An Interview With The Westin Dubai - Their Leisure Strategy Revealed

Active8 Leisure's CEO, Nigel Gearing-Thomas, spoke to Tolga S Lacin, the Area General Manager of Westin Dubai, Marriott International, about their leisure and attractions strategy, the importance of social media, and the impact of COVID-19.

1. What leisure activities or attractions work well at your hotel?

Our Mina Club membership is getting a lot of traction as it provides, either individuals or families, with a full leisure experience. With 6 pools, including adult, kids, leisure and lap pools it is a versatile offer. And then adding on access to gym and kids club, alongside a discount for our Heavenly Spa and all of our F&B outlets, we see a lot of interest in this.

2. Do you have more details on the new waterpark opening soon?

We are extremely excited to be opening the doors to our new waterpark, Jungle Bay, in January. The waterpark will be set on the Mina Seyahi beach beautifully landscaped in an Cycladic architecture and will offer something for all ages. We will have 13 slides, a wave pool and a kids pool with dedicated kids slides, and also our Refuel Bar & Café offering a variety of F&B.

3. What do guests want to see the most when they come to the hotels?

I believe one of the things guest appreciate most is 5 star service, so this is something we spent a lot of time training our staff in, we always try and give our guest the best experience and always have a can do attitude. Other than that I think facilities like pools and F&B is a key decision factor when guests are booking into hotels, and with our variety of both pool and beach and 15 F&B outlets, I believe that is why we often see a lot of returning guests here at Mina Seyahi.

4. Who are the decision makers in the families that visit your hotel ? 

I would like to believe it is a joint decision. We are a very family friendly complex and I think that is what a lot of guests enjoy here – from having both kids, leisure and adult pools, to offering kids club and garden rooms with easy access, there is really something for everyone here.

5. How important to your business is social media content generated by your guests? 

Social Media is extremely important to our business. Especially when the content is generated by guests, you will never get a better recommendation than a personalized one, and a lot of our business is coming from this.

6. What are the biggest challenges to the hospitality sector since COVID-19?

The biggest challenges have been the social distancing, which has of course decreased our capacity across the hotel, meaning we are not able to accommodate as many people as we have in the past – we’ve been running a waitlist in certain venues as we of course would love to accommodate everyone. With that said the health and safety of our guests and our staff is of upmost importance, so we have now got use to managing with the new restrictions in place.

7. What are the top Nationalities staying at your hotel over the last 6 months?

We’ve had a lot of UAE residences over the past 6 months, but now that travel restrictions have started easing up again we are also seeing travellers from UK, France and Russia visiting again.

8. What new fitness or leisure trends have you seen or like?

We are about to build a new gym here in Mina Seyahi, opening July next year, and for this we are focusing on a 360 lifestyle gym. So we will be offering everything from high tech training like EMS, to personal trainers, classes and adding in a healthy coffee and juice bar.