 2020 developments (from page 24), Dubai is gearing up to accommodate the mass of visitors due for the mega event. Therefore, to meet the 160,000 room goal, construction has begun with hotel expansions and new developments. However, this has negatively impacted current occupancy and ADR rates, which were lower in the first half of 2015

than in the same time period in 2014.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Middle East hotel forecast ‘Accommodating Growth’ says, “The authorities in the region are very much aware of the potential problem of oversupply at the luxury end, and they’re putting their influence – and their subsidies – behind more three and four star projects.” This is backed by investments by Premier Inn into the region, along with the introduction of mid-scale brands from Hilton and Marriott.

Rabih Feghali says, “The pundits continue to predict a decline in occupancy and, more importantly, a decline in ADR [for 2016]. In light of this, management throughout the industry need to focus on containing their cost basis in order to protect whatever profits the next couple of years will yield.”

However, Schroth believes that there continues to be significant growth within the industry where rising competition ‘merely inspires innovation and excellence’.

Though supply and demand are still out

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

of sync (with supply outweighing demand), demand is on the rise again and has improved from August reducing the gap between the two. According to STR Global’s preliminary September 2015 data, Dubai hotels registered a 2.6% decrease in average daily rate (ADR) to Dhs645.61 and a 3.0% fall in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to Dhs491.08. Yet contributing factors such as Eid-al-Adha in September – where, from September 23-25, ADR shot to Dhs800 for each day – and an influx of visitors over the December holiday period are still encouraging increases in ADR, demand and growth in the region.

Sustainable growth, however, is a key issue that management must continue to keep in mind and is something very important to Jumeirah according to Lawless, who says, “We are all working very closely with the DTCM to see exactly how things will evolve and develop, and to make sure that it is all on a planned and sustainable basis – in the long-term.”

Seasonal shifts Trends also forecast the particular needs of hoteliers during certain key seasons and

The year ahead To ensure that the industry is bestprepared for the year ahead and offset challenges, we suggest taking the following steps, inspired by our sources and industry analysis, into consideration:

Full house Consider room rate alterations and discount promotions in order to meet lower demand. From its Middle East insight report, Deloitte says it “does not consider the rise in supply and the resultant lowering of occupancy and ADR as a negative situation for Dubai. Competitive room rates are necessary to drive tourism volume growth which is clearly the long term focus for Dubai.”

Spread the word As highlighted previously (from p19), promoting your hotel during

events. For example Lawless tells us, “Within the Burj Al Arab we’ll always have Mandarin-speaking staff that are available, especially during the peak Chinese periods, and indeed Russian-speaking staff, because over the New Year we get a lot of Russian visitors as well as Europeans.”

softer demand periods is vital. The region’s overcrowded market means it is important to ensure your hotel stands out so don’t be afraid to run paid and targeted advertisements on social media, and invest in decent marketing.

Superior service When guests do visit, ensure that they are greeted with well-trained staff or the hard work put into the décor and trimmings of the hotel can be quickly disregarded by a poor experience. Cutting corners with staff costs may also end up costing more in the long-run so there is a lot to be learnt from our interviewees and their staff training and sourcing ideologies (page 14).

A lot to learn The hospitality industry is constantly evolving – a double-edged sword with the excitement, foresight and rapid decisionmaking required by management teams.

Therefore, it is important to quickly adapt upcoming trends and changes. Those who stay ahead of the curve will go far.

Though certain trends can be seen consistently, it is important for management to avoid complacency. These trends can change rapidly as we have seen with the decline in Russian visitors who will still return for peak periods, but at a much lower frequency.

Creativity Innovation is vital. As well as following and taking trends into consideration, there is nothing stopping hotel teams from creating trends. As Lawless said, “Those who innovate will win, they will be the ones who will really be ahead of the competition.”

Looking forward A highly topical point is Lawless’ departure from Jumeirah. Hospitality Business Middle East interviewed the ex-President and Group CEO soon before the announcement of his move, where we asked about succession planning and what the procedures would be if/when he departs the company. He told us, “We want, when it does happen, for it to be a very smooth transition and we are very confident that it will be. Jumeirah is very well set in the strategy, we have a very clear strategic direction covering ourselves right up to 2023 is the current plan.” This highlights the importance of management foresight and planning for all eventualities in order to achieve success.

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Making ends meet Meeting rooms are a woe for hotel managers throughout the region. Every hotel has one, but often they are left empty and merely form as a facility prerequisite in hotels. Fortunately, times are changing and innovative digital solutions could save the day.

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versupplied and underutilised, meeting rooms are a constant battle for many hotel managers. With no shortage of hotels in the region, each with its own business centre facilities, paired with the knowledge that hundreds of meetings happen daily in the region, it is a problem that has needed attention for years. As highlighted throughout this section, hotels are feeling the pressure to adapt to technological advances rapidly and with digital solutions being offered to solve the issue of empty meeting rooms, is it time for you to tap into this lucrative opportunity?

Fluidmeet is a home-grown concept that describes itself as ‘an online marketplace for workspaces’ that offers professionals the ability to book workspaces on a short-term basis. Though there are multiple websites doing this in North America and throughout Europe, Fluidmeet saw the opportunity to provide a simple and easy-to-use solution to the UAE with its abundance of hotels.

The platform is already working with hotel brands including Golden Tulip, Meydan, Gloria & Yassat and Grand Excelsior.

We speak to the two entrepreneurs, Suli Salloum and Jareer Oweimrin, who conceptualised this innovative offering upon recognising a need for a platform that brought venues (hotels, private offices, banqueting halls etc.) and workspace seekers (entrepreneurs, companies, millennials looking for flexible working conditions)

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HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Jareer Oweimrin Fluidmeet

Suli Salloum Fluidmeet

together allowing professionals the opportunity to book workspaces on a shortterm basis (hourly, half-day, full day) in a fast, efficient and secure process.

Why did you chose to launch this in Dubai?

There are a few reasons. Firstly, Dubai has become a hub for entrepreneurs, start-ups, business travellers, conferences and many more professionals. These individuals are constantly looking for workspaces for the many meetings they hold. Secondly, the city is growing in the field of e-commerce and attracting substantial interest so we felt this was the right time for our platform. Dubai is also still developing the support that startups and entrepreneurs need in terms of affordable and short-term workspaces.

How do you believe this will alter the utilisation of meeting rooms in the region?

From our market research and countless discussions with hotels, we have found that current utilisation ranges from 30-60% on average. Our offering is clear, venues can list

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“Our offering is clear, venues can list with us at no upfront cost; we will take the burden and cost of marketing the platform and all workspaces listed with us and once a booking is made and paid for, Fluidmeet will receive a referral fee.”

with us at no upfront cost; we will take the burden and cost of marketing the platform and all workspaces listed with us and once a booking is made and paid for, Fluidmeet will receive a referral fee. The only condition we have is for the workspaces to be listed at the most competitive prices (similar to what booking.com does). Venues will be able to generate revenues from otherwise unused workspaces. Since launching, we have over 6,000 sessions per month (more than 200 visitors daily) and approximately 30 bookings to date. This was achieved with limited marketing and we expect these numbers to rise drastically in the near term. If you look at the North America and Europe, you will notice the online platform/app trend for exactly those reasons. Companies like Uber, AirBnb and many others have changed the way users and providers interact. The hospitality industry will need to adapt to the new market. I am referring to Generations Y and Z, who are more informed and demand a higher value for cost. Interaction with users for a venue begin with the first click and end with the user exiting the venue and posting a rating on their experience.

What are the biggest challenges you faced when creating and launching Fluidmeet?

Certain venues are still old fashioned and struggle to see the value of such a platform.

It took some convincing, but we are happy to say that 95% of the venues we have approached have loved the idea, shown us support and are now listed with us.

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What are the ongoing challenges?

We initially wanted a real-time booking platform. For that we required a complex IT tool that could integrate the availability of meeting rooms with the venues’ IT system. Therefore, we had to implement a similar remedy, which is the ‘request to book’ option allowing the venue to accept or decline the booking. So far, all of the bookings have been accepted, but eventually we want to move towards a seamless integration of real-time bookings. Some aspects of setting up an e-commerce platform are more difficult to achieve in this region compared to North America or Europe. One of these aspects is the payment gateway setup that allows us to charge users online (by credit card).

Payment Gateways have a long way to go in the Middle East, there are only a few operators and the offering is less competitive here. I have no doubt that this is something that will change in the near future.

What is the future of hotel meeting rooms?

The future lies in more and more hotels adopting a room rental rate versus a Daily Delegate Rate (DDR). Instead of limiting your client base to full day meeting room rentals with F&B packages, hotels will want to capitalise from a growing market of clients searching for a meeting room for a few hours. We are not saying hotels should not be offering DDR rates, but also to accommodate entrepreneurs and start-ups looking for a quick and flexible solution. It is like when booking.com launched almost a decade ago for hotel rooms. Granting customers options and flexibility will be added to their list of impressive value propositions.

How do you believe they can be improved in both design and functionality?

I think we’ll begin to see less fixed layouts for meeting spaces and more fluid designs and layouts. Right now, there are fixed tables, fixed partitions, etc. The future, especially with design innovations, will ensure that meeting spaces are moulded and shaped into the requirements of the customers.

Meeting rooms must be equipped with high speed internet, whiteboard, stationary and a beverage as minimum requirements. Other amenities such as projectors, microphones, screens and food can be offered on request.

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“I predict that hotel lobbies will become transformative social hubs as opposed to waiting areas for guests checking in or out of the hotel.”

“New and future designs have to consider environment and sustainability with every product. ‘Green’ is going to continue to be a key word for hotel design in 2016.”

with an “In a world ss-minded ly fitne increasing gyms can population, as e treated no longer b dd-ons.” a peripheral

HOTEL DESIGN

A green theme Managing Director of Bond Interiors Saad Moaswes offers an expert insight to the industry and recognises the growing focus on sustainability in hospitality design.

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For DTCM, sustainability and environmental responsibility is a vital factor for the industry.

Since 2008, the department has hosted over 30 educational workshops aimed at increasing awareness and stimulating adoption of environmentally responsible practices that were attended more than 2,200 tourism stakeholders.

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ith almost 30 years of experience in planning and turnkey fitout services to the interior contracting industry, Bond Interiors has worked on some of the most iconic hospitality projects in the region including Ritz Carlton, Dubai and Desert Island Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi. A key trend that Saad Moaswes, the company’s Managing Director highlights is sustainability.

He explains, “New and future designs have to consider environment and sustainability with every product.

The following should be kept in mind when designing these properties: power conservation and recyclable material, along with environmentally friendly material too.

‘Green’ is going to continue to be a key word for hotel design in 2016. In the future, I predict ‘green’ certifications and minimum standards. These will eventually be an important part of government regulations.”

Sustainability in hotel design marries both internal and external aspects i.e. from furnishings and fittings to internal environmentally friendly energy saving systems. Though in terms of sustainability the region is still behind other countries, its hospitality industry is collectively realising that all aspects need to be considered with the rise of increasingly conscientious travellers who expect hotels to adopt the same mentality. What was once a niche or unique concept to attract visitors to hotels is now an expected attribute.

Moaswes raises a key point regarding the inclusion of sustainability in hospitality becoming a government objective and area of focus. For the first time, the annual Dubai Green Tourism Awards (launched in 2009) will be much more than an awards event – though they will still play an

integral part – as it is now due to become a programme run with hotels that will be launched this February. This will be followed by applications for the awards in the months ahead.

For DTCM, sustainability and environmental responsibility is a vital factor for the industry. Since 2008, the department has hosted over 30 educational workshops aimed at increasing awareness and stimulating adoption of environmentally responsible practices that were attended more than 2,200 tourism stakeholders. The award was launched to ‘encourage conservation and eco-friendly activities that aim to reduce the carbon footprint of Dubai’s tourism industry’ and is judged on several points including energy efficient lighting and the use of environmentally friendly products.

Another vital initiative encouraging environmental awareness within hospitality is Green Globe, the global certification for sustainable tourism. Over the years, the UAE has seen a rise in hotels participating in and striving for the certification, with many achieving the criteria within a rapid six months from opening.

Overall, the industry is becoming far more educated about the importance of sustainability by ensuring that they are aware of the shifting consumer mind-set, which now expects eco-friendly practices within hotels as a requirement rather than a unique offering. Additionally, due to UAE governments striving for a more sustainable future, both in general and in the lead up to Expo 2020, the region is rapidly advancing in its approach to environmentally friendly hospitality construction and encouraging improved sustainable practices within existing properties.

HOTEL DESIGN

Could you outline the design trends that you could see emerging in 2016?

We can see, from the projects that we work on as fit-out contractors, that hotel operators are designing hotels depending on their clients’ demands and needs. And accordingly, they create brands to make a clear distinction of such designs. You can now see clear distinctions in the design, rather than only through star-rating differentiations, between luxury, resort, boutique, business, and budget hotels.

New and future designs have to consider environment and sustainability with every product. The following should be kept in mind when designing these properties: power conservation, recyclable material and environmentally friendly material.

‘Green’ is going to continue to be a key word for hotel design in 2016. In the future, I predict ‘green’ certifications and minimum standards. These will eventually be an important part of government regulations.

What is the future of hotel lobbies?

Future lobbies are becoming more and more customer friendly. Luxury hotels will continue to be more ‘grand’ with plenty of waiting area space. Other key elements include high ceilings, good lighting and a continuation in the trend of hard flooring.

How has technology effected hotel design?

I believe there will be more usage of LED lighting in design, which has allowed designers to enhance their creativity. LED requires almost no maintenance and has an added benefit of low heat emission, which has allowed it to be incorporated with many materials. The fact that colours may be changed with the flick of a switch, along with its ease of programmability, has also given designers a chance to develop more interesting concepts.

Many other new technologies are also being used. Thick and supersized glass allow higher clear clad elevations, especially in lobbies. The use of CNC machines with glass has

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are increasingly important in gyms and wellness centres, along with ensuring that a truly relaxing environment is created in massage rooms.

Saad Moaswes Managing Director of Bond Interiors

The following should be kept in mind when designing these properties: power conservation, recyclable material and environmentally friendly material. ‘Green’ is going to continue to be a key word for hotel design in 2016.

also allowed designers to be more creative because these machines can do cuts and finishes that have never been possible previously using conventional machines.

With a growing focus on health and wellness for guests, how are hotels transforming?

Health and wellness of guests have been a strong focus with hotels. Comfortable and purpose-built lighting is becoming incorporated increasingly. There has also been an introduction of more ‘solid’ flooring in public areas, plus anti-germ carpets in rooms. Kitchens and restaurants are now using more seamless materials such as solid surfaces and epoxy flooring. And, of course, gyms and wellness rooms are now being focussed on more. Hi-tech machines

What are the most common design mistakes hotels make?

I believe one of worst mistakes to make is having low ceilings in corridors and rooms.

It creates a very uncomfortable feeling for the guest. It is also not recommended to use too many elements in the design as this makes the space look small and simply uncomfortable. Bad lighting is another key mistake, along with using too many dark colours. The worst mistakes for me are if the toilet and shower are small.

How much of a driver is design for booking?

With so much choice in the market here, people can be choosy so design is bound to affect booking. If I don’t like the design of a hotel and I am not comfortable, then I won’t come back.

What materials are increasing in popularity and why?

Wood, especially wood finishes, and in particular I believe walnut is ‘in’. Solid surfaces are also popular due to their seamless nature and flexibility as they can be shaped in many ways, whether they are carved or used as cutouts to form a variety of shapes. Mashrabiya is also becoming popular, along with modern designs. Decorative acrylics too, as they can be used in lighting panels, partitions and more, the design options are endless.

What design trends have you seen adopted globally that aren’t yet here?

