With more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry, the General Manager of Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain leads with passion and shares highlights of 2024, his leadership style and his biggest motivation as a hotelier.

You’ve completed a full year at Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain. What have been the main highlights for you and what can guests look forward to in the New Year?
My main highlights for 2024, my first year here, have been to really increase the quality of our guest service and further develop the resort in offering more experiences throughout the property. Some of those also relate to food and beverage, such as our guest chef visit that we had, which we want to continue this year; the jazz on the beach event – we are looking at doing several of those this year as well; and the opening of Mar Y Mas, of course, which was a big success. So those are some of the highlights.

Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain has been recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ for the second consecutive year. How do you foster a positive work culture and how would you describe your leadership style?
Yes, we are really proud of our consecutive recognition as a great place to work. I think a work culture is important, where there is respect both ways, there’s transparency, there’s clear vision and clear goals and a lot of training and development opportunities for people to learn and grow. I think having a positive outlook is always good but also addressing points that need attention and should be raised with people to further improve our service delivery. Also, our administrative efforts, let’s say back-of-house departments.

As an engaged, passionate and energised luxury hotelier, what is your biggest inspiration and motivation?
I think my biggest inspiration is that I believe we can do better every day. The biggest motivation for me is having guests leave the resort and saying that they had a fabulous time with us, that they really enjoyed the hotel, that the team took excellent care of them, that they enjoyed all the experiences and that they’ll be back in the future. I think that’s what is one of my largest motivators.

Having run a full marathon and climbed Europe’s highest peak, what’s next on your list of adventures?
I’m not quite sure yet. I’m running a half marathon in January but that’s nothing too out of the ordinary. I am looking at, perhaps, triathlon participation and exploring some other exciting challenges.

How are you enjoying life in Bahrain so far and what is your favourite place on the island to relax with your family?
The family and I are enjoying our life in Bahrain very much. Everybody has settled in well and is enjoying the relaxed lifestyle. My family loves to come to Jumeirah Gulf of Bahrain – the kids enjoy the pool, while I do a little bit of work on the weekends sometimes. We also have a nice little compound with a pool, where we hang out with friends and neighbours. ✤