Philipp John Economou
Swiss Higher Alpine Diploma in Hotel Management

In 1995 Philipp John Economou graduated from Alpine Center with an IHTTI Swiss Higher Diploma in Hotel Management.

His career started with an internship with Atheneaum InterContinental Hotel in Athens that continued with many more posts with InterContinental Hotels in Madrid, Paris, and Miami where he became Director of Food & Beverage Management before relocating to Abu Dhabi and becoming the General Manager at Holiday Inn followed by a post of General Manager at InterContinental Fujairah Resort in UAE. Currently he holds the position of Area General Manager, Bahrain & General Manager at InterContinental Regency Bahrain.  In this interview he shares his success story and what it takes to lead a great team.

 

 

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers’ as Druker said. This is my leadership style and I owe my successful career to a solid education at Alpine, great mobility and work in different countries, keeping up with the competition, especially with regards to guest preferences and satisfaction as well as latest technology to carry all this out. Philipp John Economou

In your opinion, what personal qualities must one have to be successful in the hospitality industry?  

In the hospitality industry you need to have a good work ethics. Attitude and enthusiasm are key. We want to give our guests and colleagues the best experience available. The hours are long and it requires a lot of commitment but at the same time it is a rewarding job. People skills — if there is one thing that is important in the hospitality industry is our people skills, we know how to engage and communicate effectively with guest, colleagues, vendors and owners. Last but not least — Integrity, absolutely key for me; you need to make sure that you will do things in the right way in all aspects of our work, including liaising with owners, managing the hotel and most importantly, looking after our colleagues.

What’s your secret to motivating and inspiring your team? 

Over the years I have learned that our people and guests are what keeps us going. Our staff is the lifeblood of our hotel. Leading a high-performing team is therefore less about driving performance and more about inspiring & creating an environment where team members feel valued, energised and supported; and therefore are able and motivated to perform to their full potential and delight our guests and over-deliver on results. You’ll need to proactively stay on top of anything that could potentially affect your hiring and development processes and be sure to make whatever changes are necessary to optimise your staff accordingly.

Having a goal without a plan is just a wish, so planning is extremely important for the success in our business. Empowerment is another key word for me and part of the culture I always try to develop in all my hotels is to create a “psychologically safe environment” which allows colleagues for moderate risk-taking, speaking their mind, creativity and taking decision without fear.

Planning and Empowerment equals — more time for all of us to focus on the attention to details which will differentiate us from the competition.

Working in the hospitality industry requires long hours. How did you find the perfect work and life balance? 

Twenty-four years in the industry,  this is one thing I am still looking to find.

Jokes apart, it is extremely important to maintain a healthy balance, between work, family and myself! You can never find the perfect balance. I have and will continue to invest time on empowering, training and developing my team as this is allowing me to focus also on my family. 

Things which are important for me only, I am trying to do them during the time that I am not needed at work or to be with the family, so my gym time is from 5am to 6am daily which is not that perfect … really but it works! 

 

Tell us three reasons why travelers should visit Bahrain? 

InterContinental Regency Bahrain

People: Warm and welcoming locals. The Bahrainis are some of the most down to earth, helpful and social people I have ever met. Hospitality is deeply ingrained in their culture.

Culture: It is home to one of the most ancient civilisations, the Dilmun civilisation. Boasting a 6000-year history.

Culinary Experience: No trip is complete without a great, authentic culinary experience. Bahrain has many great restaurants offering something for every taste. It is a must for all visitors to experience an all-day traditional Bahraini breakfast consisting of khubz (oven-baked flatbread), falafel (deep-fried chickpea patties), balaleet (sweet vermicelli and eggs), keema (minced meat).

 

Your favourite country in the world is? And why? 

GREECE … GREECE … GREECE! 

Not enough space to describe you why, the list is too long! 

Philipp John Economou holds:

  • 24 years of International experience, Europe, USA and Middle East.
  • 4 years of strong Union Hotelexperience (Spain and France)
  • Multi brand experience, InterContinental, Holiday Inn
  • Hotel Operations, Revenue & Finance
  • Corporate business hotel
  • Hotel Opening experience

 

Would you like to embark on a career in the hospitality and tourism industry?

 

If you’re interested contact us for more information

 

We would be happy to give you a call and answer any questions you may have.

www.swissalpinecenter.com
[email protected]

We would be happy to give you a call and answer any questions you may have.

Swiss Alpine Center

the Swiss Business School for Hotel & Tourism Management is celebrating 4 decades. The Company was established in Switzerland in 1986 and it’s