People travel more frequently now and are open to more ideas that are often quite eccentric from around the world. Similarly, local designs from the region may also become popular globally. This is possible as long as certain practical requirements are met. For example, in our region, privacy is important.

Dubai is an open market, lots of nationalities live here and visit too, and many international design offices also have a regional office in this city. This enables Dubai to have the ability to follow world trends. I have noticed that modern themes with a classic and local touch are popular. This is in addition to the use of wood and, sometimes, engineered veneers with special designs. The popularity of straight lines, blends of dark and light woods contrasted with light backgrounds, and the use of warm lighting mixed with white.

HOTEL DESIGN

Becoming a hospitality heavyweight Manav Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer of Insignia, highlights the increasing importance of health, wellness and fitness within hotels.

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acklustre gyms with tired equipment and treadmills as far as the eye can see will no longer make the cut with the growing importance of health and fitness among consumers. Manav Fernandez says, “Hotels typically throw in a gym or Health Club to fulfil star-rating requirements. Little or no thought is put into the actual usage or functionality.”

Many hotels in the region and worldwide are guilty of this, offering a stark a dreary room filled with a few essential cardio machines and a sad stack of weights (no doubt in separated pairs) and labelling it the ‘Fitness centre’. Though in years past this was once deemed acceptable, fitness is now at the forefront of many guests’ minds and priorities. A quick Google search reveals hundreds of articles about ways for guests to stay fit while on holiday, so rather than leaving them to their own resources e.g. ‘use the stairs rather than the hotel elevator’, provide them with an awe-inducing and satisfying range of facilities.

Make your health centres a design talking point with cutting-edge interiors, state-of-theart equipment and stimulation for visitors.

Fernandez summarises, “There is a growing trend towards what has been labelled as ‘Sportspitality’, where hotel brands are recognising and responding to their guests’ active lifestyles and actually investing in world-class equipment. In a world with an increasing fitness-minded population, gyms can no longer be treated as peripheral add-ons.”

Hotel gyms can either mirror your hotel’s design or form as a unique distinctive feature that attracts guests on its own merit and also

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HOTEL DESIGN

There is a growing trend towards what has been labelled as ‘Sportspitality’, where hotel brands are recognising and responding to their guests’ active lifestyles and actually investing in world-class equipment. In a world with an increasing fitness-minded population, gyms can no longer be treated as peripheral add-ons.

makes your hotel a ‘fitness destination’. For example, there are often emerging fitness trends that hotels can incorporate into studio environments such as Spinning, Aerial Yoga, and Pilates. Additionally, innovative options, such as running tracks on the hotel’s grounds, cycle paths, water sports, equestrian facilities and more, are highly likely to increase the number of visitors your hotel receives and differentiate it from other properties in the region.

While many guests in the region are often expected to have a preference for luxurious aesthetics, the exposure to trends worldwide means that residents and visitors are far more open-minded to quirky and edgy design formats. Popular design trends include brickwalled gym facilities with a rustic and ‘natural’ aesthetic, along with clean, simple spaces with pops of colour and foliage following on from the eco-friendly trend (try to incorporate a smoothie bar with this or a health-conscious café). Vital, with the observation of continued popularity, is weight training areas i.e. uncluttered, sturdy spaces for guests to use with weights and dumbbells.

Guests are becoming more fitnessconscious than ever, so in order to stay ahead and offset competition, it’s time to think outside of the box. Hotels worldwide are quickly catching on to the trend, but there is still time to be a ‘Sportspitality’ pioneer within the region – though that doesn’t necessarily mean ‘going for gold’!

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HOTEL DESIGN

Could you outline the design trends that you could see emerging this year?

With regards to hospitality, the rise of the millennial traveller has in turn forced the industry to be more conscientious. Design-wise this means ’simplicity’ overall as ‘ostentatious luxury’ is now frowned upon by the responsible traveller. The industry is also embracing the use of sustainable materials, so being ecofriendly is not such a niche anymore.

Guests have an eco-conscience and expect the hotels they stay at to have one too.

Tell us a few unusual trends that you believe may change the industry globally…

The lines between luxury and austerity are blurring. Travellers want to be pampered and expect luxury in hospitality, but they also want to be seen as socially responsible and globally aware. This paradox will cause the industry to rethink the way it delivers on luxury and I expect this to affect the physical structure, design, fixtures, fittings etc. True luxury will be about how the industry recognises and serves their guests, rather than the size of the lobby or where the marble comes from.

What is the future of hotel lobbies?

I predict that they will become transformative social hubs as opposed to waiting areas for guests checking in or out of the hotel.

With a growing focus on health and wellness for guests, how are hotels transforming?

Hotels typically throw in a gym or Health Club to fulfil star-rating requirements. Little or no thought is put into the actual usage or functionality. However, there is a growing trend towards what has been labelled as ‘Sportspitality’, where hotel brands are recognising and responding to their guests’ active lifestyles and actually investing in world-class equipment. In a world with an increasingly fitness-minded population, gyms can no longer be treated as peripheral add-ons.

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How much of a driver is design for booking? Does it alter people’s booking patterns?

Brands like The Design Hotels focus on cool, hip and edgy design. There is obviously a growing community of travellers who seek to make their travel experience more unique by staying at uniquely designed properties.

And while this could help tip the decision, design will never replace a great location and intuitive service as a decision driver.

Manav Fernandez Chief Operating Office at Insignia

Is creativity limited in the region due to the clientele as opposed to more eccentric design formats elsewhere in the world?

This is still a traditional market that seeks luxury and seeks it in the traditional format.

Brands like Vida Hotels and Resorts and Media One are beginning to buck that trend but it will take some time before we see some serious design innovation in the hospitality sector.

The lines between luxury and austerity are blurring.

Travellers want to be pampered and expect luxury in hospitality, but they also want to be seen as socially responsible and globally aware.

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HOTEL DESIGN

Mind your manors Having recently opened its crestmonogrammed doors in the region, Surena Chande took a tour of The St. Regis Dubai, the first grand property of three hotels being built for the highly-anticipated Al Habtoor City project.

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mpressing visitors from the fountainfilled drive to the decadent rooms and suites, The St. Regis Dubai proves to be as spectacular as its other counterparts worldwide. A hotel that stays true to its heritage, while adapting to its international properties by effortlessly incorporating subtle touches of art pieces and well-thought-out intricacies, the new opening is a breath of fresh air in the concrete jungle surrounding it. Of course, though the construction surrounding the project is only temporary – and happening at a rapid pace – when you make the journey through the drive and into the lobby of the St. Regis Dubai one feels as though they have been transported to a serene, vast manor.

This, in essence, is what The St. Regis wants to achieve in its global hotel design and the new property is no different.

Hotel manager of The St. Regis Dubai, Faiek El Saadani, says, “Its neo-classical interiors pay homage to the brand’s heritage, while its new-age facilities and amenities reflect Dubai’s new world approach.” Before commencing on our tour of the hotel – no easy feat with

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Its neo-classical interiors pay homage to the brand’s heritage, while its new-age facilities and amenities reflect Dubai’s new world approach.

234 rooms, including 52 spacious suites – we were told the hotel was envisioned to resemble an old manor (in line with the Metropolitan Manor design genre of St. Regis hotels) that belonged to a welltravelled Emirati man.

A recurring theme in many of the region’s hotel lobbies is offering a vast, bleak space with concierge and check-in desks tucked away in corners. The St. Regis Dubai, however, is far more welcoming with a butler leading you to the check-in area centrally-placed at the back of the lobby overseen by a large mural of a man upon his horse in the heart of the sand dunes – a reference, one could assume, to the design vision. Forming one of the most impressive spaces in the hotel, the lobby is grand but unintimidating with cosy, lush seating areas, an ornate chandelier adorned with 1,200 hand-cut crystals and of course, the grand staircase with beautifully elegant

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bronze detailing, a signature element of The St. Regis’ design.

Designed by Hong Kong-based Bilkey Llinas Design (BLD) and brought to fruition by Khatib & Alami, one of the region’s leading architectural firms, The St. Regis Dubai features special touches at every corner and in every room.

Complex director of The St. Regis Dubai, Tyrone Sinnamon, says, “Each living space presents bright and airy ambience with impeccable details, ranging from chandeliers and carefully handpicked artwork to the most lavish furnishings.

Every room is outfitted with St. Regis signature beds, while in-room comforts include spacious double-vanity bathrooms as well as state-of-the-art entertainment technologies.”

The attention to detail in every room is apparent, from the Deluxe Room (spanning 55m2) to The Imperial Suite (a grand

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HOTEL DESIGN

This unique mural was created exclusively for the hotel collaboration with Bentley Motors. Spot the car body and Bentley badge

913m2 space), along with the level of service because guests at The St. Regis are given butlers regardless of whether they are staying in a room or suite.

An interesting contrast to the neoclassical interiors of the rooms, unique regionally-inspired artwork can be found in the 234 rooms, each tying a piece of culture into the signature St. Regis style.

Arguably one of the most important and notable pieces of artwork, the vibrant abstract Bentley mural – found in the St. Regis Bar – was commissioned especially for the eagerly-anticipated Bentley Suite, which is yet to be revealed.

The one-bedroom suite, created in collaboration with the hotel and Bentley Motors, is inspired by the bespoke craftsmanship of the flagship Bentley Mulsanne and caused huge excitement within region upon its announcement. El Saadani says, “The suite provides evocative details in the interior design, including the diamond stitching in the leather, the

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HOTEL DESIGN

“Each living space presents bright and airy ambience with impeccable details, ranging from chandeliers and carefully handpicked artwork to the most lavish furnishings.”

There is a contrast of masculine and feminine themes throughout the hotel, which can be seen in the hotel’s F&B outlets such as the St. Regis Bar and the Champagne Lounge.

Time stands still at The Iridium Spa with all clocks set to midnight as the hotel encourages guests to forget all their worries and deadlines while pampering themselves.

sculpture of the grille, the geometry of the engine, and exquisite jewellery fittings.

The use of leather, colours, patterns and wood veneers combine the glamour of the Bentley brand with the impeccable elegance of the St. Regis Dubai.”

Also yet to be revealed is The Imperial Suite, a space sprawling across 913m2, which will form the hotel’s highest category suite. Located on the highest floors of the hotel with a landscaped garden, the luxurious suite features a 12-seater dining room, a study, a lounge and majlis, two

bedrooms with separate double vanity bathrooms and a master bedroom with a separate bathroom encompassing an opulent bathtub, along with artwork by worldrenowned artists and an in-room staircase connecting to a rooftop plunge pool.

Interestingly, spaces within the hotel contrast between masculine and feminine influences likely to be attributed to the two visions running throughout the hotel: the influence of hotel matriarch Caroline Astor and the ideology of the Emirati traveller’s manor. Of course, no hotel would be

complete without a range of F&B outlets, something where The St. Regis Dubai is certainly not lacking in. It is also where the contrasting masculine and feminine themes are highly noticeable. For example, in areas such as the Champagne Lounge with plush seats and intimate areas for private events, which is distinctly different to spaces such as the St. Regis Bar; a bold and masculine outlet with quilted leather sofas, sports-themed paintings, pictures and ornaments and dark wood furnishings.

This juxtaposition can be seen with the J&G Steakhouse and the Parisian-themed Brasserie Quartier Patisserie.

Other amenities and facilities within the hotel include a picturesque rooftop swimming pool surrounded by a wall of luscious foliage, a state-of-the-art gym, a business centre, rooms for events and a Parisian-style courtyard. Those looking to wind down can visit The Iridium Spa that is home to six treatment suites and steam, sauna and a hammam area, which also features a beautifully bold floral painting in its reception.

Many have felt as though Dubai was lacking a St. Regis property and, after seeing what The St. Regis Dubai offers to the hospitality talent – both as a hotel as a whole and with its magnificent design – in the region, we believe it makes a welcome addition. With an opening as impressive as this, we’re now eager to see the following Al Habtoor City launches in the form of The Westin Hotel and W Dubai, which are both set to be unveiled in Quarter 2 of the year.

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“As Wi-Fi is now viewed as a basic amenity, we now offer all guests a free basic connection equivalent to the maximum bandwidth of our old network,”

According to research by www. emarketer.com, there are now more than three billion Internet users worldwide, accounting for 42.2% of the world’s population.

ter for the “We need to ca n, who are older generatio itches and used to light sw an g with a hum communicatin ls as millennia , being, as well f nt to avoid staf who may wa altogether.”

HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

At your service

Upholding Dubai’s five-star standards is no easy task. Prasanna Rupasinghe, Director of IT, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, launched a seamless guest-facing application powered by contemporary IT infrastructure that could deliver first-class HDTV and hotel services.

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

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ith over 300,000 guests from around the world visiting annually, five-star Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates has a duty to provide a first-class stay for its guests. This includes everything: food, room quality and service, and, now more than ever, technology services.

Kempinski MoE’s Director of IT Prasanna Rupasinghe appreciates that being based in Dubai – a world leader in terms of hospitality and service – brings added pressure and expectation to the business. “Most hotels around the world can’t compete with what Dubai can offer,” he says. “Even the best that the U.S. and Europe can offer is often not up to our standard.”

The average guest at Kempinski MoE brings four or more devices for their stay, meaning roughly a million gadgets pass through the hotel every year. In addition, the hotel’s 500 staff members bring increasing strain to the network.

In the latter stages of 2014, Rupasinghe decided that the best way to bring all the hotel’s services and facilities to guests through technology would be through an upgraded infrastructure, that could power a cuttingedge mobile application. The Interactive Customer Experience (ICE) app would be integrated with the hotel’s digital TV platform, automated guest servicing platform and room management system. This would enable guests to stream TV content, access high-quality wireless Internet and deliver service requests through any mobile device. “We wanted to combine content delivery, virtual systems and gaming applications into a single platform,” he says. “It would have to be a link between the guest and the hotel.”

Rupasinghe, like many other ambitious IT decision-makers working in hospitality, faces a balancing act when it comes to satisfying the needs of guests of all ages. This would need to be taken into account when designing a user-friendly application. “I’m sure the typical outsider may think our job is a question of implementing the most advanced technology products, but it’s not always that simple,” he says. “We need to cater for the older generation, who are used to light switches and communicating with a human being, as opposed to a machine. By the same token, we need to satisfy millennials, who may want to avoid staff altogether and carry out bookings through a device.”

The process of designing the infrastructure that could support this application was one that had to be delivered with longevity and precision in mind. Although Kempinski MoE already had

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“We need to cater for the older generation, who are used to light switches and communicating with a human being, as well as millennials, who may want to avoid staff altogether.”

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a robust IT infrastructure, the ICE app – and a vast amount of HDTV content in particular – would place all-new demands on the hotel’s network and IT resources. With this in mind, Rupasinghe drew up a comprehensive roadmap.

“We built our new capacity with the potential to grow for the next four to five years,” he says. “It was important to accommodate new bandwidth needs, and remove the network’s complexity.”

One of the key initiatives was to refresh the hotel’s fixed LAN network infrastructure that consisted of core, distribution, access and server farm layers to high-density virtualised infrastructure. This would need to have minimal complexity, and have scalable technology that could prepare Kempinski MoE for applications such as full and ultra HD video, 10GE, and fully secure and simplified operating software that could meet PCI requirements.

Opting for a range of powerful technologies as part of his new solution, Rupasinghe’s aim was to deliver ‘bandwidth on-demand’ to the hotel guests. This encompassed a high-speed Internet offering from Rivernet, Avaya’s Fabric Connect for shortest path bridging, which “removed complexity, increased resiliency and increased availability” and an Aruba Wi-Fi controller upgrade. All this was brought together with the VSoft Iris digital platform, the means for delivering the app to the customer.

