HotelierMiddleEast.com speaks to Arabian Park Hotel's new recruit Tom Rhodes to find what he plans to bring to the property's growing sales team.
This is your first role in the hotel industry. Why did you want to enter this sector?
Since leaving university I have been lucky enough to gain valuable experience in the hospitality industry by participating in organising events at The British Open and British Grand Prix. The challenge of ensuring all operations are running smoothly, the personal interaction with the guest, ensuring all requirements are met, and the fact we can always improve, are some of the reasons that motivate me to continue to expand my experience and develop new skills in my latest challenge of working in the hotel industry.
What skills and experience will you bring from your previous role at Nuffield?
At Nuffield I combined a dual role of working in the sales team with shifts as duty manager and the experience I have gained from these roles I intend deploy here in Dubai. I particularly enjoy and thrive on personal relationships and dealing with clients on a one to one basis. This enables me to form strong, long lasting relationships with all accounts, which is an obvious help in driving sales.
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I believe that one of the main characteristics required in order to succeed in a competitive sales environment is the ability to listen, and quickly establish what the exact client needs are to be able to provide them with exactly what they want, or to advise them on the options available. Failure to do this may result in not fully delivering on all of their requirements, leading to customer dissatisfaction which in turn runs the risk of losing future business.
What specific responsibilities will your role as sales manager entail?
Predominantly my role at Arabian Park Hotel will consist of building relationships with our existing corporate client base, and forming new accounts in the market.
I shall also be working with local travel agencies, and I look forward to being able to develop strong working relationships with all of my accounts. One particular area that I am looking forward to is working with the sports management companies in Dubai. With my experience of running a leisure complex, together with Arabian Park Hotel’s close proximity to many sports grounds and stadiums in Dubai, I hope to be able to encourage sporting teams to stay at Arabian Park Hotel.
There is a strong sales team here, led by Rohit Rattan, and with two sales managers recently appointed we relish the opportunity to expand our accounts in the market. I firmly believe we can further capitalize on the Arabian Park brand and continue to differentiate ourselves in the market as the premier three-star hotel in Dubai.
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