Interview with: Amine Moukarzel, President of Golden Tulip Hotels Suites & Resorts MENA, a speaker at the marcus evans EMEA Hospitality Summit 2013, on how the Royal Tulip brand is growing in the MENA region.

1. How Royal Tulip is Expanding its
Portfolio of Hotels
With at least one new hotel added
to your portfolio each month, how
does your company keep up and
maintain full brand control?
Interview with: Amine Moukarzel,
President of Golden Tulip Hotels
Suites & Resorts MENA
With its recently launched five-star
brand Royal Tulip, Golden Tulip is set to
double its regional portfolio of hotels,
says Amine Moukarzel, President of
Golden Tulip Hotels Suites & Resorts
MENA. “Our goal is to expand
aggressively, to make Golden Tulip the
brand of choice,” he goes on to say.
A speaker at the marcus evans EMEA
Hospitality Summit 2013, taking
place in Montreux, Switzerland, 11 - 13
November, Moukarzel discusses how
Golden Tulip is boosting the reputation
of its brand and highlights the
opportunities for growing a hotel
portfolio in the region.
Tell us how Golden Tulip is boosting
its brand reputation.
The way we have expanded in the last
few years and continue to deliver on our
current hotels is what helps us grow our
brand. Our marketing programmes and
reservation system are facets that have
made a big difference. The Louvre Hotel
Group, which we are a part of, is the
second largest group in Europe and the
eight largest worldwide by number of
p r o p e r t ie s . B e i ng p ar t o f t h is
conglomerate and taking care of our
people is what makes us successful. We
look after our customers, staff and
owners. Integrity and respect is
necessary for us to maintain the
reputation of our brand.
We keep up by enhancing our presence
in each market and having current
owners referring us to other investors.
Most developers, owners and investors
in the region know each other. We also
travel extensively to make sure we
understand and appreciate each local
culture. Travelling in some of the larger
countries such as Algeria or Saudi
Arabia is not easy, but you need to
know how they do business.
We are expanding in Lebanon, Egypt
and Iraq, despite their political issues.
When we opened the Royal Tulip
Alexandria, we had the military in front
of us and demonstrators taking photos
with our brand signage in the
background. Nevertheless, our goal is to
expand aggressively, to make Golden
Tulip the brand of choice. The sky is our
limit. We want to cover more of Morocco
and Algeria, and enter Libya and Sudan
as well.
As for maintaining full control of the
brand, that is impossible. We have
systems and training programmes in
place, a mystery guest programme and
executives visiting each property, but
try to maintain some flexibility. It is
definitely more difficult to have full
control in franchise hotels than those we
manage.
We are also growing the number of
hotels we manage ourselves, as owners
come to realise it is better to grant
those responsibilities to us.
What are some of the opportunities
for expanding in this market?
We are developing more hotels in
Lebanon than ever before, although Gulf
country citizens have been banned from
visiting. We do not believe in hiding or
being short-sighted. This is an
opportunity to add up more hotels and
prepare for when things get better.
Algeria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia offer
many opportunities, and Syria once the
situation settles a bit. Many hotel
owners in the region would welcome the
logo of an international brand on their
building.
Any final words of advice?
Hotel owners and operators should
appreciate each other more. Secondly,
hotel owners’ representatives have to
learn to respect operators.
Intermediaries stay around for a year or
two. Who will sustain business growth
after that? Transparency and respect,
with no strings attached, will deliver
better results for both parties.
Integrity and
respect is
necessary
for us to
maintain the
reputation of
our brand

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innovations.
About the EMEA Hospitality Summit 2013
This unique forum will take place at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux,
Switzerland, 11 - 13 November 2013. Offering much more than any conference,
exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed
industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive
networking event. The Summit includes presentations on crafting a distinctive guest
experience, driving ROI, adopting the latest design trends and integrating green
building strategies.
www.hospitalitysummit.com
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closed
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strictly
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.hospitalitysummit.com/AmineMoukarzel