Keiler's plans for The Empire
Friday, June 15, 2007
THE new General Manager of The Empire Hotel and Country Club, Manfred Keiler, spoke to The Brunei Times on his future plans for the Hotel recently where he told the paper that one of the trends that he has noticed was that customers now have "the desire for easy-to-book packages and resort styled holidays". He said that the vacationers use of online bookings and electronic marketing, are also some of current trends that The Empire Hotel are focusing on.
"By using these current trends of online bookings, The Empire Hotel stands to gain more business as we are more accessible to the world.," he added.
With the Hotel occupancy steadily increasing, in the last five years, Manfred hopes to continue working closely with Brunei Tourism to build up the tourism in Brunei Darussalam.
The Empire Hotel and Country Club has been working closely with Brunei Tourism to help with the country's progressing plans to develop tourism, internally and globally. "Brunei Tourism has been doing a fantastic job with communicating what the country has to offer through various efforts such as their presence at major international shows, fairs and roadshows. There has been great emphasis on eco tourism and this is fantastic as it is indeed much sought after," he said.
"The world has become smaller and we should all take advantage of this new avenue to further promote Brunei," he added on fully utilising the latest electronic marketing trends and the internet.
When asked about bringing The Empire Hotel and Country Club to the next level, the German-born hotelier commented, "With the team, we are looking at creating new experiences throughout the resort such as developing more resort style activities, creating new dining experiences in our restaurants and enhancing our guests' experience. We are focusing on new market segments to grow our occupancy and at the same time we are working on enhancing the resort concept throughout our marketing efforts".
External growth seems to be just as important as internal growth with Manfred, not just wanting to generate profits and breaking new ground in the hotel industry, but also to help develop the employees of The Empire Hotel. "For our team, we are looking at a series of training sessions to further develop each individual as the trends within the hospitality industry being fast changing," he stated. He also said that team members of the Hotel receive various benefits from working at The Empire, aside from the normal team benefits such as duty meals and so on, employees also receive training, the opportunity to be part of successful events held at the Hotel and the opportunity to constantly learn and develop oneself on the job.
"We work on a system of internal postings for all positions before the positions are advertised to provide the opportunity to grow and develop within the company. Localization is one of our string focuses and key initiatives and there are definitely equal opportunities for career development for both locals and foreigners," added Manfred.
One of the main revenue generating aspects of the hospitality industry is its Food and Beverage department, and one of the traits of being in a hotel industry is to love food and beverages. An obvious cuisine lover, Manfred Keiler hopes to develop the "world's largest beverage list comprising of delicious health drinks, smoothies, fruit juices, mocktails, water selections and more". Not a newcomer to introducing international cuisine, the next big event that The Empire Hotel and Country Club will be promoting is their joint promotion with Le Meurice to bring in Michelin Chef Yannick Alleno for a French food cuisine promotion from July 10 - 14.
"I am delighted and proud to be appointed the General Manager of The Empire Hotel and Country Club. When I first heard of this property, seven years ago, I knew that one day I would like to work at this resort. The opportunity to do so has now come and so far, the experience has been enjoyable," said Manfred, who was delighted with the beauty of Brunei, it's warmth, friendliness and hospitality of the people.
The Brunei Times
"By using these current trends of online bookings, The Empire Hotel stands to gain more business as we are more accessible to the world.," he added.
With the Hotel occupancy steadily increasing, in the last five years, Manfred hopes to continue working closely with Brunei Tourism to build up the tourism in Brunei Darussalam.
The Empire Hotel and Country Club has been working closely with Brunei Tourism to help with the country's progressing plans to develop tourism, internally and globally. "Brunei Tourism has been doing a fantastic job with communicating what the country has to offer through various efforts such as their presence at major international shows, fairs and roadshows. There has been great emphasis on eco tourism and this is fantastic as it is indeed much sought after," he said.
"The world has become smaller and we should all take advantage of this new avenue to further promote Brunei," he added on fully utilising the latest electronic marketing trends and the internet.
When asked about bringing The Empire Hotel and Country Club to the next level, the German-born hotelier commented, "With the team, we are looking at creating new experiences throughout the resort such as developing more resort style activities, creating new dining experiences in our restaurants and enhancing our guests' experience. We are focusing on new market segments to grow our occupancy and at the same time we are working on enhancing the resort concept throughout our marketing efforts".
External growth seems to be just as important as internal growth with Manfred, not just wanting to generate profits and breaking new ground in the hotel industry, but also to help develop the employees of The Empire Hotel. "For our team, we are looking at a series of training sessions to further develop each individual as the trends within the hospitality industry being fast changing," he stated. He also said that team members of the Hotel receive various benefits from working at The Empire, aside from the normal team benefits such as duty meals and so on, employees also receive training, the opportunity to be part of successful events held at the Hotel and the opportunity to constantly learn and develop oneself on the job.
"We work on a system of internal postings for all positions before the positions are advertised to provide the opportunity to grow and develop within the company. Localization is one of our string focuses and key initiatives and there are definitely equal opportunities for career development for both locals and foreigners," added Manfred.
One of the main revenue generating aspects of the hospitality industry is its Food and Beverage department, and one of the traits of being in a hotel industry is to love food and beverages. An obvious cuisine lover, Manfred Keiler hopes to develop the "world's largest beverage list comprising of delicious health drinks, smoothies, fruit juices, mocktails, water selections and more". Not a newcomer to introducing international cuisine, the next big event that The Empire Hotel and Country Club will be promoting is their joint promotion with Le Meurice to bring in Michelin Chef Yannick Alleno for a French food cuisine promotion from July 10 - 14.
"I am delighted and proud to be appointed the General Manager of The Empire Hotel and Country Club. When I first heard of this property, seven years ago, I knew that one day I would like to work at this resort. The opportunity to do so has now come and so far, the experience has been enjoyable," said Manfred, who was delighted with the beauty of Brunei, it's warmth, friendliness and hospitality of the people.
The Brunei Times
Business Besides Oil
