Ahmed Shareef

The Latin word vacto means milk and ovo means egg. Vacto-ovo vegetarians eat both and do not eat any meat at all. I’m on vacto-ovo diet for next 3 days. After a long time, I’m going to experience the tastes of various vegetarian dishes and feel the difference. Even if I don’t weigh anywhere close to a chunk of British beef, trying a diet is nothing odd I guess.

I started the programme this morning with an omelette, fresh milk, bread, cornflakes and jam for the breakfast. I had almost nothing to lose in my breakfast.

We have few vegetarians in our resort and we have been serving those guests the way they prefer as the type varies quite often. For example, pascatarians do eat fish and everything else is just like the normal vegetarians, while strict vegetarians never touch any meat. This time, I’m going to try what they have been adapted to, even if I can’t come to think like a real vegetarian with such a short-term diet.

After 3 days of vacto-ovo, I’m switching to pascatarian as I like fish and it’s good for health. Moreover, Maldivians are used to it as vegetarians do to vegetables. In Maldives we don’t have enough land for farming. That is the main reason that a Maldivian was never a vegetarian, and it’s not better at all to become one unless you gain something better than what you sacrifice.

Few days ago I went for walk along the mile-long white beach and found some empty bottles just landed. It must have come from the sea as our tourists don’t carry bottles to that area and I had seen some floating towards the island. At a distance the cleaner was collecting the stuff into his sack. When I met him he said in Dhivehi that he was getting more bottles. I was surprised to hear him speak Dhivehi as last time he spoke me in Bangladeshi and I had to get help from another worker.

He was a skinny old man in his 60s if not 70s and still does the job well. I was wondering how old he was and yet working away from his family to find a living. Usually Bangladeshis get a long vacation after every 3 years as their ticket is expensive and Srilankans get annually. This old man was a Bangladeshi. But he didn’t seem to be stressful, rather he was like doing the job in the day time taking rest at night, and the next morning would be another day to pass. He used to get superb food and accommodation in the labour quarters and then the salary regularly at the end of each month. He was pleased to work as if the resort-life was his living too.

Once I saw a local businessman discussing the issue on TV. He expressed many good factors of employing foreign workers. They work longer hours, travel any place at any time, have fewer off-days, food and accommodation are cheap, salary is not high to pay. I thought he was right in terms of business but he too had a social responsibility.

Many of these junior level expatriate workers don’t get job in their home country. Even the people with job don’t earn half the salary they earn here in the Maldives. In their country they don’t get the food they get at resorts while resort’s labour quarters stocked with metal bunk beds are better than their small shelters with leaking roof. They can travel any where as they are away from the family anyway. If they can feed their family and patch the leaking holes in the roof, they are better than when they were in the home country. As human wants are unlimited, it is not enough for them, but far better than ever before, where as the Maldivians are working on their own soil away from the society, earn the same salary as foreigners in most cases. Maldivians get the same off days and annul holiday. As for foreign workers they get their work-permit fee paid by the resort and up and down airline ticket when they go on holiday.

We hear the expatriate workers in the Maldives are still on the rise and authorities have been tackling it as they say. So far they have not come up with a proper solution and they don’t seem to understand the real consequences of expatriate workers getting in to the country. But, some how, the senior personnel at the employment ministry must have heard of foreign workers’ contribution to the economy. On one end is what we lose and on the other is what we get, the government authorities seem stuck in the middle with no proper mechanism to regulate the flow. Sometimes they seem trying to stop the foreign workers getting in, instead of maintaining its balance through a regulatory mechanism based on the socio-economic factors. This has led the people to believe ‘trial and error’ method doesn’t work and the authorities keep on kicking the ball blindly.

Every resort in Maldives has some sort of welcome proceeding for arrival guests. A team member goes to the jetty and expects guest’s arrival before the boat could alongside. In some resorts the Greeter goes to jetty before a guest onboard could notice the people on the island.

When the guests travel by boat many do enjoy the scenery of tropical island chains in different shapes and colours. A silhouette view of the island comes into sight from a distance of 10 miles. The guests could notice the size and some vegetation of the island compared with neighboring islands if any. Soon they see the glimmering white beach, and when the boat is close to 2 miles they see the structures of different shapes beautifully portrayed in real colours.

Guests see a well-groomed team of staff await standing upright watching the boat arrive. They feel the resort is well prepared for their arrival. The team members smile and greet each and every guest in finest words of hospitality as soon as they get off. They are then guided to lobby or welcome pavilion where servers expect them with cold funnel and welcome drinks. Passports are collected along with travel agent’s vouchers and team members fill the registration cards quickly and continue the check-in process.

This could be a normal arrival to a resort in Maldives. However, the luxury chains have specific phrases and standards to use during different interactions with the guests, including the arrival. In Marriott, the arrival treatment is called Arrival Ritual. The word itself has the fine touch of warm hospitality and spirit to serve. Marriott’s Renaissance brand have these steps in their Arrival Ritual:

WELCOME:
A. “Welcome to Renaissance”
B. guide the guest
C. Delighted to welcome

RECOGNISE:
D. Use the standard
E. Greet for the time of the day with a smile
F. “We are delighted to welcome you”… and guest name

PERSONALIZE:
G. They use the guest name as often as possible.
H. Find out the guest needs
I. Attentive, proactive and maintains the flow of conversation

These standards are quite common in Maldives as they are pretty basic, I would say.