Rupasinghe successfully implemented the necessary infrastructure over the course of 2014 to meet his expectations of ICE’s delivery, but reaching that point was not entirely plain sailing. “We underwent a rigorous testing process to ensure that every scenario on ICE was catered for,” he says.

“Things had to be standardised so as to ensure smoother operations at the back end. The front end, building management and guest room management, requires different pools of technology, which had to be integrated to ensure the app’s successful delivery.”

Furthermore, with downtime unthinkable for Kempinski MoE, this testing had to be carefully timed. “The hotel is not a new build, and our tests had to run while the hotel was also running, so this was tough,” Rupasinghe says. “Rooms couldn’t be made ‘out of order’ so we had to be swift in deploying our configurations when we had the chance - when a room became available for a short timeframe.”

The platform has since provided a huge service enhancement by allowing guests to interact directly with staff, and make service requests regardless of whether they are in the hotel’s grounds. “This has helped in serving guests in a timely fashion, and has reduced

the average time to fulfill guest requests by almost 20%,” Rupasinghe says. “We have also seen a substantial increase in room service orders, which is a great sign going forward.

We expect the ICE app to be self-sustainable through its proven revenue generation capabilities.” From an operations perspective, the app has also made life easier for the hotel’s employees. “Our system knows which room should be served when, so our staff are able to deal with requests in the most efficient manner possible.”

The app has also provided Kempinski MoE’s marketing team with a fresh advantage – by tying up agreements with a range of retailers in the conjoining Mall of the Emirates, targeted ads can now be pushed through to guest’s devices. “We already have agreements with brands including Burberry and Vacheron Constantin, and are in discussions with others, including the likes of VOX Cinemas and Ski Dubai,” Rupasinghe says. “A lot of our guests are either shoppers, or people who have stayed in the hotel solely to make use of Mall of the Emirates, so this is something we have to exploit. The campaign generated over $48,000 in the first two quarters of 2015, and is expected to generate more revenue going forward.”

In spite of the benefits that ICE – and the updated IT infrastructure – has brought to Kempinski MoE, Rupasinghe acknowledges that praise for his work has been scarce.

“In hospitality, people tell you when things aren’t right, and good feedback is rare,” he quips. “The general rule is that if people don’t complain, things are going well. It’s not reasonable to expect them to understand the workings of the back end that go into the services they experience. Internet in hotels is now more important than having water in each room. You can go for an hour without water in a hotel room, but an hour without Internet creates problems.”

Looking forward, Rupasinghe draws huge encouragement from the progress that has already been made with ICE, but sees room for a great deal of development. He is open to the use of Big Data analytics and a WhatsApptype chat feature, as well as incorporating PlayStation 4 gaming into the service. “It’s important that we get to know our guests better without impinging on their privacy,” he says. “We have 10 years’ worth of data, but no means of drawing real value from it yet. We are working on completing room controls through ICE, and should have that completed by March 2016. The potential of ICE is huge.”

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

Paradise calling A case study: Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara deploys Aruba gigabit Wi-Fi to enable advanced business applications and resort-wide guest access.

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lthough we had a legacy system in place to offer our guests WiFi connectivity with speeds of up to 2Mbps, we wanted to deliver a standardised quality of service across all our properties,” said Harikumar Nair, Director Information Technology at Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, Abu Dhabi. “Besides catering to the high-speed connectivity demands of its guests, Desert Islands also needed a robust Wi-Fi network that could support back-end systems and the bandwidth-hungry applications that were being used by the operations team to do their jobs more efficiently.”

The need to optimise investments “We had already made strategic investments in our wired network infrastructure. However we were unable to achieve optimal performance across the end-to-end network because of the performance restrictions arising from the

wireless portion,” he stated. Desert Islands had also recently acquired greater bandwidth from its telecom provider and was eager to extend the benefits to its guests.

“As a premier location for events, particularly for the Government and public sector clients, our hotel regularly hosts conferences where hundreds of attendees connect to the wireless network via iPads and smart devices at once. Combined with the huge volume of devices used by regular hotel guests as well as hotel staff, the total number of devices connecting at any one time can put an immense strain on the network. We needed an infrastructure that could handle the increasing volume and density of devices while delivering the consistent speed and performance that our customers and our staff expect,” said Nair.

Anantara Group’s IT department, owners and other key stakeholders, conducted a thorough analysis of solutions from a

HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

“While we had a pressing need for a better wireless solution, we pride ourselves on providing the very best quality of products and services. We wanted to take our time to ensure that we selected both, the highest quality and most innovative 802.11ac solution available to meet our current requirements and provide a future-ready infrastructure.”

number of vendors. As an IT veteran, Nair was already aware of Aruba Networks and was particularly impressed by the coverage that Aruba’s 802.11ac solution could deliver across the hotel’s guest rooms and public areas. The decision makers were also well aware of Aruba Networks’ position as one of the leading providers of 802.11ac wireless technologies. Nair said, “While we had a pressing need for a better wireless solution, we pride ourselves on providing the very best quality of products and services. We wanted to take our time to ensure that we selected both, the highest quality and most innovative 802.11ac solution available to meet our current requirements and provide a future-ready infrastructure.”

Working directly with Aruba Networks, Desert Islands’ IT team conducted a Proof of Concept (PoC). The IT team used the PoC for a live conference with over 500 attendees successfully. While the initial time frame set for the project was two months, in order to meet the expected surge in occupancy during the 2014 Eid break, the entire deployment was completed in approximately half the time.

In all, Anantara used a mix of Aruba Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) to cover the guest rooms and 802.11ac indoor and outdoor APs to cover the extensive public areas. To manage all of the APs across the immense property, Anantara’s IT team decided to utilize Aruba’s 7210 Mobility Controller, which is optimised for 802.11ac. The Aruba solution allowed Desert Islands to support the

highest device densities and maximise Wi-Fi coverage while providing wiredlike connectivity. Aruba’s patented ClientMatchTM technology in the Mobility Controller eliminates sticky clients by continuously gathering session performance metrics from mobile devices and using this information to intelligently steer each one to the closest AP and best radio on the WLAN. Providing faster network connections for individual clients translates to better overall wireless performance.

The flexibility and high degree of control offered by the Aruba Mobility Controller has helped Desert Islands monetise its Wi-Fi network. “As Wi-Fi is now viewed as a basic amenity, we now offer all guests a free basic connection equivalent to the maximum bandwidth of our old network,” said Nair. “The controller has allowed us to implement and easily manage a tiered system providing the option for a ‘premium’ service to our guests at greater speeds for a charge. Also, the controller’s ability to centrally manage all of the APs has drastically cut down the time and effort required for administration.”

According to Nair, perhaps the most important benefit of the new Aruba network has been its ability to help his team realise the full potential of their network investments. “We are very happy with the new network’s performance. Aruba offers plenty of opportunities to grow this solution with the evolving needs of our guests and staff in order to ensure that we continue to deliver the excellent quality of service that our brand is renowned for,” concluded Nair.

REQUIREMENTS: • High-speed 802.11ac Wi-Fi solution with assured quality of service to meet current and future performance requirements • Wireless solution to support guests’ connectivity requirements as well as bandwidth-hungry applications utilised by hotel staff • Rapid deployment to meet peak season demands SOLUTION: • 85 Aruba AP-103 Access Points • 5 Aruba AP-225 Access Points • 2 Aruba AP-275 Access Points • Aruba 7210 Mobility Controller BENEFITS: • Mobility Controller enabled implementation of a tiered connectivity system and the monetisation of the WiFi network • Eliminated need for physical management of Access Points across the sprawling property • Solution helped organisation achieve optimal utilisation of high-speed backbone infrastructure ORGANISATION OVERVIEW: Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara, set on the island of Sir Bani Yas just off the coast of Abu Dhabi, is regarded as one of the most luxurious resorts in Abu Dhabi.

The resort offers luxury accommodation and a range of activities that make it popular for an exotic vacation. Desert Islands features 64 rooms and suites, an infinity-edge swimming pool, sprawling nature and wildlife walks and drives, mountain biking paths, a world class spa, and a wide range of activities for children and adults alike.

Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara, is part of the Minor Hotel Group, an entity operating across Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

The Group’s six premier properties in the United Arab Emirates of guests a taste of the region’s unique culture, architecture and legendary landscapes.

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Adding value to customer Wi-Fi

The changing behaviour of digital customers means that Wi-Fi access is one of the most in-demand features for any hotel. Here, we look at important aspects to ensure that you and your customers reap maximum benefits from Wi-Fi.

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HOTEL TECHNOLOGY

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ou may be surprised to know that in a recent survey conducted by The World Council of Shopping Centres, assessing consumer preferences in 45 countries, Wi-Fi access actually ranks second in importance for customers of food and beverage outlets. That’s ahead of other factors like price (only product quality is considered more important).

There’s no doubt that if you’re in the hospitality or F&B industry, providing public Wi-Fi access has become an important part of your customer offer - in fact, worldwide, this is one of the defining trends in business economics. Providing Wi-Fi access is now a key part of your main service proposition. It’s central to the way customers perceive the value of your brand and its core identity.

The internet is no longer a ‘luxury’ offer - it’s become an expectation. According to research by www.emarketer.com, there are now more than three billion internet users worldwide, accounting for 42.2% of the world’s population. The vast availability of smart phone technology and portable devices means that this same expectation of internet access is taken into almost every area of daily life.

Now - how can you add extra value to your Wi-Fi offer?

The first step is to see the Wi-Fi provision as part of your professional remit and to ensure that it’s offered in a way that’s not only commensurate with customer needs, but actually adds value to their experience

“The first step is to see the Wi-Fi provision as part of your professional remit and to ensure that it’s offered in a way that’s not only commensurate with customer needs, but actually adds value to their experience when they visit your premises.”

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FACTFILE

What is a PIAP? • A Public Internet Access Provider • A business that provides free or paid Internet access to its customers • It can be a vendor, retailer, café, restaurant, professional services business or service provider

“The changing dynamics of Internet usage not only open up a wealth of new opportunities for consumers and businesses, but create a new set of responsibilities, too.”

when they visit your hotel. Offering a Wi-Fi service to customers or guests means that your business is in fact a Public Internet Access Provider (PIAP), and this carries with it the opportunity to follow and exemplify a professional code and a set of ethical practices.

Next you’ll want to protect customers from any chance of internet abuse while they’re on your premises. For many hoteliers, it might be very difficult to have any awareness at all about how your customers are using the internet during their stay. This is not only worrying in terms of the damage that could be done to the end-user who may be affected, but also because you wouldn’t want your hotel to be ‘caught in the middle’ and be held liable because it provided the environment in which the abuse was committed.

Of course, the vast majority of customers using public access Wi-Fi in establishments have typically remained anonymous - and at a time when so much of the world is concerned about security issues, this raises a critical public safety agenda. So now is a great opportunity for your property to ‘raise the bar’ and implement a proper Wi-Fi management system, giving the context and co-ordinates that can make all the difference when it comes to identifying any potential trouble spots.

Creating a safe, compliant environment for customers If you’re a PIAP, the best option is to deploy a secure and managed solution which takes care of these vital issues.

It’s not a daunting task because you can easily outsource the responsibility and deploy the services of a telecoms provider who offers a managed, convenient and secure solution. What’s more, it’s a good idea to take action quickly, because in the UAE - since 1 December 2013 - new regulations from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) require PIAPs to implement PIAP enabled Wi-Fi service.

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(In fact, the TRA says that those PIAPs who have not deployed the required PIAP enabled solution from a licensed operator - and who continue to provide public internet access to their customers - will be in an illegal position and may as a consequence be subject to legal action).

The style of managed solution that the law refers to is very simple and doesn’t impact customer enjoyment of your services at all. Typically, all it will require is an encryption protocol that asks customers to enter a registered mobile number - and with that simple action, there can be full awareness of who is doing what, and your own business is helped to indemnify itself against claims of negligence or neglect of public responsibility. Plus, putting this kind of solution in place, you are also protecting the interests of the public and other internet users. It also goes without saying that if you work with a licensed telecoms operator to put a system of this kind in place, it will be extremely secure and offer an extra level of reassurance to everyone using Wi-Fi on your premises.

Next steps (and you’ll boost customer USP, too!)

A licensed telecoms provider can do a short review of your requirements and help you implement a regulatory-compliant service without any disruption to your property and its core offering.

The changing dynamics of internet usage not only open up a wealth of new opportunities for consumers and businesses, but create a new set of responsibilities, too.

Fortunately, in this case, the solution is fast and straightforward, and ensures that your own hotel contributes to a safe enduser environment - and at the same time, enriches its key offering and customer USP! For guidance on how to implement a managed and secure Wi-Fi solution for your customers, contact: businesswifi@etisalat.ae.

In 2016 the need to minimise natural resources (water and utility consumption) is paramount. The recent 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris highlighted the need for international cooperation to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.�

The Spa Finder Wellness 365 report touts nature resorts, traditional Arabic treatments and alternative plant-based options as the top three trends for the year.

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

Avoiding food faux pas Balancing food safety and food security is often a challenge.

If food safety regulations are too stringent, it could have an impact on food security (reduced shelf-life leading to wastage), too relaxed and it risks health issues. HBME talks food risks with the experts.

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here are a number of stages at which the quality and integrity of our food can become compromised, including direct or indirect exposure to pests, pesticides, pathogens and other harmful bacteria. All these can lead to food poisoning and other related diseases. From the farm to our forks, as Dubai Municipality Food Studies and Planning Specialist Bobby Krishna says, “every link in the food chain can introduce a food safety hazard. This makes food safety the shared responsibility of the government, the food industry and the consumers.”

Government Regulation There are simple ways to balance food safety and food security. Krishna advises that the best method is to keep food safety regulatory decisions based on the latest scientific information, work with the food industry to ensure that those regulatory decisions are practical and useful and then work with the consumers to ensure that they follow the instructions on the label, and use the food as intended.

Food security concerns are primarily addressed by policies on farming, food

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procurement and trade, policies that could have a long-term impact on the availability of food (farming considerations work differently in a country like UAE that’s heavily dependent on imports). However, in the hospitality sector, food security measures are centered on efforts to reduce waste by better planning of meals, controlling portion sizes and optimizing shelf life of food products.

As a government authority, the Dubai Municipality has implemented strict protocol to regulate the F&B industry and ensure that food security standards are taken seriously. Much like the code of practice followed in the US, Canada and Australia, the food code offers guidelines for the operation of any establishment which imports, sells, manufactures, processes, displays, serves or distributes food.

One of the key mandates within the document is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, a document prepared in accordance with the principles of HACCP to ensure control of hazards that are significant for food safety in the segment of the food chain under consideration.

Using cook chill processes, maintaining the cold chain and good portion control can

reduce food wastage. Relying on empirically ‘optimal’ shelf life of products rather than taking a hyper- cautious approach would be the way forward.

The new regulation for food-safety requires scientific validation of processes. Inspections will also be based on risk - addressing issues that could directly impact food safety first!

Industry Practice As one would expect, food risks are less common in mid-high-end restaurant and food chains due to the strict protocol and practices adopted internally. Others are less regulated and more ad-hoc meaning that one should always check to see if the place they are ordering from or dining in is clean and hygienic.

Similarly certain foods are also more risk prone. Chef Bobby Kapoor of Cartalyst Food Solutions says that rice is a common staple in the Middle East and is susceptible to listeria.

Given the climate conditions and heat in kitchens, food poisoning is a very possible equation as the modalities of temperature can affect the shelf life of food.

As a food product distributor, he is a believer in the cook chill approach, especially when

Hygiene & Housekeeping

catering large quantities and transferring from central kitchen to a unit. Transporting food from catering units to other locations can also be tricky and requires careful packaging in proper hot-cambro containers.

