Uniting disruptive technology and world

class service

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Where luxury hospitality and innovative entertainment meets disruptive technology

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or as long as he can remember, Holland

native Willem Both has been fascinated

by the hospitality industry. “When I was

a teenager, I think my mum tried to dissuade me from

the industry by finding me a job washing dishes

at a Dutch pancake house,” he jokes. “If anything,

it had the exact opposite effect – I loved it. I love

the energy and the comradery and I’ve been

in the hospitality industry ever since.”

A few years later, Both earned a Hotel Management

degree from an esteemed hotel management school

and began working across the globe for some of the

industry’s most prestigious hotel brands like Marriott,

Sheraton and Starwood. He worked his way from hotel

operations towards hotel IT and corporate IT project

management, and in doing so has carved a unique

career path as a life-long hospitality professional.

Then, Both was ready for a new challenge and,

when an opportunity came knocking, Kerzner

International seemed to be a perfect fit. Kerzner

sought a way to digitally transform its operations and,

with an impressive 26 years of hospitality experience,

Both had the necessary know-how to take on the

challenge as Executive Vice President of Information

Technology, leading IT for Kerzner globally.

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Willem Both, EVP, Information Technology, describes how digital transformation is supporting the luxury hospitality Company

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“Kerzner is a pioneering luxury

hospitality business and we’re con-

stantly redefining what ultra-luxury and

entertainment mean,” Both explains.

“Our guests and colleagues are using

technology every day. Whether it’s

mobiles, laptops or smart appliances,

technology has permeated throughout

society. Our guest experience is at the

centre of everything we do and we want

to support their needs into the future.

With the creation of my role over two

and a half years ago, we realised that

we needed a global head of IT to focus

on the group’s strategy and direction.”

With 11 resorts under its umbrella

and more in the pipeline, Kerzner

International has a portfolio that packs

a punch. It’s responsible for renowned

brands like One&Only Resorts, Atlantis

and Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort,

with properties spanning Mexico,

Mauritius, the Maldives, South Africa,

Rwanda, Dubai and Australia. Regard-

less of the location, one thing is certain:

creating a world-class guest experience,

detail by detail, is in the company’s

DNA. Technology and data have been

valuable tools in making this vision a

reality and perhaps this can be best

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ATLANTIS SANYA GRAND OPENING – #WHEREWATERMEETSWONDER’

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seen by the company’s innovative guest

service system. Currently under develop-

ment, Both says this bespoke application

will use a wealth of data “to allow our

colleagues to optimally serve our guests”.

“Our guests consistently have an

incredible experience at our resorts

and we want to make sure that we

extend that experience beyond any

single resort , so that if a guest were to

visit another one of our properties,

then we would know how best to serve

them,” he explains. This data may allow

the team to know how guests prefer

their coffee or if they would like to read

a newspaper on a Sunday, for example.

“A lot of it is based on relationships that

we’ve built over the years and guests

feel comfortable. We are actually in the

process of building a custom application

rather than using an off the shelf one,

because we want to make sure we

translate all these personal relationships

that have been solidified and that we

are able to capture that information

properly and securely.”

Yet, Both doesn’t take the task of

handling data lightly. “With data comes

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EXECUTIVE PROFILE

“ With data comes responsibility”

Willem Both, Executive Vice President, Global Information Technology Willem Both is responsible for the company’s Information

Technology strategy and works with the other Excom team

members and IT leaders of Kerzner on adoption and

implementation of the best practice Information

Technology initiatives that support the vision of the

company. This key role is critical to delivering that vision –

amazing experiences and everlasting memories.

In his position, Both ensures the delivery of an integrated

guest experience for all brands in Kerzner International

and is responsible for the entire IT team at the Global Office

in Dubai. He is focused on enhancing the Information

Technology strategy and technology at all Kerzner

properties, including Atlantis resorts, Mazagan Beach

& Golf Resort as well as all One&Only resorts worldwide,

and new properties as the Company continues to grow

and expand into new destinations.

