K Tanzeel Zaman gets enlightened on the tourism sector by Christopher Baker, newly-appointed GM at Amari Dhaka and gets to know his journey as a hotelier
WHAT BRINGS YOU TO BANGLADESH?
newly-appointed GM at Amari Dhaka
It was a number of things really, I was working in the Maldives when I was approached to join Amari Dhaka. I had been involved in resort hotels for a long time and business hotels, for a change, seemed like a welcome idea. I have a wife and two children and all of us decided Dhaka was a great city to move to and that, Amari was a great opportunity.
WHAT ABOUT THE CITY ATTRACTED YOU THE MOST?
When I left for my journey from the UK many years ago, what motivated me the most was learning about different cultures, people and food. I started out in the food and beverage industry and I quickly realised that food is the base of all cultures, especially in a country like Bangladesh. The country is diverse, the people here are interesting and the street food is abundant, things that are very rare to find elsewhere.
MOST BUSINESSES ARE PSYCHED ABOUT THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC. HOW DO YOU PLAN ON MOVING FORWARD?
We have to focus on the positives rather than the negatives. The pandemic has shut down the world completely but looks at how careful it’s made us. For instance, we clean with more caution now. That’s not to say we didn’t clean before; the difference is a higher standard of hygiene and sanitisation that we have taught ourselves to maintain now. Dhaka is very driven by its business and textile industries but now we are faced with the possibility of other industries also growing. The tourism sector, for example, needs to be bigger here, especially since a lot of people already realise how beautiful Bangladesh is. The economy and businesses will bounce back, they have to and after the pandemic ends, we’ll be analysing new market trends.
AS AN EXPERT HOTELIER, WHAT EXCITING INNOVATION DO YOU WANT TO IMPLEMENT IN AMARI DHAKA?
I want to bring innovation in the way people think. I want to get people to experiment with different things. It’s very easy to simply tell people what I envision and what they should do but conveying the purpose of the process and successful execution is a team effort. I love the idea of doing more with the street food here in Bangladesh and introduce the idea of ‘street meets neat.’ Bringing this at Amari and encouraging people to try it to celebrate their roots will allow us to build confidence with our customers that can only be developed further.
HOW DO YOU PLAN ON GAINING THE TRUST OF YOUR CONSUMERS COMING BACK TO THE HOTEL?
Our reputation stands for itself. We are at the pinnacle of what we do. Consumers are savvier these days and, so, we take great pride in the quality of the services we provide at Amari. People travel to this hotel because they know what we have here. From here, it’s just about upholding that reputation and taking it even higher.
WHAT IS YOUR FORECAST ON THE SECTOR, DURING AND AFTER THE COVID19 PANDEMIC?
We have to wait for a turnaround. People, around the world, are in lockdown and we don’t necessarily realise the impact of that. If someone doesn’t buy a pair of jeans or a t-shirt in, suppose, London, then it affects the people here. I hope the lockdown is lifted from all the countries soon and that we are able to go ahead with the festive season. We can expect a positive turnaround if that happens. Businesses may become a bit more protective and people, conservative without spending big bucks but Dhaka is still a strong city with booming industries. Recovery shouldn’t take long.
HOW WOULD YOU INFLUENCE YOUR EMPLOYEES’ MINDSET WITH YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE?
To influence, you must lead. But leading someone is an active process. Often, leaders go off in a certain direction, heading a charge, and they forget to turn around to see that half the people behind them have gone some other way. Leading is about reassurance, both from the back and the front. It’s all about actively communicating with employees and being kind. When you’ve done something wrong, admit it; if you’ve done something right, celebrate it. And that’s exactly what I’d like to try and do here –nurture teams to bring them in.
IN YOUR WORDS, WHAT ARE THE CRUCIAL ASPECTS A GM SHOULD POSSESS TO MAINTAIN AN INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISE?
I think a GM is a conductor. Go ahead and watch an orchestra conducted by the likes of someone like Simon Rattle. You’ll see that he can’t play all of the instruments; he can’t do everything. But what he can do is make sure that his group of singers perform a piece to the best of their abilities. A GM should lead and guide in a similar way; our job is to teach what we know and be fair. GMs should trust their employees and try not to micromanage. If you tell your team members what to do at every single turn, then you might as well do the job yourself.
ANY CLOSING STATEMENTS?
I don’t want to cite any cliched answers and say that a GM must be a financial wizard, or, have a Harvard degree, no! I think that GMs should be business savvy but, also, if you’re weak in an area, say, finance, then just hire the best finance director there is. Arrange the best support for whatever it is you can’t do and just trust those people. When successful, celebrate with your team, when unsuccessful, contemplate in solitude.