Bahrain
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE
|
||
 |
||
|
|
Having changed its name from Jumeirah International to Jumeirah, Jumeirah is going international. The Dubai hotel group’s boss Gerald Lawless tells Arabian Business about its plan to take on hospitality giants such as Fairmont and Four Seasons.
Gerard Lawless is a happy man. Not only has the Irishman just run the Dubai marathon, but his Jumeirah group of luxury hotels is running away with deals. After re-branding and announcing plans to expand internationally last year, 2006 has already seen it breaking into two major new markets — China and the US.
In January, it took over Essex House, one of New York’s most prominent hotels, and late last month, it agreed a deal to launch a 52-hectare tourism development in Shanghai.
Added to its eight properties in Dubai, as well as the Carlton Tower and Lowndes Hotel in London’s Belgravia, the new ventures have boosted Jumeirah’s plan to build a 40-hotel-empire by the end of 2009.
“When I came on board in 1997 to develop the resort of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Burj Al Arab and the Wild Wadi water park, I did not think we would achieve so much so quickly,” Lawless says.
“We’re now well on target to achieve over 40 hotels within four years. We have twelve in place now, but I would expect to have another five hotels signed up or in operation this year. Probably as many as ten.”
Lawless is especially pleased to have got off the mark in the US and China, as both are likely to provide several openings for the hotel management deals Jumeirah is pursuing.
He says negotiations are already underway over tourism ventures in other cities in China, while the group is also looking to cash in on the weak dollar by targeting ‘gateway cities’ in the US such as Miami, Chicago and San Francisco.
Internationally, many deals are also likely to come through Jumeirah’s parent company Dubai Holding, the government investment vehicle which bought Essex House last year and is busy snapping up tourism developments all over the world.
“With our sister companies in Dubai Holding, we have some more opportunities coming up,” Lawless says.
Despite fears over a potential 100% rise in hotel rooms over the next three to five years, Dubai is another obvious target for the firm.
Lawless says Jumeirah has been in negotiations with property giant Nakheel over the management of developments on its various mega-projects in the emirate, which include the Palm Islands and The World.
He also claims not to be worried about the new properties’ potential impact on room rates in its existing hotels.
“First of all, the supply is needed to sustain the viability of Dubai as a tourism product,” he says. “Unusually, we welcome more hotels — we’re running at more than 90% occupancy in most of our hotels but in the long term it is important they build the hotels they are building.
“Also, the rates will go with the market. I don’t see why people get excited if our prices are at the same level as New York’s, which actually they are not, as it’s not wrong that we should be recognised as a major international city.
He continues: “I do accept that you can’t just continue putting prices up without it having an impact, but we monitor what other international destinations are charging and our research shows that, although we are at the upper end of the scale, we are competitive.”
“I don’t see prices dropping dramatically and I think we are well able to adjust to the market. The market is expected to grow and we expect we will still be running at pretty high capacity."
The last year has also seen the hospitality group making wholesale changes behind the scenes as part of an effort to supportthe expansion. The company recently set up sales offices to target potential customers in Europe, the US and Asia, and has introduced a new distribution system which allows agencies to book rooms directly with the firm, rather than through a third party.
Jumeirah has also recruited public relations agencies in its most important source markets, including the UK, Germany, GCC, France and the US, and it says representation will be extended to Asia next year. “This is an investment in the future and reflects our belief in our future expansion,” says Lawless. “We’ve already set up regional sales offices in London, New York, Moscow, Paris and Hong Kong — and we’ve done all that in less than a year.
“We’ll also be moving forward in other locations. There’s a lot of potential for us now to refer business between London and New York.”
Although the 2009 deadline is still some way off, Lawless also has plans up his sleeve to develop the business beyond that. He is on the lookout for management deals for water parks, having reached capacity at the Wild Wadi attraction in Dubai. Recently, it has struck agreements to manage a select group of five-star luxury hotels and a water park in the Saraya Aqaba real estate project in Jordan; and to operate parts of Aqua Dunya, a huge theme park that is scheduled to open in Dubailand in 2008.
“Its water park will be four times the size of Wild Wadi,” Lawless says of the Aqua Dunya project. “We convinced them (the owners, Al Sharq Development) that we would not be in a competitive situation as we are already at almost capacity in Wild Wadi anyway — and we have the local experience. We signed a contract to run their water park and the associated hotel.”
Also in the pipeline is an expansion of the hotel group’s bar and restaurant business, which now includes over 100 food and drink outlets in Dubai — many of which could be franchised to outside investors, Lawless says. Restaurants the company plans to expand include pizza and pasta outlet Toscana, which currently has one outlet, and wine bar The Agency. Its Noodle House chain also currently has two outlets but will have five restaurants in its name by the end of this year.
“The restaurants business has good returns,” says Lawless. “As long it is well run, well managed and well controlled, it has a lot of potential, particularly through franchising. We’re in active discussions with other potential locations and we would like to take Noodle House regional, and perhaps franchise it. But we want to set our own standards first and make sure we would be able to control future standards.”
Ultimately, though, it’s the hotel side of the business that will be key if Jumeirah is to succeed in its aim of rivaling luxury hotel brands such as Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental and Fairmont.
