GAT, Tourist Asset Management, reinforces its structure to face the challenges of the present and future

The Transformation and Product department is a recently created area within the TAG structure. At the end of 2019, TAG undertook a series of changes in order to prepare itself more and better for the challenges of the present and immediate future.

It is precisely a strategic decision oriented to the repositioning (or in its case development) of each of the tourism assets, which in the end will mean a maximization of the operational profit and therefore of the value of the business.

In order to successfully undertake these tasks, it is necessary to complement and unite the other areas to work in complete alignment and achieve the efficiency and effectiveness necessary to achieve the best results. This is one of the main objectives of the new department, which means that it can provide a response adapted to the reality of the market in our sector.

At the head of this new department, Guillermo Fuentes, a professional from the world of tourism and hotel management, with more than 25 years of experience managing teams, is an expert and a specialist in Quality. His appointment represents a firm commitment with guarantees, a qualitative leap in the Management itself that characterizes GAT, always focused on the customer and supported by values such as flexibility, agility and customization of each case, each tourism asset managed.

1- Which departments or professionals make up the company?

Our department includes the areas of communication and marketing, product and customer experience, systems and infrastructure. The contribution of each and every one of them is key to the achievement of the departmental objectives. We are already undertaking the first projects of the new phase, it is a professional team with great experience, prepared, qualified and has the soft skills that are necessary to navigate in the environment of rapid changes in the current business and economic scenario.

2- What are the reasons why GAT created this department within its own structure, what are the main objectives of the newly incorporated area?

We work to adapt and improve our hotel products to the client segments that we already have, but we also remain very attentive to new consumer trends in the markets, such as active tourism that is eager to live experiences, such as mindfulness activities or sports, a tourism that seeks and wants more sophisticated, personalized, unique alternatives… Facilitating immersion in exclusive experiences is part of the work in differentiating the product offered. Guided by principles such as sustainability and innovation, we are able to generate an offer adapted to the consumer based on the creation of new concepts of experiences in our establishments. In short, we hope that customers and business partners choose us as a “destination hotel” and that we can reposition our products at the highest level of quality and value.

3 – What are the items in the operating account that would benefit from a transformed product, and what amount of improvement in terms of G.O.P. (Gross Operating Profit) could be obtained?

Obviously, with the transformation of the products we seek to further optimize income, and therefore we are carrying out various reforms in our hotels, providing them with better resources and services to meet the current demand, with the added intention that they serve to achieve seasonally adjusted occupancy. In addition, in some cases, we are incorporating international brands, which gives us more visibility at the time of marketing, for example, all this added to the added prestige of working with large and recognized hotel brands. On the other hand, at the level of central services and hotels, we are allocating many resources to the development of BI systems, which will allow us to make strategic decisions much more easily and will help us manage our business more quickly and agilely, in search of excellence, but also to improve results.

4- How do you see and value the current situation of the sector with respect to GAT management and more specifically to what may affect the area you are currently leading?

Competition in the market is fierce, I would say as never before, the big chains are allocating millions of euros to a profound work of loyalty precisely at a time in the market that if anything can be defined, it is by the unfaithful nature of the consumer… Therefore, we understand that the only thing that can differentiate us from the rest of the hotels is the personalised treatment, the creation of original infrastructures and services and the incorporation of the best and most innovative technology. In short, and although it is a hackneyed subject, the best way to compete is to create memorable sensations for customers, exceed their expectations and make them real prescribers of our products.

5- A wish, a challenge for this year

To successfully complete the objectives of our new department and that our work can benefit colleagues in other areas of the head office, hotels and of course investors, who in the end are those who place their trust in our management.