Hotelier Maldives - Issue #52 by Hotelier Maldives

hotelier.mv | Volume 8 | Issue 52

DATA & DESTINATION TOURISM INDICATORS

Hotel Construction Pipeline Updates for 2021

SUSTAINABILITY

Responsible Tourism and Traditional Maldivian FISHING

WELLNESS

Maldives fitness trainer to the stars shares her secrets

SUPPLIERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

PARADISE SKIN: A Luxury Skincare brand inspired by the Maldives

Synthetic technology oil for heavy duty diesel engines TOTAL RUBIA 8600 10W-40

CONTENTS

16 HOTEL REVIEW

STAY IN THE LAP OF LUXURY

COVER STORY

DATA & DESTINATION

EXCLUSIVE

WELLNESS

INTERVIEW WITH MACL CEO AND MD, GORDON ANDREW STEWART

AT THE JW MARRIOTT MALDIVES RESORT & SPA

MALDIVES FITNESS TRAINER TO THE STARS SHARES HER SECRETS

NEWS & EVENTS

NEW OPENINGS

GM FORUM

EVENT CALENDAR

LISTINGS

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TOURISM INDICATORS

HOTEL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE UPDATES FOR 2021

38 WOMEN IN HOSPITALITY

ZAINAB HUSSAIN SHIHAB Marketing Communications Manager, Patina Maldives

28 CAREERS CAREERS: MARIYAM NAZEEHA, AIRPORT TEAM LEADER AT RADISSON BLU MALDIVES

SECURITY

IMPORTANCE OF FIRE SAFETY IN THE MALDIVES TOURISM INDUSTRY

PEOPLE

PRODUCT REVIEW

SUPPLIERS NEWS

LUXURY WATCHMAKER’S NEW MALDIVES INSPIRED WATCH SALES HELP TO PRESERVE MANTA RAYS

NEW DESTINATION SALES AND MARKETING TEAM ELEVATES MARRIOTT BONVOY’S PORTFOLIO IN MALDIVES ESSENSO© MICROGROUND COFFEE – A TALE OF TASTES & AROMA

EXCLUSIVE

THE SECRETS OF RUNNING AN ISLAND PARADISE DURING LOCKDOWN

YOUNG HOTELIER

SUZEENA AHMED, EVENT MANAGER AT KURUMBA MALDIVES

SUSTAINABILITY

SUPPLIERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AND TRADITIONAL MALDIVIAN ONE-BY-ONE TUNA FISHERIES

AIRLINES

OPINION

PARADISE SKIN: A TROPICAL LUXURY SKINCARE BRAND INSPIRED BY THE MALDIVES

OUR FLIGHT TO RECOVERY GETTING THE RIGHT EXCHANGE RATE CRITICAL TO SUSTAIN TOURISM INDUSTRY

REVENUE MANAGMENT

WATERSPORT & DIVING

3 WAYS TO BUILD BUSINESS RESILIENCE FOR HOTELS & RESORTS LUXURY SURFING IN THE MALDIVES

ADVERTISER’S INDEX Asia Forwarding 2 Ilaa Maldives 3 Deli United 19 Sea Gear 33 IDeaS 52 Reollo Enterprises 79 Seara International 80

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

EDITORIAL

Data, Destination & Destiny Dear Readers, Welcome to issue 52 of Hotelier Maldives. A successful destination brand is a successful storyteller, engaging your audience with an emotive narrative. In our cover story for this issue, we look at the role of data analytics in destination promotion. Our contributing editor Naufal Naeem, a sales and marketing specialist with a special focus on the hospitality industry, takes you through the various steps of crafting a great destination brand, the role of big data and strategic targeting based on the study of understanding consumer behaviour. Our contributor on tourism statistics Sahla Zahir looks at the hotel construction pipeline updates for 2021, both in the Maldives and globally. According to reports released earlier Cover Artwork by Ali Riyaz this year, the progress in hotel supply growth around the globe looked stagnant. In the Maldives, 23 news islands have been allocated for resort development and the government is duly seeking expressions of interest from prospective developers. In the resort review segment of this issue, we feature the remote paradise of JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa. ‘At the edge of the cobalt and aquamarine waters of Shaviyani Atoll, the property is a spellbinding sanctuary of scenic luxury.’ We have slightly improvised on the GM’s View segment this time to interview Jason Kruse, General Manager, and his wife, Victoria Kruse, Sustainability Manager at Amilla Fushi. You will get to read their story of how the husband-and-wife team navigated the tough waters of lockdown to invent new ways of operating their island resort. In the Women in Hospitality segment, we feature Zainab Hussain Shihab, Marketing Communications Manager at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands, which is set to open in Q2 of this year. Zainab talks to Hotelier Maldives about her career in the hospitality industry and the challenges of opening a resort during the pandemic. We also feature Suzeena Ahmed, Event Manager at Kurumba Maldives in the Young Hotelier segment and Mariyam Nazeeha in the Careers segment. In our regular sections, you will also find other stories from the Maldives hospitality industry, including Supplier News and Product Reviews. If you would like to comment or publish an opinion article, please email them to mamduh@ hoteliermaldives.com or info@perspective.mv Wishing you all a wonderful Eid.

Sincerely,

Hotelier Maldives Volume 8, Issue No: 52 EDITORIAL Mohamed Mamduh, Managing Editor, mamduh@hoteliermaldives.com Naufal Naeem, Editorial Advisor and Contributor Donna Richardson, Contributing Editor Naza Nazeem, Editorial Assistant CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sahla Zahir, Aminath Zahir, Ian Chinn, Mohamed Shamy Adam, Kristie Lee Murray, Janet Smailes, LAYOUT DESIGN & COVER ARTWORK Ali Riyaz PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE FOLLOWING: You & Me Maldives, Vakkaru Maldives, Mövenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives, Cora Cora Maldives, Patina Maldives Fari Islands, JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa, Radisson Blu Maldives, Amilla Maldives, W Maldives, Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort, Trans Maldivian Airways, Emirates, Paradise Skin, Essenso, Freepik. CLIENT RELATIONS & ADVERTISEMENT SALES Mohamed Ihusaan Ali Hassan Sales and Marketing Executive sales@hoteliermaldives.com, +960 7910858 MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Naza Nazeem naza@hoteliermaldives.com

Mohamed Mamduh Managing Editor

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PUBLISHER PERSPECTIVE PVT LTD 4th Floor, M. Kaneeru Villa, Orchid Magu Male, Republic of Maldives, PO Box No 20212 Mobile: +960 7246292, +960 7999008 Email: info@hoteliermaldives.com www.hoteliermaldives.com

NEWS & EVENTS

You & Me Maldives Makes History with ‘H2O by Chef Andrea Berton’ You & Me Maldives has rebranded its underwater restaurant to ‘H2O by chef Andrea Berton’, making it the world’s first underwater restaurant to be branded and supervised by a Michelin starred Chef. Located six meters below the water’s surface, the H2O is a first of its kind, unique dining experience that’s only accessible by boat. From the 1st of April 2021, world renowned Chef Andrea Berton will take over the management of the restaurant, taking its exclusivity to a whole new level, or as Managing Director Alessandro Azzola says, “it’s the cherry on the cake!” “Our mission is to give to our in-house guest an incredible, unique experience. It has been a fantastic experience even within these 2 years of operation. But now, when you engage a Michelin starred Chef, it takes everything to the next level,” said Alessandro Azzola, Managing Director of You & Me by Cocoon Maldives. Within just 2 years since the opening, the resort has established its mark in the market due to its unique features.

Chef Berton, who entered the kitchen in the ‘90s, has won four Michelin stars across three restaurants. The legendary Italian Chef has worked his magic at some of the world’s best restaurants, including Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo and Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan. He has also opened several restaurants of his own. A favorite destination among honeymooners, the winner of South Asia’s Most Romantic Resort at SATA 2020, You & Me Maldives is one of the most unique adults-only resorts in the Maldives. It is the first entirely à la carte island: through the innovative dine-around concept, guests have the opportunity to choose between different restaurants, from breakfast to dinner.

From Mumbai to Maldives in 2.5 Hours for a Private-Island Weekend Escape on Vakkaru The Maldives is a hot destination for Bollywood stars right now, and now average Mumbai residents can experience a private island haven just like the stars. Leave the bustling metropolis behind as you arrive in the tranquil Maldives on an ‘Effortless Escape from Mumbai to Vakkaru package’. Available exclusively to guests travelling from India, holidaymakers can escape the city and be in the Maldives in hours, ready for the ultimate weekend getaway on a private island. Maldivian Airlines fly passengers from Mumbai to Maafaru International Airport in Baa Atoll in less than 2.5 hours. Passengers land in a UNESCO biosphere reserve renowned for its exceptional sea life and incredible dive and snorkelling

The H2O by chef Andrea Berton brings in a whole new taste, a distinctive environment to the restaurant. With every meal, guests will enjoy a different music in order to fully experience the moment and get into the “feeling”.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

NEWS & EVENTS

sites. From the airport, it is a scenic one hour and 20-minute speedboat transfer or 15- minute seaplane ride to the resort. Vakkaru Maldives was recently named the Indian Ocean’s Leading Resort in the World Travel Awards. This secluded reef island is fringed by coconut palms that frame the beach villas on the powder-soft sands. There are also overwater options perched over the turquoise waters of its bath-warm lagoon where residents kaleidoscopic marine life from their private decks. During leisurely meals, guests can indulge in abundant buffet breakfasts at Amaany Restaurant with an Indian food station and there are multiple dining options for lunch and dinner. Choose from the laidback Italian restaurant Isoletta, South-East Asian specialities at Onu, beach grill at Vakku or Japanese delicacies at Lagoon Bar. On selected evenings, Amaany offers an Indian Ocean Splash buffet with Mumbai specialities, Sri Lankan and Maldivian cuisines. For extra special occasions, guests can arrange private destination dining experiences under the shade of palm trees in Vakkaru’s lush organic garden, or on a private sandbank. The overwater Merana Spa is complete with an Ayurveda practice and a regular host to residencies by the world’s most inspiring wellness practitioners. Children and teens can join the Parrotfish Club and Coconut Club and guests of all ages can play against world-famous pros through a best-in-class coaching partnership with Tipsarevic Luxury Tennis and Dive centre Splash is the resort’s gateway to the Maldives’ underwater marvels. Threading all those services and facilities together, is a unique hospitality concept called Vakkare. The Effortless Escape to Vakkaru allows guests to check in and out within moments and commence their holiday. Guests can enjoy international return flights, transfers, daily breakfast, lunch and dinner, soft drinks during meals, and applicable service charges and taxes. Available to book until 31 July 2021, the Effortless Escape to Vakkaru package is valid for stays from 9 May to 31 October 2021. Vakkaru Maldives’ is also extending the offer to families. Special rates are available for two adults and two children below 12 years staying in family villa categories, and to four adults and two children staying in two-bedroom beach pool residences. Visit vakkarumaldives.com or contact reservations@vakkarumaldives.com.

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Million-Pound Island Buyout: Own a Slice of Paradise for Three Nights Fancy buying an island for a few nights for all your family and friends to enjoy a private tropical adventure playground? Well, now you can. For a million pounds for three nights, the entire five-star resort Mövenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives is available for rent providing exclusive use of all its stellar facilities. Kuredhivaru is a pristine sanctuary and tropical oasis nestled in the Maldives’ Noonu Atoll. Just 45 minutes north of Male International Airport, its remote location gives residents a high degree of privacy and offers an array of onsite recreational facilities for couples and families. A truly opulent five-star resort, Kuredhivaru boasts 72 overwater pool villas, 30 beach pool suites and three beach spa pool residences. Bring your whole entourage of family and friends for the ultimate vacation – there is room for all and still possibility to stay in a different choice of accommodation each night with own private pool. This island buyout package includes exclusive access to all 105 residences, the complementary dining at four restaurants, lounge bars and cafes and an array of all-inclusive perks. Choose from the ONU Marché all-day dining restaurant, Bodumas overwater seafood restaurant, graze at Latitude’s 5.5 poolside grill and enjoy free Mövenpick coffee while the wine lounge offers unlimited beverages at the bar until midnight. Then bring the party back to your residence with daily minibar replenishments. After all that food and drink, take advantage of free 30-minute massages, sunrise and sunset yoga sessions. With treatment extensions at the spa, not to mention discounts on destination dining and more spa treatments, this is like heaven.

An upscale, relaxed, and uncomplicated guest experience awaits where small gestures make a big difference. From chocolate hour every afternoon, customised sleep technology to ensure a restful night or specially created fun and healthy kids’ menus – this island has it all. All-inclusive benefits also include complimentary snorkelling, windsurfing and kayaking and five-star PADI dive and watersports activities as well as 30-minute treatments at Sun Spa by Healing Earth. Guests also get to use the fitness and recreational facilities such as tennis and volleyball courts and services provided by the Little Birds Kids Club. Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, part of Accor, is committed to sustainable practices and caring for its local communities. This has earned it the status as the top Green Globe certified hotel brand in the world. Founded in Switzerland in 1973, but with a heritage of food and beverage excellence stretching back to the 1940s. Like the idea of jetting off to paradise with all your friends – for the ultimate holiday of a lifetime – all this can be yours for: US$ 930,000 per three nights between 10 May – 30 September 2021 US$ 1,014,000 per three nights between 01 – 31 October 2021 US$ 999,000 per three nights between 01 November – 23 December 2021 To book email: Resort.Kuredhivaru. Reservations@movenpick.com or phone +960 656 3000.

NEW OPENINGS

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

ALL EYES ON NEW RESORT OPENING; CORA CORA MALDIVES, RAA ATOLL

Cora Cora Maldives is one of the latest new five-star resorts set to open in the pristine Maamigili island in the Raa Atoll. Eagerly awaiting its launch date of 1 October 2021, the resort will replace the former Loama Resort Maldives. Under new ownership it will have a completely new design, concept and rebrand.

With 100 Maldivian style villas overlooking the Indian Ocean, Cora Cora Maldives will be the first resort in the Maldives to showcase a licensed art gallery and museum. With over 400 incredible local artefacts in the collection, guests can explore the rich history of the Maldives in its breath-taking natural surroundings. Furthermore, the resort will feature four new restaurants, including a Japanese with a Teppanyaki table, an Asian eatery and an Italian Beach Club dining establishment as well as a Bazaar serving an array of international cuisine and healthy options including plant-based dishes and vegan

ice cream. Guests can further dive into the spirit of the Maldives at the PADI certified diving school and watersports centre. There are also two bars, a gym, yoga pavilion, an outdoor cinema and a kid’s club. Martin Van Der Reijden is the General Manager at the helm of this splendid resort. Dutchborn Martin has decades of experience working on major hotel projects such as Crossroads, Lux* North Male Atoll, Per Aquum resorts and 16 years with Hilton International. Having worked in the Maldives for the past 10 years for major hotel projects, Martin has become known in the industry

for his solid expertise in leading on all aspects of pre-opening, from planning and construction to teambuilding, finance, and IT infrastructure with a passion for the destination and supporting local talents. And as a former managing director for hotel interior design company Miaja Design, he will be well placed to ensure a strong design aesthetic, which reflects the setting and culture of the resort. The redevelopment of Cora Cora Maldives will see the island split between over-water and over-beach. Positioned as an affordable luxury resort with a unique cultural offering, the resort will appeal to couples ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

and families from a wide range of destinations, including the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia. When guests aren’t snorkelling or diving in the island’s coralrich waters, they can dine at four restaurants, sip cocktails at two bars, be pampered at the spa pavilion, and work on their fitness at the gym and water sports centre. Cora Cora has the ambition to offer an attractive Premium All Inclusive Meal Plan, created by Chef Umberto Piccolini who has worked with Martin at Crossroads. The island’s layout and placement of villas will mean couples can relax in a tranquil setting while families can have fun in their own private space or at the island’s kids’ club. Uniquely for the Maldives, the resort will have a museum of Maldivian culture, with more than 400 artefacts and artworks. “We have a great opportunity to establish a “colourful” resort with a focus on excellent and at the same time healthy food, an interesting museum that includes an art collaboration on an island that is mature and, in the meantime, beautifully landscaped, where we have also added new pools. I am proud to be working with preopening experts and see CORA CORA Maldives as a place where people can be themselves and connect with us and our culture and go home with a suitcase full of enriching experiences.” Vishen Mootoo joins as Director of Sales and Marketing. With more than 15 years’ experience with island hotels and resorts, Vishen is known for his clarity of vision, proactive working

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style, and friendly attitude.

Martin Van Der Reijden, General Manager

He said Maamigli Island, where the resort is located, already feels like a home-from-home. “As an Indian Ocean native, it’s like I’m coming to work with my neighbour, which makes this renovation and rebranding project feel very personal and important to me.” Although born and raised in Mauritius, Vishen has lived and worked in multiple countries. This experience, combined with his ability to communicate in several languages – English, French, German and Mauritian Creole – has given him unique insights into the cultures that are key markets for Cora Cora Maldives. Prior to joining Cora Cora Maldives, Vishen worked with Sun Siyam Resorts, VARU by Atmosphere, Tour East Holdings by JTB, The Small Maldives Island Co (Amilla Fushi & Finolhu) and Centara Hotels and Resorts, so he brings a wealth of pre-opening experience, helping ensure swift commercial success for new properties. And with such a strong global and regional network, he is well-placed to bring the best talent and expertise to the project and oversees the rebrand. “Although the basic structure remains the same, everything else has changed. The concept is much more fun, light and colourful than the previous resort, he explained. “We chose the new name – Cora Cora Maldives – to reflect both the friendliness of the resort and our spectacular, well-preserved house coral reef, easily accessed by swimming from the beach. I’m thrilled to be part of this amazing project,” said Vishen. “I can’t

Vishen Mootoo, Director of Sales and Marketing

wait to reconnect with all of our colleagues in the industry, from tour operators and travel agents to destination management companies. We look forward to welcoming you soon to Cora Cora Maldives.” The resort is just 45 minutes by seaplane from Velana

International Airport, or 30 minutes by domestic flight followed by a 20-minute speedboat trip. Find out more @ www.coracoraresorts.com

GM FORUM

FIFTH EDITION OF HOTELIER MALDIVES GM FORUM SCHEDULED FOR 23RD SEPTEMBER 2021 AT CROSSROADS MALDIVES Crossroads Maldives will be the venue for the fifth edition of the annual General Manager’s Forum organized by Hotelier Maldives; the country’s dedicated B2B publication for hospitality professionals, developers and hotel operators. Initially scheduled for April 2020, the fifth edition of the Forum was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The day long Forum and networking event for GMs, hoteliers and hotel suppliers highlights pertinent issues affecting the hospitality industry with a special focus on the Maldives and region. The event also attracts speakers from international hospitality brands, internationally based service providers such as STR, dNATA and IDeaS, in addition to principals from hotel suppliers and service providers. The keynotes and panel discussions are

complemented by product demonstrations and product launches by suppliers. In addition to this, suppliers also get to display their brands on the sidelines of the Forum and networking event. The 5th GM Forum will see a keynote speech from Maldives’ Minister of Tourism Dr Abdulla Mausoom and other industry leaders. Dr Mausoom has also participated as a panelist and delegate in previous editions of the GM Forum in his capacity as a General Manager. Previous speakers in the Hotelier Maldives GM Forum have included Maldives Association of Tourism Industry and Universal Resorts Chairman, Mr MU Maniku, Chairman of Crown and Champa Resorts Mr Hussain Afeef Champa, Director at Cyprea Group, Mr Ahmed Saleem Bandhu as well as leading C Suite corporate

hoteliers representing the hotel chains currently operating properties in the Maldives including Hilton and Marriott. The main themes for GM Forum 2021 will be announced in the coming weeks as the agenda is finalized. The program is finalized with input from an Advisory Panel comprising of leading GMs and industry stakeholders in the hospitality industry. While the GM Forum is primarily by invitation only, a small number of seats are reserved for suppliers and other stakeholders wishing to attend. These seats are given on a first come first served basis. If you would like to inquire about attendance, or make a sponsorship inquiry, please email sales@ hoteliermaldives.com and call mobile; +960 7910858, +960 7999008.

