Suppliers say hotel groups must take a stance against bribes and put an end to foul play in purchasing

Almost 55% of hotel suppliers have been asked to offer a monetary bribe by a hotel procurement manager; 72.6% of suppliers know of other supply firms that are using bribes; and 46.8% of suppliers believe that corruption, in terms of bribery, is a problem in the Middle East hotel supply sector that is negatively impacting business.

These were the findings of the Hotelier Middle East Supplier Survey 2014, which received 108 responses during January and February of this year.

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The results, published in the March issue of Hotelier Middle East, highlighted a major challenge for hoteliers and suppliers alike, revealing a tacit acceptance of foul play that has the potential to damage both businesses and personal reputations alike.

The most concerning finding was that levels of corruption are increasing, with only 35% of suppliers reporting that they had been asked for a bribe in 2012 and 2013 and a 20 percentage point increase on that number this year.

Ten per cent of suppliers admitted they might resort to bribery in 2014 and 6.7% said they would bribe to secure an order.

In 2012, just under half of respondents said they knew of corrupt suppliers engaging in bribery; this year, that number rose to almost three quarters of all respondents, with more than ever before also asserting it was a problem for the industry.

According to Simon Parke-Davis, chief representative, Rational, who commented on the results during Gulfood in Dubai, bribery is “normal in this region”, while Bakemart managing director TK Khaleel worried that it would not be “not easy for the industry to overcome this”.

“We don’t bribe anyone anywhere in the world. Depending on where you are – in China it’s the same situation, in Europe it doesn’t happen. But I hear it continually in this region. [As an industry] we brush it aside. We ignore it,” said Parke-Davis. “It’s very rife in this region.”

This was the consensus from suppliers; that there is an underbelly of corruption which to date, has often been ignored — even at the cost of lost contracts to legitimate operators.
Rashid B. Bahar, business development manager, TSSC, admitted he had “lost orders because of it”.

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