First & Foremost Hotels and Resorts, a bespoke hotel asset, development and operations company has joined forces with four-time Major Champion, Ernie Els to launch First & Foremost Family Hotels in partnership with Leading Family Hotels & Resorts.
A trend within the travel world currently is community sharing whereby residential accommodation is rented through the likes of AirBnB. This has shaken up the industry and it will be those that can offer a ‘point of difference’ and returns on investment acceptable to investors that will survive, as Mike Scully, Managing Director of First & Foremost Hotels & Resorts points out:
“To achieve double digit returns, hotels need to have their point of difference. This can be location, hospitality, entertainment and/or leisure. This is key for a strong return on investment for owners.
“First and Foremost Family Hotels will incorporate all of the above. Combined with the Leading Family Hotels ‘Edutainment’ offer – specialising in kids from 0-5 age group – this makes us unique. We’re not reliant on school holidays and we can focus on achieving the highest room rates and occupancy levels all year round.”
The family hospitality sector represents a huge opportunity for investors and developers alike, as it continues to grow into a key economic driver outperforming many other brand concepts.
First & Foremost Family Hotels has partnered with South African golfing legend Ernie Els to launch the concept due to his wealth of expertise within the hospitality industry. Ernie has successful business pursuits off the course in golf course design, academies, hospitality with The Els Clubs and Big Easy Restaurants, and apparel amongst many others.
The hotels will be autism friendly thanks to input from Ernie Els and his foundation Els for Autism. Expertise and the latest systems from The Els Center of Excellence will be utilised to produce highly trained staff.
The new family hotel concept will also offer a unique opportunity of employment for adults on the spectrum across departments such as Accounts, Maintenance, Sport & Play, and Administration amongst others.
“I am delighted to partner First & Foremost to launch Family Hotels”, commented Ernie Els. “Family holiday time has always been a priority for me and I have experienced a lot of 5-star hotels worldwide that do not really offer a complete family holiday experience. You want a fun and relaxing environment for everyone! We are going to provide that with First & Foremost Family Hotels. In addition, we are going to ensure a safe environment for families on the spectrum and also create substantial employment opportunities for adults with autism. Hopefully our lead will encourage other organisations to follow suit.”
Due to their unique partnerships, bespoke approach and the opportunities that exist in the family sector, Mike Scully, who has been instrumental in the development of over 70 hotel openings and food and beverage concepts is confident of ensuring success to owners and developers that work with First & Foremost Family Hotels.
“Through our partnership with Leading Family Hotels and Ernie Els we shall assist owners and developers of resort hotels to achieve higher than average returns on investment while maintaining risk awareness and being unique in product and service quality.”
First and Foremost Family hotels with their partners have a database of over 350,000 active users all offering direct bookings to the hotels thus reducing commission fees of up to 25% making the group one of the highest profit generating brands in the industry.
Mayer Family Hotels GmbH is a company incorporated in Austria who owns, operates and develops premium hotels & resorts specialised to families with children. Ernst Mayer, the company’s CEO, is considered the pioneer of family vacation, member of the board of the Kinderhotels Europe group, founder and shareholder of Leading Family Hotels & Resorts.
Mayer Family Hotels’ key involvement will bring the expertise in all areas of design specifications, operational standards, staff training and client database with over 350,000 families, thus ensuring a high number of direct bookings. The group with its 4 five star hotels and over 50 three and four star Kinderhotels have the cliental, resources and staff to facilitate the development of global hotels.
First & Foremost Family Hotels in partnership with Leading Family Hotels & Resorts was officially launched at an exclusive press event at The Els Club Dubai on Wednesday 28th January 2015.