17 July 2009, 6:30 AM Eastern time
CONTACT: Marriott Communications+1 (301) 380-7770
Bethesda, MD - 17 July 2009 -
Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims of the tragic bombings that took place earlier today in Jakarta, Indonesia. Immediately following the incident, police and hotel security responded and sealed off the area. Our guests at both properties were evacuated and moved to other nearby hotels. Injured guests and hotel employees were taken to the hospital for treatment. Both hotels sustained damage, but it does not appear to be structural. At the time of the incident, extensive security procedures were in place at the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott. We continue to work closely with the authorities and hope to reopen the hotels soon. As always, the safety and security of our guests and associates is our top priority.
For guest information, please contact the Marriott Family Assistance Hotline at 866/211-4610 or 402/390-3265.
For more information, please click here
Friday, July 17, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Two International Awards for Marriott Executive Apartments Manama, Bahrain
Manama, Bahrain – July 2009 – The Marriott Executive Apartments Manama Bahrain has recently brought home two prestigious awards from Marriott International, Inc. The luxury serviced apartments has been awarded as Sales & Marketing Team of the 1st Quarter 2009 over all Marriott Properties around the Middle East & Africa. Moreover, Human Resources Manager Loay Mamdouh has been named as “HR Rising Star for the Year 2008” over all Marriott properties in the Middle East & Africa Area.
Paul continued, “the Bahrain team clearly understand that this is "sales time" and that sales intensity must be brought to boiling point and that selling must be an all consuming passion for us all as we out hustle and overwhelm the competition.”
"Congratulations to Marriott Executive Apartments Manama, Bahrain. It is a truly great way to begin the year for a newly opened apartment-hotel, and we hope the team will achieve more success and recognition in the year ahead," said Paul from his office in London.
Meanwhile, for Loay Mamdouh, this award is the second international honor he achieved for the last two consecutive years, and he stated that this award is a great motivation for him to do more and go the extra mile in his new role as a Human Resources Manager.
"Marriott is one of the best companies you can work with, where all your efforts, hard work, and dedication can be recognized and rewarded! I am proud with such award that I did not achieve alone, however, this success is a result of a great teamwork from the entire Human Resources Team” said Loay.
General Manager Marriott Executive Apartments Manama Bahrain, Hossein Garan extended his gratitude on what his team has achieved this year. "Having two awards over all Marriott properties worldwide is a great honor and is something to be proud of. We wish a continued success for all associates and for our Director of Sales Marwan Haddad and Human Resources Manager Loay Mamdouh to more success and international recognition in the year ahead," said Hossein proudly.
Sales & Marketing team of Marriott Executive Apartments consist of; Marwan Haddad (Director of Sales), Reggie Titus (Sales Executive), Mohammad Iqbal (Sales & PR Executive), Talidhay Ora (Revenue & Inventory Coordinator) and Diana D'Mello (Executive Secretary).
To be the Best Sales & Marketing Team of the 1st Quarter 2009, the Bahrain sales team had to compete with two strong rivals; London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch and Edinburgh Marriott Hotel as well as to eliminate other 3,200 Marriott properties around the world.
Loay Mamdouh, started his career in Training & development since 1998 and joined Marriott at 2005 as Training Manager where he worked 3 years, and showed a great efforts and initiatives that brought him to be named “Area Training Champion for the Year 2007” for Middle East & Africa! To continue his career for more advancement, he had been promoted to HR Manager at MEA Bahrain, where he did a successful opening for the property, in such way that recognized him as “HR Rising Star of the Year 2008”for the area of Middle East & Africa.
Sales & Marketing Team Marriott Executive Apartments Manama, Bahrain.
Paul continued, “the Bahrain team clearly understand that this is "sales time" and that sales intensity must be brought to boiling point and that selling must be an all consuming passion for us all as we out hustle and overwhelm the competition.”
"Congratulations to Marriott Executive Apartments Manama, Bahrain. It is a truly great way to begin the year for a newly opened apartment-hotel, and we hope the team will achieve more success and recognition in the year ahead," said Paul from his office in London.
Meanwhile, for Loay Mamdouh, this award is the second international honor he achieved for the last two consecutive years, and he stated that this award is a great motivation for him to do more and go the extra mile in his new role as a Human Resources Manager.
Loay Mamdouh
"Marriott is one of the best companies you can work with, where all your efforts, hard work, and dedication can be recognized and rewarded! I am proud with such award that I did not achieve alone, however, this success is a result of a great teamwork from the entire Human Resources Team” said Loay.
