We recently had the privilege of interviewing Denis Sorin, President of Middle East, AMFORHT. With more than three decades of expertise in the hospitality industry, Denis is a seasoned hospitality and tourism executive. Besides, he is passionate about promoting sustainable solutions in tourism and hospitality practices.
As the President of AMFORHT Middle East, he leverages his expertise in supporting the sustainable implementation of governments and local authorities’ tourism strategies through hospitality and tourism education and training. In this insightful interview, Denis Sorin shares his professional journey, and challenges, addresses some common myths, and plans for his organization, along with sharing some valuable suggestions for aspiring professionals.
Spark Behind The Journey
We started the interview by asking, “What ignited your passion and led you to embark on your professional journey in this particular field?”
Denis Sorin shared, “As a matter of fact, passion drives everything I do. At the same time, I make a point to ensure companies I run have long-term success. Early in my career, I realized that for a company to be fully successful, it is necessary to ensure that employees are happy coming to work every day. With passion, I embarked on implementing the ‘fun at work’ management style adapted to the hospitality industry. And it worked; it is working for a team of 5 people as much as 10,000.
To be honest, it is much more difficult to manage that way than the traditional pyramidal system. You must be a leader of course – being a manager barking orders doesn’t work in the long run in 2024 – but you need to be more than that. At the end of the day, what you could call ‘care management’ became my life passion. Ensuring that the workforce is always up to date with the industry’s latest trends and technologies is also a main component of success. In other words, the focus should be on continuous training.”
Denis Sorin added, “This is why I accepted with pleasure when AMFORHT offered me to join them first as a Board Member and later as their representative as President for the Middle East. AMFORHT is an NGO created in 1969 by UN Tourism (formerly known as UNWTO), in charge of implementing global hospitality and tourism education and training. The idea is to assist globally governments and local authorities in devising sustainable tourism strategies for their countries and regions, ensuring their long-term success through industry education and training.
That does benefit everyone, from governments – thanks to a healthier GDP – to the hospitality and tourism industry who get a better educated and trained workforce, as well as the local population with better jobs, better pay, and better life. It’s a win-win-win situation if I may say. I have the feeling that my career eventually led me logically to join AMFORHT.”
More About Denis Sorin
We were curious to learn more about Denis Sorin and the factors that inspired him to join the hospitality industry. So, we questioned, “Share more about your background and the unique story behind the inception of your business. What sets it apart in the market?”
Denis Sorin responded, “I joined the hospitality industry by chance. At first, I was an extremely bad employee, very clumsy, very shy, and not at all the kind of member of staff you need when dealing with guests. Well, that’s not what this hotel General Manager thought. For some reason, he believed I could do it and slowly and compassionately took the time to teach me all I needed to know. I owe him my CEO and other presidential positions I later occupied in my career. Without him, my life would have been very different – for a start, I would have left the hospitality industry only a couple of days after I started.
Besides technicalities, what that General Manager taught me is that you need to pay attention to each of your employees, looking for what they could become, not what they currently are. Of course, not all of them will one day become CEOs. But many can get a job better than what they are currently doing. I remember the case of this security guard who became a trainer and then eventually a training department manager. Or that Chef in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere who went from promotion to promotion to eventually become Chef at the head office, in charge of creating menus and recipes for the entire group.
You can say that I am different. It is that difference that made me succeed all through my long career, not only for me, but also for my colleagues, regardless of their rank, and the stakeholders I worked for. I made mine this famous quote “Happy employees make happy customers. Happy customers make happy shareholders.”
Busting Common Myths
Every industry has certain prevalent misconceptions that need to be addressed by an expert. So, we asked Denis Sorin, “Identify a prevalent misconception about your industry or role that you believe needs clarification. How would you address and rectify this perception?”
Denis Sorin shared, “There is a misconception about the hospitality and tourism industry altogether. It’s a service industry, and many see ‘service’ as a degrading word.
Like if you serve others, it means that you’re lower than them. I like the Ritz-Carlton motto that says, “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”.
It clearly states that there are no social status differences between guests and employees.