Lawless says he doesn't want to compete in terms of size with his main rivals — Four Seasons aims to expand from 65 hotels to over 100 in the next few years, and the forty hotels it is aiming to develop wouldn’t put Jumeirah in that league.
But that's not to say the Irishman wants to stop there. He says the brand could be easily translated into other areas of the tourism industry, and that the company might look beyond five and six star properties once its current phase of expansion is over.
“If you get too big you can almost self-destruct,” he warns. “Four Seasons has about 65 hotels now, and within four years, we will have 40 hotels. If we ant to continue to deliver the quality, that’s enough. But that doesn’t meanwe can’t evolve and develop a new brand, which of course we would look to do as well.”
He adds: “At this stage, most of our skill lies in the upper end of the market, but it doesn’t mean that in the future we would not become an organisation that would have other brands. We would always keep Jumeirah as the luxury brand, if we were going to go into different levels with three star and four star, we would evolve different names for those brands.
“We could look at a level a little below Jumeirah. We’re concentrating on Jumeirah now, but I’m sure that opportunity and pressure will come about to look at others.”
Posted by Informed Realist, Dubai, UAE on 27 July 2009 at 19:11 UAE time
I don't think I have ever heard Al Fahim described as a role model for the world. You might want to educate yourself a little!
Posted by temur, birmingham, United Kingdom on 17 June 2009 at 15:12 UAE time
dr sulaiyman is a role model for all the world not only muslims his vision will go far, lets just hope we get some more new big signings.
Posted by sherry, shenzhen, China on 16 May 2009 at 20:20 UAE time
Best of luck for everything!
Posted by Kawthar Saeed, Dubai, UAE on 5 January 2009 at 15:47 UAE time
Abdullatif Al Mulla is indeed a great and superb leader! I have worked with him closely in TECOM and learnt from him many good skills of leadership which I am using them in my current role. I wish him all the best in his career and may God grant him success all the time. Abdullatif, as always, you are a great leader for us!
Posted by Layla Al-Ansari, London, UK on 27 October 2008 at 16:50 UAE time
The top 100 CEO's list is highly impressive covering the biggest names from all over the gulf. However, whoever has compiled the list has definitly forgotten some notable movers and shakers in the past decade.
Dr. Abdallah AlDabbagh the CEO of Ma'aden the Saudi Arabian Minning Company has spearheaded the establishment of an entire new industry sector in Saudi Arabia. Not only is this sector viable with it's ambitious projects such as gold, alumina and phosphate projects, it is more importantly sustainable.
I am sure Dr Al-Dabbagh was not the only CEO overlooked in your report. In your next top 100 CEO's report, I suggest you undergo in-depth analysis of the gulf market and the massive changes that REALLY taking place and changing the future.
Posted by Steven on 18 September 2008 at 00:46 UAE time
Mr Al Hashimi is a fine role model for all young people in the world today, I hope that someone of his calibre and experience could help football teams like newcastle united to reach their full potential, the fans from the north-east are the kindest and best supporters in the Uk, and I imagine the people of newcastle would welcome him
Posted by Mohamade Iqbal Oojageer, Port-Louis, Mauritius on 3 September 2008 at 14:14 UAE time
Dr Sulaiman
Congratulations to you as the new big boss of Manchester City. With your massive investments, you will prove to the world, Insha Allah, your vision is gold and City can become the biggest club in the world and new English reference for quality football. I am a seasoned Sports Journalist and I can foresee success and positive revolution in British sports, especially soccer.
Posted by Biniraj, Sharjah, UAE on 29 July 2008 at 12:27 UAE time
It was indeed right decision launching of Air Arabia. I described Air Arabia as REAL AIRLINE. .. i noticed one thing that, they are on time, they are on line, they are on right price, that is what we need.
I am proud to say as a Air Arabian traveller, and I salue Mr. Adel Ali for his visions.
Posted by Ataur Rahman ,Business Development Manager, Dubai, UAE on 10 July 2008 at 20:39 UAE time
An analysis of the the top 100 in GCC reveals a shocking statistic too..63% of them are from UAE, 14% Saudi, 13%Kuwait, 6% Qatar, 4% Bahrain.
More shocking to me is that in Energy sector only there are 4%..in construction 4% Media & Marketing, 4% Politics & Economic 4% Banking & Finance 20% Real estate 23%
Why inspite of all the boom in petrol price there are just 4% of them belongs to this sector. I demand an explanation.
Posted by john, New York, US on 25 May 2008 at 16:48 UAE time
Dubai's real estate watchdog on Sunday launched its own magazine in an effort to address investor concerns over a lack of transparency in the market.
Posted by Mr George Osei, accra, Ghana on 11 May 2008 at 17:29 UAE time
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. George Osei,I work with a Bank as a manager, in one of the commercial banks in Accra-Ghana west Africa. I have packaged a transaction that will be of mutual benefit to us. As the branch manager of the Bank Ghana, it is my duty to send a financial report to my head office in the capital city, Accra, at the end of each financial year.Following the release of the second quarter financial report, ending June 2007, I discovered that my branch made a substantial profit which accrued from the account of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS).
