Rebirth at Ground Zero - Arturo Caruso Brings Sophistication to Bali’s Infamous Club Scene

Published in Gaming & Leisure Magazine

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

Winter 2010

Through local legend and tradition, the island of Bali has been labeled the Island of Gods.  To many tourists, Bali has been called Heaven on Earth.  As one of Indonesia’s 17,500+ islands, Bali is often ranked at the top of the world’s best islands.

The Kuta district on Bali’s south coast had gained a reputation as the one of the best nightlife spots in SE Asia.  It has been a frequent draw for young surfers and beach goers.

Tragedy struck Kuta on the 12^th of October 2002, a Saturday night.  While tourists were out enjoying the local night scene, two bombs ripped through popular nightclubs in Kuta, killing 202 people (164 foreign nationals, 38 Indonesian).  A third, smaller device detonated near the US consulate in Denpasar, causing minor damage.  Along with the loss of life and devastation, tourism dropped significantly, having a long lasting financial impact on Bali.

Italian restaurateur Arturo Caruso, a long time resident of Bali and a fixture in the Bali restaurant and club scene, had owned The Maccaroni Club across the narrow street from one of the massive explosions.  The club, open since 1996, was devastated to the point they had to close for reconstruction and renovation.

In an effort to maintain some of the club’s history, while offering a contemporary and non-aggressive feel, Arturo re-enlisted Giovanni D'Ambrosio for the reconstruction effort.  Since the Rome-based architect had designed the original Maccaroni Club, he was able to redesign the club, blending modernity with local tradition.

The Maccaroni Club is once again known as a multi-faceted dining and nightlife destination, offering a casual spot for upscale Italian meals or local fare.  The club is also known for its attentive wait staff, and DJs that spin the latest house & club music.

A few years on, tourists began to return to Bali, and the Maccaroni Club had regained its former stature.  However, through 2007, the two locations bearing the brunt of the bombs remained vacant. 

Believing that tourism had rebounded and Bali was considered a safe destination, Arturo committed to building his second location in Kuta.  Once again enlisting Giovanni D'Ambrosio, they went to work on designing and building Vi Ai Pi on one of the vacant lots.  No expense was spared as ViAiPi has been fitted with state-of-the-art kitchen facilities, hi-tech DJ equipment and the best furniture and accessories.  

Open in late 2008, Vi Ai Pi has become known as an innovative and trend-setting restaurant – lounge – nightclub.  Along with Maccaroni, the two have become Kuta destinations for sophisticated dining and clubbing … located at the center of global headlines of October 2002, yet providing a casual, laid-back atmosphere.

The face of Kuta had changed considerably when The Maccaroni Club opened in 1996 with their avant-garde design.  Arturo Caruso’s latest creation, Vi Ai Pi once again added a higher level of sophistication to the Kuta tourist and nightclub scene.

東南亞賭場展望2012 - 聚焦：柬埔寨和越南

從博彩及休閒雜誌 - Gaming and Leisure Magazine

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

一個地區的城鎮和充滿活力的城市，充滿活力的文化和宗教傳統，異國情調的美食，山區和原始海灘， 東南亞為旅遊愛好者提供了一個經驗的多樣性。有了合理的基礎設施，目的地相距僅數小時的空氣，和一些在世界上最好的酒店，它吸引旅客數字顯著增長。

Gaming and Leisure Magazine, Summer 2012
從博彩及休閒雜誌 -  2012年夏天

東南亞是一個相對較小的地理區域，包括 文萊， 柬埔寨，東帝汶， 印尼，老撾， 馬來西亞， 緬甸， 巴布亞新幾內亞， 菲律賓， 新加坡 和 泰國。雖然分散多元的文化，語言，宗教和貨幣，他們通過東南亞國家聯盟（東盟）協會保持相對強勁的商業債券。

東南亞目前正經歷著經濟的快速增長，而在同一時間顯示通貨膨脹加劇的跡象。事實上，越南一直努力超過去年的通貨膨脹問題。東南亞貨幣值也不斷增加兌美元的價值，尤其是。這主要是由於在該地區的大規模投資。

這種經濟增長，導致在賭場博彩業高度重視的東西是：可支配收入。由於這些經濟體成為貨幣流動性氾濫，這樣做的消費者。隨著人們變得富裕和對旅遊業的股權靈通，他們的賭場博彩娛樂需求的增長。

