The countdown has begun

To say the industry is waiting with anticipation to learn the results of this year's Hotelier Middle East Awards is an understatement. From the 1500 nominations registered through to the thousands of comments we have received on HotelierMiddleEast.com in support of the long-listed nominees, hoteliers have been united in their eagerness to be a part of the awards.

And considering the challenging year hoteliers have faced, this is no surprise. With workforces reduced, sales teams stretched and filling hotel rooms more challenging than ever before, there has been little time to sit back and reflect on business to date. So, what better way to do so than at the Hotelier Middle East Awards?

And, according to the nominations, the accomplishments of the people behind the hotel success stories have been varied and many.

There are some exemplary cases  in the most unexpected of places. For example, at Madinat Jumeirah, buggy technician Anas Makba - an entry level employee at the most junior grade - has single-handedly saved the hotel AED 60,000 (US $16,335) a year by replacing potentiometers in the throttles of the hotel's famous abras. Without his personal research into the component, the entire throttle would have had to have been replaced.

And at InterContinental Muscat in Oman, recreation supervisor Babu Mohan Das worked double shifts for 45 days straight during a period of high staff turnover and vacation, also running private gym sessions for guests and serving at banquets.

This highlights the theme of multi-tasking, recurrent in the nominations and also the topic of this month's cover story. There is evidence that cross-utilisation works - Makba and Mohan Das are testament to this - but as the experts note on page 50, there is also a risk that it can negatively impact service standards.

So, while staff have made impressive progress this year, it is time to both recognise their success and also ensure that the scope of their responsibilities is in hand.

Above all, there was one factor linking all the nominations - the great service ultimately provided to guests - and this is what must be preserved.

Louise Oakley is editor of Caterer Middle East.

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