The peak of hospitality
Hashoo Hospitality Group owns property in some of the most historic and beautiful locations in the world, but their charms are a well kept secret. Murtaza Hashwani talks to Gay Sutton about managing and expanding a five star brand during difficult times.
The mountainous northern regions of Pakistan are some of the most beautiful in the world. An integral part of the mighty Himalayan mountain range, they boast nine of the 14 highest mountain peaks in the world. For most the mere mention of the Himalayas conjures up images of Nepal, Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Many flock to Nepal each year, to climb the peak or trek its foothills, and they bring with them a fortune in tourist revenue.
PakistanÔÇÖs Karakoram Range on the western side of the Himalayas is home to K2, the worldÔÇÖs second highest peak. But for all its breathtaking beauty, the archaeology of the Indus Valley civilisations and the rich cultural heritage of the people, the tourist industry in Pakistan is almost non-existent. ÔÇ£We are obviously going through a difficult time in Pakistan at the moment,ÔÇØ said Murtaza Hashwani, president, Hospitality and Travel and Tours division. ÔÇ£But beyond that, one of our problems is that as a nation we have never marketed ourselves very well.ÔÇØ
In spite of this lack of tourism, the nine luxury five-star hotels in the Hashoo Group portfolio are thriving and growing. Popular with the national corporate market, the hotels are used extensively by global organisations such as the UN and by the international embassies operating in the country.
The company owns and operates the Marriott hotels in Islamabad and Karachi, and seven Pearl Continental hotels which are located in the fabulous Mughal city of Lahore to the east, in Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Bhurbun and Muzaffarabad in the mountainous north, and Karachi and Gwadar on the coast. The company has carved an enviable position, and has been the market leader in the hotel and conference industry for more than 30 years.
There are many contributory factors to this success, and one of them is the continuous drive to innovate and improve. ÔÇ£Most of our clients are repeat customers,ÔÇØ Murtaza explained, ÔÇ£and we make sure there is always something new for them. We have a department that deals with renovation and innovation across the entire group, and this is headed up by my sister Nadia Hashwani, group director Interiors and Design. We are always adding new restaurants, changing the furniture, menus and concepts, or renovating the rooms and health clubs.ÔÇØ This constant change makes it difficult for competitors to keep up.
Excellence in service is another factor in the companyÔÇÖs success. An enormous amount of training goes into the staff. ÔÇ£When you walk into the hotel, the person who greets you is the doorman. Or when you call, itÔÇÖs the reception and reservation staff. So training plays a key role in providing a good service,ÔÇØ Murtaza said. Since 1999, as part of its corporate social responsibility program, the group has also trained over 2,600 young men and women, furnishing them with employable skills in hotel management and enabling them to find employment both inside Pakistan and further afield.
The company is currently in the process of setting up a series of hotel schools, the first of which will be located in Lahore, the second in Islamabad and the third in Karachi. The schools will run the internationally recognised AH&LA (American Hotel & Lodging Association) training courses. ÔÇ£The schools will not only train our own staff, but also those of other hotels in our marketplace,ÔÇØ Murtaza said.
Many of the 5,000 staff employed across the nine hotels have been with the company a long time, and it is a mixture of the open culture of the business and the strong family bond between staff and owners that retains them. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs not necessarily salary that keeps people motivated,ÔÇØ Murtaza observed. ÔÇ£There are many other factors involved, and one of these is the sense of belonging.ÔÇØ The Hashwani family does a lot to help its staff during times of crisis, both in their personal lives and professionally. Last year when the Islamabad Marriott was bombed, it took care of the victims and their families, and supported the entire staff by paying their wages throughout the three month reconstruction period.
The bombing hit the headlines around the world. The hotel was gutted in the subsequent fire and a number of staff and visitors were injured or killed. ÔÇ£The most encouraging thing, though, was that the day after the blast the security staff and many of the hotel staff arrived in the morning, in uniform, and insisted on beginning to clean up and help to rebuild. Our chairman, Mr Sadruddin Hashwani, promised we would rebuild the hotel in 90 days and thatÔÇÖs what we did. ItÔÇÖs up and running now, and the credit for that goes to him for project managing it and to the staff for their loyalty and dedication. WeÔÇÖve opened half the rooms so far and the other half should be opened in the next month or so. All the restaurants and banquet halls are fully operating.ÔÇØ
The experience was deeply traumatic for the Hashwani family and for the staff, and the building work has included considerably strengthening the security measures, including installing blast proof walls and barricades. ÔÇ£No cars are allowed inside the perimeter any more, but our customers feel safer, and thatÔÇÖs the best thing,ÔÇØ he said. Security has become a major issue in recent years, and the company has been responding accordingly. ÔÇ£Before 9/11 we had just 22 security staff, and before the blast in 2008 that number had risen to 125. It is something that is continually evolving.ÔÇØThe Islamabad Marriott Hotel has received numerous accolades for its services during the last 30 years. Recently, it has received three major international awards from Marriott International. It was awarded the Staff Service Excellence Award for service excellence through flawless execution of basic service standards, which it has now won for four years in a row; the Customer Excellence Award for making extraordinary effort to enhance guest satisfaction; and for the third year in a row the Mustang General Manager award for demonstrating courageous leadership, professional expertise and high achievement.
In recent years the hospitality division has been expanding the scope of its business, such as winning a contract to provide around 10,000 meals a day to an International Airline. ÔÇ£These are low price but high volume, and buying in bulk helps us with our overall costs,ÔÇØ Murtaza said, ÔÇ£Then about a year and a half ago, we also launched a budget three-star plus hotel chain called Hotel One, sized between 30 and 100 rooms. WeÔÇÖre expanding that side of the business very aggressively now, and we plan to grow them all over the country.ÔÇØ
The company also has significant plans for international expansion. It already operates a block of service apartments in Dubai, and will be opening another, containing 160 rooms and three restaurants, in just a couple of months. A large mixed development consisting of hotel, service apartments and offices is under construction in Tripoli, Libya, and work is due to begin soon on two hotels in Sudan. Meanwhile, Murtaza is looking for further opportunities in the Middle East, and would like to spread the net further into Africa.
In spite of the instability in Pakistan at the moment, Murtaza is very positive about the future. ÔÇ£I think our problems are difficult, but only temporary. There is a democratic process emerging, which is very encouraging. The consumer market is growing, and a lot of people are returning to the country. We have some of the oldest civilisations in the world, the SikhsÔÇÖ second holiest city is one hour drive from Islamabad, and the Buddhist monasteries here are just outstanding. We have so much to offer. We now need to promote ourselves as a destination. So weÔÇÖre very optimistic for the future, and we intend to be part of that growth.ÔÇØ
