A Milestone with Al Habtoor City … A Flashback of 3 Years

December is a very important and special month. Apart from the #festive celebrations, including the #UAE #National #Day, it brings love, family and dear ones closer to reflect hope for #future. This month has more sentimental value to me for this year as I complete my three years at Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection by Hilton. Many wonder why this anniversary is so important to me but allow me to share why this saga of many adventures has a special moment in my life along with many who contributed towards this exciting journey.

Pandemic and challenges that posed our industry is known to all of us. The industry took a shift and many talented people decided to pursue other careers out of #hospitality industry. I may not be one of them, I still had hope that this industry will bounce back, and the effects of pandemic are temporary. Nevertheless, I have to admit there were times that; I was also debating within myself to redefine my career options and to pursue other paths to keep my #passion of #salesmanship alive within me.

Let me take you down the memory lane. October 2020 – I received a call from a reputable London based headhunter, commissioned by Fredrik Reinisch, The Complex General Manager of the time to be interviewed for the position of a Commercial Director to oversee + 1,600 rooms and 20 plus Food and Beverage elements at Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection, consisting of three luxury hotels – Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City, V Hotel Dubai, Curio Collection by Hilton and Habtoor Palace Dubai.

I must also admit that I had my doubts of returning to #Dubai, a #destination that I had known for close to 20 years and for the very quest of looking for new challenges outside of #GCC but my inner voice told me to consider this new chapter as a challenge after I heard our Vice Chairman’s vision directly from him about what future lies ahead for the Al Habtoor City as a destination within Dubai. I accepted the offer.

I recall that on my very first day, I went to Al Habtoor Group Head Office, where I had the privilege to interact directly with all the board members, Mr. Maan Halabi – Al Habtoor Group Managing Director, and Mr. Kamal Naamani- MD Al Habtoor Hospitality. They asked just one question ‘Soufiane, can you handle pressure?’ I looked at them, just smiled, and confidently said ‘if there is no pressure, I get bored, if I can’t do it who else can?’ Mr. Mohammed Khalaf Al Habtoor said to me ‘Soufiane, we trust you. Make us proud’. From there, the vice chairman and his board members entrusted me to develop strategies covering all internal commercial business units and external networks to maximize total revenues, profit margins and market share of Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection which consists of 1,600 rooms spread across a trilogy of hotels, with a focus on all available business tools and intellect available to consistently exceed the budgeted revenues across all streams: rooms occupancy, ADR, MICE ,Catering, Food and Beverage, Recreational and Spa with optimized cost of sale, route to market and brand marketing opportunities. To #reposition this city gem as ‘The City of Dreams’. I started my journey under the #leadership of the complex’s previous General Manager Fredrik Reinisch and Al Habtoor Group’s Managing Director Kamal Naamani, which was an unforgettable expedition, with the support they have given me throughout my time here.

Al Habtoor Group’s Vice Chairman Mr. Mohammed Khalaf Al Habtoor (AKA MKH) trusted me and indulged me with #inspiration that we could tackle any obstacles that hinder us from elevating the Al Habtoor City Hotels in terms of #brand, #customer loyalty and #market positioning.? Looking at last three years and finishing the year 2023, compels me to believe that we kept that trust and promise of creating new success stories for the Al Habtoor City Hotel collection from talent incubation, profitable growth in revenues and developing incremental business streams through emerging markets.

Of course, it will not be fair to take all the credit myself but truly blessed with my entire #team who walked with me through this adventurous saga of success, who bore with my demanding nature and insatiable desire for excellence and always thriving to challenge the status quo.

Al Habtoor City was born in 2015 and was under the Starwood Group, then moving to Marriot and finally transitioned to Hilton signature brands in 2018 and is now the largest complex of hotels in the region, with Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City being the largest in Hilton in the region with 1,004 rooms and the region’s only majestic performance under La Perle. While the conversion did bring a fast-paced transition and re-branding, it has also marked an era of consistent #growth and #stability with the greater involvement of Al Habtoor Group. In 2018, Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection was rebranded to Hilton with three brands under the Hilton and Habtoor Group name: Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City, V Hotel Dubai, Curio Collection by Hilton and Habtoor Palace Dubai. I joined the company during peak Covid era, and the support I have received from the Vice Chairman Mr. Mohammed Khalaf Al Habtoor, and his board members has been immaculate.

As journey continues with more gusto and record breaking milestones ahead as I now have the privilege to work directly with a hospitality veteran and an operational GURU Saeid Heidari, the current General Manager of Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection, who moved just recently to Dubai from The Ritz Carlton, Budapest, and another landmark property of Al Habtoor Group, with a laser focused approach to build up on the success stories that Al Habtoor City Hotel Collection has achievement in the past 3 years.

As we embark 2024 in a few days, I now look forward to bringing the Al Habtoor City to new heights. I feel a sense of satisfaction to witness evident growth of Dubai and Al Habtoor City. In addition, self-pride comes from the fact that Al Habtoor City is competing against hotels, which have been well established in the market for more than a decade, and we are still able to surpass them all. We will always perform at our best in order to continue to grow and welcome the world with exciting experiences that will always leave guests in awe.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope all of you are as excited as me for the 2024 to create more synergies together as industry colleagues and partners.

#AlHabtoorCity #Dubai #Hilton #VHotel #HabtoorPalace #AlHabtoorCityHotels #MyMorocco #VisitDubai #MyDubai #Hospitality #Service #TheCityOfDreams #MyCity #DubaiCity