A man of mixed parentage, with one of his parents hailing from the salubrious state of Goa, Cajetan Araujo calls Austria home. But like a quintessential global citizen, he has lived and worked across the world—from St. Regis Mumbai, his last assignment, to St. Regis Bal Harbour, Miami and St Regis, Doha. Ten months ago, he was chosen to headline W Goa, a hip, young, trendy hotel that exemplifies the changing face of luxury hospitality. In an extensive interview, he talks about the issues Goa faces as a luxury travel destination and what it means to be the GM of a hotel that revived Goa’s party culture.
You moved to India to open St Regis Mumbai. What has your experience been like?
At the time I moved to Mumbai, there were very few experts in opening up St. Regis hotels and it was a very tightly knit group. So my decision to move to India was both professional and also personal. To be able to expand the footprint in the Indian market was a very exciting proposition.
What has been your experience of the luxury hospitality market and how has it changed?
I think India has had some wonderful home-grown luxury brands, such as The Oberoi Group, Taj, The Leela Hotels and, these brands have benchmarked Indian luxury in very unique ways. The Oberoi Group is, in fact, at par with international standards and has often been listed in the top 10 hotels of the world. Also, don’t forget that the Hiltons and Sheratons were once considered ‘luxury. But, of course, the market evolved and the perceptions changed.
I think the term luxury was coined in the 90s to separate true luxury from five stars, or what we refer today to as ‘Upper Upscale’. The classic brands that have stayed true to the luxury DNA have perfected the art of how it has to be delivered. Hotels that called themselves ‘seven star’, truly benchmarked themselves as luxury. The W brand was born in the late 1990s and it immediately occupied the space of ‘luxury lifestyle’. Some of our hoteliers and visionaries realised that classic luxury had actually become very stuffy and boring. Today, the lifestyle luxury segment caters to a niche market. W is a global brand with over 55 hotels. While traditional brands such as St. Regis and Ritz Carlton represent classical luxury, W Hotels occupy the new, niche segment. I personally believe there is a very defined space of lifestyle luxury, just as classical luxury is a well-defined space.
Tell us a bit about the DNA of the W Hotels brand?
Bringing fun and excitement to the customer experience is quintessential to who we are as a brand. That, combined with how we present ourselves architecturally or from the design perspective. From our ‘whatever, whenever services’ to the W insider, who is more than a concierge, has helped us redefine the segment. I think luxury is a term that has been widely misused. Luxury lifestyle is an evolving segment, not just in hospitality but even in retail industry and fashion. Typically, luxury customers have been in the 45 to 65 age bracket but that’s changed now. They are younger, more aspirational and the luxury-lifestyle space that W Hotels occupy offers them experiences that traditional luxury don’t necessarily bring forth.
What are the keys experiences that W Goa brings to its guests and what is the space within the hospitality market in Goa that it has stepped into?
This is the only W hotel in India for now and the brand thought a lot about the destination it wanted to debut in. Goa has a kind of liberating and hippiesh past, yet it is rich in heritage from its Portuguese and Saraswat Brahmin culture. It is one of the most stunning destinations the country has to offer as far as beaches are concerned; it has access to everything any leisure customer would want in terms of dining, relaxation, sports activities, beach activities, yoga retreats and mountainscapes. From the music we play in all our public spaces to the food experiences we offer, the passion points of fashion and design, we have been able to offer a differentiated in the Goa market. While our guests are offered experiences that are all about luxury, with all the execution and services being on point, they are also treated as individuals and not just customers. In terms of other amenities on offer, we feature a beautiful spa and a rock pool, with its stunning sunset location; and our restaurants are award-winning. It is crucial for us to be able to remain innovative, since the lifestyle-luxury segment is constantly changing and evolving.
In the last 10 months that you have been here, how do you think Goa as a destination for luxury traveller? And how does W Goa fit into that?
I think this is a very crucial time for Goa, especially in view of the speed at which it is evolving in terms of physical infrastructure development. Goa is at a point when it will tilt either way—overdeveloped but without its original charm and heritage, or the right balance of development with its cultural charm intact. Everything will depend on how the government looks at marketing the destination and what is its vision for it. They need to consider several factors —who is allowed to build a hotel? What kind of hotels
should enter the market? What kind of customers should come into the market? Goa has to make a critical decision about whether it wants to remain a leisure destination and how much of a say the hospitality segment will be given. Arresting development at the right stage is just as critical as building infrastructure. By ‘arrest development’ I mean at what stage are we going to stop over-building; how many shacks are we going to allow to overtake the beaches; and how well are we going to manage garbage and waste management or how beautiful are our streets going to be; what are the services we are going to make available in Goa versus any other destination in the country? I think we need to focus on basics such as clean streets, transport within Goa and the infrastructure. Private cabs are exorbitant and the government needs to step in and do more about that.
