Smaller regional hotel chains and owner operated establishments are often the most leveraged and are suffering from a downturn in business due to the economic situation and this is made even worse by the weather. They cannot leverage the economies of scale that bigger groups are able to and this further compounds the situation. It is envisaged that this middle sector will suffer more in this downturn as customers will look to the cheaper, basic offerings or have the funds to take advantage of the deals being offered by the four and five star hotels in the area. In addition discounted air fares are attracting customers, who would normally take a second, short, holiday or long weekend in the UK. Anabol can offer a range of solutions that will help you attract more customers and leverage a better yield.
The Bank of England has said that the UK recession “appears to have been deeper than previously thought”. This will inevitably have an impact on the hospitality industry and franchisees are the ones with the least area to manoeuvre. Our consultants have many years of experience as both franchisees and franchisors and have encountered, and dealt successfully with, most of the issues that you will face, Whether they are encroachment, penalty free exit strategies or just making the most of a difficult situation, Anabol has the expertise to help you.
The Anabol team have been through downturns in the UK hospitality industry caused by the recession in the early 90s, 9/11 and other global events. As the GCC region faces its first experience of downturn the Anabol team can provide a wide range of effective methods of surviving in the current climate. It is widely held that there are tougher times ahead and that now is the time to act to ensure that you are in good shape for the future. It is not just about price, there are many ways to combat reduced revenue and we have experience of them all.
In a very short space of time on-line booking has transformed the travel and hospitality industries. The next generation of communication – enabled by blogs, pod casts and social networking sites as well as other web 2.0 technology – is here. This has given birth to a whole new C2C (customer to customer) network of recommendations and marketing. The hospitality industry ignores these developments at its peril! Clever organisations will want to become part of these conversations and market themselves. Also, it is likely that C2B (customer to business) dialogue will become increasingly important as customers flex their muscles and let organisations know what they want. Anabol has the expertise to take advantage of this technology and allow you to be among the first to capitalise on it.
For many years the majority of money invested in leisure related infrastructure in GCC countries was not expected to make a profit as the return on the investment was being realised by the growth of the capital due to rising property values. Hence the creation of many three to seven stars hotels where the cost for an overnight stay is significant. In the current climate, and in the foreseeable future, the number of guests able to afford this type of luxury will be diminished. Therefore, there will be a need for an increasing amount of more affordable accommodation. So far the only ‘budget’ hotel chains in the region have been foreign owned and Anabol believes that there is a very strong case for a local entrepreneur to fill this gap by creating the first locally owned ‘budget’ hotel chain.
There are numerous markets to consider: competitors, officials, staff, spectators, non-participant visitors to UK – they all need accommodating, feeding, transporting, entertaining and impressing so they come back again. Local authorities and healthcare providers are just two of the other sectors that need to be geared up for the diverse and demanding influx of visitors to the South East of England. Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express may have been selected as the official providers of hotel services, but that still leaves lots of room for other companies to tap into this event. The Anabol Consulting team have the breadth of experience and insight to make your organisation a winner in the 2012 Olympics.
Work has started on the Yas Island Development, a massive $39 billion mixed use tourist development including residential, hotels, beaches, marinas, retail, golf and equestrian facilities. The island will have a total developed area about one-third the size of Abu Dhabi island. There is also a $24 billion mixed use real estate community project in Abu Dhabi to include four hotels. Saadiyat Island is massive offshore development underway with a budget of more than $28 billion. It includes 29 hotels and three marinas. The project also includes museums, concert halls, maritime history centre, three harbours, a park, golf course and sailing club. Underway is the $18.5 billion Al-Raha Beach Complex, another mixed-use hospitality development involving reclaimed land and will include 50 high-rise and a number of low-rise buildings for approximately 120,000 people. Another project in planning is a $10 billion mixed use city, tentatively called Ghantoot Green City. The project will comprise commercial centres, hotels, offices, residential areas, warehousing and light industrial areas. Al-Reem Island development is a $7.8 billion mixed-use community next to the bridge connecting Al-Reem Island to Abu Dhabi city. Budgets of $3 billion each are allocated for the Abu Dhabi Light Rail project and the MGM Grand Hotel. The MGM Grand project will have two further branded luxury hotels and more than 1,200 rooms. It will also feature a 12,000 seat arena, retail, restaurants, waterfront residences and private yacht berths. The Anabol Hospitality and Leisure team has the contacts and know how to leverage business from these opportunities for your company.
But life has to go on. Figuring out what new export markets to pursue or how to attract a wider tourist market and optimise yields from their visits, are all areas Anabol Consulting teams can advise on.
Anabol Consulting can provide specialist support to help you react to these competitive challenges and spot your opportunities to take your company into this growth and investment mentality.
This beautiful island will witness massive inward investment and Anabol Consulting can advise on resorts, hotels and a wide variety of other issues, using our team members that have undertaken similar assignments all over the globe.