Both’s passion is guiding open team collaboration

to achieve optimal performance through

improved processes and sharing best practices.

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— Willem Both, Executive Vice President, Information Technology Kerzner International

“Kerzner is a pioneering luxury hospitality business and we’re constantly redefining what ultraluxury and entertainment mean”

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With the travel & hospitality industry being redefined, Hexaware aims to create a visually pleasing and personalized experience to help our clients achieve “customer centricity”, making dream destinations a reality!

Learn More

E-mail: marketing@hexaware.comWebsite: hexaware.com

With the travel & hospitality industry being redefined, Hexaware aims to create a visually pleasing and personalized experience to help our clients achieve “customer centricity”, making dream destinations a reality!

Learn More

E-mail: marketing@hexaware.comWebsite: hexaware.com

responsibility,” he asserts. “Security is

on our minds 24 hours a day.” As such,

Kerzner International has put its weight

behind security investment, whether

it’s in the areas of central infrastructure,

communications or at the hotels.

Additionally, the company is also

planning migrations to cloud in a bid to

bolster security while creating disaster

recovery and meet the peaks and

troughs of demand on its website. All of

this has culminated in a robust security

footprint, however Both also highlights

that education has been an important

linchpin in the company’s security

strategy. “It’s really about creating

layers of defense to prevent and

mitigate attacks and a lot of that comes

with education,” he adds.

On top of this, Kerzner International

has recently introduced a new intranet,

is currently completely rewriting its

central reservation systems, and

revamping its websites and content

management systems. This root-and-

branch transformation has not only

had an impact on the guest experience,

it’s revolutionised the employee

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ONE&ONLY RESORTS LE SAINT GÉRAN – SHE’S BACK!’

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experience too. For instance, Both

outlines how Kerzner has reorganised

its team and increasingly adopted

collaboration tools which allow the

business to better communicate

with its global properties, shortening

geographical distances and driving

efficiency. “There are no more regular

telephones; instead everyone uses

collaboration tools,” notes Both.

“Our properties are all around the globe

–these tools have been invaluable.”

Any technology professional will tell

you that forging the right partnerships

is critical to any successful business

transformation. This rings true at

Kerzner too; the company has worked

shoulder to shoulder with several

technology businesses such as

Hexaware, which Both describes as

a “critical partnership”. “Having trusted

partners like Hexaware is very impor-

tant, especially for a company like us

which isn’t a cookie cutter business,”

he says. “We’ve worked very closely

with companies like Hexaware to

develop and maintain our customer

applications. It’s been an incredible

journey so far and we couldn’t have

done it without them.”

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Whilst the journey may be far from

over, Both says Kerzner is already

beginning to reap the fruits of its labor.

“We strongly feel that we’ve been

providing much better service to our

internal customers, our resorts, and our

guests,” he says. “We’ve drawn insights

from our data and empowered col-

leagues by giving them the information

that they need to deliver an incredible

experience whereby guests immedi-

ately feel like they’re coming home.”

Personalisation in the hospitality

industry is nothing new, but the data

10,000+

1993

HQ

Approximate number of employees

Year founded

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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age has taken the idea to new heights.

Both predicts that this trend will continue,

but while technology will become more

pervasive in the hospitality industry it

won’t be able to replace that human

touch. “I think guests are going to

continue to expect more and more

personalisation and automation, but

Kerzner will still focus on delivering a

personal guest service through people

as well as technology. I feel my role

is to enable our colleagues as much

as possible to provide the most amazing

customised service to our guests.”

Having just opened two more resorts

– One&Only Nyungwe House in Rwanda,

and Atlantis in Sanya – it seems Kerzner

International is set to continue on its

upward trajectory, powered by both

people and technology. The business

has been selective when choosing

resort locations, technologies and even

partners, and it’s clear that this

thoughtful, guest-centric approach

has distinguished it from the pack.

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Kerzner International

One Central The Offices Building 2

9th Floor World Trade Centre

PO Box 9571 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

www.kerzner.com