Hotelier Middle East – May 2019

HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | May 2019 | Volume 18 Issue 05

COVER STORY

36

your eyes off. At Wyndham, we look at this
and say there are some really important
trends happening in the Middle East.
We cannot afford being who we are – the
world’s biggest franchiser of hotels – to not
be here, not to be part of this evolution that
is happening,” he says.
Mankis underscored how at the recently
held World Travel & Tourism Council
(WTTC) in Seville, Spain, world tourism
leaders said that tourism is going to be the
second biggest employer in the world and is
going to be the driving force of communities,
addressing the needs of the growing middle
class, either in the emerging markets of
India and/or China.
“This is an amazing opportunity for
Wyndham with its brands to cover the
needs of these new consumers. Look at our
brands. Midscale is our game, it’s our field.
We love playing that segment because it has
made sense and made Wyndham what it is
today. We have brands that cover the needs
of many consumers, but the midscale one is
the one we are comfortable with. That is the
segment of the market that has an enormous
future the region,” he says.

Spending power
Targeting emerging markets like India and

China seems like an obvious move. But

compared to the established source markets

of Europe and North America, would such

tourists have less to spend?

He disagrees, saying the way airlines

operate today with more budget airlines,

allows travellers to get here cheaper than

before, and therefore giving them more

access to disposable income, to ‘stay better,

buy better,” he says.

Mankis returns to the tourism strategies

that GCC countries are currently

implementing, saying that such

initiatives address the emerging

tourist markets. “This is why

airports are being expanded,

and why they are bringing

different market segments. They

[governments] understand

that in order to move from

a developing to a mature

market you need every single

component and segment to play in that

market.” The strategies that the regional

countries are building actually speaks to

that.

“If we look at Wyndham we have what

every traveller wants from economy to

upper scale. So the travellers in this part of

the world (Middle East), if you look at the

demographics and the way that the market

is shifting, I think that it is important that

we put our brands where the consumers

want us to be.

“Over the years, Wyndham started to

reinforce the presence of the Ramada

brand, which is the most well-known

brand in the region and our core brand”

Panos Loupasis

Days Hotel Deira Waterfront, UAE