HOTELIER AWARDS 2013: General Manager of the Year

The Hotelier Middle East Awards are fast approaching and we can’t wait. 

Held at the world’s tallest hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai on October 30, the awards will celebrate the best of the industry, but first it is time to unveil the shortlists. In total, 90 hoteliers across 18 individual awards categories have been shortlisted, along with five hotel teams for the coveted Team of the Year Award.

Here we unveil the finalists for the big one, the General Manager of the Year Award. Who do you think will be victorious?

Jörg A. Hauri, general manager, Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi

ABOUT JÖRG

Having completed his apprenticeship at hotel school in Switzerland, Jörg A. Hauri gained hotel experience around the world. His career started in Switzerland, he then moved on to Asia where he spent 20 years working in food and beverage and later became a resident manager. He first came to the Middle East to take up a post with Sheraton in Egypt, where he spent several years before heading to the UAE. Hauri went on to work in two different hotels in Mauritius including the One & Only Sugar Beach Resort. He returned to Egypt in 2002 to take up a role with Mövenpick before travelling to Tunisia and Lebanon, and then Greece, where he worked as group General Manager for Maris Hotels in Crete just before he joined the Rotana family in October 2011 as the General Manager of the Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi. Hauri now leads a team of 1,000 and looks after 565 rooms and 11 outlets. He is also looking at managing a complex of three Rotana properties with a total of about 1,000 rooms in three years’ time.

WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?

Hauri’s leadership improved colleague and guest satisfaction survey scores across hotel to 93.04% from 88.39% and 89.8% from 88% respectively within one year. Last year’s improved results of the Beach Rotana’s colleagues’ satisfaction survey have proved that the leadership skills have seen better days with Hauri’.

Believing that a productive company is established by satisfied and happy colleagues, Hauri initiated a number of initiatives that exceeds corporate goals for profitability, efficiency and service quality thereby increasing the guest satisfaction survey in 2012 to 89.8% from 88% in 2011.

He completed major renovation projects across the hotel to ensure that the hotel stays in line with the new up and coming hotels such as gold leafing of the Grand Lobby dome, refurbishments to Prego’s, Trader Vic’s and Benihana. And, for the first time in history, the hotel exterior was completely washed. Energy conservation was a success reducing the consumption levels and operating costs. Reductions compared to previous year on electricity by 6.73%, water by 4.11% and chilled water by 35.02%.

The path of a leader is never an easy route and despite an increase in costs, Hauri took in feedback received from the hotel’s staff and moved their accommodation into the city out of a more remote area they were staying at previously. It required a great deal of effort in convincing key stakeholders of the hotel and a lot of time and attention to get the move organised considering the accommodation was for more than 500 team members. He achieved the goal, which led to a very high satisfaction rate and demonstrated to the team that to him, it’s not always about the numbers.

Jörg A. Hauri remains a role model to his team of almost a thousand members for contributing to the financial and overall success of the hotel despite the new hotels in the city and for his genuine concern towards them.

WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?

“Jörg is a veteran, a decisive and forward driven person with wisdom, leadership communication and tremendous problem solving skills. With over 37 years of experience in the industry, Jörg has ensured maintaining and further enhancing the great reputation of the Beach Rotana in Abu Dhabi and is constantly working on attaining the hotel’s objectives moving forward. He has achieved and continues to achieve excellent results with his absolute commitment to his profession, to the Beach Rotana and to Rotana.” Omer Z. Kaddouri executive vice president and chief operating officer.

WHAT DID THE GUESTS SAY?

“This is to appreciate the work and service of Mr. Jörg A. Hauri as general manager of Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi. I am a long staying guest with Beach Rotana for almost five years. Since I met Mr. Hauri, he impressed me with his attitude to show the guests his full attention and respect and hospitality of Rotana. With his smooth and persuasive manner, Mr. Hauri can master any inconvenient situation to the best. There was never ever a request from myself what was not fulfilled to my full satisfaction in a short time. I feel in Rotana as it is my own family.” Diehl Defence.

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Anders Dimblad, area general manager, Banyan Tree Al Wadi & Banyan Tree Ras Al Khaimah Beach

ABOUT ANDERS

Anders began his hospitality career in 1999 and joined Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts in 2003 as front office manager in Seychelles. He later transferred to Angsana Ihuru as executive assistant manager before joining the pre-opening team for Angsana Hotel & Suites (Dubai) in November 2006. He later moved to Banyan Tree Bangkok as resident manager, where he successfully applied his knowledge and invaluable experience from working in various properties. In September 2009, he took over the helm at Banyan Tree Seychelles and also became a board member of the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

Anders was appointed area general manager for Banyan Tree Al Wadi and Banyan Tree Ras Al Khaimah in January 2012. Anders holds a BA honors in International Business Administration from European Business School, UK. Born in the Philippines, the Swedish native’s long tenure in various worldwide locations with Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has facilitated in him an intimate understanding of a diversity of cultures.

WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?

Since his arrival, Anders has empowered his team to be creative and innovative in enhancing guests’ experiences. This has resulted in a high number of repeat visitors keen to relive the experience they enjoyed at the two resorts.

Anders encourages learning through the sharing of knowledge and the participation of middle management and supervisors in all financial and product learning; through this Anders successfully led the team to increase the gross operating profit by 287% year on year.

As a hands on area general manager, you can find Anders assisting guests associates in all areas - demonstrating the strength of a leader whilst supporting team members regardless of which day of the week it is. He has led the team to overcome financial and property hurdles and always supports his team members to achieve greater results.

WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?

“Anders has been able to turn the two hotels, in two very profitable operations, from a difficult start, which was negatively influenced by the world financial crisis. His leadership style is not only inspiring his staff to do better, with his hands on approach and being involved into the details he also knows what is going on in the hotel. With being there where a hand is needed he is a living and visible example to the staff, doing whatever has to be done to get finish a job. His business acumen is driven by reaching goals which are set, and developing long and short term strategies which help him to succeed. He has learned to not only see the short term gain in his decisions but also can gouge what the long term impact is going to be, and with this capabilities he is a great strategist and well respected by his peers and superiors.” Maximilian Lenkh - VP of operations.

WHAT DID HIS GUESTS SAY?

“Anders is great hotel professional who never tires to be of service to his clients, his associates and his business partners. I have consistently admired his ability to handle complex situations in a calm and effective manner ensuring to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction and that a win-win is always achieved. Anders is a gifted leader who makes a tough job look easy. He is also a great role model for upcoming hotel management professionals.” Freddy Karkaria - MD Select Seyshells.

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Rupprecht Queitsch, general manager, JW Marriot Marquis Dubai

ABOUT RUPPRECHT

A 40-year veteran of the hotel industry, Queitsch’s early career in hospitality began in 1971. He joined Marriott International in 1986, advancing to a variety of international roles and was one of the youngest graduates to receive a diploma from the Hotel School Leysin, in Switzerland.

He is a member of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and has been a member of the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic and France, where he was elected vice president of the Chamber in 2007.

Rupprecht has won many awards throughout his career, including Country General Manager of the year in both the Czech Republic and Berlin, Hotel Association General Manager of the Year in Berlin, Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in France, Germany and Czech Republic, along with numerous internal Marriott awards. He joined the iconic JW Marriott Marquis Dubai in 2011 and leads a diverse team of almost 2,000 people and 66 different nationalities.

WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?

Queitsch has built the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai from the ground up. Leading the team since 2011 and under the guidance of owner Emirates Group and parent company Marriott International, he has taken what was once an idea on a piece of paper and turned it into an incredible success story. Under his leadership, the JW Marriott Marquis has already won many plaudits including the title of tallest hotel in the world as awarded by the Guinness World Records, the 2013 Best New Business Hotel by Business Traveller Middle East and the Middle East’s Leading New hotel at the World Travel Awards 2013.

As general manager, Rupprecht represents and directs almost 2,000 people, a number that’s still growing. He has been instrumental in the introduction of ‘Associate Coffee with the GM’, ‘Supervisor Coffee with the GM’, and ‘Manager Coffee with the GM’; a JW Marriott Marquis open forum where a small group of employees have regular, direct access to Rupprecht to discuss their issues or points of note. Each of these are conducted monthly and give associates the chance to discuss what’s important to them with their organisational leader.

He is energetic, enthusiastic, has attention to detail, an eye for quality and most importantly, spirit. He is a people person who thrives in the role and has led the team to create a perfect hosting culture in our hotel.

WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?

