São Paulo –Intercontinental Hotel in the city of São Paulo aims to attract guests from the Arab world. According to the Sales and Marketing director at the organisation, David Pressler, 85% of the public at the hotel is made up of foreigners, but the Arabs are not among the main clients at the unit. It receives mainly North American and Spanish tourists. “But, historically, our hotels receive many Arabs, in France, Italy,” said Pressler, showing that Intercontinental Brazil aims to follow the brand’s route in Europe.
According to the director, the hotel is only awaiting the interest of some Arab client to offer its full services adapted to guests from the region. Intercontinental has already done that with other countries, like Japan, with services provided in Japanese, televisions programmed for Oriental channels, preparation of green tea, and slippers to their liking in the rooms, among other services. The idea is for the Arabs also to receive similar attention, including service in Arabic.
Pressler explains that Intercontinental has been talking to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, through Tourism director Sami Roumieh, for generation of closer ties with the Arabs. “We already have all the know how in how to provide services to them – from other hotels in the chain, in other countries,” said the director.
Intercontinental hotels are part of the British IHG group. In Brazil, the only unit with the Intercontinental flag is in the city of São Paulo. There are, however, another 13 hotels in the group, under other flags, like Staybridge, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza. IHG is the largest hotel group in the world, in terms of apartments, and has almost 5,000 hotels all over the globe, according to Pressler.
In the city of São Paulo, Intercontinental should conclude significant works this week, changing the enterprise from the classic to the modern concept. The works began in 2010, with 50% of the apartments, the reception and lobby being redone, and the inauguration of a bar at the front of the hotel. In December last year, the second phase of the project was started, with another 50 apartments and the restaurant being redone. Of the 20 floors of the hotel, only four kept the original configuration.
According to Pressler, the changes covered 80% of the hotel and, apart from those mentioned above, also included other measures, like the establishment of a lounge club for guests in the 16th to 20th floors. Intercontinental has started working more turned to the exclusive and simplified service areas. In the exclusive service area, the service is provided considering the client’s profile and in the simplified area, information on the tourist is collected in advance, shortening check-in time.
The Sales and Marketing director explains that improvements were made due to wear and tear, as the hotel is 15 years old, and to face competition. The remodelling made the decoration modern, with lively colours in the apartments. Furthermore, it greatly pleased the clientele, which is no longer classic and has started requesting other things, like trips for new experiences and involvement with the city’s culture. "In the past, the decoration was more classic, not allowing for warmer services,” said Pressler.
The works at Intercontinental were not, according to Pressler, developed as preparation for the World Cup, to take place in Brazil in 2014. The director has doubts as to the benefits the event should bring to the hotel, as it mainly receives guests on business trips, the main tourism sector in the city of São Paulo, and, during the Cup, other events in the country should be suspended. “But we are prepared to receive them [Cup tourists],” said Pressler. The hotel has 195 rooms and daily rates ranging from US$ 580 to US$ 1,000. For the cup, daily rates – with reservations made now – start at US$ 1,000.
*Translated by Mark Ament
