AIHM's Head of Student Engagement
Company: Asian Institute of Hospitality Management
Location: Marion
Posted on: November 6, 2024
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Job Description:
AIHM's Head of Student Engagement , Samantha La uver- Marion ,
sat down with HAFIDH AL BUSAIDY the General Manager at N iyama
Private Islands Maldives to chat about careers in hospitality and
the AIHMscholarship for Maldivians in honour of Dr. Maniku . This
competitive full scholarship is available to Maldivian students who
are interested in pursuing a career in hospitality management. A
Journey to the MaldivesSamantha: Thank you so much for joining us
today. Could you tell our students a little bit about your career
and what steps you took on your path before you became the General
Manager at the beautiful Niyama Private Islands ?Hafidh: It was a
long, interesting journey. I started off working in my hometown in
Oman for a large hotel company. I was a steward. I had an
entry-level job cleaning kitchens. I walked into the property and
told them I was interested in working there. They put me in
stewarding, which I found interesting and enjoyable. I worked in
the kitchens at night. I took out the garbage. I cleaned the ovens
and did the washing up, and I got to know people and through that
became a waiter. I moved into fine dining and worked in F&B for
some time. Then I moved to the front office and worked my way up to
Front Office Manager. It took a couple of moves in the sense that
within the same company I worked in one hotel and worked my way up
to the level of a duty manager and then transferred within the
company to another hotel, the Al Bustan Palace in Oman.I started at
the Al Bustan Palace as a duty manager, and by the time I left that
property a few years later, I was acting General Manager. It was
quite a journey. I had a lot of people that helped me along the
way-mentors and managers who for some reason saw something in me
they thought would be useful. I enjoyed the opportunity to get
involved in different things. I wasn't shy to get involved in
banqueting requests and sales requests. And I had an interest in
revenue management. I think all of that helped me grow in the
position.From there, I continued my GM career in Saudi Arabia. I
worked in the InterContinental Al Jubail for a number of years, and
that experience turned out to be quite successful. It wasn't a very
well-performing hotel at the time. I had a great team with me, and
with that team, we managed to turn the property around. From there,
I took a chance-much to everyone's shock-and went to China, where I
opened a couple of properties.From China, I transferred to Doha as
a General Manager and then from Doha to Japan, where I did another
opening for Intercontinental in Osaka. After Japan, I went to
Malaysia and worked for InterContinental there as a General Manager
and then did a couple of additional projects for InterContinental.
I worked on a project in Cambodia and then did a project in India,
at which point I decided I would try something different and joined
Minor .I worked with Minor at their properties in Doha. I looked
after the nine properties of Souq Waqif and the opening of the new
Tivoli. And then, I think almost by chance, I was selected to come
to Niyama and look after the property while the General Manager was
away. And I'm still here six years later. So yes, it's been a very
long and interesting and mixed journey through many different
countries. It's been a journey which I've enjoyed considerably.
Samantha: Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. I
think it's really important for students to hear about all the
opportunities that are available for them in this industry and to
also hear that-as you have expressed in your own reflection of
where you've come from and where you are now- you've had many
opportunities across several countries and in a variety of
positions to allow you to be where you are today.Since you've been
with Niyama for six years, can you tell me what makes this property
different from other properties you've worked at?Hafidh: Well,
obviously it's in the Maldives, so the Maldives itself is a very
different location from many other locations. For one thing, it's
quite remote. So it is quite challenging for people with families
to come and work here. My family has pretty much grown up and
spread their wings and moved on, which allowed me the opportunity
to come here. It's very luxury focused in the Maldives. The prices
are very high. The guest expectations are equally high.Working in
an area like this also presents significant challenges in logistics
and planning. You can't just hop over to a supermarket and pick
something up because you've run out of sugar. The destination has
different challenges than most other places. I think it's a great
place to learn incredible service because the guest's expectation
is so high. The interaction with guests is very, very
detail-oriented. And that, you know, is a skill you can take with
you anywhere. Anyone starting out in the Maldives is going to have
quite an advantage because the challenges they're going to face
here are considerably greater than you would face in a city hotel
or a resort whose location is more embedded within a community and
all of its facilities and resources. Here, we produce our own
energy. We produce our own water. We have to be self-sufficient,
and that process involves a lot of different aspects.I think my
career prior to the Maldives was very beneficial in part because
I'd been to so many different places. I'd had a chance to learn to
be patient , to learn to listen to the culture that I was in. And
I'd also taken the opportunity to get involved with so many
different aspects of running a hotel. I think that's fundamental to
anybody who really wants to become a General Manager . Don't be
shy. Step out and enjoy the opportunities. Sometimes people become
very siloed and they say, "You know, I'm in F&B. I can only do
F&B." I find that a little bit sad sometimes because some great
people who are working in a single area could definitely apply
their skills to other areas and other departments. Some do it quite
naturally, and some need a little bit of encouragement. They need
to feel confident that they can achieve the same level of success
in different areas.The Maldives really highlights that you have to
be able to multitask. You also have to be able to evaluate whether
an idea is going to be viable to execute-much more so than you
would have to in other locations. Given the special characteristics
of the Maldives, it's been quite gratifying being here. It feels
like what people think working in a hotel is like. There is a
certain glamour to it. There's also a huge amount of hard work. So
I think it's a great starting point for people. It's also a great
place to be when people have a bit more confidence in their
capabilities and have had some experience and understand the
business well.The Maldives matches both of these career contexts.