“Rupprecht Queitsch has dynamically lead a large, diverse team through the successful opening of an iconic hotel and I thoroughly commend his performance. Playing an instrumental role in the strategic positioning, marketing strategies and pre-opening activities of the property, Rupprecht has ensured a highly successful launch resulting in incredible feedback and recognition from the business, transient, leisure and MICE segments. From the beginning, he also demonstrated a passionate commitment to promoting Dubai as the new destination for MICE business across the globe, leveraging the opening of the JW Marriott Marquis to support his case. Rupprecht regularly takes time to partner with his sales team to support their marketing efforts and assist in converting potential business. His “can do” attitude positively impacts all of the team members, and cascades down to create an environment and ethos where customers ultimately benefit from a responsive and enthusiastic team. I believe Rupprecht Queitsch is the worthy winner of the 2013 General Manager of the Year award.” Mark Satterfield, CEO Marriott International.

WHAT DID HIS GUESTS SAY?

“Having worked with Mercedes Benz in Dubai for 10 years I have met a great number of business partners and had the pleasure to work with many customer-orientated people. As always there are a few who stand out and with Rupprecht from the JW Marriott Marquis it has been a wonderful partnership. Rupprecht has a rare talent in that he always listens to his audience whether in a conference sized event or just a one-on-one meet. You can genuinely see that Rupprecht enjoys his work and that rubs off on his staff. It’s infectious! It has been a pleasure working with him. I could not see a more worthy winner of General Manager of the Year award than Rupprecht.” Malcolm Cooper, group F&I manager, Gargash Enterprises Mercedes Benz (partner of JW Marriott Marquis Dubai).

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Michael Koth, general manager, InterContinental Regency Hotel Bahrain

ABOUT MICHAEL

Fresh from school in Hamburg, Germany, Michael started as chef apprentice, where after three years he was awarded German Junior Chef of the Year. Afterwards he joined the compulsory Military Service in Kitchen for 18 months. His hospitality career began in 1986 with InterContinental Hyde Park as a receptionist/cashier, but he progressed to assistant manager at InterContinental Geneve then as assistant FOM at InterContinental Frankfurt. A multi skilled individual, he took the challenge of dual role as FOM/director of sales at InterContinental Stuttgart, Germany and was later transferred as DOSM at InterContinental Wien, Vienna. His first role as resident manager was at InterContinental Regency Bahrain in 1995. Later, he moved to InterContinental Beograd in Belgrade, Serbia as director of operations. His first GM role was in 1998 and took the helm at a number of hotels across Europe and the Middle East.

WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?

HeartBeat is the online guest satisfaction survey tool of IHG and prior to Michael’s arrival, the Hotel was on rank no. 14 among Middle East and Africa Hotels.

With quality focused initiatives led by him, he created the Quality Circle with specific goals and actions and the hotel now claims the number one spot – a position it has maintained each month for more than year.

The hotel has achieved top ratings on Trip Advisor for 2012 up to 2013 YTD, among the 109 Manama hotels and the property has landed several industry awards.

Michael exceptionally led two hotel operations in challenging situations where safety of employees, guests and property, and brand image were upheld during the 2011 Egypt revolution and 2012 Bahrain unrest.

InterContinental Semiramis, next to Tahrir square, was where Journalists were staying when the situation worsened. GM Michael proactively set up his Internal Crisis Response Management team and made a difficult heroic act when a military general instructed him to put an immediate stop to media broadcasts from the Hotel’s premises. Journalists were defiant at first but with Michael’s persuasive communication, emphasizing on safety of lives and property, he convinced them in less than an hour, and bravely defended their wellbeing and the brand reputation. In 2012 at InterContinental Bahrain, the staff village, situated near areas of frequent political conflicts, accommodating more than 130 employees, was suddenly under attack with Molotov cocktails, burning tires, fire, at the middle of the night. It was chaotic situation. Michael led the team in exceptional manner quickly evacuating them to hotel, safely unharmed with the help of the hotel’s Internal Crisis Response Management Team.

Michael is action and results oriented with energy, optimism, broad expertise, adaptability, cultural awareness and role modeling that he inspires people to contribute and engage – adjusting expectation and pace of work to the respective environments without lowering standards.

WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?

“I have worked with Michael since 2007. He is a seasoned IHG hotelier with great professional experience. He is very focused on people’s development and always keen on helping talents moving ahead in their careers. For many years he has been a great assessor in many development centers and a great coach to many of us. He is very much focus on achieving targets and goals. With his experience and know how, he has managed throughout the years to reach or exceed targets with his teams through correct planning and rigorous execution. Michael is a star when it comes to guest satisfaction. The scores always climbs up when Michael is leading. This has been the case today at InterContinental Bahrain and in other previous properties. We all learn from Michael with his best practices. He is a champion in managing guest satisfaction. Finally, during the last two years Michael has been for me a trustful and inspiring leader. He is always available whenever needed and I have enjoyed very much my professional business relationship with him.” Carlos Malliaroudakis, area general manager InterContinental Kuwait & Holiday Inn Kuwait Down Town.

