Young believes it is important for hotels to hire people from outside the industry. Young believes it is important for hotels to hire people from outside the industry.

Crowne Plaza Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road general manager James Young freely admits that he first got into the hospitality business by accident. Having originally only started to work in a hotel as a way to earn some money to go travelling around the world, Young instead caught the hospitality bug and enrolled in hotel school soon afterwards.

However, luckily for Young, his travels had only just begun, and he embarked on a hospitality career that has taken him to London, Paris, Moscow, Malta, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and now Dubai. This turn of events though, has taught Young that the most important attributes for a career in hospitality are an open mind and a willingness to work hard.

“Having worked my way up the hospitality career ladder, I know more than most that in this industry, it’s possible to start at the bottom and work your way up to wherever you want to go. I think that is something that makes this industry very appealing. Yes it’s a challenge when you start, but you get untold benefits later by really understanding what goes on at the front line,” says Young.

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This is an ethos that Young is keen to pass on to all his colleagues at the Crowne Plaza, Dubai, one of the emirate’s older hotels currently undergoing a refurbishment and the launch of several new F&B outlets, starting with the Chamas Churrascaria and Bar this month.

His number two, hotel manager Georges Farhat, first began his career as a trainee in the hotel kitchen, and according to Young is now “the heart and soul of the hotel”.

“This is a fantastic industry, with great opportunities for people, but one thing we don’t do is sell ourselves very well. Within our industry, people can come in and grow their careers very quickly. We don’t make enough noise about how good we are at doing that,” he asserts.

“For example our director of sales and marketing, who did a great job here, has recently transferred to our InterContinental property in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. That’s just one example of what is possible, and if people want that opportunity then it is available,” Young adds.

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