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Jumeirah – Stay different is our promise
By: Gerald Lawless – Executive Chairman, Jumeirah Group
Every one of our hotels and resorts is unique and I truly believe that today’s top-end luxury travelers want different experiences as they traverse the globe.
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We already operate in Dubai, where we also have our headquarters, and in London and New York. In 2010 we will be opening hotels in Frankfurt, Kuwait and Shanghai to name a few.
Jumeirah Living offers residences, and Jumeirah Restaurants is growing fast as it takes its Noodle House and other restaurant brands around the world. Talise Spa is our spa and wellness brand. The group also includes Jumeirah Retail, The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management and the Wild Wadi Water Park in Dubai.
Consumers want the best, wherever they are, and at our level they are becoming more discerning. I do believe that what our guests are looking for is right now is for everyone to become a little more caring. Jumeirah has a Research and Innovation department to find out what the trends are, and come up with new ideas that surprise and delight. They want to know about the social environment and Jumeirah works closely with consultants to measure its carbon footprints, and see how they can be reduced.
In May this year we produced our first CR report. Our social responsibility also includes our new Jumeirah Foundation, that we are looking to launch in the near future. A cross-the-broad group of outstanding employees, whom we call ‘colleagues of exceptional value’, meets regularly, and it is this group that will recommend which projects the Foundation will support.
Jumeirah launched in 1997, with the opening of Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai. Getting all this going has undoubtedly been the biggest challenge of my career – I am sure that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, knew what would happen but I had no idea. Dubai is the catalyst not only of the Middle East but the exciting world of today. Even during this current financial climate profitability of Jumeirah’s hotels can be pretty well sustained. In the beginning of the year we adjusted our rate by 20%. We are now very pleased to see
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that the situation is improving in Dubai, with occupancy and rates picking up.
The company has set hallmarks for its 10,000 colleagues. We smile and greet guests before they greet us, for instance. It is true happiness working with such marvelous Jumeirah colleagues, who now come from over 100 countries. I am terrifically proud that the Jumeirah Group also includes The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, where students can gain full academic and hospitality degrees. Under the leadership of my colleague Ron Hilvert, the Academy, which started in 2001, has had students from over 31 countries: today it has just under 400 students, and it has a unique academic association with Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, whose Chairman is our good friend Marco Torriani.
THE AUTHORGerald Lawless is Executive Chairman of Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, part of Dubai Holding. He first went to Dubai in 1991 to establish Forte’s Middle East office (in all he spent 23 years with Forte, working also in the Caribbean, Ireland, South Africa and the UK). His many speaking engagements include most of the top global hotel industry investment conferences: he was on Mary Gostelow’s luxury panel at the Russia-CIS Hotel Investment Conference, October 25-27, 2009. When Gerald Lawless is able to take a vacation he tries to improve his golf, he heads for his beloved ski slopes or, for pure relaxation, to the west coast of the USA or his native Galway, Ireland.
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