Was hospitality always your first career choice?
Yes, having travelled around the world from a very young age, hotels were always a magical place for me.
What are some of your responsibilities in the hotel?
My role in taking care of the PR and marketing at Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi and Holiday Inn Abu Dhabi Downtown. I am the brand guardian of the hotels and always ensure standards are followed. Communication is one of the most important elements of my job; I ensure I promote our offers effectively and to the right audience. I also am constantly exploring trends to implement in our business, which will not only make us stand out, but also contribute to the hotel revenue.
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You started off as a banquet server, moving to sales and eventually to marketing; what prompted the shift from FOH to BOH?
During my studies at the Swiss Hotel Management School, I developed a strong interest in events as I found the planning process very exciting. I started my career in event operations and eventually moved to event sales where I was able to learn everything about planning an event from A-Z. After building a strong portfolio of social events and logistics, I wanted to explore a more creative role. Writing and photography have always been my hobbies and as I am a strong people person, I felt marketing is where I should develop my career further. The more I explored this role, the more I realised that the field suits me.
What are some of the challenges you face in your role and how do you manage to overcome them?
The current trends have not been easy on the industry, so one of my challenges has been planning marketing strategies within budgets. However, marketing is a very dynamic field so it’s all about being creative and sourcing new channels of communicating our brand, for example through events or partnerships.
What is your opinion on the rise of social media influencers, especially in the hospitality industry?
I find it to be an excellent way of reaching out directly to our audience as they can emotionally connect with a product we are offering. Social media influencers do an incredible job of catching the best elements of a product depicting the overall experience, which our guests can expect from our brand, not to mention they have thousands of followers, so it’s a digital word of mouth, which is powerful.
Tell us about a few initiatives you have worked on since joining the property?
One of my first initiatives was to get a new set of photographs taken for each of our restaurants, as well as create a brand new look for our adverts.
What are some of your career achievements, and what ambitions do you have for your career?
I am a very strong believer in connecting with people, whether that is through print or digitally. Over the past few months, I have also worked on gaining a lot of attention for our F&B outlet offers and giving our audience a deeper look into our product.
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