Cook, chill is a process wherein you cook food to above 82 degrees and then chill to below 5 degrees within 20 minutes, curbing the odds of bacteria growth by not allowing food to remain in the danger zone of 20-60 degrees.

Chef Manish Chandna of Action Hospitality suggests taking added precaution when it comes to cooking poultry or eggs, reducing the number of times the dish is reheated. “If these ingredients are to be used in a cold salad, maintain the cold chain at all times even during the cutting/portioning process.” Cooking food too long in advance even for large catering order or buffets is not recommended unless core temperatures are maintained.

Consumer Precaution Thankfully, food poisoning requiring hospitalization is uncommon here in the U.A.E.

General Guidelines to Prevent Food Poisoning • Make sure that food from animal sources (meat, dairy, eggs) is cooked thoroughly or pasteurized. Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the food.

• Avoid eating raw or spoilt meats and eggs.

Check expiration dates on meats and eggs before purchasing and again before preparing.

• Carefully select and prepare fish and shellfish to ensure quality and freshness.

• If you are served an undercooked meat or egg product in a restaurant, send it back for further cooking. You should also ask for a new plate.

• Be careful that you don’t let juices or drippings from raw meat, poultry, shellfish, or eggs contaminate other foods.

• Do not leave eggs, meats, poultry, seafood, or milk for extended periods of time at room temperature. Promptly refrigerate leftovers and food prepared in advance.

• Wash your hands, cutting boards, and knives with antibacterial soap and warm to hot water after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.

Dr. Mustafa Kutiyanawala Owner of Central Private Hospital, Sharjah

According to Dr. Mustafa Kutiyanawala, Owner of Central Private Hospital, Sharjah, there does not seem to be an increasing rate of these cases presented to hospitals. “The strict rules of the municipality and their (of the rules) enforcement are likely to be the result of the low incidence of food poisoning.”

• Wooden cutting boards are not recommended, because they can be harder to clean.

• Avoid unpasteurized milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk.

• Do not thaw foods at room temperature.

Thaw foods in the refrigerator and use them promptly. Do not refreeze foods once they have been completely thawed.

• Keep the refrigerator at 40 degrees Farenheit or lower, and the freezer at 0 degrees Farenheit or lower.

• Wash raw vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating, especially those that will not be cooked. Avoid eating alfalfa sprouts until their safety can be assured. Methods to decontaminate alfalfa seeds and sprouts are being investigated.

• Drink only pasteurized juice or cider.

Commercial juice with an extended shelf life that is sold at room temperature (juice in cardboard boxes, vacuum sealed juice in glass containers) has been pasteurized, although this is generally not indicated on the label. Juice concentrates are also heated sufficiently to kill bacteria.

• Be aware of proper home-canning procedures. Instructions on safe home-

Illnesses from food, commonly comes from uncooked/poorly-cooked foods, improper storage of food or contamination by the food handler- chef/waiter etc. It is also imperative that all food establishments have a regular health check of their staff for communicable diseases.

Common symptoms of food poisoning are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting and fever.

Most cases are self-limiting and treated at home.

However in the event of frequent episodes of vomiting and inability to “keep liquids down, bloody stools, severe abdominal cramping, fever with a temperature higher than 101.5 F (38.6 C), dehydration — excessive thirst, dry mouth, little or no urination, severe weakness, dizziness, or lightheadedness, neurological symptoms such as blurry vision, muscle weakness and tingling in the arms- these are potentially serious and need medical attention.”

To prevent food poisoning at home- wash your hands, utensils and food surfaces often, keep raw foods stored separately from ready cooked foods, defrost food safely and ‘when in doubt throw it out’.

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canning can be obtained from county extension services or from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If you are ill with diarrhea or vomiting, do not prepare food for others, especially infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems, because they are more vulnerable to infection.

Wash hands with soap after handling reptiles, turtles, birds, or after contact with human or pet feces.

Those at high risk, such as pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and the elderly should also avoid soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, and Mexicanstyle cheese. (Hard cheeses, processed cheeses, cream cheese, and cottage cheese are safe.)

Cook foods until they are steaming hot, especially leftover foods or ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs.

Although the risk of food-borne disease associated with foods from deli counters is relatively low, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems may choose to avoid these foods or thoroughly reheat cold cuts before eating.

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Squeaky clean for 2016 With sand, mud and clay being the order of the day for spas, keeping things hygienic has never been harder. Paul Hawco, Director of Talise spa operations for Jumeirah Hotels, works out the knots in spa sanitation for 2016.

The Spa Finder Wellness 365 report touts nature resorts, traditional Arabic treatments and alternative plantbased options as the top three trends for the year.

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he Middle East has never has so many spas. Basically, we’ve never been vainer.

People are devoting more time than ever to perfecting themselves: regular spa treatments have become an essential, not an extravagance.

The International Wellness & Spa Tourism Monitor report found that in 2015 revenue per customer grew approximately 6.5% for local and domestic guests and 8% for international guests compared to 2012 figures.

According to the stats, tourists are leading the boom. International travellers are making the pilgrimage to Middle Eastern shores in pursuit of self-improvement. Why? Well aside from the appeal of year-round sunshine, the sheer number of spas here makes the Middle East a Mecca for maintenance addicts. A 2014 report by the Global Wellness Tourism Congress (GWTC) revealed that although MENA currently has the smallest global wellness travel market, it will demonstrate the best growth worldwide, reaching $16.6 billion by 2017. Shrewd spas should be looking to cast their marketing nets further afield to haul in exhausted tourists in need of pampering.

And what are they looking for in 2016?

Essentially, customers want to get dirty ideally in the middle of a forest or desert. The Spa Finder Wellness 365 report touts nature resorts, traditional Arabic treatments and alternative plant-based options as the top three trends for the year.

While the Middle East may struggle with the latter, the first two are perfect picks for the region. The UAE already boasts a cluster of desert spas, not least Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara (winner of Middle East leading Desert Spa Resort), and the rise

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R O F Y ONL S L A N O I S S E F PRO K.A.C. Prasad Director of Culinary VP Emirates Culinary Guild for East Coast Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort - Fujairah Izu Ani Head Chef La Serre - Dubai Stephane Buchholzer Culinary Director - Complex The St.Regis - Dubai W Dubai, Al Habtoor City - Dubai The Westin Dubai, Al Habtoor City - Dubai Danny Kattar Executive Chef Intercontinental - Abu Dhabi Atim Suyatim Executive Chef AFHM Hospitality - Dubai

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of traditional Arabic treatments will be celebrated by regional spas.

Doha already has a ground breaking wellness resort planned for 2017. The Zulal Destination Spa will be the world’s first destination to immerse guests in the medical/wellbeing traditions from across the Islamic world. After the popularity of Western and Asian treatments, the global rise of Arabic techniques is a true triumph and homecoming for Middle Eastern spas.

Paul Hawco Director of Talise spa operations for Jumeirah Hotels

“Germs can be found everywhere, even on even the shiniest, ‘clean-looking’ surfaces. These often ‘invisible’ considerations are crucial from a hygiene perspective.”

What do you think are the top trends in spa hygiene in the GCC for 2016?

Guests have never been as critical, professional or savvy as they are today. Wellness and spa providers do their best to provide an agreeable and relaxing wellness experience, but guests can only see the exterior and are not always able to understand what happens behind the scenes.

For guests it is difficult to assess if a sauna or swimming pool is professionally managed or if it meets safety standards. The star classification for hotels does not take these aspects into consideration. This is where international certifications come into play and will be a big trend for 2016, especially since many spas are not yet certified.

What are the primary hygiene challenges spas are facing?

I think the challenges are in awareness, training and accountability – it is not a one person job and takes diligence from 100% of the team 100% of the time.

In order to support our operations in this time of significant growth, it is imperative we provide an even greater level of detail and diligence. This is particularly important considering the current

trend of using sand, muds, clay and body scrubs with active ingredients.

What were the major challenges and successes for spa hygiene in 2015?

Hygiene and cleanliness are crucial for a relaxing stay in a spa or wellness hotel. Germs can be found everywhere, even on even the shiniest, ‘clean-looking’ surfaces. These often ‘invisible’ considerations are crucial from a hygiene perspective.

Spa, wellness and fitness centres are busy spaces. Our guests trust us that everything they come into contact with - equipment, pools, people and services - are impeccably clean and sanitary.

How is spa hygiene training improving in the GCC? What’s new for 2016?

Spas have become a more stable business model and are better able to offer consistent offerings and world class experiences. In line with this, spa hygiene, cleanliness and safety standards have certainly risen.

Staff and team retention as well as more experienced leadership is also important to ensure best practices are consistently in place.

How important is technological innovation to spa hygiene?

Successful sanitation leans more on consistency and conscientious staff than any technology.

Certainly best practices utilise advancements in technology and products. There are SOPs, trainings, autoclaves, anti-bacterial products and cleaning checklists which all fall under a very stringent set of Public Health Requirements. But nothing can replace staff who follow the processes and protocols they’re still the most powerful tool.

What can be done to achieve the highest possible standards of spa hygiene? How can the GCC become world leaders in spa hygiene?

The spa and wellness sector in the GCC is world class and in many ways industry leading. Our operations and facilities are successful and sought after, locally and internationally. A 2015 Report by the Tourism Observatory for Health, Wellness & Spa indicates that “brand and reputation” are one of the top reasons guests choose a spa. I confidently feel our spas are held in high regard and are very reputable; hygiene, cleanliness along with health and safety are certainly a component of this.

All hotel and resort operations have health and safety committees. It is imperative that spa representatives play a larger, leading role in sustainability, conservation, health and safety and hygiene related issues.

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

A clean sheet

With Dubai alone expecting 100,000 new hotel rooms in time for Expo 2020, the Middle East’s housekeeping sector is set for strong growth. We talk trends and trouble spots for 2016 with Tatjana Ahmed, Housekeeping Manager at the Grand Hyatt Dubai and Chairperson of the UAE Professional Housekeepers’ Group.

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

Tatjana Ahmed Chairperson of the UAE Professional Housekeepers’ Group.

“Mobile technology will definitely have a major breakthrough in 2016.

Mobile applications will enable staff on the floor to work more efficiently, particularly when combined with real time updates.”

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t might not be the first thing a guest notices when checking in, but if a hotel’s housekeeping and hygiene is poor you can guarantee they won’t forget it. As Christine Saldanha, Executive Housekeeper, Crowne Plaza, explains, “hotel guests may accept a slightly worn hotel, but they will never accept an unclean or unhygienic hotel and staff who do not provide highest level of service and care.”

The hotel with stained sheets risks a stained reputation. And in such an over-saturated market as the UAE hotels must remain spotless, literally and metaphorically.

Key housekeeping trends for 2016 include an increased use of technology, sustainable sanitisation and a focus on staff retention.

Saravanan Alagappan, Housekeeping Manager for Raffles Dubai, claims the latter can be improved by “training staff within the department to multitask as a part of staff retention and talent development.

Housekeeping is focusing on creativity more than before, for example various types of bed making and towel folding.” Meanwhile Kempinski is championing the eco-way with its ‘Kempinski Trees’ - small wooden structures placed on the bed to indicate that the linen doesn’t need to be changed. Whether they will be recognisable to the regiment of robotic cleaning devices rolling onto the market remains to be seen though…

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What do you think are the top 3 trends in housekeeping in the GCC for 2016?

An increase in mobile technology, cleaning for health and robotic cleaning.

What are the primary housekeeping challenges that regional hotels are facing at present?

Many hotels are seeking to outsource their laundry services as operational costs for inhouse laundries are increasing.

Unfortunately, there is not yet an adequate supply of industrial laundries that can provide the quality and service that is required for fivestar hotels.

“The wider hospitality industry also needs to recognise the value of housekeeping. We need to lift the image of the people working in this industry. Our cleaners aren’t simply cleaning. They provide a service, with a human touch, they underpin our guest’s safety and support our businesses.”

What were the major challenges and successes for the GCC housekeeping industry in 2015?

Waste management is still a struggle as there are no proper rules and regulations on waste segregation and recycling.

One major success for the housekeeping/ cleaning industry, especially here in the UAE, is the support we received from the Clean Middle East exhibition for the Excellence awards. The awards have been in place for the past three years and this year we had over 100 nominations for nine different categories.

How is housekeeping training developing in the GCC? What’s new for 2016?

Many companies offer online training courses in which the employees can study at a time convenient to them. There are also companies offering tailor made training which can be downloaded on a mobile app.

Many housekeepers are also focusing on health and wellbeing in the work place.

Thousands of work days are lost due to occupational illness and injury. Back-pain and stress are very common and can be reduced by good work practices such as proper training and an adequate supply of the right tools to carry out the job.

How important will technology be to housekeeping in 2016?

Mobile technology will definitely have a major breakthrough in 2016. Mobile devices are used far more often than PCs or laptops these days and have enabled us to be more productive on the move.

Standard housekeeping task activities include audits, credit assignments, supervisory activities and scheduling of maintenances. Mobile applications will enable staff on the floor to work more efficiently, particularly when combined with real time updates.

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What can be done to achieve the highest possible standards of housekeeping? How can the GCC become the world leaders?

Start with recruiting the right calibre staff this also applies to contract service providers.

The profile for entry level staff in the cleaning industry has changed over the past few years – it has changed the basic knowledge required when applying for a job.

For example, the shift from cleaning for appearance to cleaning for health has brought in a wider focus on the environment. Staff carrying out cleaning jobs must understand the importance of sanitisation as well as the significance of caring for our environment by using the right tools and cleaning agents.

The wider hospitality industry also needs to recognise the value of housekeeping. We need to lift the image of the people working in this industry. Our cleaners aren’t simply cleaning.

They provide a service, with a human touch, they underpin our guest’s safety and support our businesses.

How do you think the housekeeping industry will change as we move closer to Vision 2020?

What problems might it encounter?

As a growing tourist destination, we should not undermine UAE guest’s overall satisfaction.

When it comes to cleanliness, online surveys have revealed that 85% of respondents would not visit a property with negative reviews about the cleanliness of its facilities. This proves how important hygiene is for a business. It is a real and measurable value provided by the housekeeping department.

Most importantly, we need to make sustainability the ‘new standard’ to better appeal to environmentally conscious business and leisure travellers. Eco-friendly practices must become the norm, rather than the exception; we need to see more standard ‘green’ practices, products, programs and packages.

Do you think the housekeeping industry would benefit from any changes in regulation? If so, what would you advise?

As in all other industries, we must go with the new trends and standards. There are still cleaning methods used in this region which are totally obsolete in other parts of the world. For example, the mop and bucket.

We have to recognise that machinery is more effective than a mop. But 70% of flooring is still cleaned by hand mopping. This should be passé!

Tests have shown that mopping consumed three to five times more water and chemicals: making the switch to advanced cleaning methods is more cost-effective and sustainable.

Hygiene & Housekeeping

Food fight Stop. Caution. Go. Dubai Municipality is taking a stand against shabby food hygiene standards with the introduction of a new traffic light rating system for 2016.

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ast year the UAE ranked 23 out of 109 countries on the Global Food Security Index, a strong showing. This year the country is looking to take food safety one step further. Announced at last October’s 10th Annual Dubai International Food Safety Conference, Dubai Municipality is introducing a new colour-coded system to rank the emirate’s F&B establishments according to their hygiene levels.

Led by Bobby Krishna - Principal Food Studies and Surveys Officer, Food Control Department at Dubai Municipality - over the course of 2016 the city’s eateries will be assessed and awarded a colour ranking by the Municipality’s 70 inspectors. A red card means that breaches have resulted in a temporary closure, while a green card highlights safe practices.

