I was fortunate enough to meet up with Simon Cooper, president of The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, recently. Talking about the current global economic situation he suggests a possible indicator – that hotel rooms were available in Augusta during the US Masters golf tournament.
Cooper, an avid golfer himself, makes the point that such a state of affairs would have been unheard of in former years and is a sign of just how competitive the hotel business is at the moment.
‘Business travel is significantly affected,’ he adds, ‘Across the world, if you don’t have new projects starting up and progressing then you’re going to have less business travel. In terms of leisure travel, though, we’re as active as ever, albeit at lower yields.’
Keen to keep the guests coming, Ritz Carlton is operating a product entitled One Vacation – available online – where potential guests can look up a range of hotels, room rates and options.
‘The idea is that if you are only taking one vacation this year, then you take it with us,’ says Cooper. ‘It’s about trying to provide the customer with value and allowing to them to get a relatively good idea of what their stay is going to cost.’
In terms of what happens next, Cooper is hopeful the market has bottomed out and sees positive activity in certain geographies. ‘Our resort at Sanya, in China [pictured above], is proving very successful – the domestic Chinese market is pretty strong relative to everything else. The weaker part of China is the initial gateways – linked to the decline in business travel,’ he says.
And, just to reiterate the importance of the Chinese market, it’s worth pointing out that Ritz Carlton opened a 282-room property in Shenzen in March and is rolling out hotels in Pudong and Kowloon in 2010.
As to the immediate future elsewhere, Cooper sums up the situation thus: ‘At times like this people go with brands they know – they are less likely to be experimental. We firmly believe it’s far easier to give guests an outstanding experience with products that have all the facilities and that are well positioned.’
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Promotions/OneVacation/Default.htm
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