的故事 新加坡因為它涉及到遊戲已經相當知名。既拉斯維加斯金沙和雲頂運作新加坡投資超過50億美元，在他們的綜合賭場度假村。他們的表現一直是巨大的，博彩毛收入超過4百億美元的利率市場。

兩個國家與即將推出的五星級綜合賭場度假村 柬埔寨 和 越南：

柬埔寨

一個更具活力的賭場在該地區的發展機遇是， 柬埔寨。在這15萬人的小國擁有超過25個合法賭場，柬埔寨對遊客的首席遊戲市場已經從接壤的國家 泰國， 老撾和 越南。 

然而，隨著國家繼續穩定後幾十年的政治混亂，賭場開發商向前發展更加雄心勃勃的綜合度假村，旨在吸引更廣泛的客戶。柬埔寨的第一家賭場勝地，金界娛樂城，在1995年開業，作為最優秀的綜合賭場酒店，在印度支那，在該地區相媲美其他頂級賭場。

金界娛樂城之中的湄公河風景如畫的地形和被發現 洞裡薩湖 河流 在充滿活力的柬埔寨國會 金邊，豐富的高棉歷史的城市。據傳說，金界娛樂城來自神話傳說的7頭龍或它的名字“那伽”。雄偉的龍被認為要居住在河流和守衛入口金邊。故事透露只瞄準在彩虹的外觀，並因此被視為非常幸運。類似彩虹年底黃金鍋，金界娛樂城被比喻為一個新的開端和繁榮有希望的象徵。

一個多方位的8層翼致力於娛樂，金界娛樂城的客人享受公共精美主題的遊戲廳，卡拉OK，專用的溫泉和遊戲機。聯合發行超過500間豪華間豪華客房和豪華套房在14層高的酒店大樓，提供豪華舒適和發現，在延長逗留規範搞活時間。

其中市場拓展計劃上是新Thansur波哥高地度假村 柬埔寨南部海岸。該網站有其在2012年4月的試營業，並有望在今年年中正式開業。1200英畝的度假地點是沿著懸崖的邊緣海拔近3600英尺的位置顯著。它包括前法國殖民地的酒店，建於1917年，成為賭場之前，它被遺棄在柬埔寨的內戰。

賭場度假區開發Sokimex集團的一個部門，將包括418間客房，一個會議中心，水療設施和兒童寓教於樂中心。（Sokimex集團是柬埔寨的企業集團，控制該國石油工業的玉米粥）。一個由阿諾德·帕爾默設計的錦標賽高爾夫球場是目前的計劃。

儘管有關犯罪和被迫搬遷的居民擔心的倡導團體的抗議，柬埔寨政府已批准新賭場在較快的速度發展。報告顯示，賭場去年產生稅收20億美元，比2010年增長25％。

賭場開發商已定睛在西哈努克城的南部海岸，暹粒，網站 柬埔寨最知名的旅遊景點，吳哥窟。

越南

有人口接近9100萬， 越南 是人口最多的國家之一。 東南亞為賭場和旅遊業的發展提供了一個獨特的市場機會。根據美林的報告，該國擁有地區的百萬富翁增長最快的國家之一，境外博彩和休閒投資者提供額外的獎勵。

（1月 - 2012年3月）前三個月的旅遊統計表明，國際旅客達1873726，較去年同期增長24.5％。統計平均，把每年18％的旅遊業的增長在過去的幾年中，增強國際投資者的利益。

不少博彩幾年， 越南是一個國家深諳在該行業的複雜性，以及亞洲地區的競爭態勢。在努力，以確保外國遊戲投資者，政府是在起草博彩法令，將現有的市場結構帶來更為清晰的過程。

政府一直在考慮多個大型綜合賭場度假村的網站，包括中央海岸峴港， 下龍灣 海灣在南北和Ho Tram的。目前，在MGM Grand Ho Tram的是正在建設中的唯一網站，預計在2013年打開。

五個五星級MGM Grand Ho Tram的第一階段將提供541luxury客房，世界一流的設施，會議中心和一個壯觀的遊戲區。第二階段將採用一個新的塔，有549額外的客房鹽漬的總數達到1100家五星級酒店客房。

在高增長的東盟地區， 柬埔寨 和 越南 提高他們的地位，與世界級綜合娛樂場度假村除了博彩目的地。

SE Asia Casino Outlook 2012 - Focus: Cambodia & Vietnam

from Gaming & Leisure Magazine

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

Summer 2012

A region with vibrant towns and cities, dynamic cultural and religious traditions, exotic cuisines, mountains and pristine beaches, Southeast Asia offers a diversity of experiences for the travel enthusiast.  With reasonable infrastructure, destinations only hours apart by air, and some of the best hotels in the world, it’s attracting travelers in significantly growing numbers.

