
Career-driven
I was utterly fascinated when I first joined the hospitality industry. I was just 17 when I took up my first job and since then there has been no looking back. What drives my career is the people around me and the excitement I feel on a daily basis while performing my duties. I am extremely motivated by the opportunities we get every to make a difference in the hospitality industry and do the best to have a happy and satisfied guest.
I take immense pride in having been associated with brands like Starwood Hotels and Resorts as well as being part of major events like of the opening for Aloft Abu Dhabi and Sheraton Mall of the Emirates. My most recent accomplishment has been overseeing the refurbishment and uplifting the brand image of Coral Beach Resort, and I am so proud that today this resort is at the top in Sharjah and the third best hotel for families in the UAE on TripAdvisor.
As a general manager, I am fully responsible for the overall hotel performance in terms of achieving financial results for the owners, ensuring that optimum service standards are implemented as per corporate guidelines. Supervising, overseeing, guiding and managing the heads of various departments ensuring all operational deadlines are met. Also, I am involved in warranting that the hotel runs smoothly resulting in a comfortable and enjoyable stay for the guests in a secure and homely environment. In simple terms, I am the caption of this ship.
Outlook on housekeeping
Accommodation in hotels is the largest part of the hotel; it is definitely the highest revenue generating department. Housekeeping is the department that takes care of all the rooms and deals essentially with cleanliness and all ancillary services attached to that. Quality standards play an important role in the reputation of the hotels. One feels comfortable only in the environment which is clean and well ordered, so cleanliness is important for health foremost also for wellbeing.
Sustainability plays an integral part here. Simply stated, our global future depends on it. The importance of finding a sustainable future is rooted in three issues that are very much linked to one another: 1) fossil fuel depletion, 2) climate change due to CO2 emissions, and 3) the increasing costs of energy and water. Personally, it affects me as a habitant of the planet earth not only do I need to breath clean air, enjoy a hazard free environment, but I am also concerned for humanity in general and future of my children in particular. Professionally, this gives me an additional responsibility to share my knowledge, create more awareness and contribute in promoting a sustainable environment for our colleagues and guests.
Market outlook and challenges
In my opinion, the outlook on hospitality in general is much brighter now specially with the boom of technology and innovation combined with some brilliant young talent behind it. Cleanliness and hygiene are the back bone of hospitality and the current Industry 4.0 in cleaning product and equipment development is making this facility more effective and efficient. However, we still face challenges – the biggest being dealing with guest expectations. It is extremely satisfying when we exceed the same; the rest is all easy to handle if you are equipped with good experience and inclination.
We have been doing great so far and have accomplished a great deal as per the targets set for this year. Next year, we aim to overcome rate hurdles and keep the REVPAR (Revenue per Available Room) benchmarked with 5-Star hotels in the area.