Mark Willis Mark Willis

1 Mark WillIS
AREA vice president, Middle East and SUB-SAHARAN Africa, Rezidor

Mark Willis started his career with “humble beginnings” as a steward in a small hotel in the Lake District in the UK. He worked in the kitchens through a number of roles before moving abroad to Germany, the Middle East and then Africa.

In 1998 he moved back to the UK and joined Radisson. “Out of the blue the regional director pulled me to one side and told me I was wasted in the kitchen,” Willis explains.

Story continues below
Advertisement

“Typical of Radisson — promoting from within — he put a proposal on the table and within the first year I was involved in three openings and I was gradually pushed forward in a fantastic fashion.”

Willis has been with the Rezidor group since then, only leaving for a year in order to complete an MBA at Oxford University. He says that in his 14 years with the company, his greatest achievement is simply being part of what they have achieved and what they have grown to become. However, he believes that there is much more to come, especially in the Middle East and Africa.

“It’s a very diverse region and we have a fantastic portfolio here in both areas with many hotels in the pipeline. It’s a huge challenge but a wonderful one, and one I’m happy to be jumping into.” Willis will oversee the launch of five hotels in 2012 — one in the Middle East and four in Africa.

He is especially looking forward to the Middle East project — the group’s first in Qatar. The Doha hotel is set to open in July with 583 rooms. “The owning company is about to invest US $18 million,” says Willis, who reveals it will include six bars and 12 restaurants.

“A long standing GM there, Gordon MacKenzie, will take it through the next stage in its life and will do a fantastic job.”

The Missoni Doha hotel will follow in 2015 with 200 rooms and 70 suites, but it is not only in Qatar that the brand is seeing fantastic growth. “What can the growth be in the region?,” asks Willis.

“I don’t think anybody knows and I certainly wouldn’t like to put a figure on it, because if you look at where we’ve come from in the past few years, it is huge. Even with the recession, I don’t see us slowing down too much, that’s for sure.”

One aspect that could have knocked Willis’ confidence is the political turmoil in the region he has adopted.

“While we have hotels such as Tripoli, which is a tough location, we have a great team there who are totally focused on the business, safety and security and maintaining the brand standards in what is a very difficult market, and they’re doing a wonderful job. It’s our function to make sure they have support at the end of the telephone, through physical visits to the hotel, by the regional team and myself.”

Whether he is in the UK, Asia or the Middle East, Willis says that the job doesn’t really differ: “We work in a sector driven by the customer, and the customers in our hotels have an expectation of the brand and it is our job to exceed this expectation.

This is a key focus for us through brand standards, ethos, our ‘yes we can’ attitude, and those challenges and opportunities are the same wherever you work. People want quality, attention to detail and a smile whether you’re in Southend or South Africa.”