Despite language barriers and explicit dietary requirements, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai got innovative and pulled off a conference and incentive programme for Amway Korea’s 600 high-ranking associates.
CLIENT: Amway Korea
TYPE: Conference and incentive
VENUE: JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai
WHEN: March 2017
ATTENDEES: 600
To ensure a smooth service delivery, the Amway planning team visited the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel three times – starting in January – ahead of their arrival to discuss their needs and expectations, while the JW hotel team simultaneously discussed strategies among themselves for the management of such high numbers.
The planning process included all sorts of information from locations of various ATM machines in the city, to ways to encourage guests to visit the hotel’s nine restaurants and five lounges.
Weekly conversations began in February with major departments to discuss potential challenges and develop risk mitigation plans. Daily conversations happened with the operations teams to discuss the next 48 hours. WhatsApp Groups were created between the customer and the individual operations teams for quick changes to plans and addressing guests’ last minute needs.
Language barriers
The hotel utilised its culturally diverse team of associates and relocated all Korean speakers from outlets and administrative departments to assist in communicating with the Amway guests.
90 percent of attendees did not speak fluent English, but with staff from over 70 nationalities, the hotel was able to provide their own Korean speakers. Hierarchy of rooms was also really important to this group – and this means height in the towers above all else. No one of lower hierarchy in the company could have a room above someone of a higher rank – an interesting cultural play all organised in the world’s tallest hotel.
Last minute food and beverage request
The group had some incredible requests like 350 club sandwiches on the fly as well as the importation of hundreds of boxes of kimchi. The hotel managed to make it all happen through sheer teamwork, but JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is also one of the only hotels in the UAE capable of hosting groups of 1,000 or more to eat, meet and sleep.
To get all the sandwiches in by just 90 minutes, everyone in the hotel team had to have their responsibilities clearly outlined and communicated. In terms of product replenishment, the hotel was fortunate to have flexible suppliers, which ensured that late deliveries could be arranged, and to provide enough products for the Amway guests and the many others staying in their 1,608 rooms.
With a hotel this size, a big pool of resources is available to pull from, such as additional chefs from other restaurants, extra equipment like toasters, slicers, etc. and, of course, a team of leaders who are experienced in dealing with groups of 1,000 delegates at once.
Uninterrupted daily operations
In order to ensure that other FIT guests experiences were not hampered by such a large and important group, additional associates were onsite to manage the flow of the group inside the hotel. For example, using the separate ballroom exit for regular desert safaris instead of our main lobby exit and establishing a wide spread of breakfast and lunch offerings on different floors.
Most notably we attracted the Amway group to key areas by serving a range of Korean favourites, curated by Korean Chef Chris Choi who flew in from our sister hotel, JW Marriott in Seoul just to support this incentive.
Chef Choi also worked with the hotel chefs one month in advance to develop and adjust menus that would please and delight the guests and provided specific ingredient lists a month in advance, so the hotel could work with suppliers to obtain the most authentic ingredients for the dishes.
Fully understanding the group’s highest priority and ensuring a clear understanding of expectations is key to such a high profile group. This group’s highest priority was assigning room numbers in a hierarchical format, which proved challenging with our sales strategy and the challenge of 100% occupancy the night prior to this major arrival.
An adjustment to one guest room upon arrival could potentially affect hundreds of people and their assigned accommodation, so advance preparation and planning were crucial to a successful event.
Being fully transparent with the customer regarding the hotel’s abilities in any situation, proved to be the best way to avoid frustration and help the client prepare for alternative solutions. High profile incentive groups also require a dense knowledge of the city and its available activities that conferences generally do not. The attendees are able to decide how they spend much of their time and therefore had many questions for the staff about local attractions and places to eat.
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