General Manager Marriott Executive Apartments Manama Bahrain, Hossein Garan extended his gratitude on what his team has achieved this year. "Having two awards over all Marriott properties worldwide is a great honor and is something to be proud of. We wish a continued success for all associates and for our Director of Sales Marwan Haddad and Human Resources Manager Loay Mamdouh to more success and international recognition in the year ahead," said Hossein proudly.
* * * *
Sales & Marketing team of Marriott Executive Apartments consist of; Marwan Haddad (Director of Sales), Reggie Titus (Sales Executive), Mohammad Iqbal (Sales & PR Executive), Talidhay Ora (Revenue & Inventory Coordinator) and Diana D'Mello (Executive Secretary).
To be the Best Sales & Marketing Team of the 1st Quarter 2009, the Bahrain sales team had to compete with two strong rivals; London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch and Edinburgh Marriott Hotel as well as to eliminate other 3,200 Marriott properties around the world.
Loay Mamdouh, started his career in Training & development since 1998 and joined Marriott at 2005 as Training Manager where he worked 3 years, and showed a great efforts and initiatives that brought him to be named “Area Training Champion for the Year 2007” for Middle East & Africa! To continue his career for more advancement, he had been promoted to HR Manager at MEA Bahrain, where he did a successful opening for the property, in such way that recognized him as “HR Rising Star of the Year 2008”for the area of Middle East & Africa.
Monday, July 13, 2009
MARRIOTT WORKERS KEEP BENEFITS DESPITE CUTS
The Washington Post reports on Bill Marriott’s announcement that the company has suspended measuring hours worked to maintain health care benefits for full-time associates through 2009. More
Also please visit Bill Marriott's blog here: (Health Care Coverage for Our Marriott Associates)
Also please visit Bill Marriott's blog here: (Health Care Coverage for Our Marriott Associates)
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Best among the Worse
Yesterday I received voting cards (Surat Suara), to vote the Indonesian President and the Vice President. Zuhri, one of the Indonesians in Bahrain who works as a Duty Manager, passed by my office and dropped the cards. According to Zuhri, although I was initially not registered to participate in this voting, I still have chance to vote.
I received 3 voting card with 3 envelopes where only one has name. It belongs to Muki, my colleague in Kitchen Department. While the other envelopes have no name, but sure it’s for me and Sebastian, a friend in Housekeeping Department.
“Tomorrow will be the election day in Indonesia. For us in Bahrain, we can do tomorrow or the following day. Just tick on one of the pictures, put back to the envelope and send it to me,” he said.
When I opened the card, I just laughed myself. None of the candidates I like.
Anyway, seems I have to vote, to determine the best among the worse, hahaha... Or, perhaps I won’t vote and I will give the card to Agung. Infact, she didn’t get any.
No, I’d better throw it away..! Lol….!
I received 3 voting card with 3 envelopes where only one has name. It belongs to Muki, my colleague in Kitchen Department. While the other envelopes have no name, but sure it’s for me and Sebastian, a friend in Housekeeping Department.
“Tomorrow will be the election day in Indonesia. For us in Bahrain, we can do tomorrow or the following day. Just tick on one of the pictures, put back to the envelope and send it to me,” he said.
When I opened the card, I just laughed myself. None of the candidates I like.
Anyway, seems I have to vote, to determine the best among the worse, hahaha... Or, perhaps I won’t vote and I will give the card to Agung. Infact, she didn’t get any.
No, I’d better throw it away..! Lol….!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Just Not Fair
It’s about labor again. I recently met a Bangali who works for a hotel as a casual housekeeping attendant. He is actually Public Area attendant, one who takes care all public areas in a hotel, cleaning glass windows, or mopping floors of the lobby. He is not in charge for guest rooms. He does not make up rooms.
What’s not fair?
He spent BD1,500 to get working visa in Bahrain. He’s entitled 2 year permit. He’s paid BD10 a day, it means he earns BD240 a month. It’s pretty good pay? Wait..! He has to pay his flat, water, electricity, meal and of course sending money home.
Let’s calculate. For housing, he spends a sharing flat for let say BD50 a month. Then water and electricity will be additional BD10, and then meal for BD40 a month. Don’t forget, since he has a landlord or agent who arranged his employment, including job placement in different places, he has to pay for the agent fee at least BD25. So, total take home pay will be only BD115 a month.
