A Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts stalwart, Bernhard Haechler had worked for the five-star deluxe brand for nearly 10 years before he moved to Dubai in 2002 to launch the first hotel for the company outside of the Asia-Pacific home ground.
Since opening Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai, in 2003, Haechler has made positioning the brand in the region his main focus. As a result, he was promoted first to area manager and general manager, including Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi in May 2006, then added Traders Hotel, Dubai to his remit in March 2007, before being appointed vice president for the Middle East and India hotels and resorts in August 2008 — all on top of his original role as GM of the Dubai property to which he is resoundingly loyal.
At Shangri-La Dubai, Haechler set the standard for food safety management in May 2008, when it became the first hotel in the GCC to be certified ISO 22000 for food safety management, paving the way for other hotels to follow.
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Haechler says that service “is the area where we focus our efforts to ensure we stand out from the competition” and few that have stayed at the Shangri-La’s in either Abu Dhabi or Muscat — which boasts three properties — would deny this to be the case.
And while the portfolio is smaller than most, Shangri-La is one of the brands still growing in 2009, with Traders opening in Abu Dhabi this year to meet room-demand at the property.
His dedication to the hotel industry aside, Haechler says that he “would still dearly love to get his pilot’s licence”, after deciding in his youth that the “perceived monotony” of flying was no match for the “significant diversity of the hospitality industry”.
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