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EVENT CALENDER

THE HOTEL SHOW DUBAI 2021

IBTM ASIA PACIFIC

May 31 - June 2, 2021 Dubai World Trade Centre Dubai, United Arab Emirates

June 8 - 9, 2021 Marina Bay Sands Singapore Singapore, Singapore

For more than 20 years The Hotel Show has been driving and inspiring change in the industry. The largest and most influential hospitality exhibition in the region is the essential meeting place for General Managers, Hoteliers, Interior Designers, F&B Managers, Front of House, Housekeepers looking to access the products, information and inspiration to drive the industry forward.

Create, Connect and Inspire at IBTM Asia Pacific. Brought to you by the most experienced name in MICE events, IBTM Asia Pacific provides a gateway to the Asia Pacific meetings, incentives, conferences and events market. Meet with a curated mix of industry suppliers and pre-qualified hosted buyers and be inspired by content that will help elevate your events.

THE REVENUEMANAGER SERIES COST OPTIMIZATION AND PROFITABILITY Thursday - June 10, 2021 16:00-18:00 Central European Time - Amsterdam Based on the success of funnelTV’s Marketplace, Hospitality Net and funnelTV are teaming up in 2021 to launch a bi-weekly series of live streaming events exclusively covering revenue management and digital marketing in hospitality. Starting this April, The Revenuemanager events will serve as a platform for smart insights and transformative debate as we navigate a brandnew, re-invention environment for the global hotel industry.

IBTM Asia Pacific is the leading event for the meetings and events industry in the region bringing together a high calibre group of international, APAC regional and local meeting planners and exhibitors for two days of pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings, education and networking. The event is under-pinned by IBTM’s sophisticated, industry-leading Hosted Buyer programme which creates personalised appointment diaries for Hosted Buyers and exhibitors to ensure that delegates only meet people with whom there’s a very good chance of doing business. At IBTM we have one goal; to inspire the events world to deliver exceptional experiences. We bring together the global meetings industry, with one common purpose - to meet the right people and create better business results for your organisation. Join us and build face to face connections with the right people, gain key industry insight and of course, engage in unrivalled networking opportunities. Inventing the Future The 2021 event will be themed, ‘inventing the future’ which seeks to empower our industry with the platform and tools to invent the future. The inspiration has been taken from a quote by the American computer scientist Alan Kay: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

IN THIS EPISODE: TOPIC: COST OPTIMIZATION AND PROFITABILITY - The pandemic era has highlighted the attention to cost optimization. Proper cost control has become crucial to survive and succeed. Revenue Management is not only optimizing the revenue streams anymore but also driving profitability. Every single decision of a revenue manager has, indeed, an impact on the bottom line.

We will be embracing this approach at our 2021 event which will feature a robust education programme and networking opportunities designed to excite, educate and inspire the industry as we look to the future. Whether you’re looking for cutting edge technologies and services to produce your next event, insightful and inspiring knowledge to help shape future business focuses, or the means to meet and network with peers and suppliers who will become future partnerships, we want to help you invent your own future at IBTM Asia Pacific.

MASTERCLASS: COST CONTROL-DRIVEN DISTRIBUTION How to calculate the costs of every channel? What to consider? How can this analysis influence your distribution decision?

So, what does your future look like? We want to help make it a reality. IBTM Asia Pacific is organized by Reed

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TOURISM INDICATORS

BY SAHLA Z AHIR

Hotel Construction Pipeline Updates for 2021

As the post pandemic uncertainty still remains in the hospitality and tourism sector, the progress in hotel supply growth around the globe looks stagnant at present. According to a press release issued by STR on 15th April, except for Europe which has shown an increment, hotel construction activity is down among the rest of the regions around the world. The press release highlighted the following key trends in global hotel construction:

• As of March 2021, there were 258,129 rooms under construction in Europe which is a 26.9% increment compared to March 2020, while 181,101 rooms (an increment of 23.7%) are under final planning stage. However, the number of rooms under planning stage (155,615 rooms) shows a negative 8.8% compared to March 2021. In Europe, majority of these developments comes from Germany and U.K.

• Among the rest of the world regions, in March 2021, the number of rooms under construction in Asia Pacific added up to 462,795 rooms, while there were 141,914 rooms in Middle East and Africa, and 240,635 in Americas. When compared to March 2020, this depicts a negative percentage change of 3.4%, 1.9% and 11.6% for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Americas, respectively.

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TOURISM INDICATORS

• More hotel rooms are expected in the future for Asia Pacific as 183,105 rooms (+17.5%) are at final planning stage, and 270,350 rooms (+4.0%) in planning stage. China is the leading country in the region for hotel construction followed by Vietnam. • As of March, in Middle East and Africa, there were 45,680 rooms (-4.8%) in final planning stage and 53,567 rooms (-29.8%) in planning stage. United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the leading countries in hotel construction activity in the region, and Saudi Arabia tops in the world’s projected hotel supply growth in the coming three years. • In Americas, 254,389 rooms (-13.4%) were at final planning stage, while 265,702 rooms (+2.8%) at planning stage. U.S. was the top among the world in new hotel openings for the first quarter of the year, and other countries with highest hotel construction activities include Mexico and Canada.

Looking at hotel construction activity in the Maldives, along with the hopeful post pandemic revival of the tourism sector in the country, hotel construction activity is expected to be moving fast, and significant growth can be projected in tourist accommodation facilities. At the time of writing, according to the Ministry of Tourism public records, a total of 145 tourist accommodation facilities are under construction at present out of which 120 are resort developments and 15 are hotel developments. From the resorts under construction, several luxury resorts are anticipated to open in 2021. Additionally, the ministry of tourism has made a tender announcement on 14th April 2021, for lease, development, operation and management of another 23 uninhabited islands/plots. These publicly tendered islands and plots are estimated to bring in over 3800 additional beds. `

Patina Maldives, Fari Islands - One Bedroom Beach Pool Villa

Tourist accommodation facilities under construction in the Maldives FACILITY TYPE

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NUMBER OF PROJECTS

Resort Developments

120

Hotel Developments

Guest Houses

Hotel and Guest House Plot

Luxury Safari

Luxury Villa

Medical Resort Development

Anticipated resort openings in the Maldives - 2021 1. Ritz-Carlton Fari Islands, North Male Atoll

8. Siyam World, Noonu Atoll

2. Patina Maldives, Fari Islands Maldives, North Male Atoll

9. Capella Maldives, Fari Islands, North Malé Atoll

3. Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa, Lhaviyani Atoll

10. The Chedi Kuda Villingili, Male’ Atoll

4. Cocogiri Island Resort, Maldives, Vaavu Atoll

11. Madifushi Private Island, Meemu Atoll

5. Maniya Faru Resort, South Male’ Atoll

12. Tolarno Maldives Kunaavashi Resort, Vaavu atoll

6. Address Madivaru Maldives Resort Spa, Maldives

13. Gran Meliá Huravee, Thaa Atoll

7. Avani Fares, Maldives, Baa Atoll

14. Zazz Escapes Maldives Resort, South Ari Atoll

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HOTEL REVIEW

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

STAY IN THE LAP OF LUXURY AT THE JW MARRIOTT MALDIVES RESORT & SPA Escape reality and luxuriate in five-star heaven within your spacious beach or overwater pool villas. The warm sun beats down on your face as you inhale the tropical air, and you surrender your senses to the enchanting backdrop of the stunning Indian Ocean - just beyond the infinity pool. Here in this land of endless horizons, the beautiful turquoise waters take on 50 shades of blue and the sunsets paint the sky in breath-taking colours that reflect like a mirror as the sun goes down. This is JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa.

A REMOTE PARADISE

At the edge of the cobalt and aquamarine waters of Shaviyani Atoll lies the JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa - a spellbinding sanctuary of scenic luxury. This five-star luxury resort has stylish overwater pool villas, beach pool villas and the duplex pool villas that can accommodate larger families equipped with private pools and decks offering stunning views of the shimmering Indian Ocean. All the food options are covered with Japanese, Italian, Thai and global cuisine, along with treetop dining and buffet breakfasts at the resort’s diverse dining destinations. Discover a wide variety of activities, including snorkelling, scuba diving, jet-skiing, Dolphin quests and sailing. At JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa, the ‘Togetherness’ pillar truly comes alive with the FAMiLY by JW™ Little Griffins Kids Club. The underwater themed club features 100 activities for kids and is equipped with a 43-foot-long pirate ship. Parents can unwind with a rejuvenating beauty, massage or wellness therapy at the overwater Spa by JW and everyone can discover the warm and inviting hospitality that awaits at the JW Marriott Maldives.

JW MARRIOTT’S FOOTPRINT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

Set on the tranquil Vagaru island spanning 1.9 kilometres of creamy white beaches fringing the lush jade centre creating a dreamy landscape against the azure lagoon. Extending over this, the overwater pool villas are perched on stilts on one side and a long sand bank blazing a trail far ahead on the other. Gaze out the window of your seaplane on the approach to the crescent moon shaped island. Since opening in 2019, the JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa emphasises on personalized service culture and is one of 100 JW Marriott properties in the world and the only one in the Maldives.

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ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS

THE RESORT

Being a JW Marriott, the décor at the JW Marriott Resort & Spa is thoughtful and luxurious – you’ll find muted shades and marble paired with a tropical twist in all the communal areas. During each stay at the resort, guests can enjoy the services of the Thakuru (butler) concierge team who can arrange everything from spa and wellness activities, private dining arrangements, and dolphin cruises, cocktails and extensive refined wines. Fork and Destination dining sees a tailored menu accompanied by a perfect wine pairing by the resorts sommelier and for those who prefer not to leave their room, in-villa dining butler service is also available on request.

There are 60 luxurious beach and overwater pool villas arranged on the island. Contemporary in design with spacious and airy interiors, creating the ultimate privacy and tranquillity, each villa has its own private wooden deck with pool and outdoor shower. Beach pool villas offer the ultimate in seclusion and comfort with mesmerising views of the Maldivian sunrise and sunset. Surrounded by lush tropical vegetation, each villa has its own pool and private beach access leading to the crystal waters of the blue lagoon. The overwater pool villas offer both sunrise and sunset views that overlook the Indian Ocean and is the top drawer when it comes to accommodation at this resort. Overwater pool villas are surrounded by the extraordinary natural beauty of the Indian Ocean and welcome guests to a opulent oasis. The infinity pools melt into the ocean as you take in the view from your sunbed lounger and let your cares fade away. There are also two storey duplex villa options extending over expansive space with private pool, wooden decking and panoramic views of the ocean. They have a twin bedroom and a separate lounge area upstairs with a tub overlooking the serene sea. These pod shaped accommodations step down into the lagoon and the Indian Ocean where marine life like blacktip reef sharks, manta rays, squids and rainbow parrotfish are a sight to enjoy.

DINING OPTIONS

A typical day at JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa begins with a nourishing buffet breakfast at Aailaa - the resort’s allday dining venue. For lunch, spice up your day with the treetop Thai restaurant Kaashi and enjoy Thai-inspired rum cocktails and selection of 98 signature rums carefully selected from all corners of the globe at Rum Baan. Behold the tranquil view of Maldivian sunset while sipping on a cool drink or create your own cocktail at the Horizon Bar. Sample smoked cocktails at Wabi Sabi for pre-dinner drinks before indulging your palate with the finest prime cut meats and crustaceans at the resort’s signature restaurant, Shio. At Hashi, sample a selection of traditional Japanese specialties, including sake while the talented teppanyaki chefs showcase their skills while you enjoy succulent sushi with views of the Indian Ocean. Alternatively visit the resort’s Wine Room for a wine-pairing dining deep in the heart of Aailaa which also offers delectable all-day dining, including an enticing à la carte menu for lunch and dinner. Indulge in Italian cuisine at Fiamma by the pool which conjures up delicious and distinctive flavours within an al fresco restaurant next to the pool. Relish popular Italian dishes, such as risotto, pasta and wood-fired pizzas, along with refreshing beverages. Alternatively spend lazy afternoons and perfect evenings enjoying a refreshing tropical drink in the swing bar seats of Horizon gazing out over the Indian Ocean. This is the place to soak in a majestic Maldivian sunset, watch the marine life float by and enjoy live entertainment at night.

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HOTEL REVIEW

SPA BY JW

Step into the resort’s branded Spa by JW and revitalize your mind, body, and spirit. With six couple’s overwater treatment rooms and one deluxe treatment suite, there is a wide selection of treatments including massage, body treatment, and facials. You will be able to unwind and drift away in a cloud of bliss at this sublime spa by the sea.

FAMILY BY JW – LITTLE GRIFFINS KIDS CLUB

Children can enjoy the FAMiLY by JW – Little Griffins Kids Club which has a 13-metre-long pirate ship and daily program of activities exploring the magic of the underwater world and life on the island. Purposefully built with young adventurers in mind the pirate ship, and its daily kids’ activities will whisk them away on an adventure of a lifetime. The underwater themed club features 100 activities for children. Indeed, the architecture of the kids’ club is a puzzle of beach huts and the sea is designed to meet the jungle wherein fascinating landscapes provide an element of discovery in every room. It is equipped with a 43-foot-long pirate ship, arts and crafts, reading spaces, games and educational activities to provide children of all ages, hours of unfiltered fun and entertainment. A thoughtfully planned program integrates nostalgic family activities like; family balloon twisting, treasure hunts, family cupcake decorating and pizza making. An educational flora and fauna corner and coral painting round up a host of diverse activities which guarantee that all kids do not lack engaging opportunities to enjoy and enrich themselves. And for couples wanting to have some time to themselves there are babysitting services available upon request too.

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DIVING

Explore the tropical marine life of the surrounding coral reef with the dive centre team who also offer snorkelling excursions. There are plenty of activities above the waves too from dolphin watching, fishing, jet skiing, kayaking, paddle-boarding, banana boat and kitesurfing. It really is a waterworld wonderland for water babies.

PHOTO SERVICE

Professional photographers are available for hire to take amazing snaps of your holiday, while the resort also offers the chance to get married or renew vows as well as being a popular holiday destination.

A WAKING DREAM

A stay at the JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa is like a waking dream, and paradise really does await at this five-star brand which is the chain’s only resort in the Indian Ocean. From enjoying breakfast with baby reef sharks and tropical fish dancing around your feet in the turquoise blue waters to dining in the evening above the tropical foliage of the tree house, each day is different. The landscaping and architecture of the resort are unique and beautiful. Couple that with the remoteness of the atoll and it creates a wonderful stress-free environment where you can relax in peaceful surroundings.

HOW TO GET THERE

Located 192km’s north of Velana International Airport, JW Marriott Maldives is reachable by a scenic 55-minute seaplane journey. Alternatively, guests can transfer by a 30-minute domestic flight to the nearby Funadhoo Island Airport, followed by 15-minute speedboat cruise to the resort.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

SPECIAL FEATURE

BY NAUFAL NAEEM

DATA & DESTINATION

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BIG DATA & TOURISM The tourism sector today is one of the most competitive industries in the world. With more and more countries joining the bandwagon and shifting their gaze from agriculture and mining towards a more lucrative and rewarding sector of economy, today’s emerging destinations are creating fierce competition in the global marketplace. With greater international connectivity to the far reaches of the globe and access to a wide pool of options, travelers today are spoilt for choice. Even those destinations who had traditionally enjoyed a comfortable spot on a pedestal of unparalleled competitive advantage are now having to look over their shoulders to see what their competing destinations are doing. A hyper competitive global marketplace calls for a highly calculated and tactful marketing strategy that is driven and backed by data. It will play a crucial role in driving greater effectiveness and efficiency along with increased competitive advantage.

DESTINATION & BRANDING Destination branding is a complex marketing concept that involves crafting and fostering a unique identity for the destination. A successful initiative takes on a holistic approach, addressing value proposition, experience and market perception. It usually takes the convergence of two primary concepts, brand image and brand personality to develop a comprehensive identity that would help a destination position itself effectively in the global marketplace. Although branding for differentiation has been part of society for millennia, branding at a destination level is still relatively new. It takes on a whole new approach when it involves the commoditization of cultures, environments and people. In the case of the Maldives, it is more of an environmental association that goes into its brand image. “A world of azure blue waters to breathtaking white beaches. Swaying palms and untouched sandbanks”. These are the first images that pop into the minds of the typical holidaymaker when they think of the Maldives. As one of the smaller countries, with limited resources, it was crucial to develop a competitive destination identity to ensure we take on a sustainable approach, to stay ahead of the game. It was back in 2003, when the Maldives launched its official destination brand and identity. “Maldives, the sunny side of life”. It was a very simple statement, that

perfectly packaged together and described the most precious experiences we offer along with the promise of transporting the tourist out of his usual surroundings to something spectacular. The destination already had a “default” perception from the markets derived from its natural beauty, that evoked a status of “paradise on earth”. The country was already well recognized as a high-end luxury destination, popular amongst honeymooners and couples. Over the decades, the markets and their characteristics have evolved, along with the destination itself. Although we had previously only relied on our environmental credentials, we are now showcasing a more diversified line up of destination characteristics and offerings which bring in a lot more depth to the country’s identity and branding. Maldives…the romantic side of life Maldives…the colorful side of life Maldives…the thrilling side of life Maldives…the spiritual side of life Maldives…the fun side of life Maldives…the cultural side of life This breakdown fundamentally allows us to develop a more comprehensive marketing strategy that addresses all relevant demographics and helps us shape our messaging to be highly targeted. This is the key to active engagement and establishing meaningful connections with our audiences.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

ROLE OF BIG DATA In a world that is hyperconnected, there is an abundance of publicly available data floating in the digital space as a byproduct of our online interactions with websites and social media. We call this “digital exhaust”. Your digital exhaust is a massive smoke trail of your consumer data, from your name, billing address to your purchase history and what you have “liked” and browsed online. This set of data gives a strong insight on who you are, your traits, buying behavior and sets the stage for consumer data analytics. The biggest gamechanger with the arrival of

Big Data is that you no longer solely depend on historical figures anymore. We can now foresee, anticipate and measure by utilizing data analytics. The world is changing, and the markets are constantly evolving. Engulfed by a highly competitive global economy, our customers themselves are becoming extremely complex. In order to increase effectiveness of the product or the destination as a brand in this case, it is critical that we take on an approach that gives us a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding

of tourism market dynamics. Amassing this data is one thing, but how well are we able to utilize it and act on it is what would define a destination’s success in aligning its positioning and brand within the global market. Now more than ever, there is a great need for marketers and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO’s) to acquire and process this data. This approach helps you understand your current clientele, evaluate potential clientele and generate predictive behavior modeling

that would maximize the effectiveness of your destination’s strategies. What we are talking about is going beyond the basic market segmentations. Age, gender, geographical location and occupation is still relevant in setting the initial scope, however, should we wish to take this to the next level, we must take on a wider approach in addressing everything and anything there is to do with that potential customer to enhance our engagement with them.

THE PILLARS OF SEGMENTATION DEMOGRAPHIC

GEOGRAPHIC

BEHAVIOURAL

PSYCHOGRAPHIC

Age Gender Income Education Social Status Family Marital Status Education

Country City Location density Market Size Language Climate Area Population

Purchase History Engagement Intent Occasion Buyer Stage User Status Life Cycle Sought Benefits

Lifestyle Activity-Interest-Opinion (AIO) Concerns Personality Type Values Attitudes Motives Preferences

Demographic Segmentation This is one of the first things that needs to be done in setting up your campaigns, with the primary goal of targeting the right population group or audience. This filter breaks the group down to age, socioeconomic backgrounds and even life stage, allowing us to precisely ensure that the audience is relevant to the product or service.

