Bandar Mohammad Al Balawi, restaurant manager at Rosewood Corniche, Jeddah’s Habsburg restaurant is the first KSA national to be appointed restaurant manager. Here, he tells Hotelier Middle East why he chose the F&B industry
When did you join Rosewood Corniche, Jeddah and what is your career background?
In October 2011, I moved to Rosewood Corniche as the lobby lounge manager and within a few months was promoted to main dining manager. As restaurant manager for the hotel’s flagship outlet, Habsburg, I oversee all areas of guest services. I moved to the UK at the age of 22 to pursue an electronic engineering career, but didn’t take long to realise that my part-time job as a waiter for UK-based Toorak Hotel made me much happier. Therefore, I decided to quit my studies and pursue a career in the hospitality industry.
You are the first Saudi national to hold the position of restaurant manager in a hotel – what attracted you to the industry?
I am the first Saudi national to hold this position and also the most senior F&B Saudi national within all of Jeddah’s hotels. I fought against the norms of accepting F&B service as a full time career and succeeded in achieving my goal. Since then, I’ve been successful in changing many people’s point of view about the hotel industry and am very happy to say that now 30% of restaurant employees at Rosewood Corniche are Saudi nationals. Interacting with guests from around the world was what attracted me to the F&B industry. I think it is very important to love your job in order to achieve success and satisfaction. I don’t think there is a better profession than this for an extrovert and ardent food lover like me.
| Advertisement |
How do you ensure the success of your outlet?
At Rosewood Corniche, we make sure to deliver our promise of offering exceptional service to guests, which is the secret to our success. We have also realised that you can’t have a service business without the right kind of people who know how to manage it. So we have been spending a lot of time teaching and training our staff members.
What are the biggest challenges of the role?
The biggest challenge is attracting young Saudi nationals to work in the hospitality industry. Given the rate at which the industry is progressing, the demand for local manpower remains high. The hospitality business is unpredictable since there is no guarantee that customers will continue eating the same menu items. As a restaurant manager, it is important to constantly plan new marketing proposals and increase visitor footfall. Building sales is challenging too. People continue to dine out, but they are more value driven, so keeping that business going has been a challenge.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love partnering with the staff to create an incredible experience for our guests and building lasting relationships with them. It is also very satisfying and rewarding to witness year on year sales growth and see the team take on larger responsibilities.
What is your approach to guest service?
Our aim is to always cater to the distinctive needs of our guests and ensure they enjoy their time at our hotel and restaurants. Our approach to guest service is building good relationships with our customers. Small gestures like thanking them for visiting our restaurant and creating a positive and friendly environment will ensure they return.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
