InterContinental Malta to offer one of Europe's best conference IT packages

InterContinental Malta has upgraded its wireless and broadband internet networks to be able to offer conference organisers speeds of up to 100 Mbps, the fastest available to any hotel guest on the island, general manager Giuseppe Vincelli told The Times Business.

The network upgrade project, involving an investment of over €250,000, was entrusted to Vodafone. Currently under test, the networks should be available for leisure and business guests within a fortnight and guarantee full redundancy.

"We are now able to offer reliable, constant internet connections throughout the hotel," Mr Vincelli explained. "It will also be possible for us to offer increased bandwidths for conferences and events. The investment is intended to accommodate any kind of possible request from conference organisers, including 500 simultaneous access points with 100 Mbps of bandwidth.

"More and more companies are organising events with increased technological requirements. The events will also become larger as teams begin to travel again after the downturn. We have enquiries for events for this year, next year and 2012. In terms of technology, our offering is one of the best in Europe."

This latest investment falls under wider plans aimed at upgrading the St Julians property as the management team sought to grasp the opportunity presented by the slowdown. With the full support of the Eden Leisure Group, the hotel's holding company, Intercontinental has invested over €2 million during the last 18 months, with another €1 million allocated to further developments in the coming year.

Mr Vincelli, who was named general manager at the Malta hotel last year, believes InterContinental Malta is set to return to normalised levels of profitability this year and is confident 2011 and 2012 will be "very good" years.

Despite the challenges in 2009, Mr Vincelli said occupancy levels between June and September were in line those of a normal year although average prices were lower. Throughout the slowdown, InterContinental Malta's management reviewed processes and structures to achieve better efficiency levels and pursued the investment strategy planned in November 2008.

All club rooms and suites have been refurbished, Harruba, the main restaurant, was extensively redecorated, and the lobby was given a considerable facelift. More investment is planned for the rooms and by the end of the year, up to half will be completely refreshed.

In the seven years it has been open, the InterContinental has seen very high occupancy, inevitably leading to wear and tear. The scenario last year meant it was possible to seal off entire areas of the hotel for works to be carried out.

Mr Vincelli said conference and events bookings for this year look promising and are heading towards normalisation. So far, the hotel has seen a 550 per cent increase in meeting and events over last year, and advance bookings are taking hold again. InterContinental Malta faced several challenges last year in this particular niche as last-minute bookings were frequent and conferences had to be laid out for up to 600 delegates in a matter of days.

"We are also receiving enquiries for 2011 and 2012," Mr Vincelli added. "I was not expecting such a positive recovery in the short-term."

Mr Vincelli believes the global industry's recovery will take at least three to four years but will be very different from the upturn after September 11.

In 2001 the recovery followed GDP in various regions and reached just two or three per cent per year.

While the recovery will be soft this year, it will be boosted significantly next year, particularly because of the way the InterContinental does business, the general manager pointed out.

"We are no longer targeting one specific market segment and are diversifying further," he explained. "Apart from the conference and events market, we are also developing the corporate business niche and the leisure business - 50 per cent of our guests are tourists and families, for whom the property features ample facilities."

The UK and Ireland continue to be InterContinental Malta's main markets, followed by Germany, Italy, France, Spain, although last year saw a boom from Cyprus.

The length of stay has been reduced from eight nights to five in line with the industry norm, but Mr Vincelli said the increase in flight capacity this summer should compensate. From next month, there will be an additional 120,000 potential seats available which will help contribute to the extra 35 per cent of clients needed to make up for shorter stays. The increased seat capacity will be provided mainly by low-fare carriers. Low-fare carriers were increasingly preferred by travellers in all categories, particularly for convenience, thanks to routes operated from smaller airports and second cities, Mr Vincelli emphasised.

He hoped increased capacity will present an opportunity to reflect the increase in price this summer, which, admittedly will not be considerable, but there will be good recovery in price in the next two to three years.

InterContinental Malta has a healthy business mix with around a quarter of bookings originating online from its own portal or third party websites, while the remainder comes from more traditional sources of business.

Technology is increasingly proving to be crucial to win custom: InterContinental Hotels Group is investing several million dollars to design and create a web platform to assist all its properties around the world to better serve its meetings client base. The live tool will enable executives to make online enquiries for meetings and events without the need to pick up the phone. When the project is launched worldwide in the coming months, users will be able to design the meeting, set out a plan and obtain a quotation.

"We are very excited with the possibilities extended to us by this project which I am sure shall contribute towards further success within this crucial business segment," Mr Vincelli continued.

The volcanic ash cloud crisis earlier this month also presented the InterContinental with an added opportunity to live up to its brand values in terms of guest care.

Mr Vincelli said the week-long crisis impacted the hotel positively through overstays which, however, only compensated for the non-arrivals. Some of the stranded visitors were quite happy to stay longer but most were desperate to get back to work and others were travelling with families.

"We provided all the rooms with free water and fruit. We also adjusted the pricing downwards, which was not what happened across Europe unfortunately. Our web price started at €179 a night and we dropped it to €119. It did not make sense to make some extra revenue for a couple of days and lose the relationship in the medium to long term."

Mr Vincelli said the hotel received numerous letters of gratitude from guests after the crisis, many of whom had been touched by simple gestures of kindness. Housekeeping staff personally offered guests laundry services so that families would not incur hotel service rates, even though they were discounted. InterContinental Malta duly recognised their initiative with awards and commendations.

"I have no doubt that returning visitors will chose to stay at InterContinental Malta again," Mr Vincelli said. "In some European cities, car hire companies increased their pricing by 300 per cent. Does that make sense? We also received clear guidelines from our chief executive officer to waive cancellation fees. Travellers unable to travel after the airports reopened were also not charged and given the possibility to rebook for other periods. There is no place for greed in such a situation. That has always been our strategy."