Geographic Segmentation This part of segmentation is based on the source point of the market. This is also a vital part of the process in calibrating your strategy. For instance, the lifestyle and the amount

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of marketing chatter they are exposed to will be extremely different between urban dwellers and rural residents. Their needs and demands will be very different, and the effort needed to capture their attention will vary just as much.

Behavioral Segmentation This involves grouping audiences by their behavior, purchase patterns, their values, where they are at in terms of their customer life cycle etc. This helps identify what and when customers are most likely to purchase, pinpoint trends and opportunities. Behavioral segmentation can also be described as the “digital body language” of the customers.

THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY

AWARENESS

ENGAGEMENT

EVALUATION

Psychographic Segmentation Psychographic segmentation is the process by which groups are formed on the basis of what influences their buying behavior. In contrary to the behavioral segmentation where it is based on their action itself, this is focusing on why they choose to behave in a certain way. Their motivation. These segments are based on belief, lifestyle, social status values etc. Understanding your customer’s

PURCHASE POST-PURCHASE

psychology allows you to position your product/brand in a way like never before. This is not just about segmenting the groups, but it is also about connecting with your client base at a very deep level.

FLEXING YOUR DATA MUSCLE Making use of statistical and factual knowledge and becoming more data driven to support your decisions during your marketing strategy implementation will be instrumental to its success. It gives you crucial insights to the “how”, “why” and the “when” of your respective markets, allowing you to optimize messaging as well as enhancing the product and services to increase your destination’s competitiveness. This would be the first steps to take in establishing yourself as a “smart destination”. Today, innovative technology and advances in computing power has made it feasible for us to access real time insights into understanding our markets better. It is also becoming more and more common for hotels and other hospitality related operations to adopt a more data driven approach in streamlining their business processes to enhance their product or service

BOOKING

• Booking Activity by Channel • Cancellations and Re-booking • Upgrades / Downgrades • ADR & Occupancy Ratio • Look-to-book Ratio • Advance Booking Ratio • No-shows

efficiency and competitiveness. There’s a ton of data that can be mined across numerous points of the customer’s journey, from pre-booking to check-out. From Airlines to Resorts, DMO’s will need a highly connected network within the entire local tourism ecosystem to fully harness its power. Even at a macro or destination level, data such as weather, environment social media activity and currency fluctuations can affect market dynamics immensely, which makes it crucial for DMO’s to continuously monitor this data to ensure they are able to adapt and adjust as quickly as possible and last but not least, measure the destination’s effectiveness and competitiveness.

PRE-ARRIVAL

• Segmentation & Clustering • Campaign ROI • Cross Selling / Up Selling • Loyalty Signups • Propensity Modeling • Affinity Modeling • Influence Modeling

STAY

• Guest Satisfaction Score • Social Media Following • Customer Retention Rate • Processing Costs per Transaction • Social Sentiment Score • Most Preffered Booking Channels

CHECK-OUT

• Top Guests by Highest Revenue • Loyalty Points Spending Pattern • Revenue from Repeat Customers • Guest Aquisition Cost • Guest Segmentation • Feedback & Complaints • Guests Spending Patterns • New Guest vs Return Guests

OPERATIONS

• Salaries Cost • Total Labout Cost • Staff Turnover • Cost of Food • Average Per Room Operations Cost

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SPECIAL FEATURE

WHERE IS ALL THIS DATA? Anyone who is on the grid and uses a mobile phone or a computer creates a data trail. So, this pretty much sums up quite a large portion of the total population of this planet. As of October 2020, there were 4.66 billion active internet users around the world, which is nearly 60% of the global population. From GPS locations emitted from your phones to social media posts smart tech integrated cars and homes, the sources are many. THE DIGITAL WORLD IN OCTOBER 2020 TOTAL POPULATION

7.81

UNIQUE MOBILE PHONE USERS

5.20

ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS

4.66

4.14

BILLION

URBANISATION

PENETRATION

56%

67%

The scale of digital data is going to get even more abundant than ever before. With a general increase in screen time due to behavioral changes adapted during the immense pressures felt by all communities amidst the COVID 19 pandemic, there will be a significant increase in digital exhaust from all around the world. As per the latest studies done by GlobalWebIndex internet users typically spend around 7 hours per day online. The trend shows that the total digital time is now forecasted to surpass 8 hours by the end of 2022. With social restrictions and global lockdowns, populations around the world were driven to their phones, tablets and computers to work, play and to connect with their loved ones. Unsurprisingly, the biggest portion of internet users are connecting via social media. More importantly, there has also been a huge surge of new users recorded during the pandemic. Today, there are a total of 4.14 billion social media users around the world, and figures recorded by Kepios between July and September 2020 show that there was an average increase of nearly 2 million users per day. Although this unprecedented surge came about as a ripple effect of the pandemic, the number of active users is not expected to drop out that abruptly even though communities may start moving back to normalcy in the coming months. COVID-19 has also become a catalyst in triggering digitization with new audiences

INTERNET USERS

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53%

60%

that weren’t initially on the online space. Today, we are seeing more and more older adults joining the digital front in order to stay connected socially or for even for business purposes. This brings forth a new array of opportunities when it comes to marketing across all industries. This is where we need to start exploring and thinking outside the box. Is there more we can do when it comes to target

marketing? Is the Maldives only for the billionaires and the ultra-rich? Or is there more to what we can offer? This is exactly what the new diverse set of sub segments of the Maldives’ destination branding showcased. A far bigger spectrum of traveler experiences, which would cater to a much wider audience than what was perceived in the eyes of the global traveler. How well are we defining this though?

THE WORLD’S MOST-USED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS Data Updated to: 19th October 2020

2,701

FACEBOOK 2,000 2,000

YOUTUBE WHATSAPP 1,300

FB MESSENGER 1,206

WEIXIN/WECHAT

1,158

INSTAGRAM 689

TIKTOK

648

600

DOUYIN

523

SINA WEIBO 517

QZONE

433

SNAPCHAT

430

EDDIT

430

KUAISHOU

416

400

TELEGRAM TWITTER QUORA

353 300 Source: KEPIOS ANALYSIS

OUR MARKET SEGMENTS & BUYER PERSONAS We are no longer just a haven for honeymooners. With a wide diversity of hospitality offerings, the Maldives is also a great option for families as well. Furthermore, with greater accessibility and better suited infrastructure, the destination is also becoming popular to host conferences and retreats for bigger groups. Across all of these segments, variables are immense depending on nationalities and age as well. This is where segmentation and targeted messaging will yield better results with destination marketing, and this is where the magic of data analysis can be fully utilized.

in, and where are they present on the online space? Data allows you to answer these questions and help you connect and engage with them at a much deeper level.

Who are these buyer segments? What are they looking for? What are they interested

As per a recent study done by Expedia Group Media Solutions, the younger generations are more positive towards traveling. This is not unexpected really, as the younger generations usually are seen to take greater risks in life than the more mature generations. The differences in mindset can be a good indicator for a DMO or any marketer really to understand how they can segment their marketing communications.

GEN Z

Who are these buyer segments? What are they looking for? What are they interested in, and where are they present on the online space?

MILLENIALS 43% 35%

BOOMERS

58%

65% 37%

GEN X POSITIVE

UNCERTAIN

63% 47%

53%

POSITIVE

SILEND GEN

UNCERTAIN

36% POSITIVE

UNCERTAIN

64%

UNCERTAIN POSITIVE

UNCERTAIN

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SPECIAL FEATURE

CHANGING LEGACY MARKETS

With massive disruptions at a global scale, restrictions and regulations related to the pandemic are causing huge changes to the market composition. How long the changes will be in effect, no one can tell for sure. What we can be sure of is that we need to take a deep dive into all global markets and understand which regions will

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experience lasting effects, and which markets are bound to make a comeback in the short run. Another thing to consider would be to explore new markets that may be ready to step into the mix. How well do we understand these markets, and how well have we been communicating with them, and how much of a contribution will they make to fill the void?

As some of our primary source markets flatline due to COVID related travel restrictions, it is still necessary to keep a heavy momentum on marketing and promotional activities in these regions. Staying connected as they remain indoors, digital marketing can be utilized in full swing to reach your customers and engage with them. Messaging will of course need to be adapted to fit in with the needs of the customers, at the same time addressing the status of that market. Failing to take all these into account may bring about a negative response, as the promotional activities may seem as insensitive. This is an opportunity to start building trust, confidence and also spark inspiration.

CATERING TO EVOLVING EXPECTATIONS This is a time where the customers themselves are undergoing unprecedented changes. It will be crucial to seek out what the traveler sentiments are and find out what they value through behavior and what they tell you. Data and demand intelligence algorithms will be vital in tailoring messages that are meaningful and effective during this new era of travel. Today, we are seeing a huge rise in interest towards sustainability like never before. Healthy living and wellness, actions on carbon reduction, environmental sustainability

etc. Active measures towards positive impact to the world as a whole will be the way to go in reaching out to the customers of the brave new world we are exploring. Wellness experiences can no longer be an “accent” or secondary offering but will become a central focal point connecting all experiences of a brand or destination. People are putting their safety first, although they want to

STRATEGIC TARGETTING THROUGH CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

take the risk to travel! Even though the risk of the virus is still present, and will be for quite some time, a lot of our communities are now embracing a “zest for life”, where the value of things like travel and social connections have become a huge priority. With our geography as an advantage, our naturally isolated atolls with smaller and controlled communities will make a huge impact in attracting the

attention of all buyer personas looking for a vacation in the tropics. We will need to weave in these touch points along with the enhanced safety protocols practiced throughout the destination by its entities to our messaging to reassure potential travelers of the safety measures in place.

Random marketing is a way of the past. With all the data you need right at your fingertips, you wouldn’t want to be wasting dollars on a buyer who does not fit the profile of a potential client for your destination. What is this traveler interested in, is he searching for local hotels in his source destination, or is he looking for a holiday in the Alps? Behavioral targeting allows you to select and target audiences based on their web searches, purchase histories and preferences, whereby allowing your messaging to be aligned within their scopes of interest. By adopting such strategies, you will be able to increase user engagement with your marketing activities, thus creating greater excitement through the marketing experiences.

competitive edge over the rest of the competing destinations. In time, as the world re-opens, all players will once again be present on the battlefield, competing for a bigger chunk of the global travel market. How well you understand and comprehend your consumers, and how quickly you do it and act on it will determine how well you fair amongst the rest. Data and the technology that enables its processing will become more important than ever now and will continue to intensify in the years to come. With the growth of data analytics, destinations can now harness the full power of big data, enabling them to evaluate the destination’s services and offerings as well as giving them the insight and intelligence to make more informed strategic decisions that would be crucial for its success in today’s volatile and competitive global market space.

The key is adaptability, and we will need to act quickly to fully utilize these opportunities effectively in order to get a

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

CAREERS

BY NAZ A NAZEEM

CAREERS: MARIYAM NAZEEHA, AIRPORT TEAM LEADER AT RADISSON BLU MALDIVES Maziyam ‘Nazy’ Nazeeha is the Airport Team Leader at Radisson Blu Maldives. Her high standards and regard for guests rest on working together as a team. As a woman hotelier in hospitality, she has gained confidence. She hopes her story will inspire other women in the Maldives to aspire for a career in this sector. She believes in Michelle Obama’s words: “There is no limit to what we as women can achieve”.

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that you are representing the brand. Since we are the first point of contact for the guest, we must ensure that we exceed our guest expectations, which is only possible when we work together as a team. The second most essential skill that we need to have is communication so that we can deliver the right information and it is well received by the guest to ensure a seamless airport experience for our guests. On a personal front, I have learnt that managing oneself and keeping a cool head by being able to control emotions and stress levels go along the way in ensuring that we do not falter on our duty to assist our guests. I do not allow my personal feelings to come in the way of my work. When I put on my uniform – I am a professional and I represent the resort. What do you enjoy the most about your current role and what are the challenges that you have to face?

How were you introduced to the travel and hospitality industry? What is it about this field that attracted you?

important decision and I hope my story will inspire other women in our country to aspire for a career in this beautiful sector.

I came from a family of seven and the three eldest members of the family worked in the tourism sector. Watching them work so diligently with passion has motivated me to continue the tradition and keep the family legacy in this industry. I was attracted towards this industry by the freedom, friendly environment, and interactions with people from all over the world with various backgrounds and cultures and to be able to explore the tiny archipelago like never before. It has helped me move across various international brands and learn right here in my own country about tourism and hospitality.

What are your duties at Radisson Blu? Could you explain the responsibilities and the skills required to be a successful airport team leader?

As a woman in hospitality, what has been the biggest highlight of your journey so far? What do you consider as your most remarkable achievement? As a woman in the hospitality industry, the experience, self-confidence, and selfworth I have gained from the last 11 years of working in the industry is the greatest highlight of this journey. I am proud to say that this decision has been the most

I was part of the pre-opening team, and I am currently handling the airport operations for Radisson Blu Resort Maldives. As an airport representative, my duties are different than the usual hospitality environment. Our shifts depend on the earliest arrival or departure. As Radisson Blu Resort Maldives is located in Alifu Dhaalu Atoll, the transfer between resort and the airport are mostly by seaplane. When the guests arrive, we welcome them to Maldives, continue with check-in process, and assist their leaving the airport to get to the resort. I make sure that every need of our guests is taken care of and they are made to feel welcome.

It allows me to enjoy my job every single day. I love every bit of everything – meeting guests from different countries, making sure their requests are taken care of however small it is, communicating with my teams and ensuring everything is taken care of. Every single day we really do not know how things will pan out – the flights get delayed, the guests have had a long flight and are tired, the seaplane might get cancelled, the luggage gets bumped – and many more surprises keep springing up, but we are always prepared and arrange everything in the most convenient way for our guests. After facing all the challenges, it makes me feel proud when I see the smile on the guests’ face and my name being mentioned in social media like Tripadvisor or booking.com. It only reiterates that I have made the right career choice. What are your career goals and future plans? I believe in what Michelle Obama said: “There is no limit to what we as women can achieve”. When I decided to join the hospitality industry, it was out of my free will and support of my mom, who believed in me and has been a pillar of support throughout my career. She made no distinctions and has always been there whenever I went through difficult times. I dream that one day I will be able to fulfil my dreams of reaching the pinnacle of my career making use of my full God given potential so that other aspiring women in the country can look up to me and say – “I want to be like Nazy”.

Both skills and responsibilities go hand in hand, I would say. The most important responsibility is punctuality and knowing

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EXCLUSIVE

BY AMINATH Z AHIR

Interview with MACL CEO and MD, Gordon Andrew Stewart 1. How do you define the magnitude of the Covid-19 crisis on VIA and the overall operations of MACL? Initially it was devastating. We were experiencing a gradual decline in our international flights from February 2020 onwards and a complete shutdown from 27 March 2020 till July 15th 2020. There were no commercial inbounds flights and we had operations only for essential flights like repatriation, cargo and emergencies. However after border reopened, we

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have recovered gradually and steadily since then, culminating this December 2020 and January 2021 where we saw tremendous growth during the winter peak holiday season where we achieved passenger numbers of just over 50% of our 2019 passenger numbers. To put this in context in August 2020 we were running at 5% of our 2019 numbers comparatively. Globally, airports are running at around 20 – 30% of 2019 with many fairing much worse.

2. What are the key strategies adopted by MACL in managing the Covid-19 crisis as it continues to unfold? During January 2020, we collaborated with health authorities in understanding the depth of the pandemic and how we could be ready. By February 2020 we took precautionary measures such as disinfecting, ensure social distancing, awareness session and temperature screening. Equally, we declared our airport capacity as to how many passengers we can manage during operations. Apart from this, we carried out a passenger flow simulation exercise at the departures and arrival terminal before opening for commercial operations. The first strategy upon re-opening was to demonstrate to our customers that we were as safe as we could be. During the lockdown period our staff were working extremely hard to obtain that the airport is safe from COVID-19. To review the level of safety measures taken at our Airport we applied for ACI’s Health Accreditation Certificate and were awarded the Certificate. This was validation by the global Airports Association body (ACI- Airport Council

International) that we were a safe Airport to travel through. We were the second Airport in the Asia Pacific region attained the safety accreditation. After the safety accreditation, our focus was to find markets where passengers were able to travel from and re-enter their home country easily. We realised the countries that did not operate quarantine restrictions for their nationals to re-enter were the best to target. Likewise, Russia and Ukraine, proved very fruitful for us where the authorities mirrored the Maldives Policy of re-entry allowed with a negative PCR test. This has proved to be our best market so far. 3. What are the most prioritized investment strategies for MACL, and has there been any changes to the strategic priorities for MACL due to the pandemic? We are still following our long term investment strategy which is to invest in both capacity improvements to our Airport and also an improved quality of service we offerings. This year we plan to open the New Sea Plane Terminal – the

world’s biggest. It is a Terminal that will significantly improve the quality of service that our discerning customers expect from the Maldives. We will also open our new Code F Runway which will give us much needed additional capacity for our peak hour traffic which is typically early mornings. Opening of new VIP / CIP Terminal is also scheduled to open during 2021, which will dramatically improve our service offering for this customer segment and will allow a consistency of service for the Maldives high end tourists to enjoy. 4. What is your strategy to recoup the revenue losses and improve overall financial health of MACL? Like all other airport operators in the world right now, MACL also has been hit by cash flow issues. No airport globally has been spared this issue. This means that the focus has to be on three areas; protect our revenue, which we are doing by targeting viable markets. Reduce and manage our costs, which we have been actively managing. Finally, cash flow and treasury activities, which we are vastly active managing to preserve positive cash flow.

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EXCLUSIVE

5. How crucial do you think is the role of technology in the current situation dealing with a global pandemic, and what are your plans in deployment of technology for airport operations?

This will also significantly improve our capacity and quality of service offering for our passengers, providing them an experience which is more consistent with the Maldivian way.

It plays a role in reducing touchpoints for passengers. However, the biggest role in dealing with the global pandemic is to observe the three basic principles where possible: Wear a mask, maintain social distancing and wash or sanitize your hands regularly. These were the areas we focused on to attain our ACI Health Accreditation. 6. What infrastructure development plans do you have for VIA in the next five years?

7. What additional joint efforts can be done by the government, airlines and other players in the aviation sector to enhance the post-pandemic recovery process and increase the traffic volume of the airport?

I mentioned three earlier – new VIP/ CIP Terminal, new Seaplane Terminal and new Runway. However, we also have many other supporting infrastructure projects we are working on this year; new Aprons to give us more aircraft parking capacity, a new Fire Station, a new Cargo Terminal, a new Fuel Farm and many other supporting projects. We are effectively rebuilding our entire Airport. The scale of change and complexity we are dealing with is huge and all to be delivered in very difficult pandemic conditions. To top it all off we are also building a New Passenger Terminal, currently scheduled for 2023, that will give us a 7.25million passengers a year capacity Terminal.

