Page 61 - July 2022 ATM Special Issue 608

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Alessandro Buono Daniele Vastolo
(Account Director – The St. Regis Rome & The Westin (General Manager Zulal Wellness Resort Qatar):
Excelsior Rome, Marriott International Luxury Brands):
Zulal is born not from a business plan
The tourism situation is booming very but out of a vision
quickly in a way that it is even hard
ulal Wellness Resort by
for us to keep the pace ZChiva-Som is a pioneer-
ing destination in the Middle
lessandro Buono, East that blends Traditional
AAccount Director at The Arabic & Islamic Medicine
with a holistic health and
St. Regis Rome & The Westin
well-being philosophy, estab-
Excelsior Rome, Marriott
lished by Chiva-Som, the
International Luxury Brands,
internationally acclaimed
was among the prominent wellness resort in Thailand. It
people who participated at welcomes guests from all over
the Arabian Travel Market the world to its coastal home
held in Dubai along with sev- on the northern tip of Qatar,
eral of his colleagues. On the where it offers two distinct yet
sidelines of the event, Al interconnecting experiences.
Bayan Magazine conducted Zulal Serenity is dedicated to
adult guests seeking an immersive health and lifestyle reset, while Zulal
an interview with Buono in
Discovery invites families to connect and embark on a wellness journey
which he evaluated the show
together. It aims to inspire guests with positive and sustainable lifestyle
for this year and talked about the refurbishments they did during the
change. Al Bayan Magazine met Daniele Vastolo, General Manager of
Covid-19 period. He further shed light on how they are keeping pace Zulal Wellness Resort Qatar and following is the interview conducted.
with smart technological development and gave us an idea about their
occupancy rate. Below is the Q & A. “ Our goal is to create healthy societies ”
• How do you evaluate the Arabian Travel Market for this year? • Can you give us an idea about the resort?
- I have been participating in this show for about 15 times and I believe - Zulal Wellness Resort Qatar opened its doors on the 29th of March 2022. It
is the first full immersion wellness resort in the GCC, and we are very unique
we are back to the pre-covid times. I was even here last year and there
because we look after wellness for families and adults so we have two hotels
were few attendees but this year it is super busy and we are witnessing
in one. The property is around 180 rooms in total and there is nothing like us
successful days.
in the region at the moment. We are pretty unique. The ownership is from
Msheireb properties in Qatar while the know-how of the property comes from
• Did you do any refurbishments during the Covid-19 period? the Chiva-Som in Thailand. Chiva-Som is one of the top three leaders in the
- Absolutely, especially The St. Regis which is a complete remodel hotel. world when it comes to wellness. We address wellness at 360 degrees, we
It was opened one year before the pandemic and we only had one year have six pillars of wellness, we look after fitness, physiotherapy, holistic
to promote it because then we had to stop for the pandemic. Now, the health, nutrition, aesthetic and spa.
ATM show is a great opportunity to promote the hotel in this part of the • The resort is open for people from Qatar and abroad?
world.
- Zulal is born not from a business plan but out of a vision, which is the vision
of Qatar projected towards 2030 and the goal is to create healthy societies.
• How do you keep pace with smart technological development and That is the goal of creating Zulal and thus there is a very noble objective
what is its impact on the travel and tourism sectors? behind it, and it is open to all people.
- At the hotel, we follow all Marriott policies in terms of environment and
• Do you think the demands of travelers have changed post-pandemic?
recycling and since the hotel was completely renovated, we tried to
- There is a trend at the moment that while the peak of leisure travel is pretty
update it also from that point of view.
stable, the wellness travelers are skyrocketing because people after Covid
are searching to do something for themselves, to get stronger, better immune
• Do you consider the Mena region an important market for your system, fit, etc…. so it is becoming a priority for travelers. Before, people
hotels? used to go on holidays three to four weeks for leisure, now they have reduced
- For Rome, it is not the largest market but it is very important for us that to maybe ten days and then they go two weeks for wellness.
because of the average rate which is high because we host high • What is the added value behind your participation in the Arabian Travel
spenders from this part of the world so in terms of volume it is not big but Market?
in terms of quality, it is definitely important and that’s why we have - It serves as a business card to the world to showcase what Qatar is doing
always been traveling to this part of the world to get more business. We and the latest realizations in the hospitality sector. It is very important to be
are owned by a Qatari company so definitely Qatar is important but also present and to communicate to the specialists in travel industry and get to
Saudi Arabia and UAE. have an idea about the new and latest offerings. That is the right way to go
forward and push for the destination.
• Are you satisfied from your occupancy rate?
- In a couple of month, the situation completely changed. We were real-
ly struggling with occupancy and now the summer time is almost sold out
all date so it is booming and going so quick that it is even hard for us to
keep the pace because it is much quicker than before.
• Being part of Katara, is it beneficial for you as a hotel?
- Definitely, because of the connection with this part of the world but as
the United States is our main market since we belong to an American
company, then it is a perfect compromise from both parts of the world.

61 AL BA Y AN ECONOMIC MAG - ISSUE 608 - JULY 2022