I am looking to further myself professionally, building on the leadership capability I have acquired and leveraging the knowledge obtained from my Hotel Management Degree, achieved with Distinction, and my recently-obtained MBA. My personal accolades with IHG include an award for the “Account Manager of the Year 2005” within Regional Sales and a Nomination for the EMEA Salesperson of the Year 2006. Despite my individual success, I am a strong team player; open-minded, flexible, culturally aware and tailor my participative leadership style to the individuals in my team, drawing on their strengths to achieve organizational goals.
My passion for languages and meeting new people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds promotes me to work in roles that are global in nature, and would relish the opportunity to work across continents. I firmly believe that, despite my tender age, I am capable of leading teams at the highest level in any organization and have a proven track record of success.
Professional Achievements
Key Account Management
Driven YOY Variance of 148% on Account base in 2005, resulting in Account Manager of the Year Award
Repositioned New Business Team and drove incremental revenues in excess of $10m in first year through strategic deals with new global customers
Leadership
Evolved Government / New Business Segments in conjunction with Senior Leadership for IHG in EMEA through industry leading sales strategy and world-class account management
Progression of team members into key roles within IHG through succession planning
Achieved team/individual targets throughout IHG tenure, current revenue responsibility of $100m
Strong presence within IHG, high personal equity, ambassador for Regional Sales EMEA
Present on IHG’s high talent program, seen as having the potential to develop into a Senior Executive role in the future
On Property Sales
Worked with M&E Manager to develop operational strategy for team (Corus Hotel Warwick)
Responsible for creating a marketing campaign presented to the Executive Board of Victor’s Hotels during Hotel Management Overseas Internship
Strong operational experience having worked in the following departments in hotels; Bar, Food and Beverage, Housekeeping, Reception, Sales and Marketing, Accounts and Administration, Kitchen
Strong knowledge of the way a hotel operation is run from Hotel Management Degree, achieved with Distinction
Skills
Proficient in 4 languages (English, Italian, German, Maltese). Learning French, Arabic.
Leadership
Coaching
Performance Management / Measurement
Business Strategy
Key Account Management
Hotel Operations
Multi-segment knowledge
Strong academic background
Strong cultural awareness
Tech-savvy
Work History
InterContinental Hotels Group, EMEA (Jan 2005 – Present Day)
Manager, Key Account Management (Nov 2006-Present Day)
• Manage team of 10 Regional Account Managers, responsible for day-to-day running of team with forecasted revenue of $100m.
• Responsible for evolution of departmental strategies within the New Business, Government and Leisure Teams, working closely with internal and external stakeholders to optimise the way IHG sells to their key accounts thereby increasing the account portfolio revenue and market share versus competitors
• Responsible for all aspects of Performance Management and direct man management of teams; regular Account Reviews, mid-year and annual performance reviews, responsible for developing and coaching team members through the implementation of a world-class coaching program, chairing weekly team meetings and providing support to team members, customer evaluations
• Recruitment of new team members and induction process; winning the war for talent, retaining and developing talent through career progression
• Form part of the broad Senior Leadership Team for IHG EMEA Sales and attend regular meetings with segment heads at Director and VP level to discuss long term strategies to outperform competitors
Account Manager / Team Leader – New Business EMEA (Oct 05-Nov 2006)
• Same responsibilities as above with smaller team
Account Manager - European Corporate/BTA/C&I Accounts (Jan 2005 – Oct 2005)
• Generating incremental revenue across the InterContinental Hotels Group estate, through current account base of global blue chip corporations by forging strategic alliances and preferred agreements
• Applying strategic account management principles to understand the clients’ buying patterns and set up action plan to target potential business and increase market share, reviewing the clients on a regular basis and locking in commitment
• Repositioning the New Business Team increasing revenues from $2m to $10m in the first year and adopting a leadership role within the department
• Target new corporate clients from top 5 industries for both transient and groups and meetings business
• Present strategy to internal and external stakeholders, thereby increasing the profile of the Regional Sales Centre EMEA
• Leading negotiations for key clients and forecasting business in line with company strategy and application of yield management principles – “the right business, in the right hotel, at the right time”
• Organising customer events, roadshows and networking activities for account base to forge stronger client relationships
Corus Hotel Warwick, Honiley, Warwickshire, United Kingdom (Aug 2004 – Jan 2005)
Meetings and Events Sales Co-ordinator
• Maximizing hotel revenue through understanding of yield management
• Taking an active role in business planning with senior management, particularly through new sales and marketing initiatives
• Dealing with all new conference, special events and wedding enquiries, and contracting clients in adherence with diary management policy
• Hosting showrounds with prospective clients, selling the property and successfully negotiating rates in line with revenue management requirements
• Working closely with Meetings and Events Manager and Area General Manager to formulate sales and marketing strategies
Victor’s Residenz Hotel Schloss Berg, Nennig, Germany (Jun 2002 – Jun 2003)
Hospitality Management Internship
The International Internship was the main building block upon which my Hospitality Management studies were built. Throughout the year I worked in each of the following departments, to gain an overview of the way a hotel should be managed, whilst gaining invaluable experience at operational level, working my way up to supervisory level and assisting management in implementation of policy.