This was not detected by the internal auditors from my head office. I have diverted the funds into what the bank call Escrow Call Account with no beneficiary. Meanwhile as you know I can not be directly connected to this money for obvious reasons. So my contacting you is for you to assist me receive this fund in your country which I know is possible if you liaise properly with me and get a consideration share of the total funds as your benefit.
The transfer would be a Bank-to-Bank transaction. All I need from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of this fund. I will compute your particulars as the person who made the deposit in my branch into our computer data base, so that my head office will immediately order the transfer to your designated bank Account. Thanks for your understanding and co-operation. Please you can indicate your interest by sending me a return mail. While I implore you to maintain the absolute secrecy and confidentiality required in this transaction I am waiting for your positive response.
Yours truly,
Mr.George Osei
Show all comments
Posted by stuart mayhead, Abu Dhabi, UAE on 21 April 2008 at 09:21 UAE time
Hi Len if you visit www.artinthecity.com you will find and Art Map of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah which shows all the local galleries and has a calendar of events noting all the exhibitions. If you sign up for them you will receive fortnightly reminders.
Posted by len on 20 April 2008 at 14:15 UAE time
I'm looking for modern art galleries in your country. Can you help me with a list?
Editor's Reply Kindly visit www.timeoutdubai.com for a full list of art galleries in Dubai, or www.timeoutabudhabi.com for a full list in the capital.
Posted by Nabil Alwakidi, jeddah, KSA on 13 April 2008 at 10:24 UAE time
Dear Abdulkareem,
Perfect person on the right place, very difficult to find some one like you. this comment will show you how much we like your job.
Best of luck for everything!
Cheers,
Nabil Alwakidi
Posted by shahla naim, AbuDhabi, U.A.E on 19 March 2008 at 11:18 UAE time
Success, from my point of view is 10%luck, 40%study, 50% hard work. Upon reading this article, I think am still at the first 10%.
Posted by Nasrin Quraishi, Chennai, India on 5 March 2008 at 15:03 UAE time
Good Evening,
I am very happy and proud that I am living in this world where HRH Mr.Abdullah Al Awadi is living. I pray Almighty God to work under him atleast for a year.
Thank you
Posted by Safwat Faroun, Ramallah, Palestine on 13 February 2008 at 19:20 UAE time
I am currently residing in the west bank, and I am looking for jobs. Your Arabbusiness could be of indispensable value to me. Keep up the good work!
Posted by Jehad M. Shaban, Kuwait, Kuwait on 9 December 2007 at 15:57 UAE time
As per your Arabic article of the top 100's CEO's in the GCC, would you kindly correct Mr.Abdullah Al Awadi's name in Arabic to: عبد الله العوضي and the company name to: Al-Ahlia Holding Company. Thank you.
Posted by Nand, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 9 December 2007 at 11:41 UAE time
Wonder what standing Saudi ARAMCO has? Is it not among the most admired companies in the GCC?
Posted by Prabal Rai, kathmandu, nepal on 6 December 2007 at 12:07 UAE time
Dear Sir,
How possibly I can contact direct to Amir Alwalid Bin Talal for my own personal plea concerning my occupational hazzards in compny own by him? Please guide me in this regards.
Yours truly
Prabal Rai
Kathmandu Nepal
Posted by Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi, UAE on 6 December 2007 at 09:43 UAE time
I've worked in the oilfield since 1989, mostly in the UAE but also all over the MENA region, and this is the first time I've heard of this company (SS Lootah). What about Al-Dulaimi group (Qatar) or Mohammed Barwani (Oman) or AlMansoori (UAE)? I wonder what the definition of "Energy Industry" is? I suspect the people who selected the winners don't understand how our industry works.
Posted by Omair bin Zahid Al Husain on 5 December 2007 at 22:07 UAE time
It is interesting information. Being an entrepreneur myself, I don't mind knowing who could be of advantage to me and where I can find products and/or services I need. I wonder what was the criteria for selection though, but a wiseman said that the modern day winner in the corporate world is the one who could "learn, unlearn and relearn!" Keep us up to date Arabian Business.com. Thank you very much.
Posted by Nikhil Sindhu on 5 December 2007 at 19:03 UAE time
Thank you Anil for the insight about an extraordinary person.
Posted by Faris AlQURESHI, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 5 December 2007 at 12:53 UAE time
Dear Anil,
The best best interview for the most admiring and decent personality.
Best of luck for everything!
Cheers,
Faris
Posted by Prof Philbert, Salmiya/ Kuwait, Kuwait on 5 December 2007 at 10:57 UAE time
If the company is going to achieve something of some recognition, they must follow three I's - Innovation, Infrastructure and Integration.
Innovation is importnat to give the company an ability to extend the product and service life cycle from point of stagnation to new thinking - a sort of sigmooid curve that repeats itself - saying in simple words - an old wine in a new bottle.
Infrastructure for aiding innocation is another key dimension that can add value to corporate growth. A CEO must take a balaced scorecard to organizational development.
Integration is keeping all elements of the orgnization togehter and take a unified approach to the big picture.
Mobile
