Hotels with a conscience

Is it possible to combine five star luxury with saving the planet? Noel Massoud, CEO of Jinan Hotels & Resorts, thinks so. He sits down with Diana Milne to explain the company’s eco strategy.

The news of a new hotel management company opening for business in the GCC is hardly headline grabbing. But there's something quite unique about the concept envisaged by Noel Massoud. As CEO of Jinan Hotels and Resorts, he aims to build the Middle East's first green hotel chain with an emphasis not on luxury, but on health, well-being and eco-friendliness. It's a far cry from the brash glitziness of many of the region's more established hotel chains. But Massoud says he foresees high demand for such a concept in the Middle East: "I think there is big potential in the Middle East and in everywhere else because I think everybody is going in that direction and awareness of environmental issues is growing worldwide. People are aware that they need to change some of their habits and that it is everyone's responsibility to cut waste and reduce emissions. It is not just the responsibility of one organisation or country."

The green agenda

Jinan is part of the Al Dhiyafa Holding group and will live up to its green principles by minimising its carbon footprint and waste production and conserving energy sources within its hotels. Guests will be encouraged to eat healthily and to take part in exercise and spa activities at the hotels and to embrace what the hotel is calling its Livingmore concept. Describing some of the green measures the company will be taking, Massoud says: "First of all we hope that our hotels will all be LEED certified from the beginning and for the hotels that are not built as green or sustainable buildings we will introduce the maximum activities or maximum applications to reduce energy whether it is water, gas or electricity, try to cut all the extra waste that is consumed using new technology and control recycling as well."

The first Jinan resort, the Jinan Al Dhafrah Hotel and Resort, will be built in Zayed City - a development situated around 140 km from Abu Dhabi. It will be four-star hotel consisting of 84 duplex apartments and six suites set in 50,000 square metres of grounds. Massoud describes why this was Jinan's choice as a first venue: "This city needs hotels and other accommodation facilities. And because it will be on the outskirts of the city it will be a kind of oasis with lots of trees." Jinan has also signed its first international deal to manage a hotel for Egypt's Minerva Travel, the Ein Shanda Hotel, which covers an area of 32,892 square metres and is made up of 25 suites, 40 rooms, 10 tents, shopping centres, a swimming pool, food outlets and a bar. It will provide guests with a sustainable desert tourism experience.

Massoud says guests at the Jinan hotels won't be expected to comply with strict rules and regulations when it comes to the fulfilment of the firm's green ideal, but that the hotels will be equipped with facilities to ensure sustainability is an ever present process behind the scenes at Jinan's hotels and resorts: "Our guests will not be penalised or told off but the equipment that will be used will automatically be reducing energy," he says adding: "And besides, just the idea that these hotels are eco friendly will encourage other hotels to follow suit. At the end of the day also it will give you good financial results because as long as you use less energy you have less costs."

Winning partnerships

Jinan's environmental credentials echo the work of the Abu Dhabi government to establish the emirate as a leading centre of research into environmental technology in the region. The biggest such project will be Masdar City, which will be the world's first carbon free city and a hub for scientists from all over the world. Massoud said Jinan has already formed a partnership with the developers behind Masdar and that he is hopeful that one of his hotels could form part of the project: "We are in direct contact with the people from Masdar and the people from the environmental agency in Dubai and the environmental agency in Abu Dhabi in order to work with them to see how all our efforts could bear fruit for them. We are in contact with them and hoping that they will take us on board with them."

Any partnership with Masdar would be a great coup for Jinan which must compete in an already overcrowded hospitality market against a backdrop of tough economic conditions. According to Abu Dhabi's Planning and Economy Department, the emirate's government is developing hotel projects worth an estimated value of $62 billion over the next five years. And an additional 3000 hotel rooms were added in the emirate by the final quarter of 2009. Massoud denies however, that he is concerned by the situation: "We're not worried. Everybody is affected in the world but it's all relative. What Dubai and Abu Dhabi have achieved in the last two years has been phenomenal. And still the business is there. Tourists are still coming. The hotels in Abu Dhabi are still enjoying high occupancy. In Dubai they are enjoying good occupancy. Not as good as last year, but it is still acceptable and good if you take the worldwide economic situation into account." He goes on to say that he believes there is space in the Middle East hotel market for its hotels and resorts because of its environmental theme: "In the hotel or hospitality business everybody is competing with everybody but we feel that we will take our part in the market hopefully. There is enough room in the market. The more people talk about awareness and alternative energy, the more push that gives us because while everybody is talking about it we are trying to make it real."

Once Jinan has established a strong presence in Abu Dhabi, it hopes to conquer Dubai before spreading out to other parts of the Middle East, including Qatar and Jordan, having already started management of a hotel in Egypt: "We hear that things will be better. So at least we will be ready to take it over when the tide goes up." He says that service at his hotels will be of a high enough standard to compete with its rivals in those markets:

"Don't forget that at the end of the day it's all about service. And good service goes back to basics. Keep it simple and basic." Massoud himself should know a thing or two about good service. He has a long career in hospitality, having studied hotel management in Germany, before working for 28 years for InterContinental Hotels. In his previous role he was General Manager of Abu Dhabi's prestigious Emirates Palace Hotel, which he said is the favourite he has worked in: "I think every hotel has its own charm but naturally Emirates Palace was the top." He'll be applying many of the lessons he learnt from his career in the luxury hotel sector to Jinan Hotels & Resorts. But with the company taking the lead as the region's first eco-friendly chain, there will be plenty of new standards to be established and lessons to be learnt.

Award winner

Despite having only been set up last year Jinan Hotels & Resorts has already received a prestigious award from the Middle East Hotel Expansion Congress' Excellence in Hospitality Awards. It was given the Best Tourism Initiative award in recognition of its green credentials. Speaking after the receiving the award, Noel Massoud, said: "Our goal has always been to associate the Jinan brand with excellent quality, exceptional service and environmental sustainability. With the increasing social and environmental responsibility among people globally, we are honored to be at the forefront of this wave in the Middle East region."