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Bobby Krishna, the brains behind the plans, tells us more.

What do you think the top trends in hospitality food hygiene are for 2016 in the UAE? 2016 will see the introduction of a new inspection program where establishments are given a colour card rating, depending on their hygiene standards.

The lowest scoring premises will not have their rating displayed – is this a good idea? Do the public not have a right to know if a restaurant’s hygiene standards are substandard?

Colour cards are not just for display. They are a way of telling the management that they have a problem that needs to be rectified immediately.

The colour of the card will determine how often and how early an inspector follows up

Hygiene & Housekeeping

Bobby Krishna Principal Food Studies and Surveys Officer, Food Control Department at Dubai Municipality

– it puts more pressure on underperforming establishments to change their practices.

Don’t forget that there are business to business requirements as well. For example, hotel suppliers will have to have a green card in order to provide foods. This new card system will therefore have a deeper impact on the food chain; it’s not limited to the customer interface alone.

Self-regulation in food hygiene doesn’t always work - unless people are supervised corners can be cut. What will happen from a higher level to tackle this?

Transparency – that’s why we’re introducing the coloured card categorization system. We expect compliance to go up with more focused inspections. Penalties will be high for critical issues and there will be more emphasis on corrective action and follow up inspections.

What are the primary challenges to maintaining food hygiene standards within hotels?

There are two major problems hotels are facing right now. Firstly, poor temperature control of high risk ready-to-eat foods.

Secondly, in some establishments there is a lack of management commitment to food safety, leading to poor monitoring of practices.

What can be done to achieve the highest possible standards of food hygiene?

The industry here needs better detection of foodborne illness through surveillance systems. The faster we detect, the faster we can correct and prevent. Moreover, a swifter response would mean that better preventative systems can be built around a specific problem.

“The colour of the card will determine how often and how early an inspector follows up – it puts more pressure on underperforming establishments to change their practices.”

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Hospitality, greenlit Be it bio-gardens, solar powered buggies or recycled oil, the Middle East’s hospitality industry is making headway in its search for a sustainable future. And with the announcement of the COP 21 Paris agreement last year, even more hotels are joining the call to action.

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f you were to give the Middle East a colour you’d probably choose yellow: a golden sun shines down on the region’s yellow deserts and beaches. Green is not an altogether common sight here. And with the Emirates’ ski-slope-in-the-desert, luxurious but largely energy inefficient hotels and wasteful brunches, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s a lost concept too. But although the UAE’s hospitality industry might not have the best environmental track record, it’s committed to cleaning up its act.

Last month representatives from 195 countries congregated at the COP21 climate change talks in Paris to discuss how to cap global warming. Delegates from many Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, were there to sign an agreement aimed at limiting the increase in global warming to less than two degrees Celsius. Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, head of energy and climate change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that “for the UAE, the conference as a whole was a great success and we got what we needed.” The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week followed hot on the heels of COP21, proving that the Emirates is committed to saving the planet in not just word but deed.

The Emirates’ participation in COP21 made sound PR sense, but it’s not the country’s first sustainability initiative.

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Far from it. In 2006 the Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC) was formed with the goal of advancing green building principles. Since then Dubai government has committed to reducing the city’s energy demands 30% by 2030 and boosting its clean energy usage from 0.2% to 24% by 2021.

And with Tourism representing over 5% of the UAE’s GDP, hospitality is top of the list for ‘greening’.

Experts predict some 227 new hotels are required to cater for the volume of visitors expected for Dubai Expo 2020. But with the government pledging to source 50% of the event’s operational energy from renewable resources, sustainability in hotels is also under scrutiny. Energy-guzzling resorts that give nothing back to the environment but CO2 emissions will be judged harshly. But it’s not only the EGBC who will be asking questions; guests have their criticisms too.

“The traveller today is very conscientious in picking which hotel to stay in, making their choice based on the hotel’s efforts to regulate water and energy consumption,” explains Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EGBC. Resorts with dedicated sustainability initiatives build brand loyalty; the result is an increase in repeat business. Indeed, there are fiscal benefits to going green. The outlay on a set of solar panels is significant, but

Hygiene & Housekeeping

The bio-garden at the Jebal Ali Golf Resort, Dubai

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Green growth A timeline of The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) and Emirates GBC sustainability initiatives.

2006 The launch of Masdar. Slated for completion in 2025, Masdar is meant to showcase the government’s commitment to sustainability and renewable energy.

2007 Abu Dhabi launches ‘Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan’, aimed at placing the UAE at the forefront of urban sustainability.

2009 Abu Dhabi Education Council implemented the Sustainable Schools Initiative, providing schools with guidelines to actively engage their staff and students in sustainability projects.

2010 Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council launched the first Arab green building framework, Estidama and its Pearl Rating System. As of May 2010, all buildings must comply with Estidama and fulfil the One Pearl requirements.

2011 The DCSE launched the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy for 20130, aimed at decreasing energy demand by 30% by 2030.

2013 Eco-Schools program enrolled 23 schools in Dubai.

2014 As a joint initiative of DEWA and Dubai Municipality, Green Building Regulations and Specifications became mandatory for all new buildings.

2016 The Sustainable City is set for completion this year and will accommodate 10,000 residents.

2030 To support an existing 100km of cycling paths in Dubai, the RTA is planning to connect key spots of Dubai via an 850km long network. source: www.thebig5hub.com

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The Turtle Patrol at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Oman

the long term energy savings make it a nobrainer investment. Sustainability encourages both the bottom line and brand credibility to flourish. It’s something new and established hotels are getting wise to.

Green Key is the largest global ecocertification system for accommodation, as recognised by the World Tourism Organisation and the United Nations Environment Program. In 2015 some 25 resorts in the UAE met the Green Key criteria for accreditation, including a number of Radisson Blu and Sheraton properties. As Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, explains, “achieving the globally-recognised Green Key certification is therefore an important target for hotels, from both an operational and a marketing perspective, and one that Dubai Tourism actively encourages.”

The Green Globe is another eco-label awarded to sustainably-minded hotels. 15% of the world’s Green Globe awarded hotels are in the Middle East, and the company’s CEO Guido Bauer believes 30% of the region’s hotels will be certified by 2020.

Interestingly, two out of five of the highest rated Green Globe resorts globally are here too: the Moevenpick Cairo Media City and the Moevenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea. The latter has solar-powered club cars. Nifty.

In Oman the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa boasts a Turtle Ranger program to help educate guests about conservation of the Sultanate’s native dwellers. In Ajman the Ramada Hotel & Suites and Beach Hotel take used cooking

oil and turn it into biodiesel. And in Dubai the Jebal Ali Golf Resort and Spa - one of the first hotels in the Emirates to go green with the introduction of a bio-garden in 2007 - have reported energy savings of nearly 20% simply by switching to LED bulbs. Even the big boys are getting sustainability sussed. Simon Barlow, CEO of hotels at Majid Al Futtaim, has promised to reduce water and energy consumption by 25% and waste and recycling by 40% across the group’s resorts by 2018.

The green revolution is taking root, but there are still roadblocks in the way in the form of sharp-suited, short-sighted proprietors. “Even as more hotels become focused on saving energy, support from the owner is extremely important – they are more concerned with the return and we need to demonstrate that being environmentally-minded is not only beneficial in the long term but more costeffective as well,” explains Rohit Sanluke, Director of Engineering at Sofitel, The Palm.

The inclusion of a sustainability seminar in the September 2016 Hotel Show should help more reluctant owners understand the benefits of going green.

While rival hoteliers take their time weighing up whether to go green, the smartest players will take the trend and run with it. Audit every aspect of your property and get on board with green. Recycle waste water, get your buggies scooting around on solar power and transform your food waste into fertilizer for a bio-garden. But do it now, or face getting overgrown by the competition.

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Hygiene & Housekeeping

Lean, mean cleaning machines Service with a smile is one of the key statutes of hospitality, but a new generation of gadgets is knocking happy housekeepers off their perch.

Meet the robots maids, the androids cleaning up on the constant need for cleaning up.

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“

Where would people never notice a town full of robots?” asks Claire Wellington in the 1975 science thriller The Stepford Wives. Well, the answer may soon be the UAE. The Emirates already boasts a driverless tram and robotic restaurant, so androids are only a natural extension for the tech-loving territory.

Although hopefully they won’t go the same way as the Stepford Wives…

Engineers have been experimenting with robots for decades to try and determine just how useful they can be. With housekeeping involving lots of menial labour, programmers are particularly keen to set robots to work in a domestic setting. And they’re making progress.

Christened with cute names such as JIBO and HERB (Home Exploring Robot Butler), these robots can perform a range of tasks, including cleaning, tidying up and even cooking. It may seem a little incongruous, but the word ‘robot’ – first coined in a 1920 Czech play – means someone who does manual labour. So the robots are coming home to their original purpose. The creators of HERB have taken the connection one step further: their robot actually performed on stage with an actor in the US last year. We’re guessing the reviewers said HERB was a little stiff.

Although a robot’s acting talent may not be of much interest to hoteliers, its housekeeping capabilities certainly are. The most advanced models can clean the floor, water the plants and even throw the rubbish out. But don’t fire your housekeepers just yet; there are a few teething problems that need to be addressed before the robot revolution can truly take root.

The main issue is pattern recognition and decision making. Robots can be taught to recognize thousands of items, but if the scene is too cluttered then decision making is difficult. But last year Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a new algorithm that can recognize four times as many objects as other androids up to ten times faster. We’re not there yet, but MIT is bringing us one step closer to replacing maids with machines.

And Dubai Festival City Mall has already taken the plunge; last August they welcomed HydroBot to their housekeeping team. The floor-cleaning robot has a 360 view of its surroundings and can sense people and stop to let them pass. Mall operators Al Futtaim are still trialing HydroBot, but if the robot wins them over we could see androids cruising about the Emirates’ malls. The only question is, which hotel will be first to follow?

“The quality of products (ingredients) is largely related to the price the market is ready to pay. The Dubai market is not ready to pay premium prices, hence why we do not get the best quality in general, but there are exceptions.”

“I think the best way to prepare a young chef for the industry is through work experience in restaurants and hotels – it teaches them what being under pressure is about,”

In the UAE, 60% of the total catch is made up of species that are fished beyond sustainable levels.

PRO CHEF

Getting sustainably sussed Dirk Haltenhof, Resort Executive Chef at Madinat Jumeirah, has been tracking the local sustainability movement since he moved to Dubai four years ago. He’s convinced 2016 is the year the philosophy will come to the fore.

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PRO CHEF

“Nowadays customers want to know exactly where their food comes from and how it’s grown,” explains Chef Dirk Haltenhof. The German national and Pro Chef, ‘Chef of the Year 2015’ finalist has over 15 years F&B experience across the world. He’s seen sustainability take root in Europe and Asia and now he’s tracking the trend in the UAE. “At the Madinat Jumeirah we’re committed to following sustainable practices and implementing them in all our restaurants and wherever else we sell food,” he claims. He is a voluntary member of the resort’s Green Globe committee - the global standard in sustainably-minded hotels – and regularly takes his chefs on trips to the market to help them connect the dots between producer and plate. “When we come back we brainstorm all of the new, unique things we have found and how we could support things from more local areas,” Haltenhof explains.

Sustainability is something the authorities are trying to support from above. This January marked Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Hosted by Masdar, the event hosted the 9th World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2016, the 4th International Water Summit, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, and the 3rd EcoWASTE, held in partnership with Tadweer, the Centre of Waste management in Abu Dhabi.

Continuing the momentum from the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21), Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week was a platform for turning global climate change goals into actionable regional policies. And although Paris can feel a world away from the Middle East,

Although Paris can feel a world away from the Middle East, the initiatives introduced at COP21 should change how local chefs approach sourcing. Importing clams from Nova Scotia when there are perfectly good ones in Fujairah does not exactly tick the sustainability box.

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One key legacy from the work of Slow Food globally is the so-called Ark of Taste which travels the world collecting small-scale quality productions that belong to the cultures, history and traditions of the entire planet. the initiatives introduced at COP21 should change how local chefs approach sourcing.

Importing clams from Nova Scotia when there are perfectly good ones in Fujairah does not exactly tick the sustainability box.

Luckily, there is a local community to advise on such matters. Slow Food Dubai is a non-profit, member-supported international organisation. Founded in 1989, it aims to preserve local food traditions, reviving people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world - helping diners make informed choices on the food they eat. It does this in a number of ways, from giving kids a chance to grow, cook and eat their own vegetables, to encouraging food business owners to source from local and regional farms and promoting those producers and establishments to diners.

One key legacy from the work of Slow Food globally is the so-called Ark of Taste which travels the world collecting small-

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scale quality productions that belong to the cultures, history and traditions of the entire planet. It is an extraordinary heritage of fruits, vegetables, animal breeds, cheeses, breads, sweets and cured meats, now numbering over 2,020 items.

It was created to draw attention to the existence of these products, highlight their risk of extinction within a few generations and to invite everyone to take action to help protect them. In some cases this might be by buying and consuming them, in some by telling their story and supporting their producers, and in others - such as the case of endangered wild species - this might mean eating less or none of them in order to preserve them and favor their reproduction. For example, there are nine entries from Egypt in the Ark, from the Egyptian honeybee to Oasis rice.

Slow Food’s Snail of Approval award provides F&B establishments with a way of demonstrating that they align themselves with the sustainability movement. It helps

PRO CHEF

show residents and tourists to Dubai which businesses are maintaining good, clean and fair standards, to the best of their ability.

La Serre Bistro and Boulangerie is one of the most recent recipients of the Snail of Approval. The award is a catalyst for improvement. All restaurants bearing the badge must sell food that comes from, and contributes to, ecological and cultural systems that are good, clean and fair.

Slow Food is shaking sustainability up on land while the authorities are tackling things at sea. In the UAE, 60% of the total catch is made up of species that are fished beyond sustainable levels. It’s a worrying statistic, but in 2010 the Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) jointly launched the Choose Wisely campaign to combat the crisis. The programme is aimed at educating consumers to help them make better choices, and arming chefs with the knowledge to steer clear of endangered species and include more abundant fish in their menus.

The Choose Wisely campaign is supported by the UAE government too, who have implemented a federal law regarding catch sizes of fish, particularly affecting hammour.

Chefs and consumers alike are being better educated about endangered fish, but it’s important that suppliers are receptive to the

In your opinion, what was the hottest F&B trends of 2015?

1. Fast paced comfort food versus hybrid restaurants. Think less fancy but still flavourful fast food outlets: Sushi Samba, 800 Degrees, Shake Shack, Dim Sum and foodie hybrid offerings such as Korean Bistro.

2. Fusion mezzes (i.e. avocado, hummus and beetroot) and Arabic inspired tapas/ sharing style dishes.

3. Vegetable based ice cream: pumpkin, beetroot, carrot, avocado, lettuce, cucumber, soy and olive. This has been particularly popular in Japan, the US and Europe.

4. The use of tech gadgets to support quick and easy ordering – suitable for fast food and beach outlets.

5. Healthy bites i.e. the multi grain burger and avocado club.

6. Cocktail hybrids – beverage lists became more creative.

7. No white sugar in anything and the need for alternative sweeteners. There’s

Fish NOT under pressure locally:

message. Ultimately, it is their task to be the advisor on what’s good and economically priced and what a client may comfortably put on a menu where supply is guaranteed.

Some do this better than others.

UAE-based Wet Fish works exclusively with suppliers who source fish using sustainable and responsible methods.

Through the creation of their own calendar detailing the seasonality of different species, the company helps chefs use the right seafood at the right time and resist exploiting species that are spawning so that the breeding cycles are allowed to run and fish may flourish. Needless to say, they don’t supply baby hammour.

a huge backlash against sugar at the moment – everyone is fearful of it.

