Quality - the only way forward

Suncrest Reports Lm361,113 loss" ran a headline in The Times on January 15. A further look was necessary, because the report indicated that although the financial year ended in the red the company has a postive outlook on the current financial year.

Mr Schembri has held his post at the Sol Suncrest Hotel since May 2003, but through his previous experience in the field he has a long-standing relationship with the 458-room hotel boasting over 1,000 beds.

Mr Schembri does not mince his words. When joining the Sol Suncrest in May and was faced with a huge deficit from a disastrous winter and declining tourist arrivals, it was a matter of adopting a complete review of the hotel strategy to reduce the loss.

In his new role, the first thing Mr Schembri did was a text-book SWOT analysis. The 15-year-old hotel's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were analysed. Figures for the core markets were found to be weak, although occupancy for other markets was at par with competing (four-star) hotels. It was also found that the food and beverage outlets were in need of more aggressive marketing to fill them.

When marketing accommodation overseas "one is looking at a lead time of about 15 months ahead. In Sol Suncrest's case it was imperative that we adopted a two-pronged strategy - one long-term and another short-term." Mr Schembri said. This meant looking aggressively for business for the summer and winter of 2003 for the short term and ensure that the hotel is in every brochure from Summer 2004 onwards in the long term.

"In the short term we managed to build enough confidence in our product to have a decent level of business come our way and contain our losses for the year continued. "For this winter we have secured partnership with several leading operators to increase our figures over last year. The efficiency of our campaign can really be tested after this coming summer," concluded Mr Schembri.

A rise in occupancy levels is obviously one of the main targets of any hotel trying to turn a profit. The stiff competition puts even more pressure on hotels to offer a better quality service than customer demand already does.

This means investment must not just go into a marketing campaign, but also into offering a better service, ideally at a lower cost. "This can only be achieved by investing in staff through training and incentive programmes and achieve greater efficiency and quality" Mr Schembri indicated.

Mr Schembri's positive influence is already showing, with occupancy in November up by six per cent over last year in spite of the fact that for the month of November, last Wednesday The Times reported that the island's tourist figures were down by 6.4 per cent.

Not only did occupancy rise at The Sol Suncrest, but so did revenue for the month. "December has also proved to be a good month with steady increases from both the overseas and local markets, while bookings for the first three months of this year are already up by ten per cent over last year. "The winter months can make or break a hotel," Mr Schembri told The Sunday Times, as costs remain high while income drops severely due to low rates and low occupancy.

Mr Schembri explained that the characteristic of the Sol Suncrest as a 'fun' hotel has given rise to a considerable increase of accommodation sales from the locals looking for a break in a fun environment. "In November we launched a daily activity programme for the whole week coupled with a daily evening entertainment programme to give guests an active stay during their sojourn with us," Mr Schembri indicated.

"This has gone down well and has been successful with both local and overseas guests and participation is fantastic at each activity". It is envisaged that the programme will be extended during the coming summer months to ensure that anyone staying at the Sol Suncrest can chose between a relaxing holiday or an active one, he said.

Sol Suncrest is not just a hotel, but a complete resort on its own. Mr Schembri also pointed out that another area where the hotel can generate further revenue was through the vacation ownership market, better known as timeshare.

Although the Sol Suncrest has already around 16 units allocated to this market, the board of directors is looking at the possibility of turning more hotel rooms into units to market for vacation ownership.

"It is a market which is still showing signs of growth in spite of the downturn in tourism world-wide. "This should provide revenue for capital injection back into the hotel". Mr Schembri commented.

Asked about what sort of changes, if any, he expected from Malta's membership of the Euro-pean Union to bring to tourism, he indicated that he expected slight improvements in core European markets - England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries.

"The exposure that Malta will get in the process will certainly be beneficial to create some increase in demand but it is not going to change figures dramatically.

The boost will come more from the 'open-skies' policy as this is developed, since this should make Malta more easily accessible and flights more competitive and in line with other Mediterranean destinations."

"With MTA's present marketing budget, it is indeed impossible to expect an effective marketing campaign in all Malta's core markets. Therefore at Sol Suncrest we are aware that we have to chase for business ourselves through our presence at most travel fairs abroad.

"We cannot expect business to fall into our lap; we must make a concert effort to chase business. I am sure we will succeed in spite of the present situation.

"My staff are all behind me in all that we are doing at the Sol Suncrest and together we shall succeed," a confident Mr Schembri concluded. I am sure that with such confidence only time is the barrier.