Edwin Wijkhuijs is a Starwood and Marriott veteran. The Dutch native spent 23 years of his career with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, but began his career with Marriott International. “In a way, it’s a bit of a homecoming,” he says, as we make our way to one of the terraces of the Sheraton Sharjah.
“I have been with Starwood for about 23 years, but pre-Starwood I actually started my career in hospitality with Marriott. My Starwood-Marriott career combined is about 26 years now. I was only outside of the two companies [which are now one] for two-and-a-half years,” he explains.
The Sheraton Sharjah was abuzz with guests, mainly families, on a sunny December morning when Hotelier Middle East visited the property. “I was with the hotel a year before it opened, starting from a port-a-cabin to where we are today, which is a nice feeling,” Wijkhuijs tells Hotelier.
He adds: “We made a conscious effort to open the hotel before the season began [the hotel opened in November 2015]. Considering we had a few challenges along the way — from whether the kitchens would be ready on time, or the restaurants would be ready for opening, or, for that matter, having room inventory to suit the demands of the travel agencies — we managed to achieve our target.”
The hotel opened with 70% of its rooms, we find out. “We opened the hotel as a whole with the exception of two restaurants and the spa — which opened in the summer [2016]. Opening the rooms was done block by block,” he says, pointing to the structures.
Wijkhuijs followed a systematic pre-opening strategy, one that leaves him satisfied when he looks back. “We not only managed to have a successful season, but overall 2016 was a good year for us. To begin with we concentrated on a few key segments. Following Ramadan and Eid we went all out to target the different markets — Middle East, GCC et cetera. We built the hotel up step by step, and this has worked to our favour, and where we find ourselves today is a result of that.”
In the past, the emirate of Sharjah relied on Russian and CIS tourists; Wijkhuijs tells Hotelier how the property had to focus its attention elsewhere because of the declining rouble. “In the past, Sharjah has focused heavily on the CIS market — pre-rouble devaluation. Since we opened in 2015, we had not much choice — there was no CIS market.
“We were, hence, forced to look at other markets. We shifted focus to Western Europe, Far East, GCC and some of the African countries. Now, the visa-free travel means it’s lucrative to get Chinese tourists in as well. A few people in our sales team have a Western European resort sales background and that helped us. The strategy that we followed was quite successful in making sure we get people coming through the doors and not focusing on one particular segment.”
But one of the main challenges for Wijkhuijs is attracting first-time visitors to Sharjah. He explains: “What you do notice in Sharjah, despite what some people say, is an interesting market for people in-the-know. It may not particularly be the first-choice destination for European tourists, but [it appeals to them] after they have been to Dubai or Abu Dhabi a couple of times. This is because they know the country and want to see something different, they stay in Sharjah to see the museums and what’s on offer here. Sharjah also gives easy access to the Northern Emirates and yet we are not too far away from Dubai.”
He adds: “Guests from Germany, France and Denmark constantly affirm this trend and they also felt confident [to visit and stay in Sharjah] when they heard that the Sheraton brand was opening up here.”
Wijkhuijs and his sales & marketing team are not willing to accept the “second-choice” perception — when compared to Dubai and Abu Dhabi — that tourists have when it comes to Sharjah. “With the aid of travel agents and partners we are making a push to attract first-time UAE visitors to Sharjah. Marriott’s corporate office is also making a strong push, and of course we have contacts with many agents and DMCs. We get them on familiarisation trips, for example.”
GCC travellers are another major market for the emirate and Sheraton Sharjah. “Tourists from KSA and Oman know Sharjah well, and everything it stands for. The family values are on top, and it’s a very important market for us,” he says.
Wijkhuijs is also quick to clear the air on the decline in the numbers of Saudi tourists. He says: “It’s difficult for us to say because we have been open just 12 months. I would like to think there will be an upswing with the oil prices going back up. For the Sheraton Sharjah, the Saudi market has not been dented.”
The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is on the forefront of promoting the destination, and Wijkhuijs tells Hotelier. “The efforts they put in are very impressive to really promote tourism within Sharjah. They were thrilled when they heard a new five-star beach resort was opening. The architecture and design fits in with the emirate as well. The hotel body [in Sharjah] typically meets the SCTDA once every month, sometimes once every two months, mainly to discuss mutual challenges, areas of interest and how we overcome those challenges.”
Wijkhuijs also lists the benefits of being a dry property, terming it as one of the hotel’s USPs. “It is an advantage because we have a niche that Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah or even Ajman does not have. If you look at the summer period and the GCC tourists are really travelling, we have been able to exploit that niche.”
Furthermore, the merger between Marriot and Starwood means the parent company now has a foot in Sharjah. “Pre-merger there were no Marriott-branded hotels in Sharjah, so quite simply the Sheraton Sharjah has given the Marriott guests a new hotel in an area where they had no representation. In our case, it’s quite a simple exercise — we have given more choice and more access. We do see a lot of Marriott Rewards members visit the property on a regular basis,” he informs Hotelier.
For Wijkhuijs, the Sharjah property was his first pre-opening hotel as a GM. “I oversaw the pre-opening of two Madinah properties in Saudi Arabia, but this was my first as a general manager.”
From one hotel it will soon become two, as Wijkhuijs is keeping a keen eye on proceedings at the soon-to-open Four Points by Sheraton in Downtown Sharjah. “The property will be a typical business hotel located at the heart of the city. It will not be a product like this hotel,” Wijkhuijs clarifies.
The F&B outlets will not clash either, and put together he sees plenty of synergies between both properties. “Certainly there are opportunities; we have not discussed banqueting, for example, and that’s a huge market for us,” indicating the cluster could explore MICE tourism.
Wijkhuijs’ goal is stabilise the Sheraton Sharjah Beach Resort and Spa while he guides the Four Points property into its own identity. “I want to ensure that this property establishes itself in the next couple of years and in the meantime the new [Four Points by Sheraton] will keep me busy,” he concludes.