In a year (12 month), he can save BD1,380. This amount is still not enough to pay back the “visa” or “entrance fee” which is BD1,500. I have no idea whether this amount is legal or not, but one thing I really don't get is that within 2 years he can only save BD1,260 net. As a conclusion, he spends 1,500 and sacrifices his two years working very hard for only BD1,260.
To extend another 2 years “working visa” he has to invest again BD1,000. This means, within 2 years, he gets only BD260 net to safe and I still have no clue how he pays for his flight ticket. I really don’t understand since it’s just not fair!
What’s not fair?
He spent BD1,500 to get working visa in Bahrain. He’s entitled 2 year permit. He’s paid BD10 a day, it means he earns BD240 a month. It’s pretty good pay? Wait..! He has to pay his flat, water, electricity, meal and of course sending money home.
Let’s calculate. For housing, he spends a sharing flat for let say BD50 a month. Then water and electricity will be additional BD10, and then meal for BD40 a month. Don’t forget, since he has a landlord or agent who arranged his employment, including job placement in different places, he has to pay for the agent fee at least BD25. So, total take home pay will be only BD115 a month.
In a year (12 month), he can save BD1,380. This amount is still not enough to pay back the “visa” or “entrance fee” which is BD1,500. I have no idea whether this amount is legal or not, but one thing I really don't get is that within 2 years he can only save BD1,260 net. As a conclusion, he spends 1,500 and sacrifices his two years working very hard for only BD1,260.
To extend another 2 years “working visa” he has to invest again BD1,000. This means, within 2 years, he gets only BD260 net to safe and I still have no clue how he pays for his flight ticket. I really don’t understand since it’s just not fair!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Another 4 Reasons Why Bahrainis Don’t Want Hotel Jobs
In the posting earlier, I explained reasons why most Bahrainis are not interested in hotel job from socio-cultural perspective. Here I would like to add some more reasons from socio-economic factors. Enjoy reading...
Wage and Remuneration are the first and the main consideration for Bahraini to take up a job. According to my interview with Dr. Yahya, a lecturer in Tourism Department, Bahrain University, Labour in travel and tourism sector receive low salaries as compared to other jobs. According to Arabia Business survey (GFI, April 2008; p26 – p30), more than two-thirds of workers in GCC consider that they are underpaid, and the worst paid are workers in the travel industry, tourism, hospitality and agriculture sectors with over half earning less than $35,000 a year, and the most common salary range in the survey was $20,000 to $35,000.
Hotel companies are not able to create enough jobs which satisfy the expectations of many medium to high skill Bahrainis. Meanwhile, in the low skill job segment also do not meet the expectations of low skill Bahrainis. Wage expectations are not met, primary because wage levels are set by living conditions, where over half of correspondent (of the survey), mostly Bahrainis, said that inflation had outpaced wage increases. The rising cost of living is the number-one reason why people eventually want to change their employment.
Private sector wages have risen very little during Bahrain’s economic boom, and in some cases expatriate wages have actually fallen. Central bank figures show that the average wage for non-Bahraini men has fallen BD 2 from BD 163 to BD 161 per month over the past five years, and the average for all private sector workers has risen only BD7 in the same period, from BD 221 to BD 228. In the public sector, in contrast, wage increases have been substantial, up from an average of BD 597 to BD 705.
Central Bank figures show that average wage for Bahrainis in the private sector is almost three times that of non-Bahrainis. (Please read main report GFI Magazine “How to get more Bahrainis working in the private sector?” Issue December 2007, page 26 to 30)
Competitiveness; Most Bahrainis in low and medium wage segment cannot compete with expatriate labourers who are much cheaper and perceived to be more productive. Expatriates who generally receive lower salary will make difficult for Bahrainis to compete for the current and event future employment. This issue was admitted by the former head of economist of Bahrain University as a serious problem of the country.
Background as a wealthy oil-producer country. There is a view in Bahrain that the Bahraini workforce no longer wanted to do these lower level jobs, perhaps because they were now too wealthy. Before the oil boom, Bahrainis were cooks, cleaners, construction workers, and held all manner of the jobs in the economy. After the boom, they did not. The question is why.
Consider other countries in the world where per capita incomes and the wealth of the working classes are considerably above that of Bahrain, such as the Scandinavian countries. In a country like Norway, a country with oil resources equivalent to Bahrain, there are still plenty of Norwegian cooks, plenty of Norwegian construction workers, janitors, etc. Why is it that in these other countries, workers who are much wealthier than Bahraini’s are still interested in doing these jobs?