Nevertheless, many believe that when you join our industry, you lower yourself. I never had that feeling when I worked rank & file positions – I did everything in a hotel from serving, welcoming at the front desk, cleaning rooms, and more. But many do; when it is not the employees themselves, it can be their families.”
Denis Sorin continued, “I remember the case of this excellent bellman loading a car in front of his hotel. His father passing by found out the kind of job his kid was doing. He then made a scandal saying his son was too good to do what he saw as a degrading job and forced him to resign. When you work for a hospitality or tourism group, there is very little you can do to counter this type of mindset. That’s another reason why I’m so pleased that I joined AMFORHT. I mentioned earlier that AMFORHT is about hospitality and tourism education and training. Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind is to educate those who will eventually join our industry. But we do more than that; we are working to change negative mindsets:
In the words of Zurab Pololikashvili, UN Tourism Secretary General, we need to educate not only our workforce, but also the population in general, from kindergarten to university, so that everyone knows enough about tourism and hospitality, knows that it is not only a decent but rewarding industry, and – last but not least – ensuring that everyone in that country and region welcomes tourists genuinely, as they recognize how important they are to their well-being.”
Adaptability Amidst Challenges
We further asked, “Reflecting on your journey, what significant challenges have you encountered in your business, and how did you successfully navigate and overcome them?”
Denis Sorin continued, “Challenges are many, and they vary from one country to another. As I worked on almost all continents, I quickly learned to adapt to each local environment and their challenges. Nevertheless, there is one common to all: finding the right employee for the right position. The hospitality and tourism industry has always been understaffed. Since the COVID-19 crisis, it has become worse. We went from understaffed to dramatically understaffed. Reasons for that challenge are many but, overall, it comes down to the quality of the working environment.
Many explain that our industry is plagued by low salaries, working long hours, working when others have fun, working evening and night shifts, etc. Most – if not all – hospitality groups addressed these issues by increasing salaries, and proposing adapted working hours but it didn’t help much. Most overlooked the quality of the working environment factor. As I mentioned earlier, I always make a point to ensure that everyone working with me – regardless of their positions, is as happy and satisfied as possible and comes to work with a smile on their face every day.
As a result, I am most of the time able to hire the number of people required, and quality professionals if I may add, as I receive almost every day CVs of great hoteliers et tourism experts who worked with me in the past, or heard about me from friends and colleagues, and wish to join the company I’m working for. When you treat people with respect, yet still demand the best from them, they pay you back tenfold.”
Plans We Asked Denis Sorin
We were curious to learn about the professional goals Denis Sorin has been planning. So, we inquired, “Outline your professional aspirations and goals. What strategic initiatives are you implementing to achieve these objectives?”
Denis Sorin replied, “Working now for an NGO, AMFORHT, my approach to goals has changed somehow. I’m not anymore in the business of making my company profitable – even if fundraising is an important part of what I must do: AMFORHT, like any NGO, is only as rich as its donors make it. Nevertheless, my personal goals remain mostly the same as when I was working for for-profit corporations. These included helping as many as possible talents to get a better education and training to get a better job. Overseeing the Middle East for AMFORHT, based in Riyadh, I can say that there is a lot I can do to achieve this goal.
Starting with Saudization, which I’m currently working on a great scale plan to tackle that issue, or assisting entrepreneurs in Lebanon to redevelop their country’s tourism industry to its former glory. Also, as AMFORHT, I am available to any government, local authority, or major industry player to assist them as much and often as required. Working for a UN Tourism affiliate, you can see that there is so much that we can and will do to help this region that I fell in love with 20 years ago become even better.
In a 2022 speech, Zurab Pololikashvili said that “tourism is the main bridge for building understanding. It has a unique ability to promote peace between and among peoples everywhere”. I believe that there is no better goal to work for.
Fostering Collaboration
Collaboration and teamwork are integral to success. So, we asked, “Could you elaborate on the methods and practices you employ to foster a culture of collaboration within your organization or group?”
Denis Sorin shared, “Teamwork is a long-term success foundation. If I may, I would like your readers to refer to a previous interview we had a year ago, when I was President of a Saudi-born hospitality company. There, I implemented collaboration and teamwork to its maximum extent, based on a previous successful experience when I was CEO of a West African hospitality group.
