En cours - Best F&B Experience
Tayim at Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney – MGallery
Campaign - Tayim Restaurant & Bar - Virtual Wine & Dine Experience
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The Tayim ‘Virtual Wine & Dine Experience’ is an online, interactive dinner series aimed at bringing community together and providing an engaging outlet during COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Idea
In July 2021, as Sydney, Australia was in the midst of its harshest COVID-19 lockdown, Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney – MGallery launched a series of ‘Virtual Wine & Dine’ experiences. Each dinner included a four-course meal from the hotel’s Tayim restaurant, complete with an interactive demonstration by Executive Chef Leron Ben Avraham, and up to four bottles wines from partnering wine suppliers De Beaurepaire Wines, Vins du Liban or Chateau Tanunda, which were thoughtfully matched with the contemporary Mediterranean cuisine.
When hotels were forced to close in late June, the team at Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney – MGallery knew they needed to keep their team engaged, employed and excited to continue with the venue. What began as a brainstorm with their wine supplier and initial virtual wine tastings, quickly turned into a wildly popular weekly at-home fine dining experience.
The Concept
Within two weeks, 20-30 person wine tasting events were introduced to Accor Plus members alongside the public, rapidly growing the series into a 200+ person virtual dining experience across Sydney, New South Wales. Each event featured a custom menu and wine pairing, sent to customers in advance via refrigerated couriers to ensure meals arrived fresh and ready to consume.
The dinners are priced at $245AUD per couple ($220 for Accor Plus members with a 10% discount), including delivery of up to 50km from Sydney CBD. Events have been held every Friday.
To promote a truly immersive experience, capable of transporting guests’ senses in alignment to the dinner theme of Mediterranean to the Middle East, a specially curated Spotify playlist “From Andalusia to Tel Aviv” was designed to enhance guests' journey. The playlist also includes tracks from the Tayim restaurant soundtrack to keep regular customers feeling attached and connected to the venue, even while in lockdown. The playlist was accessible via a QR code on the welcome insert included in each dinner pack.
The Tayim ‘Virtual Wine & Dine’ experience includes instructions for cooking and/or warming and preparation each of the four courses, images on how dishes should appear, as well as custom wine notes on pairings.
Each Friday at 7PM the virtual dinner features a Chef demonstration from Chef Leron Ben Avraham of one of the meals to be prepared, and guests have live access to Chef during the dinner duration to answer questions.
To extend the immersive guest journey even further, events also featured live, themed entertainment for diners to enjoy while consuming their prepared meals, from an acoustic guitarist to an Arabian belly dancer.
Select events also offered the opportunity for Accor properties to collaborate like never before, with Pullman Olympic Park (Bacar Restaurant) and Pullman Quay Grand (Hyde Hacienda Cocktail Bar) also partaking in a September experience.
The Results
- With a small team and kitchen, the Tayim group was able to expand its services to cater to upwards of 200 guests during these virtual dinners, from a restaurant that has a typical capacity of just 39 people.
- Over 1400 people have taken part in the Tayim Virtual Wine & Dine Experience since its inception. This activation has played a key role in staying connected with regular guests of the restaurant, while also targeting a new customer base of guests who have never experienced Tayim before, whether it be due to a lack of brand knowledge or their geographical location. Over 76% of participants had never experienced the restaurant in person before their virtual dinner.
- 70% of guests have been AccorPlus Members – Accor Paid membership, helping keep members engaged throughout lockdown.
- The initiative has also helped grow online and social engagement and positive sentiment for Tayim during an otherwise quiet time. The experience has received overwhelming positive feedback from guests across social media platforms and Google reviews, with 99% of participants saying they would recommend the experience to their family and friends when polled.
- The series garnered significant press coverage with features in the likes of Hotel Management and Wayfarer.
- When it comes to revenue, during a time where the whole industry had to close its usual operations during COVID-19, the Tayim Virtual Wine & Dine Experience helped keep revenue coming into the business, and allowed employees to be retained, engaged and excited, keeping them on track and ready to emerge from lockdown stronger. Overall, the experience has generated over 150K for the business.
- Lastly, the program created a feeling of community, giving diners a medium via which to celebrate key moments while in lockdown, such as 50th birthdays and anniversaries, with the hotel going above and beyond for guests with hand written notes and gifts.
The Future
The hotel already has private events planned for its corporate clients who can’t or are reluctant to meet in a face-to-face setting, allowing them to connect with their teams virtually via a custom, immersive online activity. The format is also set to be utilised for Christmas and holiday events, as well as internal Accor events to help mark employee moments like tenure celebrations. The hotel has also run custom Virtual Wine & Dine experiences for returning Australian Olympians and Paralympians in quarantine this year.