Blog Posts By Author: Rory Hopkins

Nick Poynton and I visited Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai last week while in town for Cityscape Dubai 2009. In case you missed the news the Atlantis had a fire a few weeks before it opened. The fire was on the domed roof of the lobby and thankfully did not proceed to the inner dome and the interior finishes. The concrete structure kept the interior free from the fire although there was extensive water damage from the fire suppression system. The hotel had clean up operations in place the same afternoon and was able to have the lobby back in pristine condition for the main opening. There was extensive damage to the outer external dome and work on that is to be completed later next week.

The Dale Chihuly sculpture in front of which we are standing is estimated to have cost US$12 million and Mr. Chihuly himself was in Dubai to install the sculpture for two weeks. The sculpture was sent from the States in individual pieces and constructed on site.

Special thanks to Dorsai Khaghani for giving Nick and me a tour of the hotel.

AHIC was attended by +1000 delegates and sponsors this year making it the biggest attendance in the history of the conference.

The conference was a wonderful occasion for WATG to meet and renew existing friendships while having the chance to make new acquaintances. John Elliott and John Goldwyn both spoke at the conference highlighting the issues of good resort design and sustainability, while Raj Chandnani, Nick Poynton and myself attended the various breakout sessions and networked the event. Lisya Sullam did us proud by manning the WATG stand.

I recently returned from the Cityscape Dubai exhibition and conference where it was estimated that 1 trillion (UK trillion not US trillion) of development was exhibited over the three days. The halls were a buzz of energy and excitement regarding the projects on display and everywhere you looked people were communicating at a base level: sitting and talking over a coffee or excitedly gesturing over the many models. It was fantastic to watch so many people talking face to face and to be involved in such an exhilarating conference.

When many of us were studying architecture and design at school, little did we know that one day we would end up working in the hospitality industry creating spaces for guests to live their dreams. This industry differs greatly in the world of architecture and design as we are made to leave our egos at the door. It is an industry that requires us to continue to push the boundaries of design so that we can create the ultimate guest experience.

One of the most important lessons I learned early on at WATG is to build and maintain relationships throughout the hospitality industry. Successful business thrives on relationships that are created, maintained and nurtured. Successful leaders who manage to empower and inspire their staff rather than lead are always more successful. The seller who can convince his clients that they need his product will create repeat business by building and maintaining those relationships.