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I believe we need to keep doing what we are doing. We are blessed in the Maldives that MACL, the Tourism Sector, Airlines and the Government all share the same focus and determination to accelerate recovery, as it is in all our joint interests to do so. I am impressed with the level of cooperation that exists between us all. As an example, working closely with the Ministry of Health and other agencies, we are currently in the process of setting up a vaccination center in the airport that will be run by MACL medical staff, to administer the vaccine to all airport staff. Not just MACL staff, all airport staff; Government agencies, our front line Food and Beverage staff, check in agents and so on. Our aim is to be one of the first airports in the world to have all its staff fully vaccinated. This will provide further assurance to tourists and passengers that

VIA and the Maldives is one of the safest airport and tourist destinations in the world right now. 8. How optimistic are you about the future of the VIA, and the overall outlook of the aviation sector? I am optimistic. With the rollout of the vaccine, we will recover. What we uncertain is the timescales that the recovery will over. Globally the aviation sector is forecasting full recovery to 2019 levels by 2023 or 2024. Can we recover faster in the Maldives? Possibly in the short term due to our unique geography and concept of one resort one island. However, over the long term as more of our competing destinations come on board this may affect our speed of recovery. Regardless though of speed of recovery we just need to keep doing what we are doing. Keep working our strategy; deliver our new assets to improve our capacity and service offering, manage our finances carefully and grow and develop our markets where opportunities present. The sun is gradually rising on aviation in the Maldives, to once again reveal our ‘Sunny Side of Life’ to the world.

BUGGY BATTERIES

6VOLT & 8VOLT

DEEP CYCLE

EXCLUSIVE

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

Husband and wife team explain the secrets of running an island paradise during lockdown A husband-and-wife have navigated the tough waters of lockdown to invent new ways of operating their island resort. From making their land fertile enough to grow their own produce during the quarantine period to introducing a new chicken shed called ‘Cluckingham Palace,’ Amilla Maldives has become a sustainable paradise ‘full of surprises” in Baa atoll. Personalised guest experiences are at the heart of the resort’s ethos, general manager Jason Kruse believes. Having worked in hospitality for the past 17 years, across Australia, South East Asia and the Maldives Jason has built a career around making guests and his team happy. He specialises in rejuvenating beach-based resorts in environmentally sensitive areas. His wife Victoria is the island’s sustainability

“Running a resort in the Maldives with its ‘one island- one resort’ nature, according to Jason is the same as operating a small city.” 34

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manager and over lockdown, she has built the ‘Homemade and Homegrown’ recycling and reuse programmes within Amilla. The Kruse’s are well known in the Maldives - Jason was general manager of Kurumba from 2010 to 2016, during which time they celebrated the 40th anniversary of the resort. Later, the couple opened Six Senses Fiji and Victoria worked as a consultant for the Wellness Kitchen and retail. Upon returning to the Maldives, the Kruse’s joined Amilla in their present roles. While other couples fly over for a few days to enjoy their vacation, Jason and Victoria have the luxury of an ‘extended vacation’ in the Maldives. It is a dream job, and they love the people here, both staff and guests. “When you live and work in the Maldives though, it is your whole life, “ said Jason,

“The feeling in the resort at the time was of a family coming together to weather a storm.”

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

EXCLUSIVE “They cooked in their residence for us and Victoria cooked for them in their room on a weekly basis. They taught us Russian drinking games, I taught their son guitar and Victoria revealed the true origin of Pavlova. When they departed it was extremely emotional and all the remaining staff took to the jetty to bid farewell. There were tears all round. We were incredibly lucky to have the best guests who helped us in many ways, not least in providing revenue which quite literally put food on the table for our staff. It was a tough time and uncertain for the team.”

“We start work when we wake and finish when we sleep and there is little time left for the activities that guests enjoy.” The couple started out in hospitality in quite different ways. Jason was working part-time in a bar while representing Queensland for road cycling. When that ended, he studied hospitality management at TAFE, working in fine dining restaurants at night, and working his way up. Victoria worked in restaurants while she was in school, then retail management and recruitment while studying management at university. The couple met through mutual friends when Jason was managing a resort in Bali and Victoria was living there designing clothing for her fashion label.

Managing a resort and putting food on the table during lockdown As general manager Jason oversees the day-to-day operation of Amilla, sales including residential sales and finance. Running a resort in the Maldives with its ‘one island- one resort’ nature which, according to Jason, is the same as operating a small city. “All facilities for energy generation, water production, engineering works, and waste processing are done on the island,” he said. “The logistics of getting food and equipment here are huge. For example, we only have one supply boat each week so all food requirements must be ordered ten days prior. Right now, guests are booking very last minute and arriving within a week, even occasionally booking the same day. So, trying to plan to ensure we have the right amount of food is quite pressured. From a maintenance point of view, we need to always have two of every

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skilled tradesperson here, plumbers, electricians, air conditioning mechanics, boat mechanics. We cannot simply call in ‘someone from the city’ when something breaks down.” “There seems to be a notion that because we live in a paradise island, our lockdown period was easy, but guests simply do not understand the pressures for the staff of being stuck on an island and unable to be home or realise the difficulties that no flights caused in terms of getting staff home or, more importantly, bringing staff back once we reopened. Not only this but many of our suppliers are now facing second lockdowns in their cities so cannot produce or ship items that we need.

Lockdown resulted in the staff adopting new roles instead of rigidly performing one function. For instance, Victoria became part of the food and beverage team overnight, spa therapists turned their hands to gardening and butlers turned into a maintenance and housekeeping team to get the rooms back to guest-ready. Victoria also dreamt up the Homegrown@ Amilla and Homemade@Amilla programme and not only did this reduce reliance on vegetables being air-freighted in, but it also cut back on packaging and emissions. An added benefit is it uses waste or locally grown products to make a range of probiotic beverages that promote wellness with guests, while offcuts of pineapples and mangos make delicious refreshing sodas.

Putting food on the table during lockdown The toughest challenge during the pandemic, however, was the five-month closure from March last year, although some of their guests who were in the resort at the time decided to stay on. To meet the challenges of providing food for the guests and staff, during and beyond the lockdown Amilla and Jason dreamt up the idea of the resort producing its own food, and, under Victoria’s lead, they introduced new organic gardens, a banana plantation, mushroom hut and fruit and vegetable gardens and the one set of guests who stayed with them during lockdown made use of a fully equipped multibedroom residence where guests could self-cater in the evenings. Jason said: “When we closed the resort, we had some guests staying with us that struggled to get a flight home and then their borders closed, so they stayed on the island and despite little common language, we all became great friends.

“Our guests loved it and became a treasured part of this journey,” recalls Victoria. “Our staff have also taken ownership of the projects they assisted with, even if they are outside their normal role. “For the most part the staff adapted well, the feeling was of a family coming together to weather a storm.”

The resort recently opened a coconut processing facility called The Nut, utilising some of the 2,500 coconut trees that grow on the island. All parts of the coconut tree produce usable products - from coconut milk to cold-pressed oil and meat for bar snacks, to using Kaijan for roofing and the shells for artwork and jewellery. Victoria’s work is crucial to both minimise Amilla’s carbon footprint and train the team to be aware of the impact. Amilla makes its own drinking water on the island, bottling into reusable glass bottles. which dramatically reduces plastic waste. Victoria added: “Our efforts of sustainability had an extremely positive response from our guests as they enjoy the fruits of our labour. We presented freshly picked bunches of bananas to our guests at breakfast time, and the chicken coop, supplying fresh eggs is called Cluckingham Palace, which is a real hit with children. There are many city kids who do not ever get a chance to see where chickens come from and they love this experience and the newborn baby chicks are adorable. We are using many of our fresh herbs and vegetables in our spa for our Dhivehi Beys (a traditional Maldivian medicine) treatments as well as our kitchens.” When they reopened Amilla, they decided to continue with PCR testing for all staff and guests on arrival. As a result, guests feel safer and can move freely without wearing a mask. The resort has purchased a testing machine to allow a result within two minutes and now guests do not need to quarantine if they test negative. The original ‘lockdown guests’ have also returned to show their support. Amilla is an ancient natural island that is still half jungle and contains Banyan trees that are many hundreds of years old and an endangered special of bird that is not found on many islands. A famous spot for diving, Amlila has an underwater reef cave called the Blue Hole and Jason and Victoria are known for holding spectacular festive and Easter events.

Accommodation and service One of the unique things about the island is the glamping experience that sees guests sleep under the stars in a private air conditioned ‘bubble’ overlooking the Indian Ocean. This begins with a massage, followed by a barbecue dinner, followed by yoga and breakfast in the morning. The bubble is located on the beach, yet in the jungle so guests feel like they are on their own island. Jason and Victoria like to create special touches and memories for guests, thinking of anything a guest may need so it is

provided before they know they need it. This ranges from thoughtful and playful touches like a bed for a child containing a doll or activated charcoal shots in the bar at night for guest recovery. Jason explains: “Without our guests we are nothing. We are a stand-alone resort, so we provide out-of-the-box surprises and implement things without having to go through many layers of management. It means we can also trial things and use a great deal of imagination. This allows us to offer many experiences for the guest themselves. For example, those staying in residences who arrive in the middle of the day, especially those with children, have their food ready and waiting for them when they arrive. We choose the dishes depending on the nationality of the guests and age of children. Other personal touches include having cookies straight out of the oven as guests enter the residences.

Another day in Paradise For the couple, a typical day begins with yoga before their morning management briefing and getting on with their days. For Jason this includes attending to emails, tasks and liaising with guests. There is much work on sales and marketing tasks as well as checking on the team. Victoria’s work on sustainable projects is varied, ‘although she’ doesn’t get as much time in the garden as she would like.’ She is present at all guest arrivals and departures and each evening the couple will enjoy an early dinner before ‘doing the rounds of the restaurants to meet or entertain guests. The couple spend their free time exercising or relaxing at home with their cat. Working

together on the island complements their strengths. Victoria said: “It means I can support Jason fully. I completely understand the operations and solve problems, so they do not escalate to Jason. We can talk through things. In a resort, particularly one without a head office, the general manager does not usually have a sounding board, but I can fulfil that role. It helps that we are also best friends and have successfully weathered tough times together.” The couple’s plans for the near future include a much-needed break as they’ve only had one week off since arriving in 2019. New projects for 2021 include renovating guest rooms, replacing one jetty, expanding the Homemade@Amilla program and completing the waste processing facility and The Nut.

About Amilla Amilla island resort is an ancient island encompassing 23 hectares of lush land filled with verdant palm trees and tropical foliage and pristine white beaches. Here guests are assigned their own private butler and safety is paramount with PCR tests for all arrivals. The pool villas that extend over the ocean have their infinity pools or relax in the privacy of the Malibu beach residences. Dine at six sublime restaurants and cafes or underneath the stars. Chefs here create a world class dining experience using locally caught fish and the sustainable fruit and vegetables produced on the island provide an emphasis on eating well.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

WOMEN IN HOSPITALITY

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

Zainab Hussain Shihab Marketing Communications Manager Patina Maldives, Fari Island Patina Maldives Fari Islands, opens this summer, and is set to be the first property for Patina Hotels and Resorts in the world. Located in North Male, three world-class hotels straddle a trio of islands that include the Ritz Carlton, Capella Maldives and Patina. Patina is a u-shaped resort with 90 villas split between the golden beachfront and impossibly azure ocean and has been designed by renowned Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan of Studio MK27. And the person on the pulse of the communications at Patina Maldives is Zainab Hussain Shihab, Marketing & Communications Manager Patina Maldives Fari Islands. Hotelier Maldives speaks to her all about the plans for the new resort and how they plan to showcase it to the world.

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HM: Tell me more about your role in the Maldives with Patina Hotels and Resorts? ZHS: I am the marketing and communications manager. My role at the resort currently encompasses different aspects of marketing such as social media, public relations, advertising and of course assisting our operational departments prepare for our opening. HM: How difficult has it been to open a resort in a pandemic? The main challenge faced by our team in opening a resort at this time has been delays in supply chains and doing the research to ensure we as a resort are able to adapt our experiences and offering to provide a safe and memorable stay to our guests when we open. Additionally, the pandemic has shifted our priorities including our travel priorities. Now

more than ever we can see that travellers look for more sustainable, eco-conscious destinations and brands. Patina Maldives seeks to advance the trend of purposeful travel with a hands-on, data-led approach to positively impacting people and place, reflecting a brand-wide commitment to the pursuit of perpetuality.This was a big part of what really spoke to me and inspired me about the brand. The past year has been a challenging one for the travel industry, however I think it has also shown how resilient we are as an industry. HM: Tell me about your journey how did you get into hospitality, describe how that has shaped you? ZHS: I started my career as a journalist while in university in Melbourne. It was what I was passionate about at the time because I always wanted to write. I worked as journalist for

a few bridal and arts magazines and then changed directions and went back to do my masters in communications. This is when I found my passion for marketing, social media and storytelling of a slightly different kind. The hospitality industry is so rich with stories and culture and that is how I knew it was for me. HM: Tell me more about the resort. Who is the typical traveller? ZHS: Set in the Fari Islands archipelago in North Malé Atoll, Patina Maldives, Fari Islands is the inaugural flagship property from sophisticated new lifestyle brand Patina Hotels & Resorts, the latest hospitality concept by Capella Hotel Group. Designed by renowned Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan, Patina Maldives offers 90 contemporary oneto three-bedroom Beach and Water Pool Villas, alongside 20 Fari Studios, all of which embody a harmony of sanctuary

and stimulation. The Patina guests are young at heart, socially conscious, future thinkers. The seek sanctuary but also seek connection through meaningful journeys and experiences. HM: What is the latest news can you tell me about Patina Maldives Fari islands? ZHS: It has been an extremely exciting time. The Fari Islands was recently awarded a Global Vision Award by Travel + Leisure, recognising the archipelago’s commitment to sustainability and responsible travel. Patina Maldives’ commitment to people and place is something that we are very proud. From free diving lessons for children, recycling marine plastic into models using 3D printing technology and a 100 percent solar-powered kids’ club, recreation and dive centres Patina Maldives is dedicated to making a lasting difference in everything it does. HM: Describe your attraction to Patina as a brand? ZHS: When I first applied for my role here, I did not know much about the brand, of course this was because Patina Maldives Fari Islands would be the first property for Patina Hotels and Resorts in the world. However, the more people I spoke to during the interview process, the more I wanted to be part of launching this brand and particularly here in the Maldives. Patina celebrates individuality and encourages making deeper connections with nature but

also making those connections with yourself. At Patina both guests and teammates are more than a number, you are an individual with your own culture, history and passions. This is what drew me to Patina as a brand. HM: You have worked in marketing and communications for Conrad in Maldives and Hilton in Thailand. What particularly inspires you to work in the Maldives? ZHS: I have lived overseas most of my life, however, my parents always made sure we had a deep appreciation and connection to our home. Moving back to the Maldives to continue my career journey is very much a home coming for me. HM: What challenges do women face working in the industry? ZHS: Historically in the Maldives, the hospitality industry has been very much a boy’s club with hiring practices, working environments and even accommodation not being built to really welcome women. You hear stories in the media about safety problems and discrimination and this of course needs to be addressed. However, I do think the industry is now making more of a conscious effort to be more welcoming of women. My older sister joined the industry about 15 years ago in the kitchen which of course is a much more male dominated department than marketing. Her experience in joining the industry was vastly different from mine because things had changed for the better and they continue to do so.

These changes have happened because more women joined the industry and made it a point to help build working and living environments that let everyone thrive regardless of gender. This is another aspect that really drew me to Patina Maldives. A part of the Fari Islands is the Fari Campus which was purpose-built to provide a safe and engaging environment for the team. From the beginning they have taken great care in building a space and culture that is welcoming to all. HM: What are your dreams and hopes for the future and for women in the industry in the Maldives? ZHS: I hope having women, particularly local women in managerial roles becomes the norm and not the exception. There are numerous women doing amazing things in the hospitality industry. There is Shazleen at Soneva Jani, my counterpart in the Fari Islands; Aimee from Ritz Carlton Maldives, Anth at Voyages Maldives and my personal mentor, my sister Shaanee who is a lecturer at Maldives National University encouraging more young people to join the industry. These women make me optimistic about how much

women can achieve in the hospitality industry. HM: What has been a key moment in your career? ZHS: Helping to launch THE MURAKA, the world’s first of ‘its kind undersea villa at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island was a big milestone for me and it was also my first taste of a preopening. It played a big a role in preparing me for my current position. My current role as part of the pre-opening team of Patina Maldives Fari Islands is also a big moment for me. It’s such a unique property and I am very excited for people to be able to experience it. HM: What do you like most about your current role? ZHS: What I like most about my current role is the team I get to work with. Patina Maldives Fari Islands have managed to gather some of the most hardworking and talented people in the hospitality industry. It is great to be on this journey launching this resort with them. HM: Where do you see yourself in five-years’ time? ZHS: I do not really think of my career journey in terms of titles or locations in particular but I hope I am still doing what I am passionate about. HM: What is your forecast for the future of luxury family travel to the Maldives? ZHS: The Maldives has seen a strong recovery in the luxury travel sector and has fared a lot better than most destinations. With over 250,000 arrivals already this year I think the Maldives will continue to see a strong recovery.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

YOUNG HOTELIER

BY NAZ A NAZEEM

YOUNG HOTELIER:

Suzeena Ahmed, Event Manager at Kurumba Maldives

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What attracted you to work in the hospitality industry? How was the beginning of your journey? I have always been interested to work in this industry. Since I was a little kid, I have dreamt of having a career in the hospitality field, not particularly in resorts. I wanted to work with people, meet new people get new experiences. That’s why I studied to become a cabin crew. But I didn’t get the job and I kind of gave up. At that time, all I wanted to do then was work. I was

multitask and do other jobs as well. There are days that you may have to work very late in the evening. So, you have to have a lot of energy and the willingness to work specially.

You have come very far. Have you ever had a mentor in this journey? Or anyone special? Yes, but I wouldn’t say he’s a mentor. This will probably come as a big surprise for him as well but the Operations Manager at

“When you find your passion, you have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Just find what you love and believe in yourself. Always keep in mind that life is a progressive journey.” feeling like a failure after I didn’t get the job even after studying and fulfilling all requirements. So I just wanted to get out of Male’, get work experience and try different things. I was just 19 when I joined Kurumba in 2014. Started from scratch and worked my way up from being a Hostess to Event Manager within 5 years.

What’s it like being the Event Manager at Kurumba Maldives? I was promoted to the resort’s Event Manager a year ago. And even after then I never gave much importance to my title. Even if I was a manager, I still worked like a normal staff because I know where I came from and I know how hard my staff works. Being an Event Manager doesn’t mean that your work is always going to be about events. You need to have the skills to

Kurumba Maldives, Ali Farooq is my biggest inspiration. He has been a big help since I first joined the resort. When I got into F&B I was very naïve and he would always give me advice on how to do certain tasks. His advice and words of wisdom has helped me so much. Also, there are other things that has helped me become the person that I am today. And that’s fitness. Now this may sound a little cliche but exercising and being determined to be fit and healthy has helped me a lot. I learnt so much discipline and energy from it. I learnt to be patient. It was a boost both physically and mentally. Another thing that played a huge role is this book I got to know about in a seminar. Mind Power has helped me cultivate a positive mindset. The book is full of practical wisdom on mind-power and self-improvement. I have been sent by Kurumba to a couple of seminars but his

one was most valuable since I learnt so much from it. It also encouraged me to read other books and made me interested in journaling (writing, reading, etc.).

What aspect of your current role do you enjoy the most and what do you find challenging? Challenges! The challenges that I face in my work are what motivates me the most. Since the pandemic took place, we didn’t have much events. But 2019 was the busiest year of my whole career so far. ¬I have a great, skillful team who works by my side, and if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be able to execute these events successfully. In events, you have to deal with different types of people with different mindsets. But if you keep people in proper perspective it’s easier to do your job.

What do you consider as the biggest highlight of your career? Firstly, I am able to work with people who support me. Obviously, there will be people who dislike me but I would rather focus on that 50% per cent that supports me. Second, I became a manager at 25. I told myself from the very beginning that I will be a manager one day. But little did I know that I will be able to achieve this at 25 years old. When I got the promotion, the first thing I thought was “I made it”. It wasn’t easy. I set my mind to achieve it and I worked hard. How I entered events was through this management training program held by Kurumba. The program sends selected candidates to different departments and monitor how they work in each. The first time they had it, I didn’t make it to the list of shortlisted names. But will that stop me? When I tried for the second time, I got selected and in the middle of the program, I was offered to work as an event coordinator. I didn’t know much about events at the time. And the first event I did was this big Chinese event. I was bit skeptical about whether or not I can handle the event since I had no experience in handling events. I was fearful and was doubting myself. But I didn’t let my fear stop me. I realized that the only way i can cure my fear is taking action. So I went on and made the event a success.

