The Hotelier Middle East Awards may be over for another year, but there is still great inspiration to be drawn from all of our finalists. There was evidence of motivational management and hands-on mentoring among all the categories.
The requirement of testimonials this year highlighted this, with colleagues regularly attributing their own achievements to the influence of the nominated hotelier. More than ever before, the judges found themselves weighing up which candidates had best developed their team’s careers as well as their own.
This got me thinking about the future of the hospitality workforce in a market continuing to grow at a rapid pace. We have thousands of rooms coming up in the UAE alone and pipelines among the international chains that double their portfolios in the Middle East and Africa.
The growth is remarkable and in the majority of markets, demand will see these rooms absorbed. Competition will increase and standards will be pushed yet again, but that is the nature of a maturing industry.
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The more pressing question is where will we get the people to manage and work in these hotels? Where will the future talent come from and who is going to develop it? In 10 years’ time, where will we find our Hotelier Awards winners?
That’s when I realised; the solution was among the finalists and their teams gathered at Ritz-Carlton DIFC for the Awards ceremony. These are the people that cared enough about their colleagues to enter them and all the nominees, whatever level their position, have an obligation to train, influence and inspire young hoteliers.
Hotels in this region need to think of ways to entice people into the industry, to be bold and accept people from outside the business with the potential to not only learn, but also teach.
Steps must be taken to enable people to learn the trade efficiently and to have the confidence to provide fresh perspectives on the way hotels operate — which incidentally, was another trait common to our finalists’ nominations.
To show Hotelier Middle East’s commitment to helping you champion this future talent, next year, we’ll be introducing a new award category — the Young Hotelier of the Year. This will celebrate the young hoteliers with only a matter of years in service, carving out successful hotel careers.
One day in the future, we will look to these hoteliers and be inspired by their stories — just as we are inspired by all of this year’s winners. Turn to pages 40-79 for our exclusive celebratory report.
Louise Oakley, group editor
louise.oakley@itp.com
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