Ramdan’s revelations

Ròya International chief executive officer Ahmed Ramdan, renowned as much for his brutal honesty as he is his spectacular achievements, speaks exclusively to Hotelier Middle East about the state of the hospitality industry and the road to recovery.

Showing Hotelier Middle East around the cool, contemporary Ròya International offices located within the Shangri-La Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road - one of the company's Al Jaber-owned success stories - Ahmed Ramdan exudes not only passion for his hospitality projects but a genuine warmth for those with whom he works.

His pride in his achievements at Ròya, the company he founded in 1998, is clearly evident, but without any of the ego that might be expected of someone that delivers projects for some of the UAE's most powerful businessmen and government bodies.

But putting the gentle smile and approachable façade aside, it is clear that Ramdan is not a man that takes no for an answer. He confesses to being both "brutally honest" and brutal in his work ethic; demonstrating the attitude that has enabled him to lead the company to achieve significant feats - most famously the opening of Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri Abu Dhabi within 21 months.

And he is set to smash this target with the opening later this year of Talal Liwa Hotel in Liwa, Abu Dhabi, which Ròya International is project managing from start to finish within just nine-months.

At the same time, there is also the imminent opening of Media One Hotel in Dubai Media City, which Ròya has been driving since taking on the asset management for owner - and regular Ròya client - Al Jaber Group.

Securing repeat business is of vital importance to Ramdan, who claims that "90% of our business belongs to 20% of clients". Modestly, he adds "that's a good sign".

So, how has Ramdan established such a loyal client base?

He describes himself simply as a "rounded hotelier," following a 20-year global hotel career with InterContinental Hotels Group - which he chose over the family business.

Since then setting up his own business, which was small at first and has "evolved as the UAE has evolved", Ramdan has been a pioneer in several ways - from bringing consultancy services to hospitality businesses in the UAE at a time when third-party support was unheard of through to continually championing the industry by working on projects in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority to modernise and streamline certain facilities and amenities.

This unfaltering commitment to the development of the hospitality industry in the Middle East is an contributing factor to Ramdan's success, indeed earning him a top position at number 11 on the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 earlier this year.

His eye for detail and no-nonsense approach is also valued by clients. Pouring over proofs of upcoming projects, Ramdan comments on everything from the building structure to the smallest detail. He will advise on everything from changing the design of an "ugly" mega-tower to altering a guest room wall-unit that would be a nightmare to clean and cause headaches for housekeeping.

Once the design is finalised, that's it says Ramdan - the company will work round-the-clock to get the job done, something that doesn't happen often enough anywhere in the world, he asserts.

"We spend a little bit of time in good planning and then we roll like mad like a bulldozer, nothing stops us," said Ramdan.

And his opinion is one spoken "with confidence not emotion", because of his years of experience combined within the 52 Ròya "brains" - architects, engineers and construction experts to name a few.

So, what view does such an industry stalwart have of the current hospitality market in the UAE? And what are his predictions for the future?

Road to recovery

Ramdan refers to the impact of the global recession as like falling from a "cliff" not a "slope" for Middle East hoteliers. He says that as a result of the sudden drop, they haven't yet had chance to plan their strategy coming out of the recession.

"What they did is they tightened their belts, stopped the project, suspended the project, possibly cancelled the project, but they have not yet thought strategically about what to do differently. It has been less than a year - on its anniversary or the minute we see sign of recovery you will see people think consciously or unconsciously as to how they can do things differently," says Ramdan.

And on this he is adamant that yes, people ought to do things differently.

"They ought to because I think we did lots of crazy things in hospitality throughout the region here. Buildings were designed badly, not designed for purpose, buildings were put up very fast - nobody thought of sustainability, nobody thought of the future.

"And number two, because business was so good people did not negotiate a good deal with their product or negotiate a good deal with their bank. They did not think of a ‘plan B' if ‘plan A' didn't go well after two or three years. Now, gradually, you will see people are thinking is it viable, what if? Before no one thought of what if?"

"Not only will owners and operators think differently, but bankers also," continues Ramdan.

"Bankers are already thinking differently; lenders are quite different now than a year ago," he says.

"They are more cautious; they are looking at viability. They are not going to finance you 90% any longer, they might finance you 60%, 65%. The risk department will analyse your building - are you spending cost effectively?

"This to me is a goods sign, bankers are caring and worrying," he says.

Consultant's corner

Another thing to change for the better as a result of the downturn, says Ramdan, is the fact that more people will consider investing in third party services.

"The market is coming up and I can see a few individuals doing what I do, but we are receiving more calls and more enquiries. They realise they benefit if they go to a consultant," says Ramdan. "Still, it tends to be very traditional here; they think an architect can do everything. That mentality still exists; to change it will take time," he observes.

Another positive outcome is the fact that owners are becoming more sophisticated in their management contracts, adding exit strategies and termination clauses into contracts.

"So many milestones are being thrown in on operators; that was not the case before. This will increase further. You will soon realise that owners are going to dig deep into the financial performance of their building; before they were making money, it didn't matter," says Ramdan.

Asset management is also likely to become more popular, he says, (see page 101), as is project management.

For this reason, Ròya has recently added this service to its portfolio. "We have created a project manager especially for hotels," says Ramdan.

Already in demand at projects such as the Talal Liwa, this is surely set to increase Ramdan's workload further - he is already overseeing 42 projects at various stages.

Somehow, we don't see this phasing him, do you?