Awards Countdown: General Manager of the Year
The long-awaited list of the 10 hoteliers battling it out for General Manager of the Year at the Hotelier Middle East Awards 2009 has finally been revealed.
Having risen through the ranks over the past few decades, each contender for the title is a leader and role model for the teams that have nominated them, with staff security and motivation as important to them as guest satistaction and business performance.
Balancing these three priorities is a challenge for any GM, and the 10 nominees listed here have achieved this with much acclaim from their staff, peers and guests alike, making them all worthy entrants for the award, which is sponsored by Al Aqili Furnishings.
But as always, there can only be winner, who will be announced at the ceremony on October 14 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.
Let the battle commence!
Dalip Singh
General Manager
Dusit Residence Dubai Marina
Having risen through the ranks in a luxury five-star hotel in Singapore in security and rooms departments, Dalip Singh moved to Dubai to take up the role of opening general manager for Dusit Residence Dubai Marina.
During the first year of operation since opening on October 1, 2008, staff attrition has been at an average low of 2.8%, thanks to Singh’s personal relationship with each of the 100 employees.
From being the surprise guest chef at staff gatherings to rescuing an employee stranded on Emirates Road, Singh has “no air about him” and is always keen to work alongside his team.
Guest engagement is just as important, with Singh’s personal involvement in customer engagement and sales missions resulting in a good growth in corporate sales from the government sectors and diplomatic circles, as well as good scores and comments on booking.com and TripAdvisor.com.
Those that nominated him conclude that despite the gloomy outlook owing to the global economic slowdown, Singh has done well in terms of occupancy and revenue due to the strategies that he endorsed at an early stage of this year.
Abdin Nasralla
General Manager
Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa
A 35-year career in the hospitality industry has involved Abdin Nasralla contributing significantly to the growth in the tourism industry of Dubai and resulted in him being one of the few residents in the UAE to be honoured with UAE citizenship by the Dubai Government.
Having started his career as a chef with Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa, Nasralla is “a walking encyclopedia in the world of food and beverage”. After a long association with Jebel Ali Resort & Spa, he moved on from the role of resident manager in 1999 to take a similar role at the Oberoi — Mena House in Cairo.
The departure was short, however, as Nasralla returned to Dubai in 2000 to join Jumeriah Group, where he set up Jumeirah
Hospitality and then became general manager for the World Trade Centre Hotel, Dubai before launching Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa in 2004.
According to those that nominated him for the General Manager of the Year Award, Nasralla has a paternal approach to his team and an openness to receiving feedback, with the specially created General Manager’s Majlis designed to facilitate frequent meetings with staff.
He is universally characterised by his friends, colleagues, and clients as one of the most insightful, passionate, and compassionate individuals in the hospitality business in this region.
Nasralla’s understanding of what it takes to succeed in the Middle East, a deep understanding of the culture, ethics, laws and history of the region, mastery of the language, a long association with the ministries, government bodies, celebrities and decision makers build his credibility as hotelier to be reckoned with, and as a result he gained a place on the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 earlier his year.
Moritz Klein
General Manager
Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi
Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi general manager Moritz Klein is characterised by his attention to detail, guest focus, patience, foresight and approachability, say the team that nominated him.
And with the hotel’s annual staff satisfaction survey proving that the vast majority of Beach Rotana’s 1100 colleagues are satisfied, it seems his nomination was a popular one.
They highlight his commitment to social responsibility first and foremost, with the hotel supporting a range of charities from the Special Care Centre in Abu Dhabi to which AED 58,000 was donated last year to personalised projects, such as the donation of seven wheelchairs to the Sri Lankan embassy in partnership with 47 Sri Lankan colleagues. Indeed, after handing over the wheel chairs to the embassy, Klein contributed another two wheel chairs out of his own pocket.
Secondly, they praise his customer focused and business oriented approach to his work, which results in the 565-room hotel having occupancy levels of among the highest in Abu Dhabi.
Guest satisfaction at Beach Rotana is also very high, with average scores of 89% recorded in July this year, for example.
Testimonials poured in from staff and guests, with Klein’s management style, attention to detail, efficient response to guest complaints, precise planning and sense of humour among the traits praised.