Southeast Asia is a relatively small geographic area including Brunei, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.  Though fragmented by diverse culture, language, religion and currencies, they do maintain a relatively strong commercial bond through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Southeast Asia is currently experiencing rapid economic growth while at the same time showing signs of increasing inflation. In fact, Vietnam has been grappling with inflation issues for over the last year.  Southeast Asian currency values have also been increasing in value, against the U.S. dollar in particular. This has mainly been due to the massive investment in the region.

All of this economic growth has resulted in something that is highly valued by the casino gaming industry: disposable income. As these economies become awash in monetary liquidity, so do the consumers. As the people become wealthier and well-informed on tourism options, their demand for casino gaming entertainment grows.

The story of Singapore as it relates to gaming is already rather well known. Both Las Vegas Sands and Genting operate in Singapore, and invested over US$5 billion each in their integrated casino resorts. Their performance has been enormous, with gross gaming revenue for the market exceeding a US$4 billion run-rate.

Two countries with upcoming five-star integrated casino resorts include Cambodia and Vietnam:

Cambodia

One of the more dynamic casino development opportunities in the region is that of Cambodia.  Boasting more than 25 legal casinos in this small nation of 15 million people, Cambodia’s chief gaming market has been on tourists from the bordering countries of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.  

However, as the country continues to stabilize after decades of political chaos, casino developers are moving ahead with more ambitious integrated resorts designed to attract a broader clientele.   Cambodia’s first casino resort, NagaWorld, opened in 1995 as the finest integrated casino hotel in Indochina, rivaling other top casinos in the region.

Nagaworld is found amidst the picturesque terrain of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers in the vibrant Cambodian capitol of Phnom Penh, a city rich in Khmer history.  According to legend, NagaWorld derived its name from the mythical fable of a 7-headed dragon or “Naga.”  The majestic dragon was believed to be residing in the rivers and guarding the entrance to Phnom Penh.  The tale revealed its only sighting during the appearance of a rainbow and was thus considered very fortunate.  Similar to the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, NagaWorld is likened to a promising symbol of new beginnings and prosperity.

With a multi-faceted 8-story wing dedicated to entertainment, NagaWorld guests enjoy the exquisitely themed public gaming halls, karaoke lounges, dedicated spa and gaming machines.  The combined offering of more than 500 luxurious Deluxe Rooms and plush Suites in the 14-storey hotel wing provide lavish comforts and an invigorating time of discovery, where an extend stay is the norm.

Among the planned market expansion is the new Thansur Bokor Highlands Resort on Cambodia’s southern coast.  The site has had its soft opening in April 2012, and is expected to officially open in mid-year.  The 1,200-acre resort site is notable for its location along a cliff's edge nearly 3,600 feet above sea level.  It includes a former French colonial hotel, built in 1917, that became a casino before it was abandoned during Cambodia's civil wars.

Developed by a division of Sokimex Group, the casino resort will include 418 rooms, a convention center, spa facilities and an edutainment center for children.  (Sokimex Group is a Cambodian conglomerate that controls mush of the country’s oil industry).  A championship golf course designed by Arnold Palmer is currently in the plans.

Despite protests from advocacy groups that worry about crime and forced relocation of residents, the Cambodian government has been approving new casino development at a rather rapid rate.  Reports show that casinos generated $20 million in tax revenue last year, a 25% increase over 2010.

Casino developers have been looking intently at Sihanoukville on the southern coast, and Siem Reap, the site of Cambodia’s best known tourist attraction, the Angkor Wat temple.

Vietnam

Having a population nearing 91 million, Vietnam is one of the most populous countries in Southeast Asia, providing a unique market opportunity for both casino and tourism development.  According to a report by Merrill Lynch, the country boasts one of the fastest growth rates in the region of millionaires, providing additional incentive for outside gaming and leisure investors. 

