Page 81 - July 2022 ATM Special Issue 608

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Carsten Wiegandt Sherief Abouelmagd
(General Manager – Kempinski Hotel Muscat): (General Manager Steigenberger Hotel Doha)
Bring Muscat to the forefront We build the experience
of authentic Arabian hospitality
and understand the type of client
empinski Hotel Muscat is a and the persona of guests
Kmodern interpretation of
Muscat and the Sultanate, with he Steigenberger Hotel in Doha
stand-out elements that are Tis the new flagship of this
renowned hotel brand in Qatar.
truly Omani in nature. The
German and Qatari hospitality are
hotel’s buildings and facades
united under the roof of
are inspired by the landscape of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts.
Old Muscat. The design of the The hotel is part of a full project
lobby originates from the (Hotel, Hotel Apartments and a
mall in between, noting that the
nature of lilies in a lily pond,
Mall and Hotel Apartments are
and is inspired by the Al Alam
still under construction. The
Palace, the ceremonial palace of building’s modern, urban design
His Majesty. The prominent complements Doha’s exciting
location of the ballroom estab- cityscape and represents an image
of elegance, sophistication and
lishes a strong first impression,
iconic construction. Steigenberger
with an architectural design
Doha is ideally located in the heart
inspired by Arabic lanterns illuminated in the evening to reinforce the hotel of the business district on Al Matar
as a landmark in Al Mouj Muscat community. German National Street, the airport road. Close by is
Carsten Wiegandt, General Manager at Kempinski Hotel Muscat has been Hamad International Airport
(HIA). This offers direct access not only to public transport but also to local
there from the start and was part of the pre-opening team in 2017. He start-
attractions. Sherief Abouelmagd, General Manager of Steigenberger Hotel Doha
ed his career with Kempinski when he joined Kempinski Hotel Vier
talked to Al Bayan Magazine about their preparations to host the 2022 FIFAWorld
Jahreszeiten and after years of steady growth he was promoted to Executive Cup, shedding light on the future advantages for Qatar hosting this event.
Assistant Manager at Kempinski Hotel Airport Munich. Wiegandt later He further expressed his point of view regarding the impact of this event on the
moved to China as General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Xian and after a economies of the countries of the region and on the State of Qatar. Following is an
extract from the interview.
successful tenure there, was assigned to various General Manager roles
within the company and China including Complex Kempinski Hotel Yixing
and Kempisnki Hotel Wuxi, and was part of the preopening team at “ Steigenberger Hotel, Doha is your homeaway from home
Kempinski Hotel Taiyuan and Kempinski Hotel Fuzhou. and we are waiting to see you during the 2022 FIFA World Cup ”
Al Bayan Magazine met Wiegandt during ATM show and conducted the fol-
lowing interview. • The travel and tourism sectors in the world are expecting a return to pre-
pandemic levels and to witness significant growth. What is your comment?
• How do you evaluate the Arabian Travel Market show for this year? - As you can see at the ATM today, everybody is eager to travel so my projection
- I think it is very good that the markets are recovering, and it is a good sig- it is going to be a big move in the next few months, it will ramp up and I think 2023
nal not only for the region but also to the entire world that travel tourism is in general will come back more strong than ever.
back. The indications are very positive. • Do you think the demands of tourists and visitors have changed?
- I think people are eager to travel for various reasons. If we are talking about the
• Did you make any refurbishments during the Covid-19 period? corporate people who have been suppressed for the last three to four years, there
- Oman was closed so basically during that time we focused on the local mar- is a lot of money to be made so definitely they want to move. Steigenberger
ket. We were strategizing for the time after Covid, how we would come back, comes from Doha which has been growing in the last five years and it is not only
what measures should be taken, etc… We stayed in touch with our partners because of World Cup, there is a huge infrastructure development in the country
all the time so that once restrictions were lifted, we would be able to imme- from the government and from other sectors and oil and gas is very high.
diately welcome back our key international markets. Therefore, everybody is eager to travel and we can see it already happening. With
respect to other sectors, Doha specifically opened up a lot of visa on arrival for a
• How do you keep pace with smart technological development and lot of nationalities so they are trying to really expand their portfolio and people vis-
what is its impact on the travel and tourism sectors? iting various cultural things in Doha. They are trying to lead the world in the sports
- We are always ahead with everything in terms of technology which need to events, it is not just World Cup but F1 Formula was there and international bas-
be implemented. During the times of Covid, we followed the technological ketball federation is coming so there is a lot of movement. In general I can see
requirements of the Ministry of Tourism as well as the Ministry of Health in that there is excitement around the world for travel so we see a huge movement
coming especially that everybody is eager to go.
Oman and Supreme Committee. We implemented devices which assured
that the quarantine and vaccinations were in full effect, ensuring that our • What makes Steigenberger Hotel special and unique?
employees and guests were fully vaccinated and safe and non-vaccinated - Steigenberger Hotel Doha is the Flagship for Dolce (Deutsche) Hospitality in the
guests were identified within the hotel. GCC area so we are very special. The property is super luxurious and it offers a
unique lifestyle experience in an area where it is not the thought for like areas
• How are you implementing sustainability and green? such as West Bay, Pearl and Lusail. Everybody was looking for something luxury
- Sustainability is a very important strategic pillar of the opening of our hotel, on the other side of town. We are the commercial district closer to the airport and
we cooperated with partners in Oman to drive sustainability further not only in we offer all the luxury that you can dream of, we are not on a beach but we are
terms of energy consumption but also in terms of wastage and recycling. looking like a resort in the middle of the city, it is a mix of business and leisure and
we offer huge conference facilities and the latest F&B experiences, beautiful ter-
• Do you have any summer packages? race with hubbly bubbly and a very spacious beautiful rooms. Our room is thought
to be one of the best rooms in Doha in terms of design and quality. We will soon
- We just came out from the Eid holidays which were quite successful. We do
open our SPA including a Turkish Bath which will be our USP.
have a special offer targeting local and GCC travellers during the summer
period which includes fantastic outdoor activities that we currently offer at the • Which nationalities are you expecting to visit your hotel?
hotel with our leisure partners such as sea tours, beach activities, island hop- - We have 50 percent Europe especially Germany, France and Belgium which are
ping, dolphin watching, snorkelling and much more. Also not forgetting our our top three feeder markets then from the GCC especially from UAE and Saudi
Kids Summer Camp that includes a daily schedule to keep children engaged Arabia. In the holidays we get filled up with Saudis who drive up to Qatar. We also
with fun activities. It’s important to highlight that our hotel doesn’t only focus think Far East will start at one point once Russia is done with this war thing, we
on leisure but also on meeting and commercial travelers. think that India, China and Russia will be 3 big markets that will emerge into Qatar.
81 AL BA Y AN ECONOMIC MAG - ISSUE 608 - JULY 2022