If someone's beginning and they want to see what it's like to
really work in luxury, then the Maldives is a great place to do
that. If someone is confident and has experience and they're
willing to take on new challenges and grow quite dramatically, then
the Maldives is also a great opportunity for that.I love being here
in the Maldives, and at Niyama in particular. I'm often asked why
Niyama is special, and it's an interesting question because I feel
that it is a very unique place. I've been here for some time, which
for me is also unusual. The hospitality industry is one with a
tremendous amount of mobility. Normally, my contracts are for two
to three years and then I'm happy to move on-not because I don't
like the place, but because I just feel that what I can contribute
to that place has already been done and it may be better to have
fresh eyes. But Niyama is different . Niyama has this incredible
sense of community. Our guests note this all the time. We receive a
huge number of comments on the close-knit way our team interacts
and responds. It's a great group of people to work with. You
cherish an opportunity to work with such a dynamic team . It's
everybody. It's all our gardeners, our culinary specialists, our
housekeepers. All our team members across the board are engaged.
They're enjoying what they're doing.I think we have a great level
of communication here, a really extraordinary level of
communication. That's something any General Manager would strive to
achieve, and we have it here. It's hard to let go of it because
it's such a nice place to work . The team is dynamic. They want the
property to be successful.Apart from that, it's stunningly
beautiful. You know we're a two-island property, and these are two
of the most beautiful islands in the Maldives, with some of the
best beaches in the Maldives, which we've won numerous awards for.
Amidst all this beauty, we have an amazing team spirit here on
Niyama's islands, and I learn from the team every day. My team
inspires me. They are the type of team that will get me out of bed
in the morning with a big smile on my face. I'm excited to come to
work. I'm excited to see what they're doing. I'm excited to see how
we can keep growing.For me, Niyama is a very special place . For
anyone who wants to come to do an internship here or any of the
scholarship recipients who might want to work with us, I think
Niyama would be a great place to come and feel confident. We
encourage people to try new things . We encourage people to fail
occasionally. That's fine. What we want to see is them being
engaged and enjoying what they do. We believe that reflects in our
service. We know that reflects in the experiences of our guests who
are here to enjoy their holidays. So yes, I'm kind of in love with
Niyama just a little bit if you hadn't got that message. Recent
Awards
Opportunity of a Lifetime: The Dr. Maniku Scholarship for
MaldiviansSamantha: Your passion can be felt. It's so nice to hear
how you speak about your team and about the property. I think it
takes people like you who feel the way that you do about where you
work and whom you work with to make the hospitality industry and
our individual offerings as outstanding as they can be-in the
Maldives and other destinations. So thank you for leading the way
in this way. I truly believe it changes the world. Thank you also
for expressing how special the Maldives is.I second that the
Maldives is an excellent opportunity for people at every stage of
their careers. We have four students doing their internships with
Minor Hotels properties right now. I see that Niyama and all of the
Minor Hotels properties in the Maldives are supporting the growth
of people's careers in what they're doing currently. I also see
Niyama Private Islands specifically thinking in a long-term view by
offering thisscholarship in honour of Dr. Maniku . Could you tell
our readers a bit more about this great opportunity?Hafidh: You
know Dr. Maniku was one of the key figures in the development of
tourism in the Maldives, and his family continues to be a huge
representative of how tourism and the Maldives grow. So it was
quite fitting that we named the scholarship after him. It's a great
opportunity.Within each country, there have to be opportunities for
the population to really engage in and evolve this industry. This
is particularly important for the Maldives because hospitality is
such a big industry here. Maldivians have really thrived in the
hospitality industry, and they're great people to work with. As
with many other destinations, much of the industry leadership here
and the roles that require a very advanced level of industry
expertise are still staffed by expatriate professionals. We would
hope that at some point a lot of the expatriate leadership can be
replaced by Maldivian leadership.This process takes time because of
the way the industry is structured. I really understand this
dynamic because it reflects the same issues I faced when I was
working in my home country of Oman. The opportunity to go abroad
and really develop myself was given to me as I worked in a large
company. Minor is growing, and they're looking for talent. Within
the Maldives, our obligation to make sure the Maldivian population
is developing at a pace that allows them to take on leadership
roles is critical. This situation in which a huge number of the
properties here are run by expatriates can't continue indefinitely.