8. Seaweed demand was strong in 2015, in all shapes and flavours.

9. Traditional Hawaiian poke was popular.

10. Fermenting ingredients.

11. The brewing of artisan beer.

What was the most overrated industry initiative?

Gluten being declared as evil and everyone calling everything ‘organic’. I keep on telling people that both things are pretty much nonsense!

What new demands did you notice from customers?

They wanted to know exactly where their food comes from, if it’s good for them and how best to eat it.

How much did suppliers improve their service and deliver more original, quality produce?

We had to suspend several of our suppliers

• Orange-spotted trevally/jesh um al hala • Two-bar sea bream/faskar • Black-streaked monocle bream/ebzimi • Yellow bar angelfish/anfooz • Pink ear emperor/shaari eshkeli • Sordid sweetlips/yanam • Ehrenberg’s snapper/naiser • Yellow fin sea bream/shaam • Black spotted rubberlip/hilali • Giant sea catfish/khan • Yellow tail scad/urduman

Over the past few years the UAE has experimented with the idea of sustainability; such initiatives as Slow Food and the Choose Wisely campaign have certainly helped.

However, if Chef Dirk Haltenhof is right, 2016 is the year when the concept will really take root. But for this to happen it requires a concerted and centralized effort from every area of F&B: the supplier, the chef and the consumer. There are many F&B trends to hedge your bets on this year, but we believe sustainability is the one that will stick.

Happy sourcing!

because they weren’t compliant with our standards. But the others improved a lot last year, from warehouse upgrades to production kitchens. Naturally, we support those who can fulfill our requirements more than others.

Do you see more opportunities for local produce?

Yes – there’s certainly the demand for it.

However, it can be dangerous because some things don’t make sense to produce here. A pumpkin or melon needs so much rainwater to grow and nutritious soil, which we unfortunately don’t have. There are some products which are suitable for growing here and the outcome makes it worthwhile.

What F&B staple should now be retired?

Auf Wiedersehen chafing dishes! For me a personal goal is to improve the brunch idea; we are working on concepts to cater for 700-800 guests without using chafing dishes. I hope to have it ready to launch by this summer.

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PRO CHEF

constantly updated and considered for new menus, brunches or even banquet events.

They’ll keep us on trend throughout 2016!

What are the underdeveloped areas of the market and which cuisines are underrepresented?

Korean, African, South American.

What key plans do you have for developing your property/ies?

Oh my! To create culinary stories that make sense and are sustainable, innovative and tasty, both for the young and old. We are going to introduce an educational and fun cooking class unit for all ages. It will be available for internal guests as well as UAE residents.

Are customers changing in terms of their demands and knowledge levels of food?

In Dubai, always. Every quarter is a bit different to the year before.

What F&B staple is missing from the local scene?

Emirati-inspired fun dining. We need to give guests fun-dining experiences to ensure they talk about it and, more importantly, come back.

Dirk Haltenhof, Resort Executive Chef at Madinat Jumeirah

What, in your opinion, will be the hottest F&B trends of 2016?

1. Using chickpea pasta or similar alternatives instead of the regular stuff.

2. Spelt, barley, chia, chickpeas, and of course quinoa (in all colours) is trending.

3. Healthy alternatives in fast-paced restaurants, such as plant based products and healthy fats etc.

4. Root vegetables are back on the plate as never before, ideally with the business card of the farmer. Celeriac, kohlrabi, Romanesco and baby beetroot will all be popular.

5. Dry aged meat and the comeback of more unusual cuts.

6. In Dubai the sustainable movement is moving ahead, something we can be grateful for.

7. Healthy kids menus.

8. Pop-up restaurant concepts, perhaps featuring known chefs.

Here at the Madinat Jumeirah we have a ‘trending’ committee, which shares the latest trends, or inquiries of our guests. These are

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Is the era of all-day dining coming to an end?

Nobody wants to call their outlet ‘all-day dining’, but a three-meal-a-day or ‘world cuisine’ restaurant is still kind of necessary in a resort. But I think it’s better to create restaurants that serve what is currently interesting. For example, concepts like Fume are a very good, but it will take hoteliers more time to accept this as an alternative to allday dining.

What change would you like to see in the Middle East’s F&B market?

Sustainability. I’m already working on my personal sustainability projects, but I also volunteered to be part of the Green Globe committee in Madinat Jumeirah. The resort is currently the only multi-complex with sustainability certificates across all areas.

What it means is that we’re committed to following sustainable practices and implementing them in all our restaurants and wherever else we sell food. It involves finding suppliers who are willing to go the extra mile. We also need to tell our customers about the good things we’re doing and educating our guests about the good things we’re doing.

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A market

movement

Pro Chef Award winner Chef Uwe Micheel explores multiple trends both globally and regionally within the F&B industry and reveals his plans for the year ahead.

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t seems that less and less diners have meat on their mind these days. It is a trend no one can ignore and one that Chef Uwe identifies when discussing the growing market shifts, both regionally and worldwide. When asked what trends from outside the region he could see working here, he says, “I believe the future will see more vegetarian and health food concepts.”

He couldn’t be more right.

Offerings in the region for vegetarians, vegans and health-conscious diners are rising. The gradual introduction of vegan cafés, dedicated vegetarian menus in high-end restaurants and eateries places more importance on healthy and sustainable options. Customers are increasingly turning their noses up at fat-filled, indulgent dishes and are aware that tasty, healthy options are now equally as satisfying. Therefore, it is vital for chefs, restauranteurs and hotels to adapt accordingly in order to avoid guests going elsewhere. According to studies, 26% of Americans said they had reduced their meat intake from 2014 to 2015, while in 2014 one in eight British adults became vegetarian.

This is no longer a niche trend, but more a change in mind-set and lifestyle, one that could be highly beneficial to F&B outlets in the UAE. Restaurants and chefs now have the chance to beat competition by using their initiative to create dedicated menus and outlets for vegans, vegetarians or simply health conscious diners. This is something that the US and UK began adopting several years ago. The idea holds court with some parts of a country better than others. In America healthy eating is a key part of the LA and New York lifestyle, with restaurants regularly displaying the calorie content of dishes on their menus.

Given that the nearby sub-continent relies heavily on vegetarian and vegan diets, the relative reluctance of the Middle East is surprising. Bur Dubai is filled with vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants with Indian cuisine being a key focus. However, it seems many diners in the region are looking for

According to studies, 26% of Americans said they had reduced their meat intake from 2014 to 2015, while in 2014 one in eight British adults became vegetarian.

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different, more Western-influenced, options.

Interestingly, customers here tend to opt for more expensive outlets such as branded vegan restaurants, shunning the cheap eats of Bur Dubai. It’s curious, especially since the ingredients used are often much the same, including: • Kale • Quinoa • Tempeh or tofu • Nut butters • Fresh and locally-sourced fruits and vegetables • Avocado • Spinach (thanks to its high protein content) • Chickpeas • Gluten-free breads and pastas • Pumpkins • Butternut Squash • Sweet potato • Coconut oil Sourcing is also a factor to be taken into consideration when analysing prices of these ingredients. Although European and American

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restaurants can source this produce relatively easily, many of these ingredients must be imported into the UAE due to the poor climate and growing conditions. This drives prices far higher than in other regions, as evidenced by a trip to any of the leading.

Certain ingredients are double or even triple the price of their UK counterparts.

There is also an increased focus on sourcing from by customers, who enjoy seeing local farms or suppliers utilised on menus. Chef Uwe believes the local produce industry is growing rapidly in the region, despite the obstacles it is facing. Though a conscious effort is being made by many chefs in the region to source ingredients locally, the Middle East does still fall behind other countries due to its inherent geographical and climate limitations.

Another restriction is the consumer market in the region according to the Chef, who says, “the quality of products is largely related to the price the market is ready to pay. The Dubai market is not ready to pay premium prices, hence why we do not get the best quality in general, but there are exceptions.” That said, a

spike in the number of farmers’ markets in the UAE has reflected the rise in the healthy eating trend, showing that the changes in ingredient sourcing are emerging. And, as mentioned, it’s starting with meat.

Numerous studies are nurturing the vegetarian movement, for example last October the World Health Organisation (WHO) claimed 50g of processed meat (meat that is cured, smoked or with added salt and preservatives) a day could increase the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%. Perhaps unsurprisingly, sales of meat plummeted. Additionally, people are increasingly being told that they needn’t consume meat in order to maintain a balanced diet - protein, iron and more are all catered for via a varied vegetarian diet.

The meat-free movement poses a dilemma for chefs, and it’s one they can’t ignore for too much longer. There will always be a call for meat dishes in the Middle East – it’s in the region’s DNA - but smart chefs may look to beef up their vegetarian options. And they may just find the grass is greener on the other side…

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Do you see F&B thriving or struggling here in the Middle East over the coming year?

I see it rather struggling in the coming year or two. The trend had already started a few months back and I believe it is due to a combination of an over-supply of restaurants paired with decreased and more careful spending by customers, plus a change in the region’s visitors.

What, in your opinion, will be the hottest F&B trend of 2016? Why? It looks like that the flavour of the year is going to be Emirati food. A few restaurants have already opened or started serving the cuisine, and I believe some new restaurants are on the way. Even in catering, the requests for Emirati food are growing.

What are the underdeveloped areas of the market?

I believe the standards were better in the past. In general, the quality and knowledge of our workforce has dropped behind due to the fast growth of the F&B market, meaning that the training and development of teams has suffered too.

Which cuisines are underrepresented?

I believe South American cuisine is still underrepresented even though it has been growing in popularity since last year. I also believe there will be a gradual shift to more authentic cuisine in general.

Do you see more opportunities for local produce?

Yes, the local food industry is growing quite quickly.

How much are customers changing in terms of their demands and knowledge levels of food?

In general, the food knowledge of customers has gone up over the years. Social media is helping a lot.

How can suppliers improve their service and deliver more original, quality produce?

This is a tricky question because the quality of products is largely related to the price the market is ready to

Chef Uwe Micheel Director of Kitchens, Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek

pay. The Dubai market is not ready to pay premium prices, hence why we do not get the best quality in general, but there are exceptions.

What F&B staple is missing from the local scene?

I believe Dubai has everything now as all major cuisines can be found here.

What key plans do you have for developing your property?

At the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, we are opening a new Emirati concept. Also opening is a new pool area, along with plans to upgrade existing concepts.

Is the era of all day dining coming to an end?

I don’t think so, I believe it will stay in hotels.

What are the trends from outside the region that you think could work here?

I believe the future will see more vegetarian and health food concepts.

Where do you stand on food trucks and ‘street food’? Will we see more of them in 2016?

I believe we will, but it will depend on licensing and licensing costs as well. In Europe, for example, street food and food trucks etc. work because they are low cost, good value for money and convenient.

How is training improving? What more can the region’s culinary schools do to prepare chefs for the professional demands of the industry?

We need more schools and should look at proper apprenticeship programs for the future, but I do understand there are more schools coming. The key is that these educational programs must be affordable.

How are we addressing the imbalance in gender representation in the industry? How can we boost the number of female chefs here?

The number of female chefs is growing, but the biggest challenge is to bring motherhood, family and the kitchen’s long working hours together.

The Middle East still does not go by the Michelin star rating system – is it time to introduce it here or not?

I do believe the Michelin rating system will come to our region soon.

What would you like to see and achieve this year?

Personally, I would like to enjoy a successful opening of our new Emirati restaurant concept called Asselah in my hotel. Also, as the president of the Emirates Culinary Guild, I would like to see a successful World Chefs Congress in September.

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Back to school Rosalind Parsk, Head Chef at Pierchic, Madinat Jumeirah, thinks casual dining, food trucks and street food will shine in 2016. But her main hunch for the year? Training.

We need to send hopeful chefs to the classroom before they can get in the kitchen.

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mongst the fastest growing in the world, the Middle Eastern hospitality industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 9.5% to $35.9 billion by 2018, compared to $22.8 billion in 2013. Parallel to this surge is an increasing demand for talented individuals adequately equipped to deal with the everchanging service model of today.

The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts that by 2025, the tourism and hospitality industry is forecast to swell 10%, adding nearly 72 million additional hospitality jobs worldwide. With events such as Dubai Expo 2020 and Qatar 2022 World Cup on the horizon, the region’s need

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for suitable employees is more pressing than ever. “Demand from the region is definitely on the rise, which is creating pressure on hotels to recruit fresh talent,” notes Clementine Rouan, Head of Industry Relations Global, Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.

With new hotels (featuring literally dozens of F&B outlets) popping up in the time it takes to cook an omelette, the regional demand for chefs has never been higher. But there’s a problem. “Given the current size of the hospitality industry in the Middle East, professional chef training is still very much in the nascent stages – a lot more actually needs to be done,”

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Sunjeh Raja, CEO of International Centre for Culinary Arts Dubai (ICCA)

Both Raja and Haque agree on the pivotal role vocational training plays in a chef’s education: theory alone is poor preparation for the professional kitchen.

But it can be a real challenge getting chefs working experience.

observes Sunjeh Raja, CEO of International Centre for Culinary Arts Dubai (ICCA).

The issue, he says, is one of standardisation: “the industry here is huge, but governments in this region have lacked the initiative to set benchmarking standards and develop professionalism to raise quality to match countries like Australia, the UK etc.” Zaigham Haque, CEO of School of Culinary and Finishing Arts (SCAFA) agrees: “There is a gap between the quality of Dubai’s top restaurants and the general quality of chef training in Dubai at entry level.” It’s a roadblock both men are seeking to remedy through their respective schools, which offer a full range of professional courses.

SCAFA, with premises in Pakistan and Dubai, prides itself on producing ‘thinking chefs’, able to not only execute challenging culinary techniques but also understand why they are doing so.

Haque must be doing something right; two SCAFA graduates are cooking in NOMA, Copenhagen, 2014’s ‘World’s Best Restaurant’ according to the 50 Best Restaurants list.

Meanwhile in 2014 ICCA launched its One Million Dirham Continuing Education Award. In partnership with Emirates Culinary Guild, Worldchefs and City & Guilds, the programme offers 100% scholarship awards to 30 underprivileged

chefs each year. The selected students undergo a 52 week course and graduate as fully qualified chefs from ICCA, an official global Top 10 Culinary Institute.

Both Raja and Haque agree on the pivotal role vocational training plays in a chef ’s education: theory alone is poor preparation for the professional kitchen. But it can be a real challenge getting chefs working experience. “Internships are still grey have not come of age yet in the UAE – the percentage of internships is generally far less as compared to regular work placements,” Raja explains. He puts the shortage down to lack of clarity surrounding certain government policies, which makes the area

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“less comfortable to approach.”

But it’s something the authorities are aware of and striving to improve. “We face many challenges when it comes to the mindset of Emiratis when it comes to vocational education - there’s a stigma,” says Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director of TECOM’s education cluster. With only 3% of UAE students (not limited to F&B) undertaking vocational training, it’s easy to see why chef apprenticeships can be so hard to come by.

The solution? A more supportive F&B community. Successful establishments must open their doors to trainee chefs and give them a taste of the professional

life, be it for three days or three months.

“I think the best way to prepare a young chef for the industry is through work experience in restaurants and hotels – it teaches them what being under pressure is about,” agrees Rosaline Parsk. SCAFA and ICCA already have apprentice programmes with a number of the region’s leading establishments, including Sofitel, Atlantis the Palm and The Address hotels, but more chains need to step forwards and pledge their support. After all, if today’s practicing professionals don’t help tomorrow’s graduates who will staff the hundreds of new hotels?

Chef tables are not as big here as they are in Europe.

Will we see more of them in 2016? Yes! I think this trend will be big in 2016.

Do you see more opportunities for local produce?

