management - TourismInsights

(Above) Fountains and weirs add to
the beauty of The Alnwick Garden;
(right) Alnwick Castle is the second
largest inhabited castle in England
“It didn’t last long, but the belief that nothing’s
impossible, and it’s never big enough
or too expensive is so interesting.”
Having originally agreed to work for
Tatweer for 10 years, Perdrier was disappointed
when the contract came to an end
after two years because of the financial
crisis. “When you’re part of something and
suddenly, poof, they turn off the lights, it’s
diffi cult,” he says, although there was one
saving grace. “Coming from Burgundy,
it was a challenge living in a region that
doesn’t have wine!” Perdrier believes that
the current situation in Dubai isn’t that
different to the rest of the world and, like
other countries, they’re naturally putting
things on hold. “What they’re doing is normal,”
he says. “It’s more visible because
its been built on an image of a successful,
charismatic place with a great vision. Many
places are in the same situation as Dubai,
but no one talks about it. Many things in
Dubai have stopped, but will start again.
Maybe at a slower pace, but after a storm
there’s always a blue sky. Problem is that
after a blue sky there’s always a storm so
you have to be prepared for it.”
People person
As with Alnwick, working with people was
the original appeal of the attractions industry
for Perdrier. After 20 years with hotel
company Accor, he joined Disney in 1994
to be their vice-president for the hospitality
division in Paris. He stayed there for three
years before being asked to work at the
park. “You cannot resist Minnie [Mouse],
it’s impossible,” he laughs. “It was good to
work on the other side of the equation. The
hotel is a place for people to stay, but the
real heart of a destination is the attraction.”
His hospitality principles are still strong
and he believes staff quality and service
is the main issue in the attractions industry.
“The job’s becoming complicated,” he
says. “It’s seven days a week and people
have to work weekends and late at night
and in all weathers outside. It’s hard to
attract people because they don’t want
those types of jobs any more, they all want
to be managers in the offi ce. Training people
to become autonomous and motivated,
deliver a fantastic service and interact with
customers is going to be very important in
the future. People don’t just want to visit a
place, they want an experience.”
Perdrier believes bringing tourists in will
be easy. “In the 1970s there were 250 million
tourists all over the world, in the 1990s
it was 600 million. The World Tourism
Organisation is predicting that there will
be more than one billion in three years and
in 2020 there will be 1.6 billion tourists all
over the world. So there’ll be a lot of people
who will want to come, the problem will
be delivering the service.”
This shouldn’t be a problem at Alnwick,
as training’s an important part of Perdrier’s
remit to make the area a must-go destination.
At present he doesn’t know exactly
how long he’ll be with Alnwick, but is committed
to completing the mission, however
long it takes. “Although the mission will
never end,” he adds. “When you’re developing
a destination and creating jobs for
generations, you can’t ever say ‘that’s it,
I’ve fi nished’. This job doesn’t belong to
me, it’s a relay. I’m just carrying the baton
for however long and will then pass it on.”
One thing’s for sure, with Perdrier holding
the baton, there’s no doubt it’ll be
carried safely to the fi nishing line. ●
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