Professor Chekitan Dev: “There is a need to revisit Mauritius’ branding strategy”

His bio is impressive, to say the least. Professor Chekitan Dev serves on the faculty of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and is the author of “Hospitality Branding”, published in 2012 by Cornell University Press as part of its Hospitality Management Best Practices Series. He has served corporate, government, education, advisory and private equity clients in over 40 countries, as a consultant, seminar leader and expert witness.

BUSINESSMAG. Prof. Dev, you know Mauritius for many years now, having worked with Paul Jones 15 years back when he was at the helm of Sun Resorts. What is the purpose of your present visit?

My links with Mauritius go back a long time, back to my university days where I had the opportunity to meet many Mauritian students in Delhi, some of whom hold important leadership positions today. Also, my uncle was India’s first High Commissioner to Mauritius. Professionally, I have had the chance to work with Sun International 17 years back with Dinesh Burrenchobay and Paul Jones. This time, I have been invited by the same two people who are leading two different organizations, namely Veling and Lux*. My aim is to help them and their team members keep abreast of international trends and rethink their model of doing business and going forward. 12 people were involved in Veling. Whilst the workshops for Lux* were for larger groups, over 60 team members at each workshop.

BUSINESSMAG. How have you seen the tourism sector in Mauritius evolve? Have we been able to cope with the global crisis? Have we adapted our model to suit the changing needs of travellers?

It is true that the market is stagnant and it is a zero-sum game. The tendency in this situation is to engage in a dog fight and steal market share from one another. In fact, what the tourism actors need to be doing is rather seek collaboration and partnerships among themselves to grow the market. We need to find mechanisms for private firms to be able to partner with each other. And also, let’s not forget that the Crux of the matter is connectivity. We can have all the training or the best strategy in the world as aviation services providers and hoteliers, but tourists need planes and sensible flight routes to get here. With Air Mauritius increasing its number of flights to China and Emirates placing the A380 on this route, the future of Mauritius tourism looks promising.

BUSINESSMAG. Everyone seems to think that we should go East as the market has shifted. Is it a good strategy?

Mauritius should scout for new markets while still seeking to attract tourists from its traditional markets. It is clear that with 100 million Chinese ready to travel abroad (which is more than France’s entire population multiple times), it will be foolish to ignore them. And also, the figures speak for themselves; Europe’s markets are slow in picking up and therefore, Mauritius should smartly stay ahead of the curve and anticipate where the markets will come from. You should not only see China, but also Russia and India. There is a need for active marketing of Mauritius as a destination and to ensure that there is additional air connectivity.

BUSINESSMAG. How is the Asian tourism market different from our traditional European market? What does the tourism industry need to do to service these clients better?

Much research has been done to study the Chinese markets. For instance, we know that they are great fans of social media; they all have smartphones and share their pictures to their friends around the world. That calls of course for high speed Wi-Fi. Imagine the opportunity for publicizing your hotel or your destination through social media. Also, generally Chinese guests are big fans of sightseeing. You can have people hopping from the airplane after a 12 hour flight and going off to an excursion. They really want to do everything and explore the country. Today, Chinese tourists flock to Maldives and this country has done everything to ensure flights from the major hubs in China. You also need to survey what these clients are looking for: do they need tea kettles, instant noodles, slippers and special toiletries in the room? Do you have translation services which will allow them to have greater experiences? Do you have high speed Wi-Fi that will allow social media friendly Chinese to share their pictures with their world? Similarly, every emerging market has its likes and dislikes. Success in attracting and retaining high value tourists will depend on a careful study of their likes and dislikes, and being able to offer better options compared to competing destinations.

BUSINESSMAG. Mauritius has always marketed itself as sun, sea and sand. Is this enough today, when islands like Maldives, the Caribbean and many others are doing the same thing?

Mauritius has a lot more to offer than the Maldives, so there is no reason why Mauritius should be a second choice. There is so much more to see and do in Mauritius compared to the other Indian Ocean island nations. Plus, with the world focused on Africa’s growth, and with more and more countries beating a path to Africa’s door, Mauritius can be a gateway to Africa for the rest of the world.

BUSINESSMAG.You have taught the participants of your seminars on global trends. Can you tell us more about the current trends that really will impact on the Mauritian tourism sector?

We discussed three categories of trends; customer trends, competitor trends and channel of communication and distribution trends. My aim in the Lux* workshops is to get the participants out of their comfort zone and question their existing ways of doing business. For instance, challenge their convictions, see how they react to new innovative trends. I was very encouraged by the fact that the Lux* team reacted very positively to the forces driving change and came up with many innovative and potentially profitable initiatives to implement.

BUSINESSMAG. You boast extensive experience in the tourism sector. If there were one case study that has impressed you, a group that has had a fantastic turnaround for instance, which one would it be?

There are many cases that have impressed me, but if there is one to choose for the purpose of this interview, it will be One and Only. How they managed to take a grab bag of disparate properties and knit them together into a world class brand was impressive to witness.

Also, the more I get to know Lux*, the more I can say I am quite impressed how a company that had enormous challenges a few years back has engaged successfully in a new positioning, has done a rebranding and is now seeking new pastures. I have met with the team and I see highly motivated people ready to take Lux* to the next level.

BUSINESSMAG. You must have heard about the recent branding of “Mauritius: c’est un plaisir”, which created quite some controversy and did not ring a chord with travel experts in the island as they felt it did not do justice to the country. Hoteliers are doing their part, but the country has a responsibility to brand and position the country in its various feeder markets. What is your take on this?

There is indeed a need to revisit your branding strategy for the destination. You need to substantially differentiate Mauritius from its competitors. In a general sense, you should differentiate yourself on both rational and emotional dimensions. To appeal to the traveller’s mind, there are many destination attributes that can be highlighted in a unique and interesting way. To appeal to the traveller’s heart, you have many amazing stories to tell which can create that emotional link with your guests.

It had been a pleasure being a guest here for a short time. I was impressed with much that I saw. I look forward to coming back and helping Mauritian companies and their teams achieve a higher level of performance.