Tourism statistics for the first three months (January – March 2012) indicate international arrivals reached 1,873,726, representing a 24.5% growth the same period last year.  On average, statistics put the growth of tourism at 18% per year for the past few years, boosting the interest of international investors.

With quite a few years in gaming, Vietnam is a country well versed in the intricacies of the industry, as well as the competitive dynamics of the Asian region.  In an effort to assure foreign gaming investors, the government is in the process of drafting a Gaming Decree that will bring clarity to the existing market structure.

The government has been considering multiple sites for large integrated casino resorts including DaNang on the central coast, Halong Bay in the north and Ho Tram in the south.  At present, the MGM Grand Ho Tram is the sole site under construction, slated to open in 2013.

The first stage for the five-star MGM Grand Ho Tram will offer 541luxury guest rooms, world-class amenities, a conference centre and a spectacular gaming area.    The second phase will incorporate a new tower with 549 additional guest rooms, brining the total to 1100 five-star hotel rooms.

In the high-growth Asean region, Cambodia and Vietnam are improving their status as gaming destination with the addition of world-class integrated casino resorts.

Asia Hotel Forecast 2012

from Gaming & Leisure Magazine

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

Spring 2012

The consensus at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in October 2011 was that “Asia is where it’s at.”   The key discussions all highlighting the fact that most significant hotel growth around the world is planned for APAC.   The conference in Hong Kong, attended by the industry’s movers and shakers clearly highlighted Asia as their key growth market.

Over the next few years, hotel development in Asia-Pacific will comprise 1,373 hotels with more than 335,000 rooms, more supply than planned in Europe, Middle East and Africa combined.  These promising plans indicate 77% of hotel development is scheduled for Asia, clearly well ahead of any other region worldwide.

Hotel investment worldwide is clearly rebounding after the deep slump, consequent on the Great Recession of 2008-2009, with US$14.8 billion having been invested in the second quarter of 2011. This represented an increase of 117 per cent over the same period in 2010, driven by investment of US$7.4 billion in the Americas, a growth of 187 per cent.

Asia-Pacific, where hotel investment had fared better in the recession, went up by 59 per cent with strong activity, particularly in Singapore, China, Japan and Hong Kong.

Statistics clearly indicate the reason for optimism.  Asia Pacific’s RevPAR growth stands at a phenomenal 23.0%, far outperforming all other regions around the world.  With a region-wide aggregate RevPAR of just over US$86, Asia Pacific comes out ahead of both Europe and the Americas in absolute performance.

World Tourism Organization reports show that in April 2011, international visitor arrivals to Asia-Pacific increased by 6.8 per cent and for the first four months by 5.4 per cent, ahead of 4.5 per cent for total international tourist arrivals.  The best performers in the region included Hong Kong up 20 per cent; Vietnam, 22 per cent; Singapore, 17 per cent; Cambodia, 11 per cent; and Australia, up eight per cent.

Asian hotel expansion is earmarked for the world’s fastest-growing economies: China and India. 1,248 hotel projects are slated for China, representing 35% of the world’s total hotel projects (and 44% of all rooms under construction globally). India boasts the 2nd-fastest-growing Asian pipeline, with 450-plus projects and nearly 80,000 rooms under construction.  

Among the region’s markets, New Delhi has comes in with the largest expected growth (+46.3%) if all 10,477 rooms in the total active pipeline open. Other markets to report a significant growth in existing supply: Manila, Philippines (+30.0% with 5,523 rooms); Mumbai, India (+22.5% with 4,185 rooms); Bali, Indonesia (+19.3% with 6,257 rooms); and Jakarta, Indonesia (+17.3% with 4,541 rooms).

A clear indication of the focus on this regional market is Starwood Hotels & Resort’s announcement that it has surpassed the 200th hotel milestone with a flurry of recent openings in China, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Starwood continues to widen its lead as the largest operator of four- and five-star hotels in Asia-Pacific with plans to reach more than 320 hotels by 2014.

“The opening of our 200th hotel in Asia Pacific underscores the vitality of this market and its importance to our future growth,” Frits van Paasschen, Starwood’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Demand for our high-caliber brands continues to soar across Asia’s many dynamic markets, driven by phenomenal economic growth and significant increases in outbound travel, particularly from China and India.”

