Hotel excels in tough market

Hospitality competition in Nairobi is fierce, but a Chinese company is having success

Chinese hospitality companies have the opportunity to add their own touch to tourism in Africa, and can serve as information focal points to help advance China-Africa relations, an official with a Chinese-owned hotel in Nairobi says.

Zhang Shuang, deputy manager of Soluxe International Group of Hotel & Lodge (Kenya) Ltd, says the company has used its experience in Africa and resources in China to find the right blend of local and Chinese elements in its hotel and restaurant. Soluxe has 72 hotels in China.

The market in Kenya, well-known for its tourism, can be demanding, and hospitality is a key sector of the economy. It has many high-quality local hotels and international chain hotels, which heavily feature Kenyan themes and tastes.

"Many of the major hotels are run by Indian or European businesses, and they have quite localized operations. Tourists and guests love them," Zhang says. "So we needed to contribute a special touch to the local hotel industry."

Soluxe Club is the company's hotel in northwestern Nairobi. It opened in 2012 and has a three-story main building with 45 guest rooms, a restaurant and a multifunctional conference room.

"Before we built our hotel in Nairobi, we had one in Sudan, and we expected a bigger one in Kenya. But because our location coincided with the air routes, we had to limit our scale," Zhang says.

When the hotel was completed in July 2012, Zhang says he was not fully satisfied. The decor and layout needed adjusting to bring out the Kenyan and Chinese features.

"Although we had a monthly average occupancy rate of 50 percent, and in the peak season between June and October it was impossible to get even one room without a reservation, we still saw the need to give guests the feeling of an exotic environment, rather than just another Chinese hotel thousands of kilometers away in Africa."

Soluxe arrived in Africa in 2002, first in Sudan. Now it is present in more than seven countries in the continent.

The company belongs to China Huayou Group Corp, which is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp.

CNPC operates not only oil fields overseas, but also has other businesses such as infrastructure construction and trade. So Soluxe in the very beginning was sent out as a steward of the company's logistics to provide accommodation and catering for many projects, even in remote desert areas.

"That's why I was assigned to go to Sudan, because the company had an operation there," Zhang says.

But then company CEO Zhang Yaquan saw Soluxe had a great opportunity to promote Chinese cuisine and tourism through its overseas operations, and needed to broaden its business scope.

"Our experiences on the ground, serving our companies and partners, was not enough to satisfy our ambitions in Africa," Zhang says. "We saw we could better use our specialties in various fields to explore the African market. What we had back in China was a lot of experience in hotel operations, food and tourism."

When it came to the hotel's restaurant, it also had to strike the right balance.

"There are so many variations of Chinese food around the globe, and we realized how diverse African foods could be. But we still try to create a special menu for our chain hotels abroad to provide our guests the best and most original Chinese food while making some adjustments to satisfy local tasks."

Lin Bo, head chef of the hotel, says that for typical dishes popular across China, the hotel is trying to standardize the best recipes to provide authentic flavors to local guests.

"Back in China we identified the most popular flavors to ensure our typical dishes are representative," Lin says.

More importantly, when introducing a cuisine in a new place, flavor localization is a must. Soluxe also strives to deliver culinary delights that can adapt and evolve, he says.

"Kenya is a good place for food fusion because it has the best local dishes while embracing some of the best Western foods as well, due to its historical bond with Europe."

"So we have many chances to prepare creative dishes. For instance, local guests like deep fried food, sometimes even with some fresh fruit, so we combine them to make a very nice deep fried shrimp ball with our special fruit sauce."

Most of the restaurant's guests are local Chinese, but Lin says he has seen a noticeable increase in local guests after introducing new dishes.

Soluxe also has tried to make the restaurant decor pleasing to local guests, as well.

"Our initial decor was too Chinese the layout emphasized common areas, which didn't satisfy the desire of local and Western guests for more private space. In our refurbishment plan, we created a more comfortable space for our local guests," Lin adds.

Soluxe also plans to better serve its hotel guests by helping them identify Kenyan market opportunities through a comprehensive collection of local information.

"If you closely analyze our clients, you would find many of them are coming to Kenya as part of business delegations, and they are keen to explore local market and business opportunities," Zhang says.

Soluxe officials sensed this interest because they also run a tour service in Kenya that serves many Chinese visitors.

"So a stay at Soluxe is not just for good accommodation or good food only, it's also about identifying the right business opportunities by getting the right information," Zhang says. "We have been collecting business information on the local market through our extensive network in Kenya."

There was so little organized information before that it was hard for a one-time visitor to get a good sense of the range of opportunities, he says.

"So we are trying to compile a local yellow pages for those who come to seek these kinds of opportunities. We need to play the role of a business hub and consultancy as well to give our guests all-round service."

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/24/2014 page19)