The Arrival Ritual is just a single chapter of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which includes the complete set of standards for hotel operations. All high class resorts in Maldives have this in place and the entire operation is precisely guided. But, inspiring terms like ‘Arrival Ritual, Mr.Friday, Thakuru’ are still rare in the Maldives.

Tourists get lot of facilities and services from the resorts, only sky is the limit or the tourist’s budget, and tourism is multi-dimensional. Every high-end resort walks the extra mile and earns smiles. All resorts have; spa, water sports centre, diving centre, food and drinks. Only Huvafen Fushi has an underwater spa, and only Conrad Maldives has underwater restaurant, two distinctive features of luxury tourism. But, every resort with a luxury feature may not be a luxury resort, if they are too weak on other aspects. The tourist who wants to visit Maldives and enjoy an underwater-dinner has only one place to pick. When another resort owner comes to hosts an underwater restaurant, certainly he won’t get the success Conrad got from it. Conrad has been doing it for years and they are also popular for that, even without considering the brand image. Hence, a new resort operator who goes for luxury business and wants to achieve immense popularity needs to come up with an ingenious innovation, just like Huvafen Fushi when they were newly getting into the business. So, now the industry needs a new chapter of exclusive tourism.

Few months back I heard on TV that the government was leasing some islands for agricultural development. By the way, now some people might have got the island. There were some bids submitted with the intention of proving a tourism support service and when the government denied allowing it on those islands, the people lost their interest. That was when I became interested in agricultural islands. They can cultivate vegetables and fruits, and sell to the local market or to the resorts near by. May be that is why some people were interested. But that is not my plan and it’s no where close to my plan. My plan ends up on creating the so-called ‘image’.

“The newly opened luxury resort in the Maldives has its own island producing vegetables and tropical fruits, and is freshly transported to the resort every day. Guests see just-plucked fruits with its fresh leaves laid out on display where chef slices it right in front” Imagine the impression! Isn’t it exclusive?

The taste might not be so different than the ones we import quite freshly. But it’s the impression which creates the image, making it so exclusive. A special island is there for the purpose and many workers do the job, just to deliver it fresh. When this goes together with high-class service, guests will notice the resorts commitment on ‘attention to detail’. And no other resort in Maldives does it.

When guests get treatments in underwater spa they get nothing more than just a good impression. They keep watching the fish as they walk towards the treatment bed which most probably have seen while snorkeling or diving. Most people keep the  eyes closed or even lay face down during the treatment and feel the real comfort. But they feel so special to get a treatment in the world’s first underwater spa. It is the impression which creates difference. The image makes a tremendous impact.

Italian tourists visited the Maldives in 1972 and stayed in the capital. They used to visit uninhibited as well as local fishing villages and started spear fishing. Meals were served at the famous ‘Queen of the night’ restaurant for some time. But the Maldivian spicy fish curry was not their favourite. Soon, things started moving to right directions and ways they liked. This was how the tourism got started in the Maldives, and within these 36 years of development resorts have created the right facilities for the changing trend of visitors. Traditional hut-like buildings have become luxury villas both on the island and on the lagoon. Dining moved from spicy fish curry to multi-ethnic cuisines, themed buffets, fine dining delicacies and culinary arts.

For several years the local hoteliers believed that a sweet-water pool was absolutely unnecessary. The island being surrounded by crystal clear lagoons, they thought it was much better than the small pools, and the belief continued for decades until it was wiped out. Now almost all resorts have pool and  newly developing resorts come with pool. Many of the resorts have even advanced the pool facility with additional Jacuzzis, special pool for children, sauna and steam rooms.

The excursions which started with spear fishing have diversified into plenty of options, which led to ban the spear fishing at last. It is banned to support the development of tourism in the country. I have heard people say a fish in the sea is worth two in the market. When we sell snorkeling excursion or diving, isn’t it we renting live fish for tourists to see? Only exception is that we never have to render any maintenance service.

Once my shoe was badly torn underneath and I went Male’ to buy a new one. Normally it takes lot of hours until I find a nice shoe to my preference. So, I started my shopping day in the morning, and then I would have enough time to hunt the right one. Hours passed walking up and down the streets trying almost every shop. Later I ended up with a white creamy shoe with a black rim and the hassle was over. But, I knew this was going to be more than just a shoe.

On the way back to resort we stopped at Hulhule’ to pick up the arriving guests. As it would take some time I decided to enjoy a drink at Movenpick. When I came back to speedboat it was filled with tourists and only one seat was available from the last raw, in front on the walkway was their baggage. I stepped on the boat, pushed the baggage a bit aside and walked straight away to the unoccupied seat. Then the boat disembarked.

