Alfred Abi Moussa
Director food and beverage
Crowne Plaza Dubai SZR

Against the backdrop of the economic downturn and its impact on room rates, the pressure on Alfred Abi Moussa and his food and beverage team to close the gap, with limited budget and manning levels, has called for self motivation and determination, which he has achieved with such success that his team have nominated him for F&B manager of the Year.

Managing outlets as diverse as nightclubs to an award-winning wine bar, Abi Moussa is praised with driving the bottom line without any increase in food or beverage prices from 48.6% for 2008 up to 50.3% for 2009.

He has generated an increase in the average spend per person from AED 172 in 2008 to AED 188 in 2009 and achieved a record monthly profit in March 2009 reaching 54.1% - an outstanding achievement in F&B.

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Abi Moussa has kept all restaurants fully operational with no reduction in opening hours, despite minimum manning levels, and shown a real commitment to developing his team by holding monthly meetings, coaching his outlet managers, supporting cross training and engaging with all his team.

Special events have included sports promotions transforming the ballroom to a rugby and football pitch, an Indian theme night at Kandy Club attracting 2000-plus guests a night and the transformation of the hotel auditorium into a high-end nightclub venue, which translated to a bottom-line contribution of 8%.

In addition, Abi Moussa achieved an increase in his department’s employee engagement score of 16% from 2008, with 72% of his team said that they “loved their job” - an above average for the hotel.