Similarly, France's Accor, has planed to open more than 200 new properties in Asia within three years as it looks to leverage the region's increasing affluence.  Accor, which owns 4,200 hotels worldwide -- including 450 Ibis, Novotel, All Seasons, Sofitel, Pullman and Mercure resorts in Asia-Pacific -- said it would target China, India and Indonesia as its chief markets for growth.

With the markets in Europe and the United States struggling with poor economies and debt crises, Accor mentions Asia would overtake the West as its biggest growth area.  They announced that 42 percent of the 100,000 new rooms it is planning to add around the world will be in Asia.

Accor currently has 110 hotels in China, and plans to open 55 by 2014.   Though they have only nine properties in India, they plan to open 63 within three years.  In Indonesia Accor will open 34 more, adding to the 43 it already has.

A key indicator often cited by leading hotel groups is the massive scale of new orders for aircraft from airlines in the region.  In recent months AirAsia, Malaysia's low-cost carrier, has placed huge orders with Airbus Industrie for 200 of its A320 jets.  India's IndiGo had earlier confirmed an order of 180 of the same plane.  Additionally, several Chinese airlines have also signed significant deals for hundreds of the same Airbus A320 model.

This significant up-swing of budget air travel has added to the significant growth of 2-3 star budget hotels throughout the region.  As the growing number of travelers travel on low-cost airlines, they’ll be looking to pair that with budget accommodations.  Accor is one of several global groups boosting the presence of their budget hotel brands to meet this growing demand.

The growing affluence of Asian economies and their growing demand for travel have lead most international hotel groups into an increased presence in the Asia Pacific region.

Further information on the HICAP Conference can be found at:  www.hicapconference.com 

Incredible India - Golf - Interview with Joel Lander, Director of Golf Operations, Unitech Group

Gaming & Leisure Magazine

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

Winter 2011-12 issue

Widely recognized for its rich culture, exotic appeal and variety, India’s Ministry of Tourism has developed the “Incredible India” campaign as its primary vehicle for communicating the wonders of India to the entire world. 

With golf catching the fancy of millions across the world, it is natural for India to join in and promote its golfing facilities. A recent and sustained growth in the number of golf courses in construction, golf has become one of the socially desired lifestyle choices of the growing business class in India.  Sports tourism in India is also gaining interest, especially after the successful completion of Commonwealth Games 2010.  

In order to tap this growing interest in golf tourism, India’s Department of Tourism has taken crucial steps to coordinate closely all the various aspects of golf tourism under an institutional framework.  This would pave the way to maximize the opportunity for growth and progress of this niche tourism product in the future.

The Ministry’s aims are to create a comprehensive and coordinated framework for promoting golf tourism in India, capitalizing on the existing work that is being carried out, and building upon the strength of India’s position as the world’s fastest growing free market economy.

One of the significant corporate groups expanding their footprint in the Indian golf market is Unitech Group, a leading real estate developer which is currently operating 3 golf clubs, with 6 more in development.

A key player in Unitech’s efforts is Joel Lander, a 30-year veteran of the golf industry and the leader of the group’s golf operations throughout India.  

Since joining the company, Joel and his team have dissected and analyzed Unitech’s current golf businesses, creating both a short-term and long-term roadmap for the viability Unitech’s future golf projects.  

Traversing the world, Joel has designed a model for best practices for Unitech’s current and future golf projects.  His strategic planning is guiding Unitech to well-conceived and well-executed golf facilities into the future.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Joel Lander in recent weeks.  I appreciate that he’s taken time from his busy schedule to participate in this article.

[G&L]  Joel, you have an extensive career in Golf & Club Management.  What is your industry background prior to joining Unitech in India?

[JEL]  I started my career in 1981 as a golf instructor in the United States helping thousands of accomplished and beginning golfers gain a better understanding of what they are trying to do, improve their execution based on good balance and common sense elements, and build a golf game that will stand the test of time.

Just prior to joining Unitech, I’ve held management positions with golf clubs in the USA, and most recently as Head PGA Teaching Professional at Woodland Greens Golf Center in Austin, Texas and General Manager at Maverick Golf Club in Floresville, Texas.

[G&L]  I’d like to focus a bit on the management and technology challenges facing you in India.   As you're currently managing the efforts of 3 existing clubs in India, with a projected growth to 9, will there be a need to consolidate data from the remote sites into a corporate database?