Bugra Berberoglu
General Manager & Regional Director
Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea
After graduating from the Ecôle Hôtelière de Lausanne, Berberoglu embarked on his career in the hospitality sector gaining experience in the North American market at both city and resort hotels with InterContinental, prior to joining Kempinski as pre-opening and opening General Manager in Chad.
An accomplished hotelier, Berberoglu was at the helm of Kempinski Hotel Djibouti before his appointment in Jordan in June 2008. It was during his stint as the pre-opening General Manager at Djibouti where Berberoglu received accolades for leading his team in what is now considered as the fastest pre-opening process ever in Kempinski’s history, fully outfitting the hotel, recruiting and training staff and opening the hotel within an astounding seven months.
He then took over the reigns of Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea, which is spread over 194,000m² of gardens and fetaures the largest spa in the Middle East, from Duncan O'Rourke, now
With some “big shoes to fill”, Berberoglu assumed the position quickly and steadily began “placing his fingerprints on every aspect of the operation”, say those that nominated him.
New initiatives within his first six months included safety shoes, more club cars, and free wireless internet within the staff accommodation. In addition, he hosts weekly staff luncheons, a monthly staff meeting, a Weekly C-Shift Breakfast and occasionally attends Friday prayer at a local mosque with some staff.
Demonstrating his ability to help his team through major events, during the World Economic Forum 2009, which was hosted by the hotel, Berberoglu “was not too shy of driving his own personal club car up and down the resort, picking up and dropping off guests who needed to get to a meeting of function quickly”.
It is the above, in addition to his regional role overseeing the Kempinski operation in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, that make Berberoglu a strong candidate for a Hotelier Middle East Award.
Fouad Melham
General Manager
Al Diar Siji Hotel, Fujairah
Since taking the general manager role at Al Diar Siji Hotel at its inception 10 years ago, Fouad Melhem has achieved a remarkable feat in bringing the hotel to its current position in Fujariah, according to the team that nominated him.
Numerous staff members supported Melham’s nomination for GM of the year, describing him as being a man of details, a man of action, a true leader, very hands-on, observant, down-to-earth, never procrastinating, humble, diplomatic, appreciative and always smiling.
His achievements are many, including driving the hotel’s compliance with HACCP and the BS EN ISO 9001:2000 certification, which has been a reinstatement of the hotel’s efficiency in terms of management systems, along with not making any redundancies during the downturn.
He has also implemented a number of programmes to lift up the employees’ morale from Hotel Talk to Employee of the Month & Supervisor of the Quarter and the personal celebration of each member of staff’s birthday.
As a result of his efficiency, Melham was also asked to oversee the pre-opening and management of Siji Hotel Apartments, a luxury serviced property also located in Fujairah.
Andreas Flückiger
General Manager
Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek
One of the many reasons why Andreas is so successful and highly favoured among his guests, employees, colleagues, owners and business partners is his relentless patience, well balanced judgmental attitude and steadfast commitment to his responsibilities, assert his team.
These coupled with his strong and solid commitment to being a “role-Rezidorian” made him the most suitable GM to rebrand and head one of Rezidor’s flag-ship properties — Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek in 2006.
Having successfully completed his first task of rebranding — which saw both staff and guest retention of above 90% — Flückiger was then committed to continuously improving the hotel’s performance in every aspect, say his nominators.
This has continued throughout the downturn, with no redundancies made and none of the 650-strong team asked to take unpaid leave.
His commitment to ensuring that staff members have a high-level of job security proved to be a key component to maintaining high staff morale, in addition to transparency and consistency in his constant communication with staff members and continued commitment to improving the career growth of his employees.
Plus, while the rooms revenue was maintained, operations of the 16 outlets and the banquets and catering business were also well managed. Flückiger continued with refurbishment works aimed at upgrading the room product, as well as a total face-lift for Iranian restaurant Shabestan.
Fluckiger’s commitment to guests is of an equal standing, with all feedback promptly answered, and he also maintains good relations with owners and government authorities and supports the group’s corporate social responsibility programme, Responsible Business.