The idea is that there are departments (finance, human resources, operations, marketing, etc.), but these departments do not work in silos. They work collaboratively, pushing teamwork to its limit. Again, this collaborative teamwork management style isn’t for the faint of heart. Like being a leader or implementing ‘fun at work’, it requires a lot of energy and dedication.
The advantage of such a collaborative organization is that it develops its own corporate culture. Once everyone agrees with the company’s goals and works as one to achieve them, the corporate culture designs itself, and evolves constantly, allowing the organization to timely address any crisis it may encounter.”
Envision The Future
To understand the visions Denis Sorin has for his organization, we inquired, “How do you foresee the evolution of your industry or field over the next 5-10 years? Are there emerging trends or innovations that you anticipate playing a pivotal role?”
Denis Sorin replied, “The hospitality and tourism industry are constantly evolving. This is why AMFORHT is so keen that every employee is constantly being trained in new technologies, trends, and skills. The way I see it, I believe that in the next 5 to 10 years, technology will take a bigger toll on the industry. Naturally, the technology that everyone talks about these days, Artificial Intelligence (AI), will eventually get the lion’s share. First, the way hotels are managed, from yield management to room cleaning for increased efficiency, and guest enjoyment along with communicating with guests and the team, will be hugely impacted.
Another trend that has already started is lifestyle hotels, which will slowly replace traditional properties. All international groups have already developed their lifestyle brands to address the newest generations’ expectations. Similarly, airlines, car rentals, and chauffeur drives will also need to adapt. It seems to take longer with the tourism industry than with hospitality, but they will eventually catch up on customers’ requests.”
Current Offerings
To learn more about the services offered by Denis Sorin’s organization, we asked, “Take a moment to introduce our visitors to the standout services and products your business offers. What unique value do they bring to the market or consumers?”
“AMFORHT, as an NGO created by UN Tourism in 1969, is not a for-profit corporation. What we do is to assist governments and local authorities globally to successfully implement sustainable tourism strategies through hospitality and tourism education and training.
To that end, we established over the years a worldwide network of 80 representations, and developed partnerships with 1,000+ individuals, universities, schools, and training centers – not counting the 200+ experts -, allowing us to efficiently address any request we may get.
For instance, AMFORHT recently signed an agreement with the Ivory Coast government. They developed an exciting sustainable tourism strategy called “Sublime Côte d’Ivoire.” Our job is to work with the Ivory Coast Ministries of Tourism and Education, defining with them the best possible action plan to ensure the project’s long-term success. All through the project, we ensure that the highest quality standards are implemented.
In other words, AMFORHT is at the disposal of any government, local authority, or major hospitality and tourism group to assist them in implementing a tourism strategy aiming at increasing their GDP, while enhancing their population’s quality of life and employability.” Denis Sorin shared.
Suggestions For Beginners
Lastly, addressing the beginners, we asked Denis Sorin, “Drawing from your experience, what valuable advice would you offer to individuals who are just embarking on their journey in this industry? What key lessons have shaped your professional perspective?”
“Being a good technician is something anyone can achieve if they work hard enough. Being a good manager or a ‘leader’ is another ballgame. When you start being promoted, be humble and remember that, as Michel de Montaigne said, “If you sit on the highest throne in the world, you’re still sitting on your ass”.
Besides teaching you humility this quote reminds you to take care of others. Help them as much as you can to become better professionals – they will repay you a hundredfold by guaranteeing that you keep being promoted to the top. Always keep in mind that your success is not yours alone. It is the result of those who work so well under you that you were noticed by your management and got that promotion and that other one, and that other one.” Denis Sorin concluded.
Follow Denis Sorin on LinkedIn.
Visit AMFORHT at https://www.amforht.org/
Also Read
Digitabytes Revolutionizing The SEO Landscape With Ultimate SEO Solutions
Market Entry & Capital Introduction Solutions With DXB Partners: Simon Davies
Sharing Global Perspective On Legal Practices: Dany E. Labaky Shares His Journey
