Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ new president – Europe, Sabine Dorn-Aglagul, exclusively speaks to Tatiana Tsierkezou about the Swiss hospitality giant’s latest European news.
TTG: Please share Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ latest European news and developments.
We have upcoming hotels in Stuttgart in Germany and The Hague in the Netherlands opening in 2019, and in Basel, Switzerland, opening in 2020.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has launched a new room category concept that guarantees guests what they value the most – a good night’s sleep. The new Mövenpick Sleep rooms offer personalised comfort, unique individually adjustable beds, complete darkness and total silence. All Mövenpick hotels in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland feature this new room. Plus, there is the ongoing renovation of our hotels in Lausanne and Amsterdam.
TTG: How does Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ hospitality stand out among Europe’s fierce competition?
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is a modern, international upscale hotel management firm with a ‘we make moments’ business philosophy, recognising that small gestures make a big difference to its guests, business partners and its workforce of more than 16,000 team members.
Headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ values reflect its Swiss roots and rich culinary heritage, and it is passionate about delivering gastronomic excellence and intuitive service – all with a personal touch.
Chocolate Hour is Mövenpick’s most popular brand signature, staged daily in its hotel lobbies around the world, with in-house chefs hosting live demonstrations and entertaining experiences, from rolling truffles to icing cupcakes. It offers guests the chance to taste complimentary chocolate presented in novel ways, which reflects our ‘we make moments’ brand vision.
We run two F&B brand campaigns every year – for example, this year we celebrated Mövenpick’s 70 years of culinary heritage. The theme for Autumn this year is Chocolate on the salty side and for Spring next year, it will be California dreamin’.
Committed to sustainable practices and caring for local communities in the destinations where it operates, Mövenpick is the most Green Globe certified hotel company in the world.
TTG: How are you working to entice the Middle East and North African markets to your European properties?
One of the keys to appealing to the Middle East and North African markets is our hotels’ understanding of these markets’ requirements from an operational point of view (halal food, Arabic speaking staff, in-room amenities). Thanks to our strong presence in terms of hotel locations in the Middle East and North Africa, we enjoy excellent brand awareness. These markets provide us with significant inbound business to European destinations such as Switzerland and Germany, where we have a very strong presence.
TTG: Have you attended any trade shows this year?
We exhibited at the Arabian Travel Market 2018. It gave us the opportunity to introduce some of our exciting upcoming properties to the trade, such as Maldives and Kuala Lumpur, and our newly opened Nairobi property. We were also present at ITB and IMEX Frankfurt (particularly important for our hotels that have large conferencing facilities, such as in Marrakech, Nairobi and Jordan).
TTG: Finally, have you picked up on any new travel trends throughout 2018?
Yes, we have; automated check-out options! Everyone talks about automated check-in, but automated check-out is just as important. People don’t want to queue and want to be in control of their own time.
The post INTERVIEW: President – Europe, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Sabine Dorn-Aglagul appeared first on TTG MENA.