WHAT DID HIS HOTEL OWNERS SAY?

“Michael Koth, the GM of the hotel joined us after the renovation of the hotel works were successfully completed (less than two years ago). He has been working closely with me and I have been in follow up of his efforts to put back the hotel as the leading among its five-star rivals and recover for the owner and the staff what they had missed and lost during the yearlong closure due to hotel renovation. Michael was successful in gaining our confidence, as owners, in his loyalty and leadership qualities and in gaining the confidence and support of all his subordinates and staff. We all felt the hotel started a new era since he assumed his duties, with all the praise for him by the hotel customers and guests. The results of the hotel operations and the rise in standards, occupancy, and income, the many prizes won by the hotel within a short time and in different respects, all prove the qualities of Michael.” Dr. Omer O. El Mardi owner’s representative, InterContinental Regency Bahrain hotel president and chief executive officer, United Hotels Company, owning company of InterContinental Regency Bahrain.

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Horst Walther-Jones, general manager, Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach

ABOUT HORST

Horst began his hospitality career in 1978, starting out as an apprentice chef in Germany.

He quickly rose through the F&B ranks across various hotels and joined Jumeirah as an executive assistant manager F&B. But a career in hotel management beckoned and after several positions across the region he took up his role as GM, Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach in 2010.

Under his leadership, Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach has won five-star certification and has landed numerous awards across its business, leisure and F&B divisions.

WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?

Horst delivered a YOY increase of 28% in revenues and 72% increase in operating profit in 2012. The hotel is among the most profitable in the group; its RGI position and average rate have both improved in 2012 over 2011. 2. He was responsible for creating new ways to enhance the guest experience and increase revenues

Under his direction, a Colleague Welfare Committee was created to arrange sports activities, trips, BBQ dinner nights in the colleague accommodation, movie nights, an Internet station and lounge area in the colleague accommodation, and a library and learning centre. He also introduced more staff training and workshops.

He maintains a literal ‘Open Door’ policy: any colleague can walk in. He is there always to support colleagues with their professional or even personal issues. Everyone knows they can approach him and that he is always supportive – to the extent that he is known affectionately as “Papa” by all hotel colleagues.

Horst epitomises true excellence in a general manager by creating an environment where people consider it a privilege to work and are inspired, translating directly into optimum service for hotel guests and record revenue and profitability for the business.

WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?

“Horst Walther-Jones has always proven to be a self-starter with an excellent entrepreneurial spirit. He has excellent planning capacities and knows how to find solutions to solve challenges and situations. Horst runs the business like it is his own business and has always demonstrated his ability to communicate well with the owning company, his clients, colleagues and the local community. He also enjoys a very good relationship with all stake holders. Furthermore, Horst is a very fair, transparent manager, very loyal and dedicated to the success of his company. Because of his very good leadership skills, ever since his arrival, we have witnessed a great improvement in the hotel, the employee’s moral and motivation. Due to his proactive involvement in the sales and marketing strategy, his constant drives for business opportunities and ways to increase the hotel revenue, the hotel has been able to deliver very successful performances since 2010.” Gerard Hotelier, vice president operations Middle East and South Asia.

WHAT DID HIS GUESTS SAY?

“Horst, Hi I have just completed the survey on my recent stay at your hotel. All ratings excellent. There was not an opportunity to say quite why my stay was so wonderful so I am e-mailing you - in fact we met in the lift on an occasion and I spoke with you then It was simply the absolute delight your staff seemed to take in being helpful, friendly and approachable that made the stay so memorable; and that differentiated it from my stays in other hotels (both elsewhere and also at Jumeirah beach). It was simply more personal at Moevenpick. Quite remarkable. Starting with Maria's wonderfully friendly welcome on reception at arrival, then your super-helpful colleagues Amj and Beatrice and one other, who sorted out my problematic safe, Irina and Dalji at the spa were both really great, Judith at the pool was so friendly and always beaming with a wide smile and all others whose names I did not manage to check. Whatever you are doing with your staff is working superbly well. Thank you and congratulations on making your hotel positively different from the others. I will look forward to staying with you again. Best wishes, and thank you to your staff.” Roger Fielding MBA CPCC ACC owner and director, Roger Fielding Consulting Limited Certified Professional Co-Active Coach Associate Certified Coach of the International Coach Federation.