Exclusive Interview | Aurelio Giraudo, Cluster General Manager, Banyan Tree Doha & La Cigale
/“I hope to see more women in leadership positions, which is in line with Accor’s international network in support of gender equality and diversity “Riise”.”
Aurelio Giraudo holds a bachelor's degree in Hotel Administration from Italian Hospitality and has completed a number of senior leadership programs at Cornell & Bocconi University.
Prior to his appointment at Accor as Cluster General Manager for Banyan Tree Doha & La Cigale Hotel Managed by Accor, he was the Cluster General Manager for Kempinski Group in Kenya.
Aurelio has 4 decades of experience with leading luxury hospitality companies including Four Seasons, Shangri-La, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Dusit Hotels & Resorts, Marriott & Accor group. Aurelio is no stranger to the Banyan Tree group, during his early years in the hospitality industry, he was working for them in Banyan Tree Bintan Indonesia.
In his current role, he is in charge of repositioning the La Cigale Hotel under the Accor umbrella and ensuring the successful opening of Banyan Tree Doha, which will be the first Co venture between Accor & Banyan Tree Group. With his extensive expertise in Sales & Marketing, Food & Beverage, Revenue Management, and Finance departments, he will be responsible to achieve the commercial objectives of both the hotels and position the hotels as a preferred destination for local and international travellers.
Aurelio is no stranger to the Middle East market wherein he has held a senior leadership role with The Regency Hotel in Kuwait in the capacity of General Manager and Director of Business Development.
Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?
I started working very early during my college days. Every evening I used to go to our family restaurant and take care of the entire operations. It was during this time that I fell in love with the hospitality industry. My inspiration was seeing what my parents did. Then I moved to a cruise line job wherein I started working with Princess Cruises as part of their food & beverage operations. I worked with them for 6 months and then I moved to London. Over there I joined The Savoy London and was taking care of Restaurant operations. My journey has taken me to lots of places around the world and my next move was to South Africa wherein I started working with Suncoast casino. It was an amazing experience for me and I learned a lot over there. I have never looked back and my journey is still ongoing. I moved to Doha 2 years back and I enjoy each and every day I spend in this beautiful city. I knew that hospitality and interpersonal relations would be something I’ll always love and be passionate about and it has remained with me to date and is what motivates and inspires me.
Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?
Passion, self-belief, effective communication, presentation skills, high levels of cultural awareness, attention to detail, eagerness to learn new things and stakeholder relationship plays a big role in order to be successful in this industry.
Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring? If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?
Body language and presentation skills are the key attributes which I look for when hiring a suitable candidate. I “hire for attitude and train for skill”. Positive behaviour and attitude is something that comes from within and cannot be taught. If you have these qualities, then I am just a call away!
Editor: What according to you can trainees do while they are training at hotels to make it a win-win for them & the hotel/unit?
Trainees can put into practice what they have learned at school. It gives them the opportunity to experience real-life situations, which will develop their skills and competencies. The hotel benefits from getting a fresh pair of eyes to look at the tasks and also get to know the latest trends. The hotel can assign projects to trainees, who can devote their time to such projects. Sometimes certain specific projects are put on hold because there is no dedicated person to work on them. The trainee benefits from owning a project from A to Z thus applying all aspects of the learning. Trainees, especially Management trainees are the future leaders of tomorrow. If well-groomed and mentored, they can be part of the succession plan.
Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?
The pandemic has changed the way how we are working these days. We are now more inclined towards technology than ever before. There is more and more emphasis on social media and showcasing the guest’s journey through lifestyle videos before their arrival at the hotel. Mobile check-in service, contactless payments, enhanced F&B delivery at home, healthy organic food and drinks, sustainability, augmented reality are now the latest trends in our industry.
Editor: Tech is now an enabler for great hospitality. Can you share with us some of the techs that go into creating your guest experience?
The shift towards a contactless guest experience is spreading like wildfire. We are now offering digital check-in and checkout, virtual show rounds, digital restaurant menus, contactless payments, and personalized experiences through curated menus for residential dining.
Editor: Two things you would like to change in the industry.
1) I personally feel that our industry is too age-focused. With age, experience comes and people can add more value to the company by passing on the knowledge to another and by taking a calculative risk. At the same time, the new generations are more tech-savvies and are aware of all new trends. I would like to see more age groups working together, learning from each other. Talking about being tech-savvies, here’s a fun fact “87 % of youngsters have backache, and rest of 13 % have no computer..!”
2) I hope to see more women in leadership positions, which is in line with Accor’s international network in support of gender equality and diversity “Riise”.
Editor: What can we expect in the coming year?
With the vaccination drive in full progress, we anticipate the Doha market to recover by Q4 2021. More and more conferences and exhibitions will happen once restrictions are lifted. The staycation and daycation business will continue to exist with a strong recovery in the corporate and leisure segments. Qatar's government has also taken lots of initiatives in promoting sports tournaments, especially football. With the Arab World Cup scheduled to happen in December 2021 and FIFA World Cup in Nov – Dec 2022, the city is expected to be sold out during this period. We have aligned our strategies to ensure our pricing is on par with the other competitive luxury hotels. “FIFA Tournament Time Demand Model (TTDM)” has forecasted 1.7 million people could visit Qatar during the FIFA dates with approximately 500,000 visitors in the country on the busiest days. So overall very healthy signs of the market.