So I feel this scholarship for Maldivian nationals to study
hospitality management and prepare themselves for roles as industry
leaders are timely.The Dr. Maniku Scholarship to help
high-potential young people obtain a top-tier education in this
field and attain such a valuable degree is an amazing opportunity.
Plus, AIHM's association with Les Roches and Minor -all three
important industry players coming together to create this
opportunity for Maldivians-is a wonderful thing. I encourage people
to really take advantage of this opportunity. It will push aspiring
hoteliers out of their comfort zone and take them to another huge
tourist destination, Thailand , where AIHM is located. Students
will be able to see different things, build their cultural
awareness, to build their understanding of the industry outside the
Maldives as well. That's very important. It would have been
difficult for me to come here straight out of Oman and be able to
culturally assimilate, work seamlessly with the different
nationalities we have working in the property, and create a
harmonious team. It's important that everybody is respectful and
everybody understands each other's habits and culture. Strong
cultural competency is also extremely important when we deal with
guests from across the world. This has always been an issue in this
industry. You have managers from all over the world because you
have guests from all over the world, and we need to be able to
attune ourselves closely to that without being overly culturally
dominant. To lead in the global hospitality industry, you need a
very worldly perspective and a high level of cross-cultural
competency. It's extremely important that more Maldivians have the
opportunities required to grow into leadership positions. We need
to continue to advance opportunities for Maldivians to develop a
really comprehensive understanding of the hospitality business and
the international perspective it requires.Benefits of a Hospitality
EducationSamantha: One of the remarkable things that I've noticed
when I speak to leaders across our organisation is the way they
speak about empowering the local populations wherever their hotels
are located. You spoke so passionately about how the industry needs
to empower Maldivians so more of them can become leaders themselves
and also why the young professionals in the Maldives should take
advantage of this scholarship opportunity. It's a chance for us to
create more diversity across the industry and to have more voices
from within the Maldives to contribute to and lead the ways the
industry will develop sustainably moving forward. Could you tell me
why do you think that education is an important area to focus on
when developing the hospitality industry?Hafidh: This is an
interesting point. I grew up and progressed in what might be
considered the way of an old-school hotelier-in the sense that I
went through pretty much every department. For someone looking in
from the outside, that might still seem like an ideal path. Okay,
you learn the business while you're doing it. To a great extent,
that way of learning in the industry is still incredibly important.
I don't think that the two-formal education and learning-by-doing
-are not mutually exclusive. I think the two need to be done
together.The reason I believe the education part of the equation is
so critical is that the industry is incredibly fast-moving. There
are lots of moving parts involved in running a property, and even
more so in the Maldives where we have to track weather, seaplanes,
fuel, water, and all sorts of things normal hotels probably
wouldn't even consider. To have a strong practical and a strong
theoretical understanding of how these processes work is critical
because you really don't have the time to start reconsidering or
trying to find out how things work in the heat of the moment. You
need to understand the processes. You need to understand how they
function, even if you want to change them. You need to understand
what is behind the scenes, and what is going to be impacted by the
sort of changes you're considering.Also, the industry is becoming
more and more complex in the sense that we have so many booking
channels. We have so many ways that people see and hear us.Then
from a culinary perspective, the demands of guests are greater and
more complicated. There are a huge variety of food types and
cuisines you need to understand. Wine used to be the key thing you
needed to know about in terms of beverages. Now, you have to
understand tea. You have to understand coffee. You have to
understand the difference between a cold press and a smoothie.
