The year of gratitude

The two people represented in the pictures are the very first people that gave me the opportunity to begin my expat life. It was the year 1996.

Peter Schiess (the man on the right), was at the time, the GM of Ghazala Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt). While working in London as a waiter in an Italian Restaurant and pursuing my dream to travel the world, one day, on the Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, which I would avidly buy and read every week, I saw an advert where the Ghazala Hotel ( a 4* hotel on the Egyptian Riviera of the Red Sea coast) was looking for a Management Couple to run The Spot, an American style bar and club, the second best in the area (there were only two by the way LOL).

I sent my girlfriend and my CV to the personal assistant of Peter by fax (yes, fax) and a week later we received a call from her, a 15 minutes interview and one month later we were traveling to Egypt for what was going to be a new beginning.

I had never travelled to Egypt, neither out of Europe, but with lots of courage, determination and support of my (then) girlfriend (today my wife), I left London with one piece of luggage and the idea of beginning a new adventure in a foreign land.

What can I say..... It was UNBELIEVABLE! We were received warmly by the team and sent to the staff accommodation, we lived litterally inside the hotel compound in a serviced room. We could eat at some of the hotel's restaurants and use the beach facilities.

I mean....... what else one can ask for his first overseas assignment?

OK, the hotel was nothing luxury, but the experience to work abroad at 26 years old……….. I was over the moon.

Soon I realised how big and complex was the hospitality industry, in Naama Bay (the location of the resort) was full of hotels and so many under construction along the coast of the Sinai peninsula as tourism was booming.

While working at The Spot, we met the pre-opening team of the Radisson SAS Sharm el Sheikh. All the executives were staying at the Ghazala, including the GM Johann Kerkhofs (the man on the left).

During their residence at the resort, they used to come and visit me at The Spot for drinks or just to socialize when, while they were getting close to an opening date, Johann approached me and asked me if I was interested to join them.

I was shocked, flattered and enthusiastic at the same time and of course I said I was definetely interested.

I talked about it to my wife and she said ''why not''. So with that, we began our discussion into what was going to be known as the first truly (for me at least) 5* hotel project.

So Johann took me to the building site and told me that the Radisson was going to be most luxurious resort of the Red Sea (at the time) and that they wanted me to be the Restaurant Manager of their Italian Restaurant.

He interviewed me for a while and one of the question I will never forget was ''tell me the Ferrari of the Italian wines?''. I was completely clueless...... (he then helped me with the name Brunello di Montalcino).

The deal was done nevertheless, I was young, Italian, with some F&B experience and good PR skills, but a lot to do before being a ''Manager''.

The destiny though, did not play on me (or maybe it did). A terrible terrorist attack in Luxor that caused the death of 62 people also caused the death of tourism and closure, at least temporary, of many resorts including ours.

We were obliged to flee the country as there was no business. We returned back to London, now with a new objective, study what was missing in my education to become a manager and be able to join the hospitality industry and the 5* hotels.

Two years later I graduated from the Westminster College, got married to my wife and begun my professional life as hotelier fulfilling my passion and finding my calling.

Thank you Peter for believeing in me just over a CV and giving me the very first opportunity to work in a foreign country and treat me and my wife with dignity.

Thank you Johann, for opening up a new world, which then became my passion.

#gratitude #people #celebration #lessonsinleadership