Few days later I met one of the guests who traveled in the same boat as me when I arrived. I introduced my self and they introduced to me gently. These Germans were repeater guests. So, I invited them for a drink and they sat next to me. They were telling me the island was so beautiful, staff were so nice, so and so. After a while the lady glimpsed my shoe and said when they were coming from airport there was a gentleman wearing the same shoe who stepped on the boat, pushed the baggage aside and went straight away to the last seat. And asked if that was me and I agreed. I asked how could they recognize the shoe and how could they remember it. They said the white shoe was rare and it looked very clean.

I wanted to see how a shoe attracts people. If a shoe attracts people, it does more than just its job and people tend to be more positive with the so-called ‘first impression’. Guests stay positive even before I could say a word. That’s  fantastic!

Now, are you thinking of buying a white one? No worries! I will switch to black when everyone turns to white!

A tourist came from One&Only Reethi Rah wrote on a review; “The Island is stunning even if a little artificial and Disney-field. I loved the place but expected Mickey Mouse to jump out from behind a bush.” When the guest saw the island and felt like Disney Park or even some Disney cartoons, instantly she expected for Mickey Mouse to jump out. Imagine how quickly a guest comes to expect something and this is just one of the things she expected from her expensive holiday. If the resort had arranged Mickey Mouse to jump out, another guest might have said that they never expected the resort to be a Disney world.

In luxury tourism guests expect nice rooms, superb gourmet cuisines and variety of excellent drinks to be essential. Some guests might expect that even before they book holiday and another guest since he saw the price tag on a travel magazine. So, the guest expectation is a great concern which has to be managed efficiently in order to survive in competitive luxury tourism. Every aspect of holiday must be ‘unbelievable’ as Ron Kaufman in his book ‘Up Your Service!’ outlines it as top level of service. But how do we manage human expectations?

Experts have something called ‘anticipation’ to tackle with this. Guest expectations are foreseen and arrangements are made in place. Resort either delivers what the guest expects or drives the guest’s expectation to what the resort offers. One&Only Reethi Rah designed the island like an octopus on motion, a concept people never expected before it came to existence and soon after people started expecting it. In business perspective, these are reflected as ‘product orientation’ and ‘customer orientation’. Waiter sells the Bottle of Wine at the price fixed from the resort, not at the price guest wants to buy it. But the quality and service is just ‘unbelievable’, far beyond guest expectation.

Huvafen Fushi opened in July 2004 on a tiny island in North Male’ Atoll, is the second hotel from Per Aquum Resort & Spa. The resort was a chic blend of discreet luxury on an unspoiled island in the Maldives. Huvafen Fushi was not the only idyllic luxurious resort in the Maldives when it opened in 2004, but Per Aquum was the newest brand unknown for everyone in high-end hotel business while Hilton, One&Only, Fourseasons and Taj had been operating in the Maldives for years.

Headed by Tom McLoughlin, Per Aquum decided to host the world’s first underwater spa. He might have wanted to shock the world like the Burj Al Arab from Dubai did in 1999. His plan was a success, attracting potential visitors and tour operators around the world, and revealing a perfect surprise to the neighboring hotel brands.

The underwater beauty and abundant marine life of the Maldives not being fully exposed to the visitors especially to non-divers, Hilton decided to something different. They always strived to remain as one of the top resorts in the Maldives. First underwater facility being built by Per Aquum Resorts, Hilton did not want to benchmark it. Like Per Aquum, they might have believed that success is hooked on creative ideas that can shock the world. Soon, Hilton Maldives announced the underwater restaurant to be built at Rangali Island.

Step by step Per Aquum was on the move. The company directed all its energy to the pristine island of Huvafen Fushi to create an image of unique luxury in nature’s tranquility. The resort would be a success to everyone’s guess but that alone cannot support the swift growth of the brand. They can market either Huvafen Fushi or Per Aquum, or both. Perhaps they marketed the resort with presence of their brand name on the marketing materials, and now this international resort chain spreads over more than 6 countries. Their branding strategy was very simple and yet highly effective. As the company didn’t have a clear brand image, it had no significant value to inherit to their resorts. Creating an image on Huvafen Fushi and inheriting it to Per Aquum was the ‘reverse formula’ which still needed another creative idea. They came up with an ingenious solution; hosting the worlds first underwater spa. The chain of strategic formula was then workable, underwater spa contributing to the resort, and resort creating the brand image of company. Now, Per Aquum has its own image, the blend of naturally modern luxury it can deliver to its resorts worldwide, with pride and trust of all stakeholders.

Challenge after challenge continues in the struggle for innovation and creativity in high-end luxury tourism, and Maldives was never developing more resorts than at present. Some local resort chains have now made their luxury brand; Sun Travels have Beach House , AAA Resorts have Zitahli, and Sunland Hotels have CocoPalm. The local businessmen might have learnt a lesson with Per Aquum’s fairytale or they might be simply fascinated on how the strange name turned so bold in the industry. Fascination very often turns to motive to take risks and go further. With that, businesses come up with more effort that ultimately leads to success. But, can the epitome of luxury alone do the job? Does it challenge the existing international chains? Has creativity reached its limits?