[JEL]  There will be every need to consolidate data from the sites, once we have the reconstruction of the original 3 completed (all to be done in the same timeframe).  We will have different needs at different properties, which will include a 6 hole pitch and putt, 2 regulation length 9 hole courses as upscale country clubs, and 6 18 hole championship projects – all privately owned, run and managed.  

There will be an enormous need for aggregation of data and the ability to draw reports from any and all properties on a myriad of topics.  We intend to stay on top of our business from the outset, keep to our business plan, and use the best software products available to understand the dynamics of our business and manage the profitability therein.

[G&L]  What type of data will be consolidated?   For instance, will there be a common membership or client database accessed by all the clubs?

[JEL]  Each of the properties will offer membership ONLY to homeowners/homebuyers of THAT property.  At a later date, we may offer Unitech golf membership homeowners the options of using different Unitech-owned courses, but that is not in the business plan at present.  Each course will have limited capacity, so that capacity will be restricted and managed by the owners at that property, not by any outside players.  

We will use a membership-per-property type model, but also a common database to get out marketing messages, keep our members informed of various developments, etc.  We will want to be able to analyze the data collected from any and all clubs at our corporate office, and of course I will want remote access to everything going on at every club as they become operational.  The individual clubs will not have access to data from other clubs; we want to control the information on a need-to-have basis.

[G&L]  Are there unique technology issues facing you at Unitech that are different from the clubs you've managed in the States?

[JEL]  Interestingly, with all the call centers and electrical and computer engineers here in India, they are still a bit behind the times.  Many businesses here still do things by hand with pencil and paper.  We will be starting each of these businesses from scratch.  I am teaming with a colleague here to choose a software vendor with capabilities not only for all these golf clubs, but also with the ability to tie in a hotel and various other venues in a seamless fashion.  

We are honestly leaning towards IDS Softwares at this time, but the decisions to be made are still well off as the pace of construction is less than originally scheduled.  The other huge issue will be training here in India.  Anyone we hire from India to work with these clubs will need high-level training as they don’t come from professional backgrounds that have had any exposure to this type of software package whatsoever.  I am sincerely hoping that a great deal of what we “sign up for” will be highly intuitive.

[G&L]  Golf has a much larger footprint in North America, Europe and Australia.   Does golf's relatively smaller presence in the Indian market have an impact on operations?

[JEL]  Golf has a tiny presence here in India, comparatively, with less than 100 operational courses at present in a country roughly half the land-size of the US and about two thirds the size of Australia.  One of the huge advantages for business owners/operators here in India is the remarkably low cost of labor.  Without delving into the social implications of that touchy issue, operations are going to be different here than all those places previously mentioned, with a great deal of learning on the job, and a much greater need for excellent training programs for both operations and maintenance operations.  The upside is, with the joint patience of owners and members, you can train your entire staff to run like a well-oiled machine, without employing any preconceived notions of how things should be.  This element should also lead to better retention and ultimately, better service delivery.  The technology employed will be a key tool to bringing this all together in a winning formula.

[G&L]  We know that software development is such a large industry in India.  Does this have an impact on how the club sources golf club management systems?

[JEL]  Not surprisingly, since golf is in its infancy here in “Incredible India”, existing software and hardware development here in this country have little-to-no impact on sourcing the appropriate software package(s) that will lead to successful projects.  I’m a big believer in working with partners (as opposed to “vendors”) who have a full understanding of OUR needs, and have been “battle-tested”.  

Our needs with the diversity of projects we are building or have in the planning stages are not only unique at each project, as the projects are spread out geographically all over the country, but must be addressed with a central and/or remote reporting structure in mind so that we always have access to our data.  We will be leaning on our software solutions partner to guide us as well help extend the reach of golf across the country of India.

We wish to thank Joel Lander for his participation in this article.  For those wishing to contact Joel directly for more insight into the Unitech projects, he can be reached by email at:  joel.lander@unitechgroup.com or jedwardlander@gmail.com

Kokopo Village Resorts, Papua New Guinea Addressing IT Challenges in the Developing World

From Gaming & Leisure Magazine

Fall 2011, 10th Anniversary Issue

www.gamingandleisuremagazine.com

Lying just south of the equator, 160km (100 miles) north of Australia, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is part of a great arc of mountains stretching from Asia, through Indonesia and into the South Pacific.   With more than 600 islands, 860 languages and a population of less than 7 million, PNG’s indigenous population is one of the most diverse in the world.