Tom Meyer
Area general manager
InterContinental Hotels Group properties Dubai Festival City
Over Tom Meyer’s 27 years in the hospitality industry, 23 of which have been with InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, he has travelled the globe rising from a trainee food and beverage apprentice to his present position as area general manager for the InterContinental Hotels Group properties Dubai Festival City.
Meyer moved to Dubai in 2004 to manage what was the InterContinental Dubai before being selected to spearhead the project of three hotels within Dubai Festival City and the subsequent takeover of Al Badia Golf Club.
Achievements this year have included the opening of a new staff accommodation building for IHG DFC employees, a project Meyer has personally overseen to house more than 1500 individuals; the maintenance of market share for InterContinental and Crowne Plaza, culminating with June and July seeing their largest growth performance to date; and a placement at number 40 in the inaugural Hotelier Middle East Power 50.
Meyer has also taken his cultural and social responsibilities very seriously. In the past 12 months he has supported recycling programmes, fund raisers and awareness drives to aid the local environment. One such event was the ‘Whatever Floats You Boat Race, which raised AED 250,000 for the Emirates Environmental Group’s Clean the Creek campaign.
Meyer also created the ‘Jeans for a Cause’ charity drive within the hotels, which allows employees to wear jeans to work in return for a donation to charity.
Having run twice, the campaign has raised more than AED 66,000 for charitable causes such as the Chinese Earthquake and Myanmar flooding of 2008.
Renzo Cavagliotti
General Manager
InterContinental Muscat
Renzo Cavagliotti has been nominated for the General Manager of the Year Award by his team at InterContinental Muscat, who are inspired by his leadership qualities, 35-year commitment to IHG and caring attitude towards his staff.
In addition to a long career with IHG, which has taken him around the world, Cavagliotti is a high achiever, becoming general manager for the first time at only 32 years of age.
His nominators describe him as a “great father figure”, approachable and always keen to welcome ideas from employees. They praise his ease of communication as his biggest leadership quality.
This is especially commendable in a hotel where 60% of the staff are Omani nationals, and Cavagliotti has proved that this percentage is achievable through proper training, development and motivation, setting the hotel as an example for others in Oman.
This has been recognised by the local authorities in Oman and the hotel has been awarded with the HR & Training award for Omanis in the hospitality sector twice, most recently in May 2009.
It is for these reasons that the workforce at InterContinental Muscat nominated Cavagliotti, without his knowledge.
“We know that he is a person who does things not for recognition but it is just the way he is,” say the nominators.
“Although he is the king of the palace, he always remembers that there is no palace without the people in it and thus they are his top priority,” concludes the team.
Richard G. Haddad
General Manager
Vision Hotel Apartments
Under the management of Richard Haddad, Vision Hotel Apartments has established its name in the market and excelled among uts competition, claiming a 98 % average occupancy in 2008.
In this time of economic upheaval, Vision has continuously held its own, keeping all employees and focusing on recruitment for eight new properties.
The focus on people is one of the main reasons for Haddad’s nomination for General Manager of the Year.
According to his nominators, he does his utmost to help staff develop their hidden talents and promotes maximum output in everything they do, also ensuring that all achievements are recognised and rewarded.
To help ensure every team member feels part of “the Vision family”, Haddad also used the staff in the company brochure instead of hiring outside models.
In addition to managing Vision Hotel Apartments and further development at Vision, Haddad is a part time instructor at European International College and a board member and one of the founders of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International in the UAE.
Adrian Rudin
General Manager
Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi
Adrian Rudin has come a long way since arriving in Abu Dhabi in 2006 as the first and only member of the pre-opening team of Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi.
In August 2007, the hotel opened and during the first few months of operation, Rudin ensured that he was around seven days a week, joining in with staff and helping out in almost all the departments.
As a result, he knows almost every staff member by first name and is the first to hold a door open for colleagues or to assist a bell boy pushing a trolley, say his nominators.
They say that he has always been extremely open and approachable so that every member of staff feels that they can go to him and address any issues that they may be experiencing, while he has a similarly friendly approach to guests, taking the time to build a rapport with repeat visitors.
It is Rudin’s dedication to the development of the Shangri-La project — now complete with the opening of the Residences, Villas, Souk and Traders Hotel — that have lead his team to nominate him to express their thanks for his hard work.