With the third edition of the ongoing Qatar Summer Festival (QSF) by the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) successfully marching towards the finish line at the end of this month, the hospitality partners seem to be unanimous in their appreciation and celebration of a festival well organised.
Community caught up with Christian H Muth, General Manager, Double Tree by Hilton Doha – Old Town, for a chat on QTA, QSF, and the hotel industry in Qatar.
What do you feel about QTA’s recent initiatives, including QSF?
The initiatives undertaken by the QTA are absolutely in the right direction. A fantastic example is the new classification system that’s been put into place. The three-star, two-star and one-star hotel market requires development and the classification system will make it a lot easier to bring honesty and truth into this process. QTA has put in a lot of thorough research into developing this system. But regarding retail, I feel a lot more could be done here if it’s pushed more. The concept that works, for instance, is the Dubai Shopping Festival. Qatar, like the rest of the GCC, is having a low period during summer. If malls would work together and roll out promotions and big, 40 or 50 per cent discounts, it would animate a lot of shopping and leisure tourism. If retail would be incorporated a bit more, more customers and therefore more money could be driven into Qatar. As for QSF, QTA is doing a great job with it. I have seen the development of QSF over three years through the eyes of my eight-year-old daughter, and it’s impressive.
How does being part of QSF help the Double Tree brand?
In general, Hilton’s intention is to be a desired partner with local authorities on all levels. We are an international brand and have international expertise. So we are naturally a good partner to have. We can bring knowledge into a country but we obviously don’t have the local knowledge. And that we would get through organisations such as QTA. That’s how we learn, adapt, and streamline whatever we need to do together with QTA’s requirements or suggestions. The Double Tree brand is about being casual. We don’t want to be a big palace hotel or a fancy chateau. That’s not what the property suggests. We want to be a cool, honest partner where you get personalised five-star service. Next year, we would probably further increase our partnership with QSF so that we gain more visibility and support.
In the six months since the hotel has opened in Doha, what are the trends you have observed about the exclusive nature of this market?
For one, it’s a very short term business. I have never seen so many walk-ins as it can be seen here on many weekends. It’s absolutely incredible what happened during the two Saudi vacation phases, for instance, at the beginning of the year and then in March. It was very nice for business. Since we had just opened, we were 100 per cent ready for this and we did well as attested by the good feedback we received. But it was also tough because our systems weren’t there yet and the cooperation between our housekeeping department and front office wasn’t ready for 100 per cent occupancy after being open for just three or four weeks. That was a good reality check for us.
Who is your target audience?
Mainly the corporates and long-stay are what we are going for. Also, we believe we are good at it. When we opened, what happened is that the leisure segment turned out to be so strong that we didn’t have any commercial strategies to really animate that. But now we do. So we are making sure that we are more present in Saudi, Kuwait and the UAE.
Your nearly three decades of hospitality experience spans across markets of Germany, Namibia, Egypt, and the UAE. What differentiates the hotel industry in Qatar from the other places?
Qatar is very different because the supply and demand environment is very tight. It’s very interesting to observe what has happened in Qatar over the last couple of years. On one side, I see it as a positive change with how many hotel projects are in the pipeline and what’s coming up. But on the other side, it’s also frightening, the knowledge that the competition will get stronger and stronger. Once QTA will complete classifying the hotels, it will be the service factor that will make more of a difference. By 2017, the hotels in Qatar will not compete merely on price level or brand value level. So we must ensure that we are doing really well when it comes to service.
WAY TO GO: Christian Muth, General Manager, Double Tree by Hilton Doha u2013 Old Town. Right: Double Tree by Hilton Doha u2013 Old Town.
