Exclusive: With Oberoi president Liam Lambert

Liam Lambert talks about positioning the brand, luxury trains, OCLD and his learnings from India, in this exclusive interview with Hotelier India.

The Oberoi Mumbai has recently re-opened after the horrific events that took place in November 2008 and Liam Lambert, the president of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, is a visibly relieved man. The hotel chain sets a benchmark of sorts with this; the refurbishments and repairs have cost some whopping monies alright.

Says Lambert: “Right now we haven’t paid all the bills but we reckon it will be in the range of US$35-40 million. A substantial amount has gone on security; I can’t talk about it in detail because that will compromise what we’ve implemented. Trust me, we’ve taken all reasonable precautions. Nothing is Fort Knox – and even Fort Knox can be knocked down. All you can do is take precautions; when we hire people we do police and background checks, do all we can to make it as safe as can be.”

Lambert is candid enough to state that refurbishment work was to have begun on The Oberoi New Delhi last year however, the funds were diverted to restore The Oberoi Mumbai instead. With such attention and spending lavished on the property, which is now the most tech-savvy hotel in the Group, a new and gung-ho sales force in place, what is the positioning of the hotel to be now? Comments Lambert: “It is the finest hotel in Mumbai! After a few years we’d like to achieve the accolade of India’s finest hotel, after that comes Asia’s...do I really have to finish that sentence?”

Now that the Oberoi Mumbai is finally open, Lambert turns his focus on the new Oberoi hotel in Gurgaon, slated to open in September for the Commonwealth Games (CWG). It is said to be positioned at the very top of the market, above even the Trident, currently the RevPAR leader in the country. “We’re not Coca Cola or Holiday Inn – we’re not a commodity. We’re about highly exclusive luxury services”

“It will be the finest hotel in Gurgaon and Delhi,” declares Lambert. A fresh wave of tourism for the country is foreseen pre-and-during the CWG. How does the Oberoi Group plan on riding this wave? Says Lambert: “The image is that every hotel is going to be full and Delhi is going to be packed. I fear that won’t necessarily be so. The CWG lasts three weeks - and there’s 52-weeks in the year! There are some delegations from the various CWG countries and we are going to be enjoying having one staying with us but that won’t nec essarily mean the hotel will be full. The CWG is a wonderful event to have but it’s not a luxury traveller that is going to come for it.”

He says the fallout of the CWG is much more important so far as he’s concerned; doing it right, controlling security, making sure everybody has a nice time, will position India as a safe and fun place to go to in the eyes of the world. “If the international publicity is positive, it bodes well for the future of tourism in India,” says Lambert.

Speaking of international publicity, three of the top hotels in the world are consistently ranked as Oberoi properties – Raj Vilas, Udai Vilas and Wildflower Hall. How does the Oberoi Group plan to capitalise on this for the larger consumer base? “It’s a strategic issue,” says Lambert. “You can have a flash-in-the-pan; it’s the consistency in recognition we’re looking for. Our target audience is the top of the pyramid. We’re not Coca Cola or Holiday Inn – we’re not a commodity. We’re about highly exclusive luxury services.”

Luxury brings to mind that the Group, which already operates its own cruise liners, had plans to enter the luxury train segment as well. “We’d love to and we did consider this a year and a half ago – we almost had a train,” admits Lambert. “It was going to be Mumbai-Udaipur-Agra or Mumbai-Udaipur-Jaipur, the route hadn’t been finalised, with smaller stops in between.

“The GM is not only responsible for the hotel, he is responsible for revenue”

However, one of the problems is the huge charge for using the track – it represents 35-40% of what we calculated the hotel revenues would be! It didn’t make financial sense at all. Those plans are on the back burner until we get a better deal on the haulage charges,” he says.

The global financial turmoil is in its downspin now, with Europe poised to bounce back far quicker than America. The Oberoi has also strategically consolidated its position overseas by majorly restructuring its sales and marketing operations.

“Yes, we’re now back on the radar; we were off for some time,” agrees Lambert. “As far as Europe is concerned we’re establishing all our relationships with the suppliers. With a fully staffed office in London, we’re much more active in the marketplace now, the brand is much more recognised. We have a much deeper relationship with the tour operators in London. We have a children’s programme going; we’re not overt about it, like Club Med, but we love children.”

