But as well as opening three hotels this year, the group is keen to grow its client base beyond what have become known as “Amanjunkies”, its wealthy guests who stay very loyal to the remote and exclusive resorts around the world.
“We are very lucky to have 50% repeat guests levels, and now the children of the Amanjunkies are coming back to us too as adults,” said chief executive Olivier Jolivet. “But we are changing how we go to market now - we never really engaged in marketing before, as it was such a word of mouth idea for Aman and our guests, but now we have to put ourselves out there a little more.”
He also hinted of the formation of a new Aman “Club” where membership fees would allow non-guests to access the facilities of the resorts and hotels: “Obviously they would be carefully selected by a board who would advocate like-minded members.”
The company’s website is set to be relaunched in April and the group’s social media presence will also start to grow, Jolivet said. By the end of March, there will also be a new booking engine to make it easier for the trade to book Aman stays.
“Our regular guests literally just call the general managers and tell them they’re coming,” said Jolivet, “but now we need to create more wider-used and modern methods of booking! And we have to stay relevant.”
The company is building a sizeable office in London, where there is now a team of 16, as its resorts develop more outside of its Asia base.