Problem in Communication. Related to the first problem in socio-cultural factors, there is actually problem with communication and awareness of the industry. The government seemed does not pay more attention to take care of the sector in terms of promoting and encouraging locals to take job in hotel industry.
There is no any board or institution from the government who concerns on the image and awareness of for example, benefits of working as an hotelier. The government does not give proper understanding about the area of hotel jobs, for example there are several options and different types of positions available in a hotel or restaurant. If somebody is not really keen to fill a job where he/she has to deal with guest directly, there are still varied positions in back office that he/she does not necessary contact with guests directly.
Moreover, the government should highlight that there are lots of interesting benefits to take career within the industry. There is opportunity for Bahrainis to compete in high level management where they will obtain lots of attractive benefits, such as high salaries, housing, health insurance, international mobility and so on.
Wage and Remuneration are the first and the main consideration for Bahraini to take up a job. According to my interview with Dr. Yahya, a lecturer in Tourism Department, Bahrain University, Labour in travel and tourism sector receive low salaries as compared to other jobs. According to Arabia Business survey (GFI, April 2008; p26 – p30), more than two-thirds of workers in GCC consider that they are underpaid, and the worst paid are workers in the travel industry, tourism, hospitality and agriculture sectors with over half earning less than $35,000 a year, and the most common salary range in the survey was $20,000 to $35,000.
Hotel companies are not able to create enough jobs which satisfy the expectations of many medium to high skill Bahrainis. Meanwhile, in the low skill job segment also do not meet the expectations of low skill Bahrainis. Wage expectations are not met, primary because wage levels are set by living conditions, where over half of correspondent (of the survey), mostly Bahrainis, said that inflation had outpaced wage increases. The rising cost of living is the number-one reason why people eventually want to change their employment.
Private sector wages have risen very little during Bahrain’s economic boom, and in some cases expatriate wages have actually fallen. Central bank figures show that the average wage for non-Bahraini men has fallen BD 2 from BD 163 to BD 161 per month over the past five years, and the average for all private sector workers has risen only BD7 in the same period, from BD 221 to BD 228. In the public sector, in contrast, wage increases have been substantial, up from an average of BD 597 to BD 705.
Central Bank figures show that average wage for Bahrainis in the private sector is almost three times that of non-Bahrainis. (Please read main report GFI Magazine “How to get more Bahrainis working in the private sector?” Issue December 2007, page 26 to 30)
Competitiveness; Most Bahrainis in low and medium wage segment cannot compete with expatriate labourers who are much cheaper and perceived to be more productive. Expatriates who generally receive lower salary will make difficult for Bahrainis to compete for the current and event future employment. This issue was admitted by the former head of economist of Bahrain University as a serious problem of the country.
Background as a wealthy oil-producer country. There is a view in Bahrain that the Bahraini workforce no longer wanted to do these lower level jobs, perhaps because they were now too wealthy. Before the oil boom, Bahrainis were cooks, cleaners, construction workers, and held all manner of the jobs in the economy. After the boom, they did not. The question is why.
Consider other countries in the world where per capita incomes and the wealth of the working classes are considerably above that of Bahrain, such as the Scandinavian countries. In a country like Norway, a country with oil resources equivalent to Bahrain, there are still plenty of Norwegian cooks, plenty of Norwegian construction workers, janitors, etc. Why is it that in these other countries, workers who are much wealthier than Bahraini’s are still interested in doing these jobs?
Problem in Communication. Related to the first problem in socio-cultural factors, there is actually problem with communication and awareness of the industry. The government seemed does not pay more attention to take care of the sector in terms of promoting and encouraging locals to take job in hotel industry.
There is no any board or institution from the government who concerns on the image and awareness of for example, benefits of working as an hotelier. The government does not give proper understanding about the area of hotel jobs, for example there are several options and different types of positions available in a hotel or restaurant. If somebody is not really keen to fill a job where he/she has to deal with guest directly, there are still varied positions in back office that he/she does not necessary contact with guests directly.
Moreover, the government should highlight that there are lots of interesting benefits to take career within the industry. There is opportunity for Bahrainis to compete in high level management where they will obtain lots of attractive benefits, such as high salaries, housing, health insurance, international mobility and so on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)