Russia is recognised as being the highest spending European community in travel and tourism; acknowledging this fact, the Oberoi has signed up with a GSA who also combines public relations for them. There is immense leisure travel coming out of St Petersburg;

“Russian business is developed through personal relationships,” says Lambert. “You need to go there and make sales calls; it could last five minutes but if you break through, it could last two hours. General managers of every hotel will go on sales calls - the GM is not only responsible for the hotel, he is responsible for revenue,” he says matter-of-factly.

That does sound as though he has a specific vision for the company. He agrees by saying that after rebuilding and restructuring the sales and marketing, it gives him time now to look into the future. “If I were to tell you we would have fifty hotels in five years that would be just empty boasting, but yes, we want to become a global brand eventually. Mr Oberoi always says we don’t want to be the biggest – we just want to be the best. It’s very difficult to find a location that holds the potential to be an Oberoi it has to represent the city we’re in architecturally, but also carry a local Indian flavour. We’re going to grow in our neighbourhood first - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Marrakesh. It’s always easier to know your neighbours; we do a lot of business with the Middle East, Indian culture has an affinity into the neighbouring cultures,” adds Lambert.

Expansion plans include Gurgaon in September, followed by Dubai. Six months after Dubai it should be Hyderabad, then back in the Middle East to Abu Dhabi. Marrakesh is at least another two and a half years away. The Group is also looking at Goa, but: “We dare not count our chickens before they’re hatched. We are talking to lots of developers in lots of destinations,” says Lambert.

The Leela had recently announced its plans to enter the three-star segment (read Hotelier India April issue). Does the Oberoi too have mid-market plans? “One-word answer – no,” says Lambert. “Our business is luxury.”

What is the strategic direction for the two brands – Oberoi and Trident? “I cannot speak on behalf of Trident,” says Lambert bluntly. “From a general perspective, Oberoi is five-star deluxe and Trident is five-star with a high degree of luxury, a fantastic brand. We want to retain that position and improve it, establish it for good.”

Does the brand equity of the Oberoi name get strengthened by now using ‘Vilas’ as an adjunct? “It’s a good question,” Lambert says thoughtfully. “The consumer may have seen it differently, but intellectually, we’ve always seen it as an Oberoi hotel. Leisure and business are different products.”

Management contracts have never worked well in the past where the Oberoi was concerned, namely, Khajuraho, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad – and now there’s Dehradun coming up. What makes him think this will be any different? “I think the Oberoi has gained a certain critical mass,” says Lambert. “We have 17-global operations, most either fully owned or with a fair amount of equity. Developers are coming to us and saying ‘we love your brand, we have the property, will you manage it for us’? Because of that demand, we can get in with lower equity.”

Apart from his contributions and the experience he brings to the company, Lambert must have gained some specific learnings too, in his year-long tenure. So what has the Indian sojourn been like thus far? “Unquantifiable. Phantasmagorical,” he says immediately. “It’s been a huge learning experience not only from a personal perspective, but also professional point of view. I’ve never come across so many experts in my life. They’re all tech savvy and very proud and delighted to share that knowledge with you. I’ve never seen people work such long hours and be so devoted and dedicated. The desire to be part of a successful team is huge; once you can trap that desire, nothing can stop you - it’s quite dramatic.”

Lambert is hugely impressed with the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD) concept and thinks it was way ahead of its time. “What an innovative idea that was back then, to have presentable and articulate hoteliers. That, to me, is the seed of success of the Oberoi – the constant training, the calibre of people that comes out, it’s just so powerful,” he says.

All that aggressive international expansion is going to require well trained staff; Lambert is confident that OCLD, which turns out between 90-110 people in a course, covering culinary, guest services and housekeeping, will be adequate to manage the staffing. “Ninety per cent stay for at least five years – after that is the danger period because then these highly talented and skilled people realise their aspirations may not have been realised and then the competition throws money at them. Our competitors steal our people all the time but that’s alright. It’s very flattering for us that our competitors rate us so highly to blindly take our staff. Many of those who leave come back to us after a year or two,” he concludes.