This market is growing fast, with a lot more farmers here in the UAE.

How is training improving? What more can the region’s culinary schools do to prepare chefs for the professional demands of the industry?

Training is improving year on year here, with a lot of suppliers offering training.

Many invite chefs and students to come to their warehouse to see all the fresh produce. I think the best way to prepare a young chef for the industry is through work experience in restaurants/hotels. This teaches them what being under pressure is about.

How much are customers changing in terms of their demands and knowledge of food?

I think customers demand a lot out here in Dubai, especially if they feel they’re not getting value for money or what they feel they should have got.

Rosalind Parsk, Head Chef at Pierchic, Madinat Jumeirah, gives us her F&B forecast for the year ahead: Do you see F&B thriving or struggling in the Middle East over the coming year?

2016 will be a difficult year; there are a lot of new restaurants opening but less people travelling to Dubai. It means the market will become very competitive.

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How can suppliers improve their service and deliver more original, quality produce?

Import orders come twice a week, but there’s a fair bit of irregularity - it’s very difficult to rely on them.

What F&B staple should now be retired?

Big buffets.

What key plans do you have for developing your property/ies?

Keep our offerings fresh and new. Also, keeping to the seasons.

What, in your opinion, will be the hottest F&B trend of 2016?

Casual dining. Dubai’s offering in this sector is becoming massive, what with areas such as ‘the beach.’

Is the era of all day dining coming to an end?

No, I think it will always be there. But maybe there will be a lull in big buffets and more a la carte menus instead.

What are the underdeveloped areas of the market?

Where do you stand on food trucks and ‘street food’?

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How are we addressing the gender imbalance in the industry? How can we boost the number of female chefs here?

Being a woman myself, I can say there really is a big lack of females in the kitchen.

But, saying that, we are a minority all over the world. It’s a hard industry and one that requires your job to be part of your life style - it’s not for everyone. It’s also hard coming into it when it is still very much such ‘a man’s world’, but if you have the passion for it then it’s a job for life.

The Middle East still does not go by the Michelin star rating system – is it time to introduce it here or not?

It would be amazing if they bought Michelin here to Dubai. It would recognise that restaurants here really do deserve it, plus it would give them something to work towards.

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PRO CHEF

A new order In a market where suppliers, staff and consumers are constantly changing, the menu is one of few restaurant mainstays. Once a functional list, today’s menus are dynamic marketing tools, carefully designed to boost the bottom line. We talk to Louisa Sumagui, Group Marketing Director of Spilt Milk design company, on how to make your menus work in 2016.

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customer enters your restaurant, they are greeted by your server, seated and given a menu – it’s their first physical interaction with your brand. The contents of that piece of paper can determine their entire experience. Too much choice and menu anxiety sets in, too minimalistic and there is a feeling of being ripped off. Striking a balance that fits your brand can be difficult. But since the menu is — arguably — a restaurant’s most important piece of marketing material, it’s worth getting it right. But what does ‘right’ mean? There are three tenets of successful menus: user-friendly, comprehensible and current.

Let’s start with usability. Your menu’s primary purpose is to tell the customer what dishes are available; overcomplicate this and you’re in trouble. “If there’s one rule to follow in menu design it is K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple Stupid,” advises Louisa Sumagui, Group Marketing Director of Spilt Milk, sister company of interior design firm Stickman. “There’s really no excuse for making this process anything less than

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pleasurable or you run the risk of confusing customers, slowing service and negatively affecting the average spend,” she continues. In a nut shell, leather-bound directories of dishes with hundreds of tabs should be used as a doorstop and nothing else.

Next on the list is comprehensibility. What sort of clientele visit your restaurant or resort?

Chances are you’ve got Arabs, Europeans, Russians and Chinese, to name just as few.

Each and every one of your guests needs to be able to read and understand what’s on offer: that means dual language menus. But don’t get caught out with a rookie error. It’s important that the English and alternative description appear in the same entry - if you relegate the second language to the back of the menu how will your English speaking staff know what is being ordered?

Being comprehensible also extends to what is on offer. Got hogget on your menu? Don’t make your guests have to ask the waiter what it is (and feel foolish in the process). Instead

provide a glossary explaining unusual items. As Sumagui warns, “A great menu should be the start of the conversation, never an impediment.”

Symbols also comes under comprehensibility.

Vegetarians, vegans and those with allergies or intolerances tend to scan the margin of a menu looking for signs identifying suitable dishes.

Give them a hand and dot a breadcrumb trail of icons across the menu.

Lastly, be current. Before you can get creative with your menu design you need to make sure the content is correct. There’s no point including salmon in your specials if your supplier hasn’t delivered in three months. Missing dishes are liable to infuriate diners, especially if it’s their favourite. “F&B outlets need to update their menu at least twice a year in order to stay fresh and innovative,” explains Sumagui. “Seasonal updates are always nice, but ultimately it all comes down to costs,” she concedes. If the budget doesn’t allow for quarterly reprints then use inserts as a cheap and easy way of keeping offerings up to date.

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Vera, Saragoza, Spain. The team at printing craft workshop El Calotipo made these beautiful, thick wooden menus for cafe Vera. The white lettering is printed manually on an inhouse press and, in a nice touch, the prices are printed on stickers to ensure they are always accurate.

The menu for Frangipani restaurant in Abu Dhabi, as designed by the Spilt Milk team.

“A great menu should be the start of the conversation, never an impediment.”

Cellarmaker Brewing Company, San Francisco, US. Designed by Gamut, this menu not only provides you with a comprehensive list of beverages, it also serves as a helpful reminder of what you’ve already sampled. Each tipple can be ticked off the list!

Novosibirsk, Russia. A single Russian firm designed the entirety of this café, but it’s the menus that really stand out. Going down the picture root, the menu features colour-saturated, high resolution photographs of their actual dishes. The food literally sells itself.

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TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAXIMISE MENU SUCCESS

L’Encant, Spain. Design company Nuria Vila went for a fusion concept with the menus a L’Encant, a Spanish sushi bar.

Designed to reinforce the restaurant’s blend of Japanese and Catalan culture, the team developed this concept to connect the prevalence of fans in both Spanish and Japanese culture. Inside the wooden cover, menus are printed on stone paper.

“Human habits have a huge effect on design. One that’s engineered correctly with great design draws the attention of the consumer directly to the desired item, driving the sales mix and flat out increasing revenue” explains Sumagui. The best way to do this?

• The eye naturally gravitates to the upper right quarter of a menu.

• Boxes, borders and bold font draw the eye.

• Get colourful. Red stimulates the appetite and yellow grabs our attention. But Sumagui offers a word of warning: “never use green for anything other than juices – it tends to be associated with food that is mouldy or has gone off.”

• Seven is a magic number for menus.

Any more in each section and diners feel overwhelmed by choice.

• Drop the price symbols. A study from Cornell University found that writing prices out using full words rather encouraged people to spend more money.

• Speaking of words, longer descriptions sell more food – up to 50% more according to one study.

• Start the menu with a couple of expensive offerings and it makes everything else look reasonably priced.

• Get snap happy. Giving a visual representation of a dish is a great trick for stimulating the appetite and increasing the average spend.

Careful though, the pictures need to be high quality, and too many of them can make you look like a cheap fast-food joint.

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Fade St. Social, Dublin, Ireland. Created not by a design firm but illustrator, this Irish gastropub opted for the colourful doodles of Steve Simpson. The striking scribbles communicate the restaurant’s relaxed atmosphere and showcase its unique Irish character and charm.

13 Wives, Singapore. The team at creative agency Foreign Policy took the concept of the menu well and truly outside the box with this project.

The bar’s beverage list is a story of the 13 women who inspire each drink found in this little black book. The team behind it hand assembled and printed 35 copies.

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Bottled up Bottled water is an issue that is far from crystal clear, with consumers becoming increasingly conscious about health and environmental matters.

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ith tap water out of the question for discerning diners in the region, restauranteurs have no option but to provide a selection of bottled waters to hydrate guests. However, due to multiple factors including social media, instant news, trends for health conscious consumption and increasing research into what we are putting into our bodies, bottled water is also under the microscope.

Both tap and bottled water contain sodium, an essential mineral for humans – when consumed in the correct amount. Playing a key role in controlling blood pressure, sodium consumption should never be too high or too low. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a maximum daily sodium intake of 1,500mg, however American adults often consume in excess of 3,400mg daily. A worrying figure that should be tackled. A simple way to ensure that you are keeping the health of diners at the forefront of your offering is by being mindful of the sodium content of the water that you serve. The obvious way to reduce salt consumption is via food, but being smart about where you source your bottled water from is also vital. Though this can sometimes be more costly, showing your guests that their health is a prime concern and it matters to you will often encourage them to re-visit your eatery.

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PRO CHEF

Surprisingly, the sodium content of bottled waters in the region and globally vary drastically. Water brand Monviso is a bottled water champion in the region with only miniscule amounts of sodium per litre, in comparison with competitors.

MonViso 0.33mg/1

Arwa 2.5mg/l

Acqua Panna 7.2mg/l

San Pellegrino (Sparkling) 33mg/l

MonViso water is sourced from the highest spring in Europe, at an altitude of 2,042m and boasts one of the world’s lowest levels of sodium making it ideal for low sodium diets e.g. for those suffering with high blood pressure or congestive heart failure.

The brand’s water is defined by Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) as 100% ‘natural mineral water’.

MonViso water is sourced from the highest spring in Europe, at an altitude of 2,042m and boasts one of the world’s lowest levels of sodium making it ideal for low sodium diets e.g. for those suffering with high blood pressure or congestive heart failure.

There are many reasons for varying sodium levels in bottled waters including where the water is sourced from, if the water is still or sparkling and whether companies have added it for taste purposes. According to studies, the majority of people asked said they preferred the taste of salty water to sweet (companies sometimes add sugar to water so if your bottle includes a calorie count on the label, this could be the reason), which is why many companies have chosen to add sodium. However, there have been growing concerns due to the fact that the sodium levels in bottled water make it harder to keep track of salt intake for health purposes. Though a bottle or two of water containing higher sodium levels shouldn’t make a vast difference to sodium intake, when people are consuming a few litres daily it can begin to cause health issues. This is why it is important for both the F&B industry and consumers to take note.

It seems the topic of bottled water isn’t as transparent as many might think.

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SIAL sails into success SIAL Middle East, the largest gathering of agri-food professionals in the Middle East, ran recently at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre. Confirmed trade agreements worth up to Dhs3.7 billion were made at the 6th SIAL Middle East exhibition.

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ast month, the Middle East and North Africa show strengthened its position as leader in the market with a record 16,336 visitors from 91 countries attending SIAL 2015 – a 48% increase on 2014. During the December exhibition a staggering 9,871 introductions and meetings were facilitated between exhibitors and hosted buyers. And this year the exhibition had a truly global feel, featuring a record 30 international pavilions.

Organised in strategic partnership with the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), Ali Yousef Al Saad, Chairman of the organising committee for SIAL 2015 and Acting Director of Communications and Community Service Division of the Authority said: “SIAL Middle East, has become a vital component of the region’s food and beverage sector. This year we have seen record numbers across all verticals at the show, reinforcing the strategic importance of the event by creating

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a platform for discussion on hot industry topics such as food security and sustainability.

Year after year SIAL reinforces Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading trade hub for the Middle East, benefiting the economy by promoting investment and business.”

The UAE signed deals with Morocco for $41 million for the plantation of olives, red fruits, citrus and livestock farming in Morocco.

Retail partner Lulu expected to sign a range of deals worth up to $7 million while Abu Dhabi Farmers’ Services Centre – through their retail brand, Local Harvest, signed a range of deals including Emirates Future, the leading livestock trading company. Furthermore, on the final day of the show nine agri-businesses signed substantial contracts with leading Middle East companies.

A record number of entries were received for the SIAL Innovation World Champions awards’ showcase won by Grower’s Cup by the Coffee Brewer company, for their innovative coffee on-the-go bag. Up from 142 entries in 2014 to 218 this year, a total of 113 products competed in the final. It represents a 35% increase in entrants; a real indicator of the high

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A record number of entries were received for the SIAL Innovation World Champions awards’ showcase won

by Grower’s Cup by the Coffee Brewer company, for their innovative coffee on-the-go bag. regard SIAL is held in throughout the region.

New to the show this year was the inaugural Regional Barista Championship, organised in association with the International Coffee & Tea Festival. A total of 20 regional barista competitors competed for the titles of Best Regional Barista 2015 which was eventually won by Armiel Alkuino and the Regional Latte Art 2015 winner Frederik Bejo.

Rounding out the show floor events, and organised by the Emirates Culinary Guild of Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with the World Association of Chefs’ Societies, La Cuisine

by SIAL featured over 850 professional chefs competing in a variety of culinary competitions. The competition had never seen so many keen chefs sign up to it before, setting a SIAL record.

Commenting on SIAL’s expanding role in the region’s food and beverage industry, Fadi Saad, SIAL Managing Director, SIAL Middle East, said: “This year we have witnessed growth across the board with visitor numbers, international pavilions, competition entries, speakers and attendees all increasing. All of these factors underscore the importance of the event in addressing the major talking points within the food and beverage sector today. We approach SIAL 2016 with renewed vigour and confidence.”

SIAL 2016 will take place from 5-7th December at the Abu Dhabi National Convention Centre.

Visit www.sialme.com for more information and to book a stand.

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The official distributors in the United Arab Emirtes D&W CreaTions • M +971 50 545 3397 or +971 56 204 0748 • wendy@lenouveauchef.com • LeNouveauChef.com

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Gearing up for

Gulfood 2016

Russian grain, Turkish coffee and battling bakers: Gulfood is beefing up portion sizes for 2016. The world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show returns to Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) this February to cement its title as the leading global food trading platform.

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ore than 5,000 international companies from 120 countries will gather for the event, hoping to strike up trade links with the 85,000-plus expected visitors. With a 20 year legacy, Gulfood continues to provide the best platform for F&B trade in the region, connecting suppliers and distributors from across the globe. And the team behind the event are putting on an extra special spread for 2016.

Sticking to this year’s slogan of ‘More Taste, More Trends and More Trade’, Gulfood 2016 welcomes four new countries into the fold: Russia, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Paraguay.

The Russian arrival is of particular interest since the country is one of the world’s largest exporters of grain.

In a historic first, Gulfood 2016 will also host the ninth World Cezve/Ibrik Championship. It is the first time the competition for the centuries-old art of brewing coffee in a ‘Cezve’ or ‘Ibrik’ – the small, long-handled pot – will been held in the Arabian Gulf, the region it originates from.

The UAE’s Karthikeyan Rajendran will battle reigning champion Italian Davide Berti for the coffee crown.

The competition continues with the annual Emirates Culinary Guild International Salon

Culinaire, a showcase of the region’s best culinary talent and expertise. More than 1,300 professional chefs and bakers will compete to become the regional best in class. Knives at the ready, chefs.

A Gulfood veteran himself, we check in with Exhibitions Director, Mark Napier, for a sneak peak of what to expect from February’s biggest F&B event.

How has Gulfood developed over the years?

In 1987 Gulfood had 65 exhibitors from 13 countries and 1,600 specialist trade visitors.

For the 21st edition of the show in 2016 will welcome more than 5,000 local, regional and international companies from 120 countries and over 85,000 visitors from 170 countries - a considerable jump from 28 years ago.

With our largest ever European and South American participation already secured, Gulfood 2016 will feature four new country pavilions - from Russia, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Paraguay.

Why is Gulfood so important? What does it do for the industry here?

With one-event and year-round legacy trading running into billions of dollars, Gulfood connects nations and suppliers, opens

MORE TASTES. MORE TRENDS. MORE TRADE.