PNG has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people. Divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities, until recently, were unaware of the existence of neighboring groups only a few kilometers away. The diversity, reflected in a folk saying, "For each village, a different culture," is perhaps best shown in the local languages.

With per capita annual income level at US$ 1180, and an “Ease of Doing Business” ranking of 103 (out of 183 countries) it can be difficult for local businesses, hotels and resorts to find suitable technology partners.   With a smaller pool of technology professionals to draw from, a successful systems implementation can be a significantly greater challenge than we’re used to in the west.

The following is a study of how the Kokopo Village Resort in Papua New Guinea was able to address these challenges and was empowered to achieve their full potential:

Doing business better

Hospitality enterprises often deal with multiple vendors to address varied technology requirements throughout their properties. The result: lack of a centralized, unified, information management system; multiple vendor coordination issues and disjointed processes and views.

When Kokopo Village Resorts decided to adopt a technology solution to keep their business agile and growing, they found a simple answer to this challenge: IDS FortuneNEXT Enterprise. This single, comprehensive offering catered to their multiple functional and departmental needs, helped usher in smarter processes, and improve productivity.

Changing with the times

Kokopo Village Resorts is a beautiful holiday destination in the idyllic settings of Papua New Guinea’s East Britain Province. This holiday home, known for excellent service and customer-friendly practices, was a popular choice with tourists.

However, once Kokopo Town began to emerge prominently on the tourism map, it saw a sharp increase in the number of hospitality ventures. Suddenly, there were more hotels, resorts, cafes and eateries. Kokopo Village Resorts had to rethink their competitive advantage. They decided to automate processes to enhance efficiency and dramatically impact customer experience.

Meeting operational challenges with smart technology

“The competition was increasing in our town and we needed more information then just financial data,” says Douglas Pidi, Kokopo Resort. There were a host of other similar, operational challenges, including:

·        Tracking inventory and tracing material costs;

·        Finding business details such as precise occupancy rates and customer spending;

·        Tracking room availability along with room revenue;

·        Reducing manual efforts and time taken to do the above.

The Resort decided to embrace smart technology to make a difference. While there were many vendors who took a piece-meal approach to solving these challenges, few had a holistic view of the business and technology requirements. Few could provide a seamless solution, which not just countered these issues, but also empowered the business to grow.

A single solution for multiple issues

IDS FortuneNEXT Enterprise emerged as the right-fit solution, with its unique ability to cover all aspects and functions of the Resort’s operations. From managing reservations to tracking inventory, this comprehensive property management solution became a centralized, efficient way of keeping the Resort’s personnel and customers happy.

Additional features that helped the Resort stay future-ready included:

·   Strong reporting and control functions

·   Compliance with local regulatory requirements

·   Plug-and-play interfaces for third-party products to enable seamless hotel automation

·   An easy-to-maintain technical build, which supports faster updates, and greater security

·   100% application uptime and complete scalability

·   No unique hardware investments

·   24x7, live, multi-lingual support, and free user training

Gains, gains, and more gains

Kokopo Village Resort realized the benefits of having a single vendor deploy a comprehensive solution to cover all their requirements. With IDS FortuneNEXT Enterprise, they gained from:

·        Improved profitability. Greater control over everyday operations, which has led to enhanced profitability. Drag-and-drop check-in and check-out, multi-window bill split option, revenue management tools, enhanced audit modules including a night audit feature, and other such intelligent features have also boosted enterprise productivity by an overall 18%. Food and Beverage gross margins have increased by 18.5%.

·        A single, unified view of data for gathering business intelligence. They can now access relevant information based on criteria such as market segments and business sources with a mouse-click, to make critical decisions quickly.

·        Simplified, integrated processes and operations across departments. A single, central solution has resulted in standardized practices across all departments, and a smoother information sharing experience. It has eliminated data redundancies, stand-alone processes, and subsequent confusions. 

·        Better customer acquisition and retention, with more nuanced view of guest profiles and behavior. The Resort can easily see who is a repeat guest, know how much a customer has spent, and go the extra mile to make the stay a memorable one.  Faster processes and ready access to data also means quick responses to queries and requests.

