CampaignTV: St. Regis' GM Amadeo Zarzosa on staying focused

In this interview sponsored by BBC Travel, Amadeo Zarzosa, general manager at the St. Regis in Singapore, talks about staying focused during the global financial crisis, lessons learned, target markets in 2011 and the hotel's media channels of choice.

According to Zarzosa, the focus during the global financial crisis was to stay focused and deliver the promise of luxury to match customers' expectations.

When asked about lessons learned, he said the most important thing is to respond as fast as possible, but to respond wisely and not overreact. He goes on to say that “technology continues to get the better of us” and adds that the St Regis enjoys working with customers on a more personal level.

Referring to the end of the crisis, Zarzosa said that "you go into these slumps really fast and you come out really fast too". He adds that St Regis is a stable leader in the hotel industry and can continue to market at a sustainable pace and not “march on too fast”.

In the coming years, the luxury hotel brand will target visitors from Russia, the Middle East and the evolving market of India while maintaining markets in the US and Australia.

Speaking of target media channels going forward, Zarzosa said St. Regis will focus on online marketing as it works very well for the hotel brand and continue to pursue editorial coverage in social and lifestyle magazines like Tatler.

Catch the entire series here on Campaignasia.com, including Jean Forrest, general manager for marketing at The Peninsula, Maggie White, general manager of South, Southeast Asia and Gulf countries at Tourism Australia and Nicholas Ionides, vice-president of public affairs at Singapore Airlines.

BBC.com launched its new travel site BBC.com/travel, in partnership with its sister company Lonely Planet.

"Our audience already loves the smart, sophisticated and well researched stories from the BBC. BBC Travel builds on our news and documentary heritage with outstanding travel journalism including Lonely Planet's rich stable of authors to inspire you to leave your desk and have an adventure whatever the destination," said Allan.

Visit www.bbc.com/travel.