The Langham brand has an impeccable pedigree steeped in history and tradition. Since its origin in the Victorian London in 1865, the hospitality group has been known for the luxury, technology and grandeur.
Over the last 150 years, the group has taken its superior levels of luxury and heritage across the globe, including the Middle East.TTN caught up with Simon Manning, vice president, sales and marketing, Langham Hospitality Group, on the sidelines of International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) in Cannes, France, and spoke to him about the brand’s plans in the Middle East...Can you tell us more about the group’s developments in the Middle East?We have executed three HMAs (hospitality management agreements) with three individual owning groups. The first is for The Langham Palm Jumeriah, scheduled to open in 2018 in Dubai. The second is the 438-unit Langham Place Downtown Dubai, being launched in partnership with Omniyat. The $273-million project, also scheduled to open in 2018, will comprise a five-star luxury hotel and serviced apartments. The residences are already being sold.A Langham Place is also coming to Doha, Qatar – the Langham Place in Lusail, with 241 rooms and 89 luxury apartments. This is also due to open in 2018.The group is also in negotiations for properties in Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia and we hope some of these will come to fruition shortly. Apart from this, talks are under way to open a Cordis brand hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The Langham London has long been a favoured destination among Arabs. Do you get this market in some of your hotels in other destinations? Yes, we get extended-stay families staying with us in Sydney and New York as well.
What will be the feeder markets for your Middle East properties?I think we will have strong demand from Asia, the UK and also the US markets which all are directly connected by Etihad and Emirates airlines.
Genuine service, innovation, captivation of the senses and design are the four pillars of your business. Will you add anything to this in your Middle East Properties? Yes, of course, we would add amenities relevant to this market. For instance, in the design of the suites we will consider the need for an extra majilis. We will also offer our signature products – pink roses, ginger flower fragrances, traditional afternoon tea served with Wedgwood and a Chuan spa.
Why did you decide to branch out with the Cordis and Eaton brands? Because it is far harder to develop a luxury brand than an upscale brand. A luxury brand can only be in ‘A’ locations. There are far more ‘B’ buildings being built in the world in ‘B’ locations. We also believe that the global mass market traveller is bored of the major brands and that’s why lifestyle brands are emerging and they are very profitable. So we want to be in both. But what we aren’t going to do is to homogenise these like some other brands have done. So a Langham customer may not even know we have a Cordis or Eaton brand as it is not relevant to him. I believe from a CRM (customer relationship management) and marketing point of view, customers are uniquely different.
Do you still get business from travel agents? Yes, definitely. We get a huge amount of business from the luxury travel agents and big corporations. There are a lot of independent travel agents who work from their homes and have links to networks that give them the rates and the buying power, especially in North America. This is where social media is also important, as these people communicate through these channels. We would like to meet any interested parties who would like to work with us. You can never have enough stakeholders, particularly as we come into the Middle East.
By Kim Thomson