This, of course was the focus of my Internship and I became a core member of the management team, responsible for strategy, focused on revenue generation and a motivator of the various teams and brigades I operated in.
From a marketing perspective, I was responsible for creating a marketing campaign, which was presented to the Executive Board, whose central headquarters lie in Saarbruecken, and was implemented in the hotel. This return on investment from this campaign was around 8:1, in terms of revenue generated vs. costs incurred for the implementation of such a campaign.
I have worked closely with the General Manager to plan the development of other apprentices, to ensure that they gain operational experience in all departments, and organised various seminars in which guest speakers were invited to talk about specific topics, such as customer service, front office operations, sales, marketing and food & beverage management. The results were instantly visible, through the monitoring of guest feedback and the marked increase in standards of service across the board.
The following is a list of departments in which I worked throughout my internship; Bar, Food and Beverage, Housekeeping, Reception, Sales and Marketing, Accounts and Administration, Kitchen.
Global Village English Language Centre, Malta
(Summer 2001, Summer 2003 – 12 months experience)
TEFL (CELTA) Teacher & Group Leader
The two summers spent working within this English Language school have given me a great insight into the management of a company operating in one of the niche markets within the tourism industry in Malta.
My work involved the following aspects, namely Human Resources, Finance, Project Management and General Management. I worked very closely with the students coming from all over Europe to strategically manage their English Language capabilities and tailor it to the use of the language within various areas of their job. This enabled the students to fashion a long-term plan in which they could work on their language step-by-step to ensure that their requirements are met and their expectations exceeded. Hence, I was not only an English teacher, but a consultant in a business arena, working towards customer satisfaction and enhancing the chances of repeat business and increased brand loyalty.
Furthermore, I was involved, together with the Director, in the pricing strategy of the business, by feeding back the operational information and correlating it with competitor information to come up with a competitive pricing platform for the school. It was essential to have a good knowledge of the market, which is extremely competitive, due to the seasonal nature of the business, in order to run a profitable business.
From a Project Management perspective, I was responsible for augmenting revenue by coming up with a list of cultural and leisure activities which students could undertake after their scheduled lessons. This would involve dealing with suppliers, grading them according to quality and price. I would then optimise profitability by implementing various sales blitzes throughout the school, whilst listening to the feedback given with regards to the enjoyment of activities, and planning the months ahead accordingly.
In terms of General Management, I was involved in strategy and was also called upon to deal with complaints, which involved an unbiased approach to ensure that a win-win situation is achieved. This was a challenging but rewarding aspect of management, where one uses the day-to-day problems to fashion company strategy in accordance with the changing demands of the marketplace.
CMA-CGM Malta (Compagnie Maritime d`Affretment), Malta (Sep 1999 – Sep 2000)
Shipping Logistics
After having finished High School, I decided to take a sabbatical work to gain work experience within a customer focused, French-owned Shipping Company, before commencing my Hospitality Management studies.
• Working closely with CMA-CGM offices in Europe, Asia, Central America to maximise customer service
• Liaising with Malta Freeport to ensure that transhipment cargo was discharged correctly, in order to facilitate transit time
• Tracking containers by using sophisticated software provided by the company and liaising with CMA-CGM branches all over the world
Education
Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
University of Liverpool, UK
2006-2009
Modules/Grades
Managing Change A* - Outstanding
Advanced Managerial Accounting A* - Outstanding
Managing Resources A - Excellent
Managing the Environment A - Excellent
Managing People A - Excellent
Marketing in a Global Environment B - Very Good
Entrepreneurship B - Very Good
Business Leadership B - Very Good
Dissertation: Leveraging Lead Referral to generate incremental revenue and enhance account management capability. A study of a global hotel chain.
H.Dip, Hospitality Management (DISTINCTION)
Institute of Tourism Studies, Malta
2000-2004
Internships throughout Hotel Management Studies
February 2002 – May 2002
Baystreet Hotel, Malta ****
Front Office & Rooms Division Management Internship
The above-mentioned internship was focused on Rooms Division Management. This is one the cardinal aspects of the hotel as the sale of rooms has the highest return on investment. The placement included the application of yield management principles, the review of the financial month, planning staff rotas and putting forward proposals for the optimisation of the running of the hotel. Furthermore, a full report was presented to the General Manager during the final week of the placement.
February 2004 – May 2004
Suncrest Hotel (Sol Melia), Malta ****
Food & Beverage Management Internship
This Internship focused on the running of food & beverage outlets in the hotel, with the aim of increasing sales and decreasing costs, by implementing procedures which would increase the awareness of food-preparation and food service employees. Furthermore, there was a deep involvement in menu engineering and analysis of sales figures on a weekly basis. Man-management was one of the Key Performance Objectives of the role i.e. appraisals, training etc. A full report was presented to the General Manager during the final week of the placement.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language TEFL (CELTA) Certificate
Malta
2001
High School
Junior College, University of Malta
1997 - 1999
Advanced “A” Level – Mathematics, Physics
Intermediate Level - English, Philosophy, Applied Mathematics, Systems of Knowledge (a General Knowledge subject unique to Malta)
Secondary School
St. Aloysius College, Malta
1990 - 1997
References
References are available on request.
