Jocelyn Kwok, CEO of AHRIM: “Overwhelmingly spectacular growth from Chinese market”

The hotel and restaurant industry is called upon to be more productive in 2016. That, for two main reasons: The marketing strategies launched abroad during the past years are paying dividends with the arrival of more and more tourists; and secondly, the recent introduction of a star-rating system for the country’s hotels. The CEO of the Association des Hoteliers et Restaurateurs de Maurice (AHRIM), Jocelyn Kwok, talks to News on Sunday and announces measures taken by the industry to rise up to the new challenges it faces.According to Statistics Mauritius, tourist arrivals will increase by 10% in 2016. How is the hotel industry preparing itself to accommodate these extra visitors? On accommodation inventory, I don’t think we have any major issue as things stand today. With around 13,300 hotel rooms, and an estimated 6,800 non-hotel rooms, the island has sufficient operational capacity to cater for more growth in tourist arrivals. This is confirmed by the average hotel room occupancy rate which will, in all likelihood, reach some 71-72% for 2015. As you would know, we have however the element of seasonality which pushes occupancy rates up to above 80% during peak season, and pulls them down to 50% in June for example. In 2016, a further number of hotels will be engaging into major renovation works; this is an indication of the level of confidence in the sector. With the star rating system now officially enforced, it seems that many hotels now have higher value aspirations with regard to the guest segments of their respective properties. Challenges around the diversity of tourists will continue as Mauritius opens up to other hubs such as Istanbul and Singapore, with exponential increases in potential markets for us. The variety of guests expectations is considered with the highest of attention as hoteliers gear their resources towards more diversified food, amenities, activities and languages. Continuous training and hiring of new language skills will intensify and cross-border professional exchanges will also be further encouraged. We will also launch new training programmes for job seekers with our partner training institutions. Beyond accommodation, AHRIM is fully engaged in furthering the tourist experience in Mauritius. We will continually engage with the authorities in order to maintain and further strengthen the product. The March 2015 Strategic Paper of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and External Communications is fully relevant in that respect and we will endeavour to implement the various measures contained therein. The Association will continue to back the airline hub strategy of the authorities and its build up over the years across Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Istanbul, and now Singapore. Our long-standing cooperation with the Association of Inbound Operators in Mauritius will be further strengthened with new initiatives aiming at maintaining high service delivery standards in Mauritius. It seems that Air Mauritius has taken off smoothly with more than 75% occupancy; in the coming month, a new link will be inaugurated with Singapore Changi airport. Are our hotels of the same standard as those of Singapore? How are hotels and restaurants preparing themselves to serve new tourists coming from China and Singapore? On this new Mauritius-Singapore air corridor venture, of course we are keen on straight comparisons between the two countries, airports or airlines, and even hotels. But I don’t think we should use that viewing angle only; complementarities are stronger and constitute the rationale behind this partnership. Scopes and standards are different and the service intensity is also of no-match. In the case of hotels, we have holiday resorts predominantly whilst Singapore boasts more city hotels meant for the busier crowds. This being said, on service standards for business hotels purely, I do believe we can match many of the major players out there. Talking about food and guest expectations from the new markets, we know that we need to close the gap in terms of contents and quality. Hiring the required expertise from abroad is one of the solutions already being implemented. Training from specialist sources, with the contribution of the Chinese Embassy on one occasion, has been pursued and certainly, more needs to be done. The specific case of Chinese tourists is in fact an unprecedented challenge; we have not only the language barrier issue, but also, the growth from 21,000 tourists in 2012 up to almost 90,000 in 2015 has been overwhelmingly spectacular. The MTPA has launched the star rating system for hotels. Is the criteria used to grade our hotels the same way as across the world? How do hotels and restaurants view this new measure? The system put in place by the authorities in Mauritius is directly inspired from best practices elsewhere. Adaptations to the specificities of resorts have been brought and improvements will be additionally included as we proceed from this year’s implementation phase. Over and above the stated criteria relating to infrastructure and service, the system provides for integration of selling rates, guest feedback and audits mainly. These again follow best practices. Hotels have been and continue to be supportive of this initiative. We are fully embarked on the common objective of both authorities and the industry, to meet our promise on service delivery. In spite of much criticism worldwide of the star rating systems generally, the guidance provided to stakeholders, in emerging markets in particular, by an official authority is very pertinent. Moreover, we have chosen in Mauritius the joint authority-industry model of awarding body, which reinforces the level of trust among all players. We frequently read in the news about thefts in hotels and it seems that the murder of Michaella Harte will be remembered for a long time. What are the measures taken by AHRIM to consolidate the reputation of Mauritius as a safe destination? Two years ago, the Tourism Authority implemented a new set of measures to enhance safety and security levels in hotels. AHRIM has been party to discussions leading to these and has then ensured that its members adhere to those new measures. Hotels have also raised the requirements of their procedures, been less tolerant towards illicit behaviours among the staff, and engaged into more compelling reporting lines, namely with the use of technology. Cases of theft for instance are systematically reported to the Police, whatever their level of seriousness. Regular meetings with the Police are held on a geographical scale; these also include sensitisation of hotel staff members on crime prevention and detection.