Guy Wilkinson's speech at Hozpitality.com Business Networking event on 10 05 15 about the growth of boutique hotels in Dubai

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Hozpitality Business Networking Event, 10/05/15
The Growth of Boutique/Lifestyle Hotel Brands in Dubai
Moderator: Guy Wilkinson, Viability Management Consultants

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Viability Management Consultants
• Hospitality and real estate development consultancy
• Established in 2006
• Principals have consulted in every country in the Middle East
except Iraq, as well as many in Africa
• Significant experience in UAE & GCC
• Specialized in providing:
– Bankable feasibility studies
– Market studies in a variety of hospitality-related sectors
– Operator selection and contract negotiations
– Operational reviews and interim management solutions
• Reputation for high-quality, detailed, realistic advice
“Truly an expert consulting company.”
“…a most valuable contribution to our knowledge base.”
“All responses from Viability were exceptionally prompt and pertinent.”

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Definitions from the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging
Association (BLLA)
• “Boutique hotels are typically small hotels that
offer high levels of service. They often provide
authentic cultural or historical experiences and
interesting services to guests. Boutique hotels are
unique.” (Up to 100 rooms)
• “Lifestyle hotels tend to be small to medium
sized hotels that provide innovative
features and service. They tend to have
contemporary design features. They provide highly
personalized service that differentiates them from
larger hotel brands.” (Up to 300 rooms)

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Target Market: Gen Y as per BLLA
• “(It is a) generation that has grown up with travel as
a right rather than a privilege. The way they
use technology is an extension of who they are –
sociable, confident, well-informed and open-minded.
• “On the other side of the coin, having a virtual world of
information at their fingertips has made them the
most impatient, advertising-skeptic, buyer-
aware public ever known.
• “Generation Y is considered to be the least loyal to
hotel brands when compared to all other
generational groups. They are also most emotional and
least satisfied.”

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David Collins, in his book, The New Hotel:
• “It is snobbery, pure and simple, but
the fact remains that it is the offer of exclusivity,
the guarantee that a hotel is more
imaginative and aspirational than
others in its design that marks out the territory
of the new hotel.”

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Boutique Movement Pioneer Ian Shrager re Morgans:
• “We conceived our company as being an anti-brand,
not being generic, not being institutional. There is
something wrong when you stay at a hotel in Los
Angeles and it is exactly the same hotel as when you
go to London or Miami. A hotel should give a sense of
time and place.
• “The hotels in the USA are predicated on the mass-
market model. There was a virtue in everything being
the same. There was a virtue in coming up with an idea
and ‘cookie-cutting’ it across the country. Those of us
who are old enough may remember the Holiday Inn
advertisement from a few years ago that said, ‘The best
surprise is no surprise.’
• “For me, there is nothing better than a good surprise
when you go into a hotel and can have fun there. Treat
a hotel as more than just a place to sleep – a place for
somebody to have fun, a visual feast.”

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Classic Schrager/Starck Boutique Hotel:
St Martin’s Lane, London

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Storytelling through Boutique Hotel Design:
Radisson Sonya Hotel, St. Petersburg

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Sonya Corridor

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The Middle East’s First Boutique Hotel: Albergo, Beirut

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Le Gray, Beirut

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Armani Dubai (2010)

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Vida Downtown Dubai (2006)

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Beit Al Bahar (1999)

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Al Maha (1999)

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Hues Boutique Hotel, Deira

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Reflections Hotel, Jaddaf (2014)

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XVA Gallery, Bastakiya
(2003)

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W/Westin/St Regis Hotel & Dubai Canal (2015)

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Palazzo Versace Dubai, Culture Village (2015)

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Marriott Autograph Lapita Hotel (2016)

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Bvlgari Hotel at Jumeirah Bay Island (2017)

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Nikki Beach
Resort & Spa
Dubai, Pearl
Jumeira
(2016)

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ME by Meliá Dubai @ The Opus (2016)

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Damac
Towers by
Paramount
Hotels & Resorts,
Business Bay (2016)

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Thanks for listening – let’s talk!

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Contact Viability Management Consultants
Guy Wilkinson
Managing Partner
Viability Management Consultants
PO Box 191234
Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Email: guy@viability.ae
Mobile: +971 50 450 6276
Tel: +971 4 344 3734
Fax: +971 4 344 0907
Web site: www.viability.ae