These things sound trivial, and a lot of them are, but you really
don't have the time to learn about them when you're already in a
position where you're responsible for them. If you don't have the
educational background already, you really don't have time to be
doing the research when you're running a property, or when you're a
Food & Beverage Director, or even when you're a receptionist.You
need to know how all these aspects of the industry work. That gives
you a great advantage. Once you have the education, once you
understand the process, you're more likely to be able to insert
your ideas if you want to change the process. If you want to look
at different ways of doing things, that education will help you
understand exactly what the changes mean in terms of the bigger
picture and how those innovations or new ideas will impact the
operation. Education is critical. It also brings a sense of
discipline. Fifty percent of going to university is about getting
the work done in a timely manner and being able to present it well.
It would be very foolish to say that anyone can present anything at
any time. You need to learn the skills to do it. You need to
understand your audience. You need to understand how to communicate
with them.Then lastly, but most importantly, is leadership . A lot
of people come to me and say, "Well, you know, you're a natural
leader." And that is tremendously far from the truth. I was an
extremely shy person at one point in my life. Leadership doesn't
come naturally. You have to learn to be able to do certain specific
things to be a good leader . You have to be able to learn to manage
your responses. You have to learn to be able to manage your
behaviour. This isn't something that comes completely natural to
anyone, I think. It's a learning process. You develop an
understanding of how your team will respond if you behave a certain
way and how it's important to be able to build teamwork . An
understanding of leadership principles is something you can learn
very well in an educational environment and then translate into
practice during internships or when you work in properties.
Education plays an extremely critical role in developing the skills
to truly succeed. Even in my career, I took time out. I was
fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Cornell a couple
of times to do other diplomas in hotel management. That allowed me
to become disciplined. It allowed me to think differently without
being sucked into a mindset that believes, "The hotel is run one
way." The hotel is not run one way . It's run by all the people
that work in it. If you're the General Manager, your job is to make
sure they have a really good environment to work in, that there's
no fear, and that they have the opportunity to express their ideas.
You need confidence to do that, to stand up and confidently say,
"Okay, this isn't impossible. We can do this." The team responds to
that confidence. They respond well to that.Leadership skills,
presentation skills and understanding the process of what happens
behind the scenes in a property-these three things are really
critical.The AIHM Advantage for Aspiring HoteliersSamantha: These
skills and areas of knowledge you have mentioned are so valuable
for our students to consider because those things are exactly what
we're asking students to do within their experience at AIHM. What
we're asking them to do is to have an experience, reflect upon it
and then go to put it into practice. Once they do, they're able to
navigate between what they read about as best practice versus what
can actually be done and implemented in the moment.As you said,
that's critical in order to be able to deliver the high standards
expected in the hotel industry. It's very encouraging to know that
what you are suggesting for students to think about as they
progress through their education is the same that is being shared
with them here at AIHM . When we're developing our curriculum and
we're approaching the various aspects of this industry, we do work
with leaders such as yourself to be able to make sure that we're
staying up to date with how things are changing. We're always
emphasising that being able to act in the moment takes time and
preparation behind the scenes.It's also useful for our students to
hear about how an individual can gain confidence and progress from
someone who is maybe more reserved in the beginning into a
confident leader. You can become a leader who people would say is
natural. That's very encouraging for our students to hear,
especially at the beginning of their journeys. So thank you so much
for sharing that.You've spoken a little bit about this already, but
could you just touch a little bit more on how students who complete
their studies at AIHM grow within the hospitality industry?Hafidh:
The students have an opportunity to see and feel, in a very
structured environment, what they need to learn. They have the
opportunity to learn those things, and massively so. AIHM gives
aspiring hoteliers such a great opportunity to work within the
Asian hospitality market . They can do their internships right
there in Bangkok , and they can do them in places like the
Maldives. In the past, this has been a bit skewed towards Europe. I
think it's timely that we have an institute within Asia that allows
aspiring hospitality leaders to see things slightly
differently.I've been fortunate enough to work across the world,