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The world’s biggest annual food and hospitality show

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Join the largest gathering of food, beverage & hospitality suppliers ever assembled in the region. Savour the latest tastes and trends from over 120 countries. Meet the cream of suppliers with over 5,000 exhibitors ready to provide a window into the latest innovations and flavours.

Take a bite into real success. Be at Gulfood.

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GULFOOD

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PRO CHEF

Mark Napier Exhibitions Director, Gulfood 2016

“Trading is in the region’s DNA and Dubai’s developed logistics infrastructure and efficient customs service make it a costeffective global gateway for foodstuff and food commodities trading.” distribution channels for industry-related business, and highlights Dubai’s strategic role as a key global food industry trading hub.

Ultimately, Gulfood gathers the global industry for a five-day mega event that continues to set the international agenda and position Dubai as a key player in the global food trade industry.

What’s new for Gulfood 2016?

Aside from the inclusion of the first ever Russian, Costa Rican, New Zealand and Paraguayan pavilions, Gulfood 2016 will also host the ninth World Cezve/Ibrik Championship, which is the ancient art of brewing coffee in a ‘Cezve’ or ‘Ibrik’ – the small, long-handled pot. The championship will be overseen by an independent judging panel that will rate baristas’ brewing skills on taste, presentation and technique.

Is there a theme surrounding this year’s event?

The theme for Gulfood 2016 is ‘More Taste, More Trade and More Trend’ – we feel this underlines the overall Gulfood proposition.

Trading is in the region’s DNA and Dubai’s developed logistics infrastructure and efficient customs service make it a costeffective global gateway for foodstuff and food commodities trading.

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HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

What does this year’s Emirates Salon Culinaire have in store?

One of the region’s most eagerly awaited culinary competitions, the Emirates Culinary Guild Salon Culinaire is a series of practical and display-based culinary competitions that is open to professional chefs, pastry chefs, cooks and bakers.

The five-day event will host over 1,300 chefs evaluated by a panel of 25 renowned experts, authorised by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) to judge culinary events across the globe, ensuring the highest competition standards.

Tell us a little about the Export Advice Clinic.

The Export Advice Clinic is an independent set-up and knowledge sharing platform, where visitors can get impartial advice from market experts. Furthermore, key government, industry, trade authorities, consultants and market analysts are on hand to guide and inform on all aspects of the food industry including foodservice, import and export, meat and bakery.

How do you view the rise of other regional F&B trade shows? How can you remain the show of choice for exhibitors and visitors?

One of the reasons Gulfood is so highly-

regarded internationally is our world-class global visitor profile, aided by our geostrategic location. Over the last decade we have also accentuated the core Gulfood offering with the launch of various sectorspecific spin-offs. The Gulfood umbrella now covers highly specialised trade events including Halal World Food, Gulfood Manufacturing, Speciality Food Festival, SEAFEX and Yummex – a resounding portfolio of diverse yet specialised industry events.

What does the Gulf need to do in order to become the global authority on F&B trade?

What challenges do we need to overcome?

With its world-class trading and logistics infrastructure, prime geographic location, excellent safety and security record and a host of other benefits, I would actually spin this question around and say ‘what does the rest of the world need to do catch-up with Dubai in terms of F&B trade’? The answer, naturally, would be to visit Gulfood and find out.

Gulfood 2016 will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) 1am-7pm from February 21-24 and 11am-5pm on February 25. Visitors can pre-register at www.gulfood.com.

PRO CHEF

The First Lady of Food Last April Chloe St Cyr cooked up a storm in the kitchen and stole first place in the 2015 Taste New Zealand competition. Nine months on, and with the launch of this year’s competition upon us, we catch up with the queen of the kitchen.

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HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

Stephane Buchholzer Culinary Director - Complex The St.Regis - Dubai W Dubai, Al Habtoor City - Dubai The Westin Dubai, Al Habtoor City - Dubai

R O F Y ONL S L A N O I S S E F PRO Utensils and uniforms for Chefs E xc l u s i ve l y d i s t r i b u te d i n UA E by R ES TO FA I R R AK L LC

R AS AL KHAIMAH | DUBAI | ABU DHABI

www.restofair.ae

PRO CHEF

K

nives at the ready, fingers steady, get set…

Go! This month sees the launch of Taste New Zealand 2016. The competition is open to professional chefs across the UAE and will see the winner receive a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Zealand. Now in its fourth year, the event is designed to raise awareness of New Zealand’s diverse produce and food products among chefs and food industry leaders.

Chloe St Cyr was last year’s worthy winner.

An apprentice at the Hilton Dubai, she saw off competition from some of the UAE’s fiercest chefs to claim the 2015 culinary crown. We sat down with Chloe to ask her how winning Taste New Zealand has flavoured her year.

It is a year since you won the Taste New Zealand competition - has life changed much since winning?

2015 was a crazy year - one I’ll never forget.

Winning such a respected competition as an apprentice has definitely earned me a new level of respect amongst chefs who have much more experience than me. Taste New Zealand has given my career a massive boost.

It was your first time entering the competition.

When you submitted your application form did you think you would win?

Not at all. When I got the call to tell me I had made the final ten, I was ecstatic. But I wasn’t expecting anything more than that. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely prepared with winning in mind but mostly I wanted to prove that even as an apprentice I was a fierce competitor and that I could do it. However, I have to admit that when they called time at the end of the competition and I saw that I was one of the first to finish, I had a glimmer of hope. When it comes down to it, the most important thing is how organised you are and how much you’ve practiced.

What was your qualifying dish?

I created ‘lamb in the garden’ for my qualifying dish. I was very clear in my mind about what I wanted to present and that was to make the plate look like the beautiful landscape New Zealand is famous for. I tend to have a more simple approach when it comes to plating and I was scared that it might not show through in the photograph. That’s when I enlisted the help of my chef partner, Infaz, who is also a killer photographer, and we played around with the plating and lighting until we created our masterpiece.

Tell us about some of the canapés you created for the competition?

The first canapé was Lemonade Kiwi and

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HOSPITALITY BUSINESS MIDDLE EAST

“I have to admit that when they called time at the end of the competition and I saw that I was one of the first to finish, I had a glimmer of hope.’”

Smoked Salmon, which consisted of cured Mount Cook alpine salmon, miniature quenelle of Zespri Kiwi compressed with Organic Phoenix lemonade and a small piece of leek poached in a vanilla cream.

Probably the hardest was the Lamb and Chicken Roulade. I had to incorporate two meats into one canapé so after a lot of trial and error I finally managed to make a tasty roulade where the chicken was fully cooked but the lamb managed to stay at a nice medium rare. It was served with pumpkin roasted in garlic and herb butter.

What was your awareness of New Zealand products before the competition?

Before the competition I had no idea about the wide variety of products that came from New Zealand. Lamb and kiwis are the things that always come to mind but it wasn’t until I did some research for my first plate that I discovered how diverse New Zealand produce is.

What products do you know of after the competition and how has the competition helped your awareness of New Zealand produce?

On the day of orientation for the cook-off I was overwhelmed by how many products we had to choose from. But there were three that really stood out: firstly, the Manuka honey (it basically tastes like how a flower smells); secondly, the Greenmount veal stock as it’s really hard to get ready made veal stock with so much flavour and finally the Mount Cook Alpine salmon, which we cured for the competition.

Do you have a favourite New Zealand product to work with?

The Anchor butter! I love butter and Anchor has one of the best products.

Tell us about the trip to New Zealand you won.

Where did you go? What were the highlights?

The trip was absolutely fantastic. I visited

three major cities; Auckland, Queenstown, and Wellington. Two things stand out most when I think back on the trip. The first was a day I spent in Wellington where I did the Zest walking gourmet tour. Wellington is such a cool city where they’re trying so many new things with food. I had some olive oil and ricotta cheese gelato that was to die for, went to a mini chocolate factory, and the tour finished at Logan Brown restaurant for a tasting menu.

The second highlight would be the day I spent visiting the vineyards of Waiheke Island. It’s off the coast of Auckland and has its own micro climate which allows them to produce awesome grapes. Not to mention it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

How has working with New Zealand products and visiting New Zealand helped your understanding of the products and where they come from?

What I really loved about eating my way around New Zealand was how everywhere I went chefs seemed to have the same concept; showcase the produce and keep the food simple. We don’t get to see that often enough in Dubai. It’s probably because the chefs in New Zealand all understand where their products come from since they are lucky enough to have it come from their own backyard.

Do you think that winning the competition will have a long term positive impact on your career?

Without a doubt. It already has and not only in the sense of proving who I am as a chef but it was great for my confidence as well. I worked really hard on this and it’s always nice to see your hard work pay off. I’d highly recommend the competition to chefs throughout the UAE. What are your future plans now? Do you have any career targets you’d like to achieve?

Since winning Taste New Zealand a lot of doors have opened. However, I have chosen to finish my apprenticeship and the Hilton has already offered me a permanent position on completion of my training. I’m happy when I get to cook good food, learn new things, and it helps to have a good team. As for career targets, I think I want what all chefs want eventually; my recipes on the menu.

Applications for the first round (seafood) of the Taste New Zealand 2016 competition are open until 28th February 2016. Submissions for the other heats (meat and pastry) are ongoing. Visit www.hospitalitybusinessme.com/ newzealandchef to enter.

PRO CHEF

Lemonade kiwi and smoked salmon Ingredients • 1kg Mt Cook Alpine Salmon • 1kg Salt • 400g Sugar • 360g Lemon • 7pcs Zespri Kiwifruit • 500ml Organic Phoenix Lemonade • 6kg Leek (light green part) • 500ml Anchor Cream • 75g Anchor Butter • 300g Anchor milk • 4g Vanilla beans • Dill to garnish

Lamb in the garden

Ingredients • 300g New Zealand rack of lamb.

• 100g Sweet potatoes • 50g Beat root • 50g Shimiji mushroom • 50g Asparagus • 50g Broccoli • 50g Onion • 100g Green peas • Olive salt

• Red chard to garnish • 30g Anchor butter • 50g Anchor cream • 50g Baby carrot • 30g Honey • 5g Agar Agar • 4g50g Pectin • 50ml Lamb jus

Method Clean salmon into even sized filet (preferably 4 cm in width).

Cure salmon in salt, sugar and lemon zest mixture for one and a half hours.

Method Make puree with green peas.

Make puree with sweet potato

Scoop kiwi and vack pack with lemonade twice.

Cut leek into one inch long pieces and poach in vanilla, cream, butter and milk .

Slice onion and dehydrate.

Cook lamb rack at 65C for 40 minutes and finish on pan.

Roast all remaining vegetables.

Smoke the salmon with oak wood.

Bring to boil, honey, pectin and Agar. Chill.

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“My philosophy is built around quality ingredients, pure and simple.”

Pierre Gagnaire

*Voted the favorite by 512 international chefs with 2 or 3 Michelin stars for Le Chef magazine.

Three Michelin stars Chef Voted world’s greatest chef by his Michelin peers.*

Only the best ingredients inspire the world’s greatest chefs.

Excellence inspires the chef’s favorite, Pierre Gagnaire*.

Excellence, it’s not just our name, it’s our promise.

Distributed in: KSA: Arrow Food Distribution Co ; UAE: Greenhouse Foodstuff LLC. ; Kuwait: Massad Co W.L.L. ; Qatar: Fahed Foods ; Oman : Gulf Technical Trading Co. LLC ; Bahrain : Fine Foods ; Jordan: Waddan Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. ; Lebanon : Bocti Sal contactthechefs@elvir.fr

#elleetvirepro

PRO CHEF

A community alight The New Year’s Eve blaze at The Address Downtown was a disaster for Emaar Properties, no question. But for the wider hospitality industry it stirred a sense of solidarity that the sector has never seen before.

Today The Address Downtown is bandaged up, white tape covering its wounds. It stands sentinel over Emaar Boulevard like a sad soldier returned from the war missing a limb or two. But the hotel is no victim, and neither is the industry it is a part of. You see, although the blaze was a tragedy it highlighted some of the sector’s best qualities.

When adversity hits, you find out just how strong you are; it turns out the Dubai hospitality community is pretty strong.

Within hours of the blaze breaking out the city’s hotels were opening their doors to evacuated guests. Auris Inn Al Muhanna, TECOM took to Twitter using the residentcreated hashtag #NeedAnAddress to offer up 30 of its rooms free of charge. Atlantis soon followed suit. Dubai’s hospitality market is hypercompetitive to say the least, but the fire

warmed relations between hoteliers and ignited a newfound sense of solidarity – there were even fireworks on the night to celebrate.

And, like a phoenix rising from the flames, Emaar has pledged to reopen the property in ‘record time’ in line with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

If the government is backing the rebuild we have no doubt that it will be a success. After all, it was the authority’s stellar Civil Defense unit that ensured the incident was dealt with so efficiently. The fire claimed no lives (one person had a heart attack and died as he tried to evacuate the building) and only 15 people sustained minor injuries. Remarkable, really, when you consider the scale of the fire engulfing the 63-storey building.

The emergency services’ response times were also impressive: the first firefighter was on the scene within two minutes. The 2014 average response time to life-threatening emergencies in New York was nine minutes, 31 seconds and in London roughly eight minutes. The rest of the world had plenty to say about Dubai proceeding with the firework display, but the city was in a position to do so. According to Major-General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director-General of Dubai Civil Defence, the fire was 80% under control by 10.30pm.

The Address’ injured solider is already under repair and it will not be long before the bandages are removed for a grand reopening. Fires are nothing new in Dubai: they’ve happened before and – in all likelihood – they’ll happen again.

But what is new is the comradery demonstrated by the hospitality community. Hoteliers of Dubai, we salute you.

Average response time for the emergency services in 2014

London approximately 8 minutes

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Tokyo 7 minutes 54 seconds

New York 9 minutes 31 seconds

Calgary 12 minutes

Melbourne 8 minutes

‫‪mastiha & fig‬‬ ‫‪Precious products of the Aegean‬‬

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‫قامت ثالث مؤسسات تعاونية هي ‪( Chios Mastiha Growers Association‬جمعية‬ ‫مزارعي المصطكي في خيوس) و‪( Agricultural Cooperative of Kimi‬جمعية كيمي‬ ‫قامت ثالث مؤسسات تعاونية هي ‪( Chios Mastiha Growers Association‬جمعية‬ ‫التعاونية الزراعية) و‪ Mediterra S.A.‬بتوحيد جهودها وطاقاتها ومواردها الديناميكية بهدف‬ ‫مزارعي المصطكي في خيوس) و‪( Agricultural Cooperative of Kimi‬جمعية كيمي‬ ‫الترويج لمنتجاتها القيمة الشهيرة‪ Chios Mastiha :‬و‪.Kimi Figs‬‬ ‫التعاونية الزراعية) و‪ Mediterra S.A.‬بتوحيد جهودها وطاقاتها ومواردها الديناميكية بهدف‬ ‫على مدار التاريخ وهي تنتج منتجات تجمع بين الجودة والنكهة الذكية‪،‬‬ ‫الترويج لمنتجاتها القيمة الشهيرة‪ Chios Mastiha :‬و‪.Kimi Figs‬‬ ‫كما أنها تحظى بحب منتجيها ورعايتهم‪.‬‬ ‫على مدار التاريخ وهي تنتج منتجات تجمع بين الجودة والنكهة الذكية‪،‬‬ ‫كما أنها تحظى بحب منتجيها ورعايتهم‪.‬‬

‫‪GI‬‬

‫الحدث ممول تمويالً مشتر ًكا من قبل اليونان واالتحاد األوروبي‬ ‫الحدث ممول تمويالً مشتر ًكا من قبل اليونان واالتحاد األوروبي‬

‫‪www.mastiha-fig.eu‬‬