Bahrain Confidential interviews Fares Yactine, Area General Manager of The Gulf Hotel.
Tell us something personal – how would you describe yourself in one word?
Diplomatic.
If you can change one thing about hospitality in general, what would it be?
Hospitality is not only a job, it’s a lifestyle. Unfortunately, today, we see many new joiners to the industry considering it as “only a job”. If we can change that perception for the new upcoming generation joining hospitality, that will help in uplifting the hospitality services.
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Can you shed light on your vision for the hotel this 2020?
My vision for 2020 is to be able to create alliances with one of the worldwide brands in order to gain more exposure for multi-national business, enhance our customer data base and increase market share.
What have been the biggest challenges and successes of the past year?
After substantial investment in the hotel facility done in 2018, business expectations for the year 2019 were high. Through the commitment of the team towards exceeding guest expectations and a sound business strategy we managed to close the year with satisfactory results despite the growing competition and numbers of flagship managed hotels in the town.
Is there a particular saying or motto that guides you?
“Customers may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel”.