·        Reduced time and increased accuracy in completing essential tasks. An easy-to-use interface, customizable parameters, SMS alerts engine to remind staff of bills and room activities, and other such features has made it simple to navigate through modules and optimize the solution. 

Kokopo Village Resort was able to overcome the obstacles facing a remote resort based in a developing country.  The resort was successful in finding a solution capable of providing for their needs while overcoming technical support issues typically addressing similar markets.

We would like to thank Kokopo Village Resort for their participation in this review.

Kokopo Village Resort website:  www.kokoporesort.com.pg
IDS Softwares website: www.idsnext.com

Golf & Spa .. using Business Intelligence in Client Segmentation

 

From Gaming & Leisure Magazine - Summer 2011

gamingandleisuremagazine.com

Golf & Spa, viewed as required leisure divisions by many resorts, have traditionally been marginal contributors to the bottom line.  These departments have often required significant financial and labor commitments with a rather low rate of return on investment.  Savvy leisure managers must consistently monitor activities to ensure they’re doing what is necessary to materially enhance the resort’s revenue stream to be considered viable.  As it is with other departments at the resort, their profitability is essential.

Several Golf & Spa Management systems have been offering Business Intelligence tools (BI) that provide valuable data to assist managers in making appropriate decisions to ensure positive trends are enhanced and negative trends are corrected.  

These BI tools are designed to indicate if revenues are falling or expenses are not in-line with anticipated revenues or budgeted amounts.  The proactive manager will be able to make appropriate decisions to make corrections if enterprise data is provided in a consistent and understandable manner.  BI is of little value if the data is inaccurate or becomes available too late for action to be taken.

Along with the providing revenue statistics specific to the leisure facility, BI systems will provide information on how Golf & Spa activities drive room rates, enhance low season demand, impact F&B revenues, capture new market segments and extend a guest’s length of stay at the resort.

Successful marketing strategies driving a leisure facility’s profitability will often depend on their ability to truly understand their clients and group them according to likely behaviors and potential value.  Segmentation will be most valuable with clients are grouped according to a variety of data including behavior, lifestyle, past golf & spa treatment history, profitability, demographics, etc.

The lifetime spending of a leisure client is a valuable measure for the resort. Clients are categorized into different sets or segments based on this measure. The resort may have different strategies to keep guests happy based on their segment. The strategy would vary between a high-value client that has been a member for years and is on site several times each week versus a guest that hasn't been seen in months. Free guest passes may be a good perk for the high-value client, but free personal training sessions or golf lessons may re-engage a client who hasn't been around in a while.

The impact of BI can be traced throughout the business lifecycle, from converting guests into members, to deciding on a marketing campaign, to identifying which divisions are performing up to expectations, and to the number of spa therapists and golf caddies to be scheduled on a given day. With the reliable BI data, each leisure facility can analyze vital date for each of their fundamental key performance indicators such as Member Sales, Retail Product Sales, Greens Fees and Spa Treatment Sessions Sold.

A summary of some of the client-segmentation issues with BI include:

• Creating manageable segments with targeted activities, such as marketing campaigns.
• Identifying attributes with key requirements of each client group through integrated modeling.  Setting attributes, needs and wants of each member group based on demographic, geographic, attitudinal and behavioral data.
• Establishing triggers to track and assess a client’s migration between segments to understand how marketing strategies have affected behavior.
• Determining segment-specific actions and differentiate the characteristics between the segments.
• Gaining a unified, integrated view of clients by pulling together data from all touch points and channels into a central database.
• Generate more accurate segments by using techniques and predictive modeling analysis to fine-tune corporate metrics.
• Gauge the impact of marketing activities by monitoring member response at all points, analyzing changes in behavior.

An important feature in implementing BI among different departments and locations is the ability to develop consistency in enterprise metrics.  Inefficient business operations had commonly been ineffective in defining these metrics. Different business units had relied on different sources and methods to identify the metrics. In other cases, there would significant manual effort to derive the metrics. Yet another issue was the timeliness of data; the leisure director was not able to extract the relevant information in time to make appropriate decisions.

The ultimate goal in implementing BI effectively is to establish one universal source of current, accurate, and available information. Better information based on uniform data translates to better strategic and operational decisions, which in turn translates to a better bottom-line.