and I've seen the differences in service cultures. If you take the
service culture from a European capital, say Paris, and you compare
that to Tokyo and then you compare that to Bangkok, they're all
somewhat different. They all create a very different impact on the
guest. AIHM students have a great advantage in that they are able
to see this first hand.I think it's also important that AIHM
students are learning in an environment where they're safe and
fully supported. They are under the guidance of professors. They're
under the guidance of people whose sole purpose is their best
interest, and I think that's incredible. The hotel industry can at
times be challenging. You know, not all managers are great, not all
supervisors are great. And you need to be able to learn to navigate
those sort of things. Having some grounding or basis in a safe
environment that allows you to build that confidence in yourself is
also quite critical.Opening the Door to Hospitality Careers in the
MaldivesSamantha: Thank you so much for reflecting back to us the
importance of creating the space for students to try and fail and
to learn and to grow so that when they do get into the industry
they have confidence that's going to take them even further. M y
last question today is on behalf of the students or young
professionals who are considering th e Dr. Maniku S cholarship
opportunity . What doors could this opportunity open for them in
the Maldives specifically ? Hafidh: Oh wow, the opportunities are
huge here. Particularly when you compare the environment in the
Maldives to some other areas of the world, the Maldives presents
massive opportunity to join a very vibrant and very robust
hospitality industry that is constantly growing. I think this year
alone we're going to see 20 new properties within the Maldives. The
hospitality industry is one that has grown very strongly in the
Maldives. Particularly, the pay and benefits are especially great
compared to other places. The Maldives offers great opportunities
for well-trained individuals to step into highly desirable roles
and roles with a high potential for career advancement.Particularly
in the Maldives, a lot of leaders champion a strong desire to grow
the Maldivian leadership within the industry. Having a more
Maldivian leaderships is so valuable because more than 50% of our
working population is from the Maldives. Having local leaders in
those roles can help. They can understand the culture better and be
an advocate for local team members. They can be important advisors
and share their locally informed knowledge with the rest of the
leadership team.Having a degree from AIHM underneath their belt
will fast-track individuals. This educational experience will get
them into the industry so quickly. They can join pretty much
anywhere in the world in Minor alone. We just opened a hotel here
this year. We have plans for more expansion within the Maldives.
AIHM graduates will already be associated with Minor although they
have the opportunity to look elsewhere. Just the special industry
connections AIHM provides is by itself a huge opportunity for
graduates to grow. It's a fait accompli. If students do the work,
if they understand what they're being taught, if they challenge
themselves, they have a huge opportunity here in the Maldives. Not
only here, but elsewhere. Once you take someone somewhere else and
open their eyes to other countries and opportunities, you gain an
understanding that this is a job that can take you around the
world. I'm from Oman, and I've opened hotels in Japan and China.
There is no limited to where you can go and what experiences you
can have. It can be hugely fulfilling.Also, people often associate
a European-style hospitality education with excellence. If you're a
General Manager with Swiss training for example, these are the
people that have historically been very highly regarded. If you
have accreditation from a school such as AIHM with its support from
Les Roches , that's very powerful.Samantha: Thank you, Hafidh, for
taking the time to sit down with me to discuss the AIHM Scholarship
in honor of Dr. Maniku and for your inspirational words for the
young professionals in the Maldives who are considering this
opportunity. We look forward to receiving applications and new
students in our upcoming intakes, which occur every year in
September and April.As you've shared so passionately, the Maldives
is truly a special place and offers so much opportunity for
aspiring leaders and trailblazers in this industry. AIHM is happy
to share in the career journey of Maldivians who share your
excitement for pushing the hospitality industry forward, growing it
sustainably and empowering the next generation of hospitality
leaders to achieve their dreams. Thank you. AIHM 's Head of Student
Engagement, Samantha Lauver-Marion , sat down with Ross Sanders ,
the General Manager at Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas , to chat
about careers in ... In this AIHM Higher blog post, Matthew Fryar
-the General Manager of Avani Pattaya Resort -sits down with
Samantha Lauver-Marion - Head of Student Engagement at
AIHM-to...
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Keywords: Asian Institute of Hospitality Management, East Lake , AIHM's Head of Student Engagement, Hospitality & Tourism , Marion, Florida
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