Zanzibar: paradise found

zoom

Norberg is lobbying Emirates Airline to fly direct to Zanzibar.

Fairmont Zanzibar general manager Tom Norberg explains why this island, anchored off East Africa in the glistening Indian Ocean is gearing up to receive Middle East travelers.

What do you offer to cater to guests Middle East guests?

One of the things that I am trying to develop, but has been difficult to get up because no-one really understands the concept, is ghazal singing - a form of Islamic singing that originated in Pakistan.

It's here [in Zanzibar] and at the last prayer time of the day I want to have the singing before offering guests tea.

You can hear it from different parts of the property and you don't have to be right in front of the person singing, sort of like the call to prayer. It's so lyrical and comforting, and at sunset it would be perfect.

Obviously in a country that is 97% Muslim we have a lot of respect for the religion and tradition, so there is a Qur'an and a prayer mat in each room and an indication towards Mecca. We are very respectful of those traditions.

Every room here is part of a four-room block, so when we have a request for a large family we are easily able to accommodate them. We do also have connecting rooms, if guests want that, and we have a duplex with four rooms for a minimum of eight people, and a maximum of 16.

What are your key source markets?

Currently they are South Africa, Italy and Germany. We also receive many Omanis who come because of Oman's historical connection with Zanzibar. We anticipate we will see a lot more North Americans, but it hasn't happened yet.

Where are you concentrating your marketing efforts?

For us we have to realistically look at how far, or how long, it took you to get here.

Johannesburg, Dubai, Rome and Madrid are all about a six-hour flight away, so it makes sense for us to market to these countries. We will target North America, because although it is such a long-haul destination, Zanzibar still holds an incredible lure.

This is the only market where we expect real growth because a certain portion of Fairmont's customer base is excited about Fairmont having a Zanzibar property.

Who are your competitors?

We feel very strongly that the rising tide floats all boats, so we don't view the others in the market as competitors, we see them as partners.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.