What’s your advice to the aspiring young hoteliers who want to become a manager in the hospitality field? Find out your passion. When you find your passion, you have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Just find what you love and believe in yourself. Always keep in mind that life is a progressive journey. If you set your mind to achieve something and work hard for it, you’ll get it. This is not just for the young people who want to join this industry. But if you’d love to be in the hospitality industry, go for it.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

PEOPLE

BY AMINATH Z AHIR

New destination sales and marketing team elevates Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio in Maldives

With an escape from our homes being on everyone’s mind over the past months, Marriott Bonvoy Portfolio in the Maldives today announced the formation of a market sales and marketing team to further develop the demand for the destination, taking the resorts and Marriott International’s positioning to greater heights. The market team comprises of experienced professionals who bring to their roles

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strong destination and discipline skills. The company is committed to support its enhanced footprint and growth plans in perhaps what is currently the world’s most desirable leisure destination. Led by Ali Nihad, in the capacity of market director, sales and marketing - Maldives, the team will provide dedicated support to the company’s thriving destination portfolio and will be responsible for driving top line revenue, ensuring the

sales and marketing strategy leverages the interest and demand for the destination and is aligned with the company’s vision and priorities. The team will support JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa, W Maldives, Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa and The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort.

brings more than 15 years of marketing and communications experience to this role. A pre-opening and restructuring specialist, she has held roles with The Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta and Qatar, Kempinski Soma Bay, Egypt, Rosewood Phnom Penh, Six Senses Zighy Bay, Oman and most recently with W Koh Samui.

With a career spanning luxury brands like St. Regis, Anantara and W Hotels among others, leading various parts of the sales and marketing function, Nihad is all set to take over the new Marriott International Maldives cluster as market director, sales and marketing and lead from the front. He has worked across multiple hotels in the island nation, his last assignment in Maldives being the assistant director, sales and marketing at The St. Regis Maldives Vomulli Resort, and thus holds a strong connect and relationship with key partners from source markets. He joins the team from Mandapa, A RitzCarlton Reserve, Bali where he held the commercial responsibility as director of sales and marketing. Nihad returns home to the Maldives to lead the formation of the cluster team, bringing over 18 years of hospitality experience to the role.

Nelli Listunova, market director, sales – Russia and CIS, who has a wealth of customer knowledge with 12 years of experience at Marriott’s Luxury Brands portfolio. She was previously director of sales at W Maldives and has also held a destination sales role with The Luxury Collection hotels of Costa Smeralda, Sardinia and Porto Cervo.

On being appointed to his new role, Nihad said, “I’m excited to return to the Maldives at a stage where the demand for the destination is ripe, and I look forward to working with the energetic market team as we forge ahead in the achievement of our goal.” Ali leads an all-star team that includes: Hanny Wahyuni, market director, marketing and communications, who

Fawaz Ibrahim, market director, sales – Europe, who began his career at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa and W Maldives. Here he held various roles before transferring to Thailand to work with The Luxury Collection and Sheraton Resorts in Koh Samui. Following his return to the Maldives and two years with Anantara Resorts Maldives, Fawaz re-joined Marriott as director of sales with The St. Regis Maldives Vomulli Resort where he held the on-island leadership role for the sales, reservations and the marketing team. Wendy Kew, market director, eCommerce, who brings to the role a wealth of digital marketing experience along with a deep understanding of Marriott’s digital ecosystem, most recently working with W Hotels, The Luxury Collection and Courtyard by Marriott in Malaysia. Saadhvi Mehra, market director, communications -who having been with the company since 2012 is no stranger to the Maldives. She previously held a project role with The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli resort. Throughout her career, Saadhvi

has held roles with W Hotels, Sheraton and Le Méridien hotels in South Asia. Most recently, Saadhvi was with W Hotels in Abu Dhabi. And finally Sonali Khadka, assistant market director, marketing who has lived and worked in the Maldives since 2018, holding roles with Faarufushi before joining The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo resort as part of the pre-opening team. Commenting on the announcement, Peter Foreman, senior director, sales and distribution – Singapore, Malaysia & Maldives said, “The leadership team we are announcing today is important to foster greater synergies, teamwork, accountability and nimble decisionmaking, all critical to laying a strong foundation that will support our ambitious plans in Maldives. I am extremely excited to work together with such a talented and diverse group of leaders who bring with them exceptional domain expertise as well as regional and source market insights that will enable us to create a more vibrant organization that delivers value for all stakeholders.” From cruising with beloved sea mammals at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, breath-taking snorkelling at W Maldives, swimming with Manta Rays at The Westin Miriandhoo resort to experiencing a sanctuary of scenic luxury at JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa, Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of resorts in Maldives present an unrivalled white-sand, blue-sky escape that is second to none.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

AIRLINES

BY NAUFAL NAEEM

OUR FLIGHT TO RECOVERY

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Just as any other country in the world, the Maldives saw a complete collapse of air traffic with a devastating blow to the entire industry chain. With prolonged lockdowns and travel restrictions, the global impact of the COVID 19 pandemic is so severe that experts are predicting an extremely slow recovery process, where they believe

it will be by 2024 when we start seeing a global traffic close to what we had back in 2019. This is if we do not have further setbacks along the way. Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates 2021 losses to be at USD 15.8 billion, which would be the worst ever financial performance record in the history of aviation. Many airlines have already collapsed from the effects of the pandemic. Flybe, one of Europe’s largest regional carriers that caters to over 8 million passengers a year collapsed in early March, followed by Virgin Australia and South Africa’s flag carrier South African Airways. The number of bankruptcies already in double digits, he warns that unless international air travel can find its footing in this new post pandemic world, we will see many more casualties in the coming’s months.

THE EVOLUTION OF GLOBAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC 1945-2020

Iran-Iraq War

decline in world total passengers in 2020

3,000 2,500

Oil Crisis

2,000 1,500

Financial Crisis SARS

3,500

Gulf Crisis

-60%

4,000

9/11 Terrorist Attack

4,500

Asian Crisis

5,000

1,000

Domestic Passengers

International Passengers

2020

2015

2005

2000

1995

1990

1985

1980

1975

1970

1965

1960

1955

1950

Total Passengers

Source: ICAO Air Transport Reporting Form A and A-S plus ICAO estimates

2010

COVID-19 Pandemic

500 1945

Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates 2021 losses to be at USD 15.8 billion, which would be the worst ever financial performance record in the history of aviation.

Even for the Maldives, it was the construction of their international airport that paved the way for tourism in the country. With the first aircraft landing on the slotted steel runway on 10th of April 1962, the main international gateway at Hulhule’ island has come a long way since it’s humble beginnings. Over the past few years, with rapid growth of international connectivity and a huge increase of flight frequency, Velana international Airport was seeing a significant growth in passenger traffic with nearly 40 international and 50 domestic flights operating on a daily basis.

Number of Passengers Carried (million)

Aviation plays a crucial role as an enabler in the global tourism industry. It connects some of the most remote regions around the world with the global tourism source markets, bringing forth a substantial economic impact transforming their local economies. With a massive injection of foreign exchange along with a rise of employment opportunities across a wide spectrum of specializations, the global aviation industry and tourism are interconnected, and the powerful symbiotic relationship between both sectors are certainly undeniable.

The world is changing, and this is happening at the speed of light. The Aviation sector will need to make swift decisions in adapting their business operations to the current environment. From addressing the needed changes to the customer journey to major shifts in business operations and financial management, the post pandemic recovery will require adaptations to make it through to the other side. As it is, the impact on the aviation industry by the COVID 19 pandemic has surpassed many of the previous pandemics in recent history. The road to recovery will begin with the customer. The aviation sector will need to take on a more customer centric approach in order to adapt their framework to fit the “new normal”. Traffic is not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels any time soon. Therefore, it will be important for stakeholders to address the measures they can take to adjust to the changing consumer expectations alongside adjustments to operational efficiencies which would yield commercial sustainability.

Traveler Confidence In Safety & Security The highest priority should now be given towards increasing traveler confidence, and instilling trust in the service providers. Consumer priorities are also now leaning towards their safety first. As per studies conducted, they are even willing to pay more to confirm physical distancing between them and the rest of the passengers, and this is need is even greater in families with children.

WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR PHYSICAL DISTANCING 43%

60%

55%

All Consumers

Families with Children

Younger Consumers (18-40 yrs)

Source: PwC Traveler Sentiment Survey, May 2020

The Maldives has been seeing some positive signs in recovery since the reopening of the borders. The increasing flight connections and frequencies serve as a great indicator to the changing dynamics as well. In November 2020, there were 14 international flights operating to the Maldives, while it shot up to 26 by the end of December. With the latest update from the ministry of tourism, there are now a total of 28 international carriers traveling to the Maldives, which includes legacy airlines such as Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines along with some new faces to this sector. With the growing number of travelers from India, Vistara is set to commence a new route from Mumbai to the Maldives from the 03rd of March 2021. This would be the third Indian carrier joining the marketing, with GoAir and IndiGo already serving the same route. ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

AIRLINES

Information Is Power Information can also be a huge component in instilling confidence with travelers. Operators will need to ensure they maintain compliance with globally accredited health and safety protocols while at the same time communicating this information clearly to passengers. Further to this, timely and frequent communication along the customer journey is also essential. Giving them information on where the traffic is, when surfaces was last cleaned, que traffic info etc.

IN PREPARATION FOR TAKE-OFF

RESOLVE

RESILIENCE

• Assessing the immediate liquidity situation Evaluating operational changes Monitoring government conditions • Addressing key strategies to enhancing safety for customers and employees What roles can the private sector play • Building engagement with customers (who are yet to travel) Maintaining engagement with employees (who may not be on active duty)

RETURN • Assesing the early demand and trends (eg: segments, geographies) and what signals should we be watching out for?

RE-IMAGINATION

REFORM

• Increasing traveler confidence. What can we do for travel to be stimulated?

• How will the characteristics of demand or supply change? Who will travel, where, why and how? How much has the industry changes in terms of scale? How well can we forcast it’s recovery in the next coming years?

• Strategizing on how the organization can capture a fair share of the growing demand

• Evaluating the changes to customer journey, expectations, consumer behaviour, technological innovations

• Scaling operations to ensure commercial efficiency

• Changes to the travel value change (who will come out stronger, weaker, evolved)

Source: McKinsey & Company

Deployment Of High-Tech Solutions There are also quite a few points where AI integration and automation could be deployed to facilitate better crowd flow management, which is an absolute necessity at a time like this. Boarding systems automated with mobile activations alongside 3D cameras that can capture and process real-time density analytics to measure the degree of risk in airport spaces etc.

Source: International Airport Review

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Partnerships And Affiliations Some airlines are even launching fairly odd collaborations in order to enhance their safety protocols. British Airways recently partnered up with Reckitt Benkiser, the creator of the globally renown brand Dettol, where their products will be introduced at all points of the customer journey from ground to the air. The newly launched cleaning protocol is also endorsed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, giving the entire initiative a lot more weight and credibility in instilling confidence in travelers.

long-haul passenger jets over the bigger aircrafts. The Dubai based carrier, Emirates is currently heavily burdened with their existing orders, and are now looking to switch from the 77X to the 787 Dreamliner as they now face a completely different reality to what they had previously forecasted. This will be the case for many carriers, and some will not have the backing they need to sustain liquidity in order to pull them through these tough times.

Shift From Direct To Hub & Spoke `

Even before the pandemic, this has been a hot topic in the industry. With the advancement of technology in the aviation industry, the point to point (P2P) carriers were taking on a bigger chunk of the market share over connecting flights. The driving force behind this segment was actually the business travelers. However, it is the leisure travel segment that is expected to recover sooner than the business travel segment. Leisure travelers are much more price sensitive, and therefore makes up the bigger portion of international connecting traffic. In effect, now the entire system is in reverse, where the hub and spoke model has taken the lead, driven by economics and the need for airlines to embrace operational efficiency. McKinsey & Company reports that the return of business travel would be a multiyear recovery and will return in phases. With nearly an year of lockdowns and social restrictions, people are longing to escape and get in touch with the great outdoors. Post crisis, airlines will need to analyze and re-build their hub systems to enhance their overall efficiencies and streamline their operations. For instance, sum hubs within close proximities may be duplicating certain routes, which may be better served being switched to other areas. These decisions will require in-depth studies on demand projections of passenger traffic. Although this may seem like a given, today with the everchanging market scape, historical patterns are no longer fitting as referral points. New technologies and solutions will need to be deployed to track real time information for accurate assessments.

Easy Transits One of the biggest stressors for connecting flights are the layovers. As there are numerous cogs and wheels in motion, failure in one segment of the entire machine could result in a cascading effect. Shorter connections have higher risk of experiencing delays or other service issues which could create chaos. Therefore, longer layovers can work well in increasing operational resilience while at the same time, creating a more comfortable transit experience for passengers. The idea of coming into contact with thousands of people from all corners of the world during transit may not be the most ideal thing for many people. However, the reduction of P2P flights might be over the horizon for many carriers in order to lower operational costs, although flight operators may look to use these flights as premium routes in order to yield, while transit options offer just a little more flexibility for greater volume.

Trimming Down Carriers will now focus a lot more on network efficiencies, alongside trimming down their fleets by losing the widebodied aircrafts for the smaller and more cost-efficient models. Singapore Airline for instance has now grounded their entire fleet of A380’s. The German carrier Lufthansa also announced the retirement of its fleet of A380’s and A340-600’S. With a reduced load factor, it makes very little financial sense to be flying these behemoths, which carries a significant operational cost. Many of the major carriers are now reviewing their fleet strategies and have already started discussions with Airbus and Boeing, the two biggest aircraft suppliers regarding their existing orders. Lufthansa along with Emirates are looking to switch to smaller

Operating an airline is extremely costly. Fuel costs, insurance and taxes, they all add up into the millions. To keep up with the expenses, carriers depend on maximizing their load factor. And this is crucial for budget carriers, who have grown in their numbers exponentially in the past decade. Geared with high seating density to maximize their load, this is how budget airlines keep their ticket prices so low. However, with social distancing now in play, this will be a major challenge for these carriers, as the new norm in many countries restrict carriers to carry passengers at full capacity in order to maintain safety measures.

Outlook Travel itself is freedom. The desire will be always be there and will continue to grow in the days to come. The recovery will call for a greater cooperation between all stakeholders, from the government, businesses to the local communities. Afterall, it is an interconnected ecosystem where we are all reliant upon each other. Therefore, working together will be crucial for the success across all sectors. Through this event, companies will need to put a greater focus on customer-centricity, as the consumer marketplace is evolving rapidly. Businesses will need to reimagine new ways to operate and transform their organizations to embrace the new realities.

“it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that surives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change” Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

AIRLINES

EMIRATES INTRODUCES SPECIAL FARES TO MALDIVES

Right on time for the Eid and summer holiday, Emirates has launched special fares for UAE travellers to book their long-awaited escape to the Maldives. Valid for bookings made until 25th April 2021 for travel until end of July 2021, the fares start from AED 3,495 in Economy Class, and AED 8,555 in Business Class. Travellers can also plan their ideal Maldivian getaway with Emirates Holidays, starting from AED 4,389 per person for a three night stay package at a four star hotel.

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Emirates currently offers 28 convenient weekly flights to the Maldives. Due to convenient, short flight timings, idyllic weather and tropical retreats, the Maldives has become an incredibly popular destination among UAE travelers for a long weekend break or extended holiday. Apart from privacy and seclusion, guests travelling to the Maldives can enjoy a stress-free journey as hotels across the islands offer convenient PCR testing within the resorts ahead of their return flight. The Maldives has remained open for tourists since July 2020, and COVID-19 health and safety measures have been implemented across all its private islands to ensure the safety and wellbeing of visitors.

Emirates remains focused on taking the stress out of travel, and has led the industry in protecting the health of its customers to ensure a feeling of safety and confidence when deciding to fly. Emirates customers travel with the assurance that the latest health and safety measures are in place at every step of the journey. The airline has also recently introduced contactless technology to ease customers through Dubai airport and has taken its customer care initiatives even further with more flexible booking policies, an extension of its multi-risk insurance cover, and helping loyal customers retain their miles and tier status.

TRANSPORT

TMA EXPANSION PLANS TO COPE WITH INCREASED VISITOR NUMBERS Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) plans to meet growing demand in visits to the Maldives by expanding its fleet. The airline has revealed its plans to add four more 19-seat Twin Otter aircraft by the third quarter of this year, making its total count to 60, according to The Airline Guru.

Furthermore, TMA plans to establish wheel-based operations, by introducing ATR twin-engine turboprop aircraft within 2021. While seaplanes will remain the preferred way to travel to resorts during daylight hours, having more wheeled planes will supplement TMA’s transfer service to ensure a 24/7 transfer solution to all the resorts in Maldives.

Founded in 1989, Trans Maldivian Airlines was bought by the US-based Blackstone Group Fund in 2013 and merged with Maldivian Air Taxi, making TMA the world’s largest seaplane operator. Before the Covid pandemic, they operated an average of 150 daily flights across the Maldives, serving more than 80 resorts.

The Italian-French turboprops will be based at the new Madivaru airport in Lhaviyani Atoll, north of Male’. Completed in 2020 at the cost of USD eight million, Madivaru features a 3,940ft (1,200m)-long runway and Trans Maldivian is going to have a wheel plane hangar there.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

REVENUE MANAGMENT

BY IAN CHINN

3 Ways to Build Business Resilience for Hotels & Resorts The uncertainties brought by COVID-19 were a deadly blow to both livelihoods and bottom lines, and it continues into 2021. Many hotel and resort operators, in a bid to grab as much revenue as possible, continue to take “every and any booking” they can, often in desperation, leaving money on the table due to unnecessary price wars. This often means higher cancellations as guests rebook lower rates at competing properties. However, there are some things hoteliers can learn from other industries. These lessons can help you reinforce resilience in times of uncertainty to stem losses and maximize both short- and long-term gains. 50

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Ian Chinn, Director of Sales, APAC, IDeaS

Lockdowns during the pandemic gave rise to a number of opportunities spurned from sudden and often unexpected demand. Companies such as popular ride hailing and food-delivery service Grab leveraged technology to identify trends and revenue opportunities. This enabled them to capitalize on their delivery segment and optimize processes to “perform 60 percent more orders per hour.” A survey by Bain & Company also cites a change in trends, showing the pandemic has altered the consumer landscape to become more digital across all age groups. This means automation has become more imperative if businesses are to efficiently forecast, optimize, decide and monitor their revenues and strategies. For hoteliers to stay competitive and afloat amidst this turbulent environment, revenue teams would need to effectively analyze a ton of data and then manage at least 365 bookings days, for all room types, across all channels, while monitoring every competitor’s move. They would also need to ensure not to react too fast or too slow to avoid impacting their competitive performance. So, where do we start? Here are three ways hotels and resorts can build business resilience.

impact on your pick-up, and uncover product performance opportunities (room type, packages, rates, etc.). A word of caution: it is not about the quantity of data analyzed but about timeliness and relevancy of the analysis that help you make the best-informed decisions. Level Up: Review your market segmentations to enable you to better understand your customers, forecast, strategize, and improve accountability. Consider the “new normal,” booking behaviors, emerging markets, uncertainties, and the businesses that overlap with your competitors.

1. Invest in Mining & Analyzing Your Data

2. Automate for Productivity & Agility

Data is truly the new gold—and is the foundation of better decision-making and revenue strategy. Begin by ensuring you are collecting, segmenting, and analyzing the right data. In addition to reviewing market segmentation definitions, more and more hotels are focusing on additional spends, cost of booking, room-type performance (booked vs. stayed), channel vs. source, point-of-sale vs. nationality, frequency of booking, rebooking risk and competitor pricing behavior (by room type).

Automation today has enabled us to grow wealth by robot-investors, reduce headcount with automated telemarketers, improve marketing spend efficiency through personalized advertising and more—personally, I’ve saved significant time thanks to Netflix’s movie recommendations.

Collecting and making sense of the most essential data will help you forecast better, adapt faster, and make key revenue management decisions with agility. These decisions should include pricing, segmentation mix, product personalization, distribution channel, upsell offerings, and length-of-stay controls. Digesting the information can also be used to better understand your pick-up trends, sharpen your forecast, measure your competitor’s

a 2019 SKIFT report cited less than 20 percent of hotels utilize automated revenue technology. A McKinsey article cites the clear benefit, stating 50 to 70 percent of tasks can be automated with “a return on investment most often in tripledigit percentages.” Where does one start? It truly depends since every property’s setup, strategy, positioning, environment, and technology infrastructure is unique. The guiding principle is to achieve the minimum industry standard—one process at a time. Start with systems that help you frequently re-evaluate market conditions, make decisions and manage the distribution of rates, inventory controls and booking data. Level Up: There is value in adopting innovation from other industries. For example, the revenue management discipline, born in the airline industry, is now widely accepted and adopted by hotels. Observe non-hospitality industries and how they leverage automation and what can we as an industry adopt.

Most of us would agree demand has become much more volatile in nature. When demand has a sudden change, properties operating revenue management in a manual environment are at a disadvantage. Reacting quickly and intelligently to market changes is a roundthe-clock task and a challenge. Hotels that adopted some or full automation can proactively implement decisions and react to any market changes substantially quicker. Automation helps increase productivity, save costs, streamline processes, and enable more revenue opportunities. Yet, despite the clear upsides of automation, ISSUE 51 HOTELIER MALDIVES

REVENUE MANAGMENT

3. MEMBRACE & ADAPT TO CHANGE The rate of change today is fast and furious. For example, India emerged and overtook China as the Maldives’ largest source market in December 2020. Bain & Company’s study also showed a recent change in consumer trends toward digital adoption across of 8,600 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) respondents and across a short span of six months, further entrenching the need to excel in the digital space. • 84% were first-time app users and were likely to continue • 47% of consumers decreased offline purchases • 30% shopped online for the first time and had increased their spend Most interestingly—particularly for properties targeting the grey-hair markets—78 percent of 45 to 54-year-old consumers tried shopping on apps for the first time and 35 percent of those aged 55+ plan to shop even more online in the future. This digital shift likely means the further decline in the traditional over-the-counter bookings (at least for ASEAN outbounds) in favor of digital channels, which are fast-paced. Brand loyalty also got a whole different meaning. The study also indicated ASEAN consumers had tried purchasing from companies they typically do not buy from. This was about 40 percent on average in ASEAN—higher than the USA (23%) and China (22%). Encourage innovation and the exploration of new techniques and markets. Enable your teams with revenue analytics to keep up to speed with market changes and allow your hotel or resort to quickly adapt. These are some best practices that have enabled other companies like Grab, Zoom and Disney to remain relevant and grow returns.

It’s your time to shine. Light up your commercial strategy, and work smarter—not harder— with automated, data-driven decisions you can count on.

Subscribe to the future. Get started today. Discover greater profitability at ideas.com. apac@ideas.com

Level Up: Extend your technological change management to include reviewing your sales, marketing and revenue management processes, SOP’s and culture. If you find the change process challenging, find motivation in Angela Duckworth’s book Grit. The key to identifying and capturing opportunities is best summed up by Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory. Agility and quick adaptation enable companies to not only manage change but set a more resilient course for their businesses. For more information on how your hotel or resort can build business resilience and accelerate its revenue recovery, please visit: www.ideas.com or email apac@ideas.com

The 4 Step Sales System: Frequently Asked Questions WHAT IS THE 4 STEP SALES SYSTEM?

The 4 Step Sales System is a Content Marketing Solution tailored for the specific requirements of a company. It helps to create brand awareness among a target market, generate engagement, generate sales leads and over time develop and maintain a ‘permission asset base’ composed of high value customers.

What are the 4 steps of the system?

Step 1 Interruption

An online article about your company, an interview or product or service review with an offer to download a company profile or product or service brochure.

Step 2 Free Offer & Call to Action

In exchange for their email addresses and contact details and ‘permission’ to receive more information about the company or product.

Step 3 Follow up

Send out more information about your company, product, or service. Request for more permission if required.

Step 4 Content Marketing

Offer useful content on a regular basis; this could be a regular email with updates, a periodic newsletter, etc.

How much does it cost? Initial Introductory Offer: USD 800/The introductory offer for this tool is USD 800/- for all 4 steps which includes writing of the article, Creating the Call to Action and Follow up with - and first piece of content marketing sent out to respondents to the campaign.

Retainer for Content Marketing; USD 550/- month

Contact:

Email: sales@hoteliermaldives.com Mobile: +960 7910858, +960 7999008

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

OPINION

BY SAHLA Z AHIR

Opinion:

Getting the Right Exchange Rate Critical to Sustain Tourism Industry The value of one currency against another is indicated by the foreign exchange rate and it is believed by economic experts that attaining the right exchange rate is a crucial component in achieving economic stability and growth, especially for developing countries. The two most common exchange rate regimes adopted by countries in establishing foreign exchange rates are either a fixed or a pegged exchange rate regime where the local currency is tied to a stronger foreign currency or a flexible or floating exchange rate regime where market forces are allowed to act to determine what the exchange rate should be.

Maldives operated a free floating exchange rate between 1987 and 1994, when the exchange rate of the US dollar to the Rufiyaa ranged between 8.50 and 11.50. In 1994 Maldives moved to a pegged or a fixed exchange rate regime, where the value of Rufiyaa was tied to the US dollar. However, the value of other currencies in terms of Rufiyaa was allowed to fluctuate in line with the changes in exchange rates between those currencies and the US dollar. In a fixed exchange rate regime, the country which is setting the peg loses a degree of independence over its monetary policy and its ability to control inflation through the setting of interest rates and to freely manage its money supply. It must ensure that the quantity of its own money that is in circulation in its economy remains in balance with the quantity of dollars available to be exchanged at the set rate. This becomes especially problematic in economies which are highly dependent on imports and operate in current account deficits – i.e. the amount of imports is more than what it exports. As the value of the US dollar strengthened against other major currencies and the Maldives’ economy developed, the government’s and population’s requirement for imported goods rapidly grew above the pace at which the

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tourism industry could bring in foreign currency. At the same time oil prices increased and the revenue the country was generating through fish exports also tightened. This resulted in the exchange rate being overvalued against US dollar, which lead the government to devalue the Rufiyaa in 2001, where buying rates and selling rates were fixed at MVR 12.75 and MVR 12.85 respectively. When the global financial crisis hit in 2007-2008, the Maldives again faced a shortage of US dollar inflows and the fixed exchange rate became considerably overvalued. This led the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) to revise the exchange rate regime in 2011, allowing a horizontal band of 20% fluctuation on either side of the fixed rate of MVR 12.85 per US dollar. The official announcement was that the country moved to a floating band in the range 10.28 to 15.42

per US dollar, but in practice the official rate has been steady at 15.42 since the change and devaluation, while at the same time a parallel (black) market has developed with higher exchange rates. The mismatch and the parallel market premium remained relatively stable during 2017-2019 when tourism was doing relatively well and there was a lot of infrastructure investment in the country, with the rate at about MVR 15.85 per dollar. Since the second half of 2020, the premium has increased significantly, when the country went into deep recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic and faced a massive reduction in foreign exchange inflows. At present, there appears to be a significant mismatch in the foreign exchange market, and the parallel market rate is at about 16-20% above the official upper band of 15.42.

Mismatch in the foreign exchange market and the current account deficit As the Maldives economy is over-reliant on the tourism industry, almost 90% of foreign currency inflows are contributed by the sector. In fact, as per 2019 government figures, tourism receipt inflows are estimated at USD 3.4 billion. Inflows from fish exports and other merchandise exports contributed USD 360 million in 2019. The total inflows recorded in the current account of the Maldives is estimated to be at USD 3.8 billion during the year. However, the total outflows during the same year stands at USD 5.3 billion, resulting in a USD 1.5 billion deficit in the current account. In other words, a net outflow of USD 1.5

billion. The current account is a key indicator of economic strength, which is the balance of trade - export of goods and services minus imports, plus net investment income from abroad and net transfers. A deficit current account balance simply means that the total value of imports is higher than the total value of exports which will result in net outflow of money from the country. The Maldives spent almost 73% of our foreign currency earnings on Imports of goods (USD 2.8 billion) in 2019. Another 36% of receipts (USD 1.3 billion) flowed out as travel and transportation expenditure

by Maldivian residents. Additionally, 16% of the receipts (USD 595 million) flow out as workers’ remittances for the country’s large expatriate population. In total, 140% of the total foreign exchange inflows left the country in 2019, meaning for every USD 100 the country brought in, we have spent USD 140 during that year. If so, how have we funded the over one-billion-dollar imbalance per year over the past 5 years? It had to be financed by a combination of Government and private sector borrowings, foreign grants, and foreign direct investments. Considering the total direct

Government borrowings during the past five years (as per the published debt statistics), we are looking at over USD 4 billion financed by the private sector in the form of borrowings and equity investments. When a significant component of the current account imbalance is financed through external borrowings from the private sector, such borrowings will incur debt repayments every year. This is reflected in the ‘Income transfers’ under the Outflows in the Table below.

How has it changed due the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession? Maldives closed its borders on March 2020 and as a result all tourist facilities were shut down. This was soon after record-breaking tourist arrivals in 2019 with almost 1.7 million tourists, and it was the first time in the history of the country that the country experienced a total shut down of the tourism industry. The borders reopened 3 months later on the 15th of July 2020

but with only a limited number of resorts opening and very low tourist numbers. Tourist numbers started to to pick up significantly only in December 2020. With all the resorts out of operation for more than three months, and limited occupancies for the rest of the year, the total tourism receipts decreased by US$2

Imports Travel Outflows Income transfers Workers remittance Total Outflows

2019 2,753.08 1,338.75 580.42 595.38 5,267.62

2020 1,676.69 644.46 285.48 213.94 2,820.56

CHANGE (1,076.39) (694.29) (294.94) (381.44) (2,447.06)

Exports Tourism inflows Income transfers in Remittance in Total Inflows

360.69 3,358.30 20.93 14.39 3,754.30

256.44 1,333.06 14.35 117.74 1,721.59

(104.25) (2,025.24) (6.58) 103.36 (2,032.71)

(1,513.32)

(1,098.97)

414.35

Deficit/Surplus

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

OPINION

billion and total imports of the country in 2020 declined by more than USD 1 billion, saving the country about USD 90 million per month. Similarly, with international borders closed, and Maldivians’

travel restricted, outflows from outbound travel also declined by USD 694 million in 2020. Additionally, the total of income transfers and workers’ remittances combined declined by USD 676 million as banks

instated interest and debt repayment moratoriums and foreign workers were sent home or put on reduced pay. As a result, the total outflows during the year recorded a reduction of USD 2.4 billion compared to

2019, and the country reduced its net outflows by USD 414 million, as the fall in inflows was at almost USD 2 billion.

What has caused the misalignment? What has created the imbalance in the exchange rate? In addition to the country having a current account deficit exceeding 20% of GDP over the past 5 years, the present imbalance in the foreign exchange market is also due to the extremely difficult economic conditions. The government has had to monetize over 45% of its expenditure by borrowing from the central bank or by printing money. The Maldives’ Ministry of Finance had borrowed about MVR 4 billion from the Maldives Monetory Authority by July 2020 (by January 2021, part of it has been repaid back) and as at January 2021, the net borrowings over the past 12 months remains at MVR 2.7 billion (which is a 45% increase in money supply in the form of newly printed money). Financing Government expenditure by printing money is the worst macroeconomic management prescription, and one that will definitely bring about an imbalance in the foreign exchange market. Government debt monetization specifically in weaker and less-developed economies will lead to excessive inflation and weakening of the local currency. With such a fundamental imbalance, introducing administrative measures that make it harder to conduct business in the country and new regulations on capital controls would only make things worse by losing investor confidence, central bank credibility and leading to further speculation. There is a fundamental imbalance between the inflows and outflows of foreign exchange in the country due to the excess in Ruffiya supply circulating in the economy. De-dollarizing the economy will not increase foreign currency inflows, instead it will hand control of the entire

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There is much debate on whether the shortage of foreign currency is due to the secret hoarding of dollars by tourism investors and whether de-dollarising measures can be used to address this problem. The facts are that businesses in Maldives are subject to a very efficient tax regime administered by MIRA and it is impossible to hide income and profits through transfer pricing. All tourism income is received into local banks which are well regulated by the MMA and the whole system is highly transparent. The industry pays its taxes, suppliers and staff (local and expatriate) in US dollars, which allows a large portion of the foreign exchange to enter the local economy. The balance goes to creditors and investors – it is this part that makes the Maldives an attractive opportunity for foreign investors and any actions that harm this will be detrimental to the prospects of the industry that brings in 90% of foreign exchange to the country.

foreign currency supply to the government which will still not be able to match supply and demand but be subject to allocating foreign exchange to its obligations based on political motives. If the fixed exchange rate is maintained, there will continue to be a shortage of foreign currency with the only difference being that it will become harder for the tourim industry to gain access to the dollars it needs to function – this in turn will have very significant consequenses for the entire economy which is so highly dependant on it. It will be practically difficult to bring about de-dollarization measures at a time when there is huge imbalance in the foreign exchange market, and when business confidence

is at an all time low. Success stories of other economies which de-dollarized had high growth rate, low to moderate inflation, strong monetory and fiscal policies. Any dedollalization measures can only be sucessfully applied gradually with proper sequencing of macroeconomic policies. Who will want to convert their foreign currency savings with the knowledge that the value of Maldivian Rufiyaa is falling by the day? The bottom line is, when the macro-economic fundamentals are mis-aligned, there will always be imbalance in the foreign exchange market. That has been the case in the Maldives. Without establishing monetary credibility and a sound fiscal policy and

regaining confidence in the domestic currency, there will be no easy way to move out of this crisis. Administrative changes, or capital controls will only make things worse and create more panic and uncertainty. Direct controls on capital outflows and direct instruments of monetary policy (with limited foreign currency reserve) are never an option to stabilize the exchange rate in small open economies and will irreversibly damage the one industry that the country relies on to survive.

SAFETY & SECURITY

BY MOHAMED SHAMY ADAM

IMPORTANCE OF FIRE SAFETY IN THE MALDIVES TOURISM INDUSTRY obligation upon the Ministry of Defense and National Security. The Regulation, titled “the Regulation of implementation of protection against fire incidents in the tourist resorts” had the main objective of reducing the incidents of fire and saving lives of the people, plus, protecting valuable investments of the resorts, promote awareness and get the resorts to establish their own fire squad in the event of a fire. Even though the regulation was

passed, many of the resorts did not comply with the requirements, consequently in 2015 another ultimatum was given to for Resorts to comply fully within 2 years for operational resorts and new developments would not be issued with operating licenses unless all regulations were complied with. One mandatory requirement was for fire alarm and detection systems, either conventional or addressable. To date almost 95% of resorts has complied with this requirement but still some very few resorts have still not fulfilled this requirement.

The Republic of Maldives (Maldives Islands) is geographically scattered in different atolls which means the resort hotels are located across 495 kilometers of 1200 islands. This has triggered the necessity for all islands, resort and local, to be self-sufficient in their administration and operation. Only the main inhabited islands had key services such as the National Fire and rescue stations established, and it could take several hours for fire and rescue teams to reach other islands in the case of fire emergencies. A regulation was passed from the Maldivian government under “The law of ministry of defense and National security”, (Act 1/2008 subject clause 7). This made the prevention of fire incidents and the service of protecting and securing the lives and properties of the people, an

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SAFETY & SECURITY

It was also mandatory to keep fire extinguishers in certain locations of the guest rooms and service outlets and in the back of house areas and 80% of the staff should have the knowledge to use fire extinguishers and to react in case of fire emergencies. Fire extinguishers should be kept in order to control an outbreak of fire incident. It should be maintained under BS5306 or another international standard. Wet chemical fire extinguishers should be installed in kitchens and optional kitchen hood fire suppression system is installed in most of the resorts. Moreover, fire blankets should be installed in all kitchens is mandatory Secondly the resort should have either a pressurized hydrant system or portables pumps and accessories to fight the fire and the resort fire squad should be trained on firefighting to make full use of these firefighting equipment. Minimum 2 portable pump (1800 liters per min or above) is required with additional hoses to cater for 90% of the resort including branch pipes. All pump sets for the hydrant system should be automatically able to start and if the electric fails it should automatically start the diesel pump. The tank assigned for the hydrant system should be able to support to the pump

system and there should be enough water to withstand the fire fighting for minimum one hour. And additional supply of water to the tanks should be organized in case of fire to confirm the supply of water to the pump system. If using portable pumps 2.5-inch fire hose should be available with instantaneous couplings. These pumps should be maintained daily/ weekly/monthly to keep the fire fighting

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equipment in ready condition. The fire squad should be provided with the firefighting gear and BA sets and should be well trained to use this equipment. Each resort should have minimum 4 sets of fire suits/ and breathing apparatus with spare cylinders. Every individual of the fire squad should possess a certificate from an institution approved by ministry of defense. At least 7 staff from the fire squad should always be available on the resort at all times

firefighting squads, first aid teams, evacuation teams. Fire emergency plan should be practiced at least twice a year to make sure all teams can function efficiently according to the plan, identify any loopholes, and integrate any new team members into the plan. All resorts and hotels are now required to submit disaster management plans that includes managing all types of disaster to the MNDF. It is compulsory that these

With the inception of the regulation for gas and petroleum storage, it was also mandatory for the resorts to protect their fuel tanks in the islands with a foam pouring and drenching system. The fuel storage tanks design and installation were to be approved by the ministry of defense/ MNDF fire and rescue services. For maintenance of all fire systems and equipment in the resorts, most of the resorts have a retainer contract with one of the licensed companies in the Maldives With the inception of the regulation for gas and petroleum storage, it was also mandatory for the resorts to protect their fuel tanks in the islands with a foam pouring and drenching system. The fuel storage tanks design and installation were to be approved by the ministry of defense/ MNDF fire and rescue services. For maintenance of all fire systems and equipment in the resorts, most of the resorts have a retainer contract with one of the licensed companies in the Maldives Resorts use a lot of wood and thatch, making them a highly combustible structure. Every resort/hotel should have a fire emergency plan with standard operating procedures in case of an outbreak of a fire at the facility. These plans should be clearly communicated to staff and guests and include how to identify when such an incident occurs and how to inform all staff and guests. Dedicated, trained teams should be formed so they can be activated in case of an emergency, this includes crisis management teams,

crisis management plans are practiced once a year and the information sent to the ministry. The Resort Fires of the last few years have emphasized the importance for having an emergency plan and professionally trained team in place. Stallion Maldives provide complete fire solutions and training; their specialist personnel can also assist in formulating disaster management plans that fit the requirements of the Resort / Hotel and comply to all MNDF requirements.

SUSTAINABILITY

BY JANET SMAILES

Making the Connection! Responsible Tourism and Traditional Maldivian One-by-One Tuna Fisheries Sustainably caught Tuna – Yes, we have heard of it, some of us even search it out in the sea of canned tuna choices in the supermarket aquarium, but how many actually know what makes it sustainable, or what pole-and-line fishing actually is?

catching tuna one by one using a hook and handline or with a barbless hook and a pole. This method is highly selective, has low environmental impact, and is therefore about as sustainable as tuna fishing gets! Catching one by one avoids the mass massacre of sharks, turtles and other sea creatures that netting causes, and avoids removing too many young fish which contributes to the depletion of fish stock.

One-by-one fishing is a centuries old technique for catching tuna that is thought to have originated in the Maldives. It is

Fishing and the Maldives are inseparable, the island nation is 99% water making it heavily dependent upon the vast ocean that surrounds it, so fishing is in the blood – the core of the very fabric of its society. The art of a pole-and-line fishing has been handed down from generation to generation, vessels are owned by family units, thereby providing livelihood and income opportunities, especially in the outer island communities where tourism has made less of an impact. It is labour intensive and arduous but plays an important part in the economy and life in general, with an estimated 30 to 35% of the domestic workforce engaged in fishing related activities. Fishermen use sight, not sound to locate their prey. Seabirds are sought out as homing beacons, their circling giving away the secret to what lies beneath the serene blue ocean glistening under their wings. Bait fish are used to lure the unsuspecting tuna to the surface, turning the once calm water into a boiling pot of hungry mouths, whipped up into such a feeding frenzy that they will bite at any shiny object in the water, whether it be dinner, or a barbless hook that has been tantalisingly added to the fray. A quick tug on the pole and the tuna fly in a graceful arc over the shoulders of the fishermen to land on the deck behind them, where a flick of the wrist frees the hook to send the tuna slithering into a vat

of ice to preserve its freshness. The speed and dexterity of the catch are a sight to behold with fisherman standing shoulder to shoulder on the stern of the boat and a seemingly endless supply of fish rain down with unerring precision on the deck in a mesmerising blur of fishing line that never seems to snag or entangle – showcasing the true skill of the fisherman. Fishing is an integral part of the Maldivian way of life, and often a truly family affair. The men go out and catch the fish. Trips now are short, only lasting about 2 days, however, the men are often away for weeks at a time, with a new trip starting as soon as the catch is sold and offloaded. Historically, a lot of the cooking and smoking was done by the women and children, to make the traditional dried fish exported primarily to Sri Lanka. Nowadays the vast majority goes directly to local processors and exporters. Some 40% or more is still retained for domestic use and the traditional fare of garudhiya, curry, and rihaakuru. These days processing for domestic consumption is done by small businesses and commercial processors, although women still play a significant role in this cottage industry. Over the past decades the pole-and linefishing method has evolved to become a licensed and protected traditional practice elevating the Maldivian model to global recognition. The International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) is a U.K. registered charity that works internationally developing supply to meet the growing consumer demand for environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tuna. One-by-one tuna fisheries are now widely recognized as having low environmental impacts with a clear social benefit, that stimulate coastal economies, sustains local employment opportunities, and contributes to food security. The Maldives as a nation has perhaps the highest per ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

SECTION TITLE

Fishing and the Maldives are inseparable, the island nation is 99% water making it heavily dependent upon the vast ocean that surrounds it, so fishing is in the blood – the core of the very fabric of its society. capita fish consumption in the world, with an average 142 kg eaten by each Maldivian in 2016! IPNLF have been working in the Maldives since its inception in 2012, to develop and promote the fishery in the developed markets of the U.K., EU, USA, Australia, and South Africa. IPNLF members around the world have a core aim of ensuring a sustainable source of tuna, whilst protecting the livelihood of the local population. Well known international retailers and brands such as Marks & Spencer’s, Migro, Sainsbury’s, Whole Foods, EDEKA, Woolworths (SA), American Tuna and Sirena are part of this initiative, plus of course the local companies MIFCO, Horizon and Ensis. Fisheries and tourism are the two driving industries of the Maldivian economy, however instead of being intrinsically linked to benefit each other they go their separate ways. Sustainable Tourism, Responsible Tourism and Eco Friendly are the new buzz words in travel with 87% of global travellers saying that they want to travel more sustainably (Luggage Hero 2020). Sustainably caught Tuna is something the Maldives has in abundance, yet the vast majority of tourism providers fail to capitalise on this amazing feature, nor offer their guests a chance to learn more about the culture behind it. Instead, they promote their sustainable policies of no single use plastic, solar power, home grown herbs, fruits and vegetables, and culinary experiences, but without a mention of the most sustainable item on their doorstep – the humble tuna! This truly is a conundrum, and one that IPNLF are keen to find a solution for. After all, tuna is the life blood of the picturesque, idyllic setting where these tourism providers are based.

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IPNLF has a responsible tourism initiative to escalate awareness of sustainably caught Tuna throughout the tourism industry. Their aim is to: • Deliver a unique education programme to facilitate the sharing of local stories and memorable moments to raise awareness and understanding of one-by-one fishing. • Provide an experience where guests can connect with the local environment, so they can make responsible seafood choices. • Encourage sustainable sourcing to increase procurement from local fisheries to support the growing recognition of responsible one-by-one tuna fisheries. To this end IPNLF supported the Fishermen’s Community & Training Centre (FCTC) opened on Gan Island in Laamu Atoll, managed by the Maldives Fishermen’s Association. The FCTC provides support, invaluable fisheries training, and education. FCTC also provides a potential fishery zone (PFZ) information service where fishermen would call to the Centre for locations of best fishing grounds of the day. IPNLF envisages a future where these

two industries work closely together to further strengthen the sustainability of their activities for the benefit of their businesses, the environment, and local people. Resorts can engage with IPNLF and take advantage of promoting the low impact one-by-one fishing aspect of the Maldives in their restaurants. IPNLF can help develop and implement responsible and ethical sourcing policies and provide educational seminars and experiences for both the team and the guests.

immerse themselves into understanding the multilevel kaleidoscope of fish and fauna that are hidden within the crystalclear waters and coral reefs, better connecting them with the culture of the people who are at the very heart of “The sunny side of life”. Resorts are proud to display their sustainable projects and initiatives on their websites, so why not the compelling “Tale of the Tuna” which encompasses sustainability, responsible and ecotourism, - all the current marketing trends!

Dr M. Shiham Adam, a local scientist who is well-respected internationally, directs IPNLF operations in the Maldives. He was Director General of the now Maldives Marine Research Institute for 18 years, during which time he represented the Maldives in various scientific and technical meetings of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. He is a passionate and compelling orator about the environmental and social benefits of one-by-one fishing and the value this could bring to the tourism industry. Tourists like a story, So why not use one that comes from the very waters that have enticed them to travel from all corners of the globe. This will allow them to experience, and truly

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

WATERSPORT & DIVING

BY KRISTIE LEE MURRAY

LUXURY SURFING IN THE MALDIVES 62

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A retrospective look into the humble beginnings of Maldives surf tourism in 1989 and the tale of a legendary Australian surfer, to the luxurious five-star settings, sustainable surf tourism and the world’s most prestigious surfing event of the modern day.

WATERSPORT & DIVING

HISTORY OF MODERN SURFING IN MALDIVES

Tony Hussein Hinde & Dara Ahmed

The international surfing community’s best kept secret was concealed by an Australian man for more than two decades. Tony Hussein Hinde, the pioneer of the Maldives surf travel industry, arrived in Maldives by chance in 1973 as a 20-year-old adventurer. The private yacht that he and fellow Australian friend hitched a ride,

became stranded upon an exposed Maldivian coral reef, 3 nights after departing the shores of Sri Lanka. The pair made a discovery that Maldives was home to picture perfect, empty surf breaks that the world was yet to know about. It was evident that surfing had not yet taken off in Maldives and he desired to keep it that way. With the utmost discretion, Tony revealed his dearest secret to only a very select few he deemed would

honour a pledge of absolute secrecy. All but one comrade kept the pact. After travelling the incredible atolls delivering rice and supplies to local inhabited islands, Tony soon came to realise North Malé was an ideal home base. He lived on Himmafushi Island for 15 years. Tony Hussein Hinde married Zulfa Ismail, a local Malé woman in 1983, after adopting the Islamic faith and a simple local Maldivian lifestyle. As a means to support his young family, he first started providing

surf tours in 1989 for his close personal contacts. Two years later, Atoll Adventures PVT LTD was formed and became the first specialist surfing operator in the Maldives. The company was the sole surfing agent of Tari Village Resort, situated on Kanuoiy Huraa Island at the time. Tony handpicked the island, now known as Cinnamon Dhonveli today, due to its unparalleled location and in his opinion, it represented the best region of surfing in the Maldives.

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As Tony strategically decided to introduce the world’s surfing community to the Maldives, he believed surf tourism should be managed in a responsible and sustainable manner. The number of surfers staying on the island was limited in the very beginning, in hopes to prevent overcrowding and mass tourism. Tony was passionate about ensuring all his guests had an enjoyable experience, were well looked-after and of course, got their fair share of perfect pristine waves. Over the decades, successive resort managements across the Maldives have embraced Tony’s surf tourism philosophy and supported it in managing the access to Maldives’ most acclaimed surf breaks, including world-renowned ‘Pasta Point,’ perched at the end of Dhonveli’s house reef. Today, a maximum number of just 30 surfers can be booked on the Atoll Adventures’ surf program at Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort. Sadly, at age 55, Tony Hussain Hinde rode his last wave at his beloved Pasta Point on May

27th 2008, where he suffered a cardiac arrest and was unable to be revived. He died doing what he loved most, in one of his favourite places in the world. Tony surfed his way in to the Maldives 48 years ago and left behind a legacy that to this day, continues to grow and provide a significant source of income for a beautiful island nation and its surf community. Dara Ahmed, Operations Manager of Atoll Adventures worked with Tony for over 15 years, spending more time with him than his own family. “Tony Hussein Hinde was more my family than my boss. A brother, a friend, a mentor. I worked side by side and never felt he was my boss, it felt like he was a best friend and a brother.” Having worked at Atoll Adventures for over 20 years and being the most experienced Surf Operations Manager in the Maldives, Dara is a highly respected role model for Maldivians seeking a career in the country’s surfing industry. Dara started surfing in 1994 and began working at Pasta Point

Tony Hussein Hinde

Cinnamon Dhonveli (Kanuoiy Huraa Island)

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in 1995. During the mid 90’s, the resort was home to just 24 rooms and fewer surfers; predominantly Australians, Americans, Japanese, New Zealanders & Brazilians. Dara reflects fondly on the days of manual guest relation procedures and surf operations. “Very slow boats. No mobiles or radio sets. There was no way to check the forecast, wind direction, surf size or swell like we do now. In the old days, we took a chance based on our experience, and mostly we used flags for the wind direction.

Now we can check where the swell is coming from and what the wind will be like in advance as we are connected with modern day technologies. We can immediately contact our guides and clients via radio and mobile communications, and we arrange immediate surf transfers, even if it’s just one client.” Dara describes the times when the resort’s safety plan was also based on a flag system.

“If there was an injured surfer, a flag would be flown and a dhoni arranged for the surfer to be taken to Male, a one-anda-half to two-hour journey in those days. Now if there’s an incident we immediately know what has happened and the island’s in house doctor will attend to the injured. If they cannot be treated on the island, the client is taken to Male, just 20-minutes by speedboat.” Today, the Atoll Adventures team continues Tony Hussein Hinde’s legacy of providing highly sought-after surfing holidays to Pasta Point. His principles of service and sustainability remain, along with his training and support ethos. Atoll Adventures prides itself on employing only local Maldivian staff and surf guides. All surfing guests and companions staying at Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort must book the Atoll Adventures surfing package which permits

the Best Surf Resort in South Asia by the South Asian Travel Awards, for three consecutive years (2016, 2017 & 2018), the Best Surf Resort 2019 by Maldives Travel Awards and the Best Maldives Surf Resort 2020 by South Asian Travel Awards, it’s clear the experienced team from Atoll Adventures are doing something very right. With a number of Australian and USA clients returning annually for more than two decades to get their fix of the perfect left-hand wave Pasta Point, it’s a true testament to the legacy Tony Hussein Hinde began in the late 1980’s. Naturally, the popularity of surfing has grown globally, especially in European countries and in particular, in Russia during recent times. Pre-COVID, from mid-March to late October each year, Cinnamon Dhonveli was almost fully booked with surfing

at Atoll Adventures expect that once the Australian & New Zealand markets are able to travel again, the resort will see a surge of bookings for 2022 & 2023. In the up coming half decade, the team from

Atoll Adventures will continue to improve on the operation and services at the resort. At present Atoll Adventures has new customised boats for surfing and fishing, along with a Jet Ski used as safety and assistance vehicle, plus as a current deterrent for clients wishing to surf at times of high current. Acquiring more rental boards and running a surf school for general tourists at the resort who wish to experience surfing for the first time is also planned. Engaging with the Ministry of Tourism and key industry stakeholders who share the same view of enhancing the sustainability and overall quality of surf tourism nationally is high on the agenda, as Atoll Adventures believe this will result in better employment opportunities and career paths for local Maldivian surfers. Tony Hussein Hinde is sadly missed and remembered every day. May he rest in peace.

surfing and includes airport transfers, accommodation, full board meals, unlimited surf transfers, fishing, snorkelling and all Maldives taxes. Bookings can only be made through Atoll Travel or one of its accredited agents as Atoll Travel coordinates all the surf bookings and manages the number of surfing guests at Pasta Point. Fast forward 32 years since the early days on Kanuoiy Huraa Island and Cinnamon Dhonveli is now home to 150 water, garden and beach villas. Named

guests, with an impressive rate of 75% repeater guests annually. “We actually never closed (in 2020). We had one client staying with us over the whole lockdown period. The guest did a 6-month stint which kept the lights running on the island. In hindsight he said it was one of the best things he ever did, he just arrived back yesterday for a 54-day stint,” reveals Dara Ahmed. It’s not unusual for periods within the peak surfing season (March - October) to book out 2 years in advance. The team

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WATERSPORT & DIVING

THE WORLD’S MOST LUXURIOUS SURFING EVENT Labelled the most luxurious professional surfing competition in the world, the Four Seasons (FS) Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy, held annually at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa (since 2011) excluding 2020) showcases the elite of the elite when it comes to professional surfing athletes. An invitational only 7-day spectacle, is exclusive to a handful of the world’s most talented professional surfers, who exhibit their repertoire of surfing skills, by competing across three categories of surf board riding: single-fin, twin-fin and triple-fin thruster. Four Seasons (FS) Kuda Huraa, is highly regarded as one of the most luxurious surf resorts in Maldives, equipped with the experienced team from Tropicsurf. A stonesthrow from FS Kuda Huraa, is a selection of the best surf breaks in North Malé Atoll, including Sultans, a pictureperfect right-hander that rolls off the uninhabited island’s reef. The region boasts some of the world’s most beautiful, consistent and carve-friendly waves, making Maldives the perfect destination for such a prestigious surfing event. With a 7-day window and just three days required to complete the competition, the contest directors are spoiled with pristine surfing conditions. The luxury doesn’t end there… the Four Seasons Explorer vessel, is the Maldives’ fastest

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and most luxurious liveaboard. “A unique feature of the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy is the ability for spectators to rub shoulders with surfing’s brightest stars, whether it’s capturing the day’s surfing action aboard the Four Seasons Explorer or during nightly cocktail functions within the modern luxury of the Four Seasons Kuda Huraa” says Scott Gillies from Tropicsurf. Australian professional surfer Josh Kerr was crowned the 2019 Champion of the 9th Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy, impressively his second year consecutively, against fellow Australian Joel Parkinson. In the thruster division, 2019 Waterman Of The Year, Hawaiian Kai Lenny, took down the three-time World Championship Tour (WCT) event winner, Matt Wilkinson (Australia). Each year Tropicsurf invite one local Maldivian surfer to join the world’s best; an unforgettable opportunity for an up-and-coming Maldivian surfer and the Maldivian surfing community as a whole. Broadcast on an international stage, the Four Seasons (FS) Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy is designed to test a surfer’s depth of talent and celebrate surfing’s rich history. The prestigious event is closely followed by fellow professional surfers, champions and international surfing fans.

SURFING AND SUSTAINABILITY IN MALDIVES Sustainability is at the core values of Six Senses Laamu. Just by staying at the resort, guests contribute to the resort’s own sustainability fund, which finances marine conservation projects and initiatives for 13 local island communities. Based at Six Senses Laamu, Tropicsurf Guide Nicole says “Whether it’s your first-time surfing or you’re a seasoned pro, everybody can enjoy surfing’s ultimate thrills in safety, comfort

and style at Six Senses Laamu, and adopt sustainable practices on the island, such as learning from the leading marine scientists at the ‘Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI) about life underwater and how best to protect it.” The MUI partners with 3 NGOs: The Manta Trust, Blue Marine Foundation and The Olive Ridley Project. Six Senses Laamu has the largest Marine Biology team of any resort in Maldives and is the proud

recipient of the Gold Award from the World Travel Market Responsible Tourism Awards – for Wildlife and Nature Conservation in 2019. Planting microgreens in the garden, making coconut oil at the Earth Lab, or for the little ones, joining in on the Junior Marine Biology program are all just the beginning of a surfer’s sustainability journey at Six Senses Laamu.

Six Senses Laamu

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

WELLNESS

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

Maldives fitness trainer to the stars shares her secrets “As a fitness trainer my job is to embrace the differences among us and help clients to achieve the best version of themselves.” Kai is a fitness trainer from the Maldives who helps celebrities keep in shape and improve their fitness. Based in Male, word of her genius has spread to highend resorts in Maldives where she is regularly invited to stay and help high profile guests visiting the Maldives on their holidays to keep in shape. During her career she has worked with six exclusive resorts and has visited many more for leisure. She helps with fat loss, muscle toning and conditioning, boxing training and kids training as well as for sharing fitness related content online. “Fitness is my passion, and I am blessed to be able to do what I love every day,” she told Hotelier Maldives. “I have had the privilege to train big celebrity names and movie stars. One of my favourite resorts is Chevel Blanc Randheli where I have worked for extended periods and I have grown to love it. I think for vacation almost any resort in Maldives is ideal and beautiful.” Kai has been in the fitness game for 12 years, ‘stumbling on it after leaving High School. She said: “Me and my best friend www.hotelier.mv 6868 www.hotelier.mv

started going to the gym back in 2006 and I enjoyed attending various classes. I worked as a schoolteacher back then and did my basic training before joined a gym and eventually became a fitness instructor full time. Starting Train with Kai with nothing but with ‘big dreams’ she is an inspiration for all young women to aspire to. ”I am lucky to have a supportive family and encouraging friends who have rooted for me from day one,” shares Kai. “My business partner is my best friend. I do not think Train with Kai would reach so many

milestones without her. My parents also contribute by giving unconditional support to my brand. “I had reached one of the lowest points in my life where I had to start my career from scratch. I was determined to start on my own and build a brand that would inspire people, change lives, and create a positive impact in fitness. We started from outdoor bootcamps and personal training. “Eventually there were multiple outdoor bootcamps across Maldives at multiple islands. We

“As a fitness trainer my job is to embrace the differences among us and help clients to achieve the best version of themselves. Some clients are goal oriented while others are more focused on general health. It all depends on individual goals.” “The majority of the client’s base are women, and they come from different backgrounds. When we get together to work out, we have the best of times despite all of them being so different from one another. We are a fitness family where there is a place for everyone.” Her advice to someone wanting

diet are one of the many things to focus on. Diet is vital. “I am inspired by every client’s transformation success story. We need to see a big change in physical appearance and mental health to call it a transformation, and I find their strength and their motivation astonishing.” Kai enjoys group classes most of all, specially ‘Muay Thai’ but she also enjoys personal training. For Kai client interaction is important to her brand and it embodies everything she represents. Her top tips to share with clients wanting to get fit is to have consistency.“ Without being constant with your fitness it would be challenging to maintain it. Be dependable with your diet, your lifestyle and exercise frequently. Be sure to get enough sleep and hydrate. Be mindful of your mental health because it is just as important as your physical health. Balancing is important. Do what works for you, there is no perfect method.” Lockdown has enabled people to be more active and is sometimes necessary for our sanity. Being cooped inside the house was a struggle, especially during the early weeks when lockdown was initially starting. Now we are much acclimated to being home more frequently.

were able to create a passion for fitness among people who never even thought about fitness before. I strive to inspire fitness as a lifestyle rather than a chore you need to do.” Not only does she do private training classes, Kai also runs bootcamps in Malé and Hulhumale in the early morning and late evening. Currently these group sessions are on hold due to the current Covid-19 situation, but now she conducts classes virtually, offering downloadable content for her followers. She has a varied clientele, mainly women, although she says there is no ‘ideal client’.

to work their fitness is to spend 30-45 minutes daily investing in their health. “The activity depends on their personal fitness goals. More cardio and HIIT for weight loss, weights or aerobic exercises can be useful for maintenance, heavy lifting for gains etc. Amount of time and type of exercise can vary; however, one must always make time and prioritize their fitness.” When asked how important diet is in maintaining a slim figure she said: “maintaining a healthy diet is essential for a healthy life. If you want to keep your body at the same level; consistency, calorie control, active lifestyle, and balanced

Most of Kai’s clients are from Maldives as the company is based in Malé, however she also has international clients who are expats sometimes.Last year she was selected as one of the international ambassadors for the Dubai Fitness Challenge -an annual event based in Dubai where they hold a month-long fitness festival across the city with different activities such as marathons and cycling. For the year 2021, Kai has focused her Instagram feed to promote exquisite beaches of the Maldives. She has made many friends across the globe through Instagram who are fitness enthusiasts, and this has enabled many opportunities for Train with Kai. Kai has always been inspired by the mindset, lifestyle and the culture of the Japanese people making Japan her favourite country to visit. She travels to Phuket every year for her Muay Thai trainings.: “I absolutely love

“Fitness is my passion, and I am blessed to be able to do what I love every day,” that island, what it represents. I do frequently travel to Austria and Germany.”

Kai is the founder of @trainwithkai and @bootcamp.twk. She is a certified body transformation and a Muaythai coach, a certified sports nutritionist plus an ambassador for @ dubaifitnesschallenge ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

SUPPLIERS SUPPLIERS YOUYOU SHOULD SHOULD KNOW KNOW

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

PARADISE SKIN: A Tropical Luxury Skincare brand inspired by the Maldives

A new skincare range that uses unique ingredients found in the Maldives is taking the world by storm. It is fair to say that in the Maldives, you need skincare that is specialised in tropical weather conditions. PARADISE SKIN is a homegrown innovative brand that sets new standards in progressive skincare. Inspired by the sea and the Maldives islands, it draws from its beautiful environment to find natural ingredients specialized in protecting skin in the humidity and the high temperatures found in the archipelago. Founder of PARADISE SKIN, Nina Mariyam, spotted a gap in the market for products that cared for the skin against the tropics that were ‘both functional and efficient.’ And so, setting out with a quest to safeguard and rejuvenate skin from the perpetual ravages of harmful UV rays and external environmental stress, she created PARADISE SKIN.

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“For centuries, Maldivians embraced natural ingredients from the island and sea to nourish their soul and body. PARADISE SKIN was born to share Maldives’ traditional beauty secrets with the world. Our products are inspired by the rich marine life and tropical species found in Maldives’ sea and land - the life source to many unique organisms that can heal, renew and protect your skin,” says the brand. So, Nina decided to draw on that ancient knowledge and gather the indigenous ingredients and organisms found in the region’s natural environment. The riches of the ocean and island fruits are infused into her products. Drawing on her ancestors’ beauty secrets, PARADISE SKIN contains the materials that are known to restore, repair, and protect the skin. “What makes PARADISE SKIN so unique is this skincare interrelates both sea life and plant life found by the islanders for centuries for sustenance, beautification, and healing purposes. When you say the Maldives, you find yourself on the land, in the middle

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

of the ocean. You have the idea of nature, unpolluted, pure, balance, and magic. Our products resemble that beauty, the enchanting impression of the Maldives.” Nina mentioned.

“We harness the true magic and the benefits of the islands and our ocean. We wanted to create a skincare as unique as the Maldives,” she adds.

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Credit: PARADISE SKIN

Credit: PARADISE SKIN. SARGASSUM SEAWEED

MOISTURE SOLUTION UV DEFENCE $52

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

“The crystal-clear waters contain Maldivian seaweed and algae, while the deep-sea water has unique bacteria.” PARADISE SKIN indicates. On land, the coconuts, watermelons, and plants are rich in nutrients and antioxidants. All these and more combine to make a recipe for one of the most revolutionary skincare brand in the modern market that is Maldivian-born. “When you visit the Maldives, you have the best worldclass experiences. From private islands to Michelin Star quality, underwater restaurants, to world-class spas. Or if you look at the shopping experiences, you can get jewellery from exotic places like Sri Lanka, hats from Panama, clothes from Colombia, everything you can dream of except for good quality skincare.” says Nina. “I believe tropical climates require beauty products designed for tropical climates. And this is a fact that escapes many of our visitors. They are loyal to a brand that works for them at home and are caught unaware in our warmer, humid

weather conditions while they spend a lot of time in the sun and the ocean. And just like as you dress differently in varying degrees of weather, your skin too needs the right protection that is effective in different temperatures and humidity.” She further explains. Guided by the same concept, PARADISE SKIN, established in 2020, is proven to revive and protect skin in tropical conditions carries SOLUTION SUNSCREEN range, SUN RESCUE sheet masks range, and BODY OILS that is hard to resist. Their ‘Solution Sunscreen’ is a top seller ever since its launch last November. With a clean formula to reduce the impact on your skin and marine life, this sunscreen is light weighted and leaves no white cast. Specialized for deep hydration, brightening, and anti-aging provides the highest SPF ratings 50+ and PA++++ (UVA/UVB protection rating). It is formulated to improve your skin texture with moisture-rich ingredients: Algae extract, Marine Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, and Niacinamide.

Additionally, PARADISE SKIN is setting new standards in sheet masks. As stated by the brand, the SUN RESCUE range is unique and completely new in the skincare industry worldwide. Inspired by the Maldivian ocean, it has ingredients proven to revive and protect skin from sun exposure, sunburn, sun damage, UV radiation,

and external environmental stressors. Such unique ingredients include Sargassum Seaweed, often found on Maldivian shores, which can revive skin from sun exposure. It is packed with vitamins and minerals to boost cell renewal while protecting the skin from harmful UV rays.

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

SUN RESCUE TROPICAL SEAWEED GLOW MASK $12 Alteromonas Macleodii is another unique ingredient you can’t resist for hydration in the Maldives humidity. It is collected from the ocean’s depths 600meters underwater, says the brand. “To survive the extreme environment at 600 meters with little food, this particular organism

creates a shield that protects itself from the stressors of its severe environment. Similarly, it works like a wonder on the skin. It’s pure and natural mineral properties accelerate healing to reduce inflammation caused by the sun and external environmental stressors,” it adds. ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

SUPPLIERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

SUN RESCUE DEEP SEA HYDRATION MASK $12 A combination of Pearl Extracts and Tropical Watermelon infused in OCEAN GEM NOURISHING MASK is another product that you want to have in your beach bag. Watermelon, a must-have when visiting the Maldives, is close to Maldivian hearts. There are endless benefits on the skin when applied topically. Watermelon extract helps to fight against sunburn, inflammation, boosts the metabolism of cells, and quickly repairs the skin, while pearl extract ‘powered by 20 amino acids’ revitalize and regenerates skin cells while it protects the skin from pollution and external environmental stress.

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

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Credit: PARADISE SKIN

SUN RESCUE OCEAN GEM NOURISHING MASK $12 PARADISE SKIN launched in July 2020 started with the most traditional ‘bestkept beauty secret’ in the Maldives; Virgin Coconut Oil. Nina mentioned to Hotelier Maldives that the brand came into existence after years of research and working closely with international skincare scientists in the formulation. “Each product runs extensive tests before it comes into the market,” she adds. With carbon-neutral manufacturing, the SUN RESCUE range is free from parabens, sulfates, phthalates, addictive’s, and it is 100% biodegradable. “Our entire line is specifically designed to cater for this climate, keeping hydration and reviving skin from sun exposure in mind. SUN RESCUE sheet masks work wonders on the skin. Mostly because everyone is looking for an instantaneous result, and we deliver that.” She further explains “we have customers who would use our DEEP SEA HYDRATION MASK after excessive swimming, or a day well spent in the sauna, which I highly recommend; that helps them to give that moisture back into the skin right before dinner. And customers who would use our TROPICAL SEAWEED GLOW MASK before their wedding photoshoot for that extra glow, and they just love that it’s available.’’ She adds “paying attention to detail, the material of sheet mask itself is specially made from seaweed and planet fibre, which has a higher capacity to carry our unique serum in the mask. While the material gives a luxurious feeling, it ensures comfort for sensitive skin.”

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

UNREFINED VIRGIN COCONUT OIL $32

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

LEMONGRASS MONOI OIL $34 Products are available to purchase through paradiseskin.com. The brand offers delivery worldwide and is available for free delivery in all atolls in Maldives, Singapore, and Malaysia. Occasionally they offer free delivery world-wide, so next time you pack for your summer vacation, don’t forget to tick PARADISE SKIN in your checklist. Find out more on Instagram @paradiseskin.

Credit: PARADISE SKIN

Capturing the island life’s spirit and sustainably harnessing the natural resources, PARADISE SKIN leads the way in revolutionary skincare. Developed by drawing on centuries of know-how, this brand-new product line is revolutionising the skincare industry. Born and bred in the Maldives, it shares the archipelago’s traditional beauty secrets with the world in a way like no other; “Adding a dose of love, magic and harnessing generations of the island’s best-kept beauty secrets.”

To sign up for updates from Paradise Skin and for inquiries, please visit; https://paradiseskin.com/ pages/inquiry

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

SUPPLIER NEWS

BY DONNA RICHARDSON

Horology meets environmental conservation as the Patravi ScubaTec Maldives dive watch applauds Carl F. Bucherer’s long-standing partnership with the Manta Trust. The newest member of the Patravi ScubaTec family, the Maldives watch, was created to raise awareness of the Manta Trust and its outstanding commitment to preserving endangered manta rays in the Indian Ocean nation.

LUXURY WATCHMAKER’S NEW MALDIVES INSPIRED WATCH SALES HELP TO PRESERVE MANTA RAYS with blue and white ceramic inlays. A bold 60-minute scale with luminous markings makes it easy to calculate elapsed time underwater – a real benefit for serious divers. The bright blue dial with lacquered wave decoration is as eye-catching on land as it is in the water.

The Patravi ScubaTec Maldives is the fourth watch Carl F. Bucherer has launched in partnership with the Manta Trust since 2017. A slice of sales proceeds from each watch is donated to the foundation, and a contribution from the Patravi ScubaTec Maldives in particular will fund the Manta Trust’s new floating research station project. It will allow the world’s leading manta experts to reach far-flung areas in

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the archipelago and observe and record in real time. The UK-based charity is admired around the world for its remarkable commitment to preserving endangered mantas and the ecosystems and habitat they need to survive. The Patravi ScubaTec Maldives has a striking 44.6 mm stainless-steel case and a unidirectional rotating stainless-steel bezel

With its screw-down crown, automatic helium valve, and exceptional water resistance (50 bar), it was designed for any underwater adventures that might come its way. Inside the case beats an automatic caliber, a COSC-certified chronometer with a power reserve of 38 hours. The watch is presented on a unique blue strap made of natural rubber; its fabric insert is made of 100 per cent recycled bottles recovered from the Mediterranean Sea. Environmental conservation is a cause close to the heart of the Maldives, which will be the first nation to be affected by rising sea levels because of climate change due to its low-lying geography. So, this collaboration ticks to the beat of the nation as it helps to preserve its unique marine life. Discover more at https://bit.ly/39ZmtYK

PRODUCT REVIEW

BY NAZ A NAZEEM

Essenso

MICROGROUND COFFEE

– A Tale of Tastes & Aroma

Continuing its long-lasting tradition of introducing top international F&B brands to the Maldives, BHM Traders introduces a premium instant coffee that’s targeted towards the coffee connoisseur on-the-go. Especially unique for providing the fresh brewed taste of premium coffee in ready-to-mix sticks, it is undoubtedly the best solution to please guests staying at hotels all around Maldives. BHM Traders’ newest Premium product, Essenso© Microground Coffee has the perfect brew for everyone.

ISSUE 52 HOTELIER MALDIVES

PRODUCT REVIEW

Over the past 3 decades, BHM Traders has earned itself a name as a major distributor of several key products in the consumer goods sector. The business is synonymous with premium quality and affordable F&B and FMCG products that are supplied throughout the country. Some of its most popular brands include Ye’Ye’ Instant coffee, Coast Fulll Cream Instant Milk Powder, Akbar Tea, Dutch Lady Yoghurts and UHT Milk, and XL Energy Drinks. Now, joining this long list is the Essenso© MicroGround Coffee. Coming in 4 different variants for the ideal cup for everyone, providing a memorable journey of the senses with every sip! Let’s begin with a strong taste and intense aroma. The Essenso© MicroGround Coffee 2-in-1 Coffee and Creamer is perfect for those who prefer strong roasted coffee without any sugar added. As you prepare your morning cup of boost, which only requires you to empty the stick of instant coffee and mix it with hot water, the intense aroma hits you before you even take a sip. But for those who are after a deeper aroma with a distinctive roasted note and a richer coffee taste, the Essenso© MicroGround Coffee 3-in-1 is your call to warmth. It is likely to please even the most eccentric taste buds. This instant coffee leaves its print after your last sip, letting you enjoy the lingering aftertaste in your mouth. The brand then brings you flavours from the birthplace of some of the world’s most elite brews and best Arabica beans, Colombia. The Essenso© MicroGround Coffee Colombian features coffee blends from the regions of Colombia and South America. Lightly roasted and yet full bodied enough, this instant coffee has a fruity note with mellow acidity. The cup redefines enchantment with every sip: a signature roasted top note, a delicate palate and a lingering after taste. By adding hot/cold milk to your cup, enjoy the perfect Flat White. The Essenso© MicroGround Coffee Mandheling is for those who prefer to drink something stronger. This coffee has a darker roast taste with a touch of smoky and woody notes. The coffee acidity and flavours are well-balanced, making you want to go for that second, third or sixth cup. Drizzle this espresso shot over a scoop of ice cream to satisfy your Affogato cravings.

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Essenso’s proprietary MicroPlus™ technique finely grinds 100% Arabica coffee beans in an oxygen-free and ultra-low temperature environment to preserve the essence of the coffee beans. This superfine coffee is then blended with premium Arabica instant coffee to deliver a roasted top note and a smooth mouth feel, so you can enjoy a deeper aroma, richer taste and fuller body in every sip. Before sealing, each stick is flushed with nitrogen, allowing you to really savour the exquisite fresh aromas of coffee beans as soon as you open it to experience the Essenso© Difference in your everyday brew.

EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2021

ISSUE 51 / JAN – FEB

ISSUE 52 / MAR – APR

ISSUE 53 / MAY – JUN

The ‘one island, one resort’ concept of the Maldives’ hospitality industry made ‘gig workers’ - technicians, photographers, musicians, etc. an essential part of the industries’ early and continued success. One of the most hit sectors, we assess the damage to the Maldives’ gig economy and glean insights into future looking strategies.

A successful destination brand is a successful storyteller; engaging your audience with an emotive narrative. We look at the role of data analytics in destination promotion.

Contactless tech pre-dates the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the crises accelerated the adoption of new technologies in the hotel industry. Is the trend here to stay?

MARKET FOCUS 2021 Forecast; Key Trends for the Year

MARKET FOCUS Traveler Behavior Trends

MARKET FOCUS 2020 Review with 2021 Forecast

PRODUCT GUIDE Landscaping (Fertilizers, Gardening Equipment)

PRODUCT GUIDE In-Room (Mini-Bar, safes, Coffee Machines)

PRODUCT GUIDE Technology (Digital Trends, Disinfection and Housekeeping Products)

CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS ITB, Germany

CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS Gulfood, 21 - 25, February, Dubai

EVENTS Shanghai International Hospitality Design & Supplies Expo (HDE); 30 March - 2 April, 2021, China

CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS International Hotel Investors Forum (IHIF) 2021, Berlin, Germany

PANDEMIC AND THE GIG ECONOMY

EVENTS Hotel Investment Conference - South Asia (HICSA) 2021, Delihi, India

DATA & DESTINATION

THE TOUCHLESS REVOLUTION

ISSUE 56 / NOV – DEC ISSUE 54 / JUL – AUG

ISSUE 55 / SEP – OCT

THE MALDIVES MALDIVES HOTEL ALTERNATIVE; BUYING PIPELINE LOCAL Global hotel pipeline at the end of 2019 The Maldives is blessed with abundant natural beauty. Yes, almost everything else required to run a successful hotel operation is imported. We survey local brands making inroads to the hotel supply market. MARKET FOCUS Emerging Markets PRODUCT GUIDE Construction (Hardware, Building Material) CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS Hotel Asia, Maldives

was at an all time peak and this was also reflected in the Maldives. With the halt of mamy projects we look at the updated Maldives hotel pipeline forecast. MARKET FOCUS Maldives Product Mix Analysis PRODUCT GUIDE Sustainable (Solar, Water, Waste) CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS HICAP, Hong Kong EVENTS 5th Edition of Hotelier Maldives GM Forum

A TALENT FOR HOSPITALITY When the Maldivian hospitality industry took off in the 1990s’ to include properties managed by international hotel brands, the country’s talent pool was challenged to meet exacting and demanding standards to meet new performance benchmarks. How has the country fared in developing the talent required to run hotels in one of the most sought after tourist destinations. MARKET FOCUS 2022 Forecast with analysis of 2021 performance Demographic Focus PRODUCT GUIDE Water Sports & Diving CONFERENCES/SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS WTM, London, UK

Contact: Email: sales@hoteliermaldives.com, Mobile: +960 7910858, +960 7999008

LISTINGS

Health Protection Agency H. Roshani Building, Sosun Magu, Malé 3014494

ADK Hospital Sosun Magu, Male’, 20040 3313553

IGM Hospital Faamudheyri Magu, Male’ 3335335

Medica Faamudheyri Magu, Male’ 9748013

Treetop Hospital Asurumaa Hingun, Hulhumale 3351610

Maldives Islamic Bank Medhuziyaaraidhoshuge, 20030 Medhuziyaarai Magu, Malé 3325555

State Bank of India (SBI) H, Sunleet, Boduthakurufaanu Magu, Malé 3312111

The Laundry G. Kasthoorige, Alikilegefaanu Magu, Male 9191007

Maldives Post Limited Post Building, Boduthakurufaanu Magu, Malé 20026 3321558

DHL International Ltd

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Sosun Magu, Henveiru, Malé 3328880

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4th Floor, Bodu Dhaharaage, Kenery Magu, Malé 3000707

your latest PR, please contact:

Western Union H. Regina, 41 Majeedhee Magu, Male’ 3332777

Police 119

Kulee Dhuveli Shaariu Varudhee, Majeedhee Magu, Male’ 3322122

MCB Maldives H.Sifa Building, Boduthakurufaanu Magu, Malé 3305656

Bank of Ceylon H. Aage, 12 Boduthakurufaanu Magu, Male’ 3337564

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