features: opinion & comments: The man with a plan
The man with a plan
When Peter Payet stepped into the SVP role at Arabian Adventures and CSI in December last year, he had some big French shoes to fill.
He was taking the helm from the very capable Frederic Bardin, who after building the successful DMC and PCO division for Emirates, was switching to their holidays division.
But Payet’s transition into his new position could not have been easier or more fitting – he had worked for the Arabian Adventures brand since its inception in 1992 and had witnessed its rise to success, in line with parent company, the Emirates Group, for the past 20 years.
“It was a natural progression,” says Payet. “I’d already spent a lot of time running the day-to-day business as vice president of Arabian Adventures, working alongside Frederic and (Emirates’ Destination & Leisure Management Division SVP) Hans Haensel.
“The only thing I had to grasp – and fast – was attending the senior vice president meetings with senior managers such as Emirates Airline president Tim Clark, but that was fine because I’d already had one-to-one meetings with them before.
“It’s quite exciting for me to be involved in the strategy of the business – not just for Arabian Adventures, but for the Emirates Group as a whole.”
In fact, Payet has spent the first six months in his new role reviewing old strategies and putting new ones in place in response to the ‘New Dubai’ that has emerged post-recession.
“The old strategy was based on Dubai as it was in 2006 and 2007 when expansion was rapid, but not all projects came to fruition so we are now re-working the plan with the next five years in mind,” he explains.
He claims the economic crisis was a blessing in disguise for Dubai because it forced the government and investors to become more business-focused. “Before the recession the attitude was ‘build it and they will come’ because there was an abundance of money to invest.”
“But now when a project is on the table, people are more realistic. It is properly researched and return on investment is a key consideration.”
Part of Payet’s role as SVP is to liaise with the government and discuss current and potential projects that will not only benefit the Emirates Group, but the prosperity of Dubai as a business, leisure and meetings destination.
Achievements and challenges
Strategising aside, Payet has also spent the last six months putting some immediate changes into effect.
In May, he launched Arabian Adventures’ ‘Exclusive Collection’ brochure – “a new bespoke service offering a range of tailor-made excursions aimed at the discerning traveller looking for luxurious, yet off-the-beaten-track experiences”.
Payet has also established an exhibition unit within CSI and is currently identifying four brand new exhibition concepts for the Dubai market.
All this has been achieved during a time when Payet has also had to grapple with challenging business conditions.
He concedes that a “significant increase in Dubai’s room stock, combined with the negative effect of regional and global trends have had an impact on arrivals from some key source markets”.
“However, with every challenge there are always opportunities and we have increased our focus on incentive groups and markets that are looking for new destinations to visit as a result of these issues,” says Payet.
Recent Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce (DTCM) figures bear witness to this. In the first quarter of 2011, the number of visitors to the emirate increased 13 percent year on year to 2.38 million (from 2.1 million in Q1, 2010).
Payet stresses that these visitors stayed in Dubai for longer – possibly as a result of cancelling visits to elsewhere in the region – with room nights for the period up 24 percent to 8.4 million (from 6.25 million in Q1, 2010).
“What we haven’t achieved in passenger numbers we have made up for in room nights,” he says.
Room at the inn
A greater number and variety of hotels is also driving the increase in length of stay, not to mention business for Arabian Adventures and CSI. “With an enhanced portfolio of hotels across all star ratings, it is helping us to position Dubai as an even more attractive conference and exhibition hub,” says Payet.
“In addition, better flexibility on the terms and conditions hotels are offering groups, combined with greater value for money, means we can secure more medium and long-term business.”
Payet also notes that the availability of more unique venues such as At.mosphere at Burj Khalifa, as well as a great range of villatype luxury accommodation are attracting more business from markets such as Russia that demand this type of product.
In addition, conferences are more inclined to choose Dubai now it offers “very high quality” three- and four-star accommodation for delegates. What is now required to further complement the hotel offering, and help grow business for Arabian Adventures, is further investment in cruise infrastructure and theme parks, according to Payet.
Target markets ‘in good health’
For CSI, the growth strategy going forward is quite simple: “Europe, the US and South America are currently our priority markets as 90 percent of international associations are headquartered on the old and new continent,” says Payet.
“Having said that, India, China and West Africa are key source markets for the future, particularly as we move into exhibitions.
“These markets have different dynamics and processes when it comes to organising conferences and exhibitions and in order to tap into them, CSI has had to invest in HR in order to meet the expectations of these countries.”
Industry-wise, healthcare, IT, telecoms, tourism and finance are highest on CSI’s agenda.
Payet says CSI has invested a tremendous amount of its business development time canvassing associations and corporate companies that are active in the healthcare sector.
“One of the reasons why we have seen the healthcare sector growing exponentially for the past 18 months is that our fast growing region (MENA) is in great need of education and training in various medical disciplines,” he says. Payet predicts the growth of the medical sector, which has an average lead booking time of between six months and two years, will “sustain its pace for the next decade”.
“It is our role as the UAE’s leading professional congress organiser, in conjunction with the Dubai Convention Bureau and Dubai World Trade Centre, to focus greatly on this industry sector and ensure that we can meet their expectations,” he says.
Finance and tourism are sectors that are “bouncing back” he says and will receive more attention from CSI in the near future, as will the energy and renewable energy sectors.
Ambitions
As Dubai starts to attract more meetings business and PCOs such as CSI lead the way in bringing big conventions to town, the emirate is now well-regarded in corporate and associations circles – but there is a lot more work to be done, says Payet.
“From experience, we often compete with cities such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town and Hong Kong and having such competition clearly demonstrates how Dubai is now on the World Congress Map,” he says.
“But in order for Dubai to maintain its position and attract more conferences, the city and its industry stakeholders must outline a destination business strategy with the Dubai Convention Bureau (DCB) as the driver of this initiative.”
“We have the means – the best congress infrastructure, excellent supplier portfolio, outstanding accessibility, safety, etc. Now we need the financial and strategic support from the government (the DTCM and DCB) to climb up the ladder,” he stresses.
“We should be working together as an industry to attract big conferences.”