Currently, Goa runs the risk of over-development. It is important to consider that the local way of life is preserved. Goa is a massive global brand. Once, Goa the state was among the top five destinations in the world to ring in the New Year. Last December, the state has seen the number of arrivals fall. There has been decline year-over-year and the largest decline will be felt this year, unless something dramatically changes. The first three months have shown massive decline in inbound tourists or arrivals of foreign travellers. Destinations such as Bali and Langkawi are giving Goa a run for its money. We are not suggesting that there should be no development, because people need jobs. We are saying that preservation and conservation should be an important part of Goa’s tourism vision. People travel to the destination not just because it is a party destination, but because it offers a plethora of options in terms of heritage and its unique culture. There are beaches, churches and exciting restaurants to wine and dine in. It offers travellers a deep mix of its 400-year-old Portuguese heritage.
You have people who speak English and numerous other languages; you have signboards in five different languages and you can enjoy cuisines from across the world—from Burmese to Russian to Israeli, French to Spanish and Portuguese. No other destination in India has this kind of framework, which is what needs to be preserved. Guests come to Goa to experience the destination through a 360 degree framework—from its culture to the beaches, from the party culture to dining, its hippie culture to its music.
Is there a conversation between hoteliers and the state government in order to create a far better policy?
We work closely with the department of tourism and they have invited hoteliers on various occasions to discuss and voice our opinions. Quite recently there was a discussion on how much infrastructure and what kind of infrastructure is required to drive the MICE segment. Goa needs to plan the destination for 10 years from now, and not just for now. As a hotel, what are the unique challenges you face in terms of operations in a market such as Goa? Recruiting skilled staff is one of the challenges that every hotelier faces in India, particularly because the kind of talent we look for is very different from other luxury hotels given the segment we are in. However, a lot of institutions and colleges are coming up to get the right mix of training, which will send out lot more skilled students to the market. We are looking at increasing the ratio of female talent as part of our commitment to add more women in the workforce, but culturally in India it is tough to convince women to move to Goa on their own. Even though it is one of the safest states in the country, its reputation as the party capital precedes its reputation as a safe city.
Talent attrition is a real problem. How does W Goa retain its talent?
Our focus is three fold. We create an environment that is exciting. We are also one of the highest paymasters in Goa. We are evolving an e-platform which will help our employees to upgrade their skills or pick up new skills. The learning curve of our talent is continually stimulated through various exercises and a planned program that stretches across the year. Our programmes help our team to evolve into their next role as a supervisory manager or executive. We are constantly encouraging individuals to learn and figure ways in which we can facilitate the knowledge they require. They are also offered bespoke learning experiences that are customised for them.
As a general manager, are you a team player or a solo reaper?
Definitely a team player. The sense of empowerment within the team is humungous, especially when it comes to ideation, creativity and execution. The team often decides what is more exciting. The moment they showcase their passion or express an idea or concept, I say, ‘Let us try it out’. I probably have never been as intrigued and stimulated personally as a leader as to be part of a team that has taught me immensely not just about the brand, but how to be more agile. Ideation is a big part of innovation at W Goa. In our meetings, I prefer asking the questions because I am not the specialist but a ‘general manger’. The team brings in their specialised skills. They come up with five ideas and we begin thinking about how we can execute the idea.
How has the role of the GM evolved given that the team you work with is younger and far more irreverent than they were six years ago?
I think I have evolved from the very classical world of how hotels were once run. You worked through the ranks. In the kitchen you chopped onions and garlic before you cooked; you were asked to polish the tableware before you were allowed to serve in a restaurant. I started my career as a chef, before moving to the operations side. Leadership fundamentals are just as important as they were few years ago. Some of my mentors, who I was fortunate to work with, instilled basic values you needed to have as a leader—values of trust, integrity and empathy. I had never done lifestyle luxury before since I come from a very classical background, having worked in uber-classical hotel. Everything I know about the W brand I have learnt from the team. No man is an island and that is particularly true in a field that is driven by people. One of the most important skills that modern-day hoteliers require is an ability to be agile and open to people from different cultures, as your career takes you across the world. If I were to work in the Middle East as a general manager, my style has to evolve to match the market, as against in Miami or Australia. As you grow in the ranks you realise leadership is about the team and how you empower, decentralise and create opportunities for people to thrive and learn. It is about how you drive passion, because at the end of the day, you have to be able to get up in the morning and want to come to work.
What kind of new revenue streams are you developing for W Goa?
Destination weddings are an important space for us. We find ourselves being able to do weddings in a far more exciting way with the W brand. We are doing unique weddings, which is what has got us more business in terms of celebrity to big HNI weddings. We often share ideas in terms of what can be done and we work closely with wedding planners that clients bring on board. W Goa also offers services of wedding planners, and partners who execute the entire production and music. Analytically, MICE contributes 20 per cent to our revenues. The MICE segment fulfills the gap in our business and from the source market perspective, it really works well with us. However, it is a space that does not necessarily see growing exponentially because W Goa is a leisure hotel 80 per cent of the times. We ensure that the leisure customer’s experience is not interfered with. While MICE is going to continue growing in Goa, the state needs to be careful. The infrastructure needs to support the inflow of the MICE segment. Without a supportive infrastructure, Goa stands a risk of driving away a leisure customer, especially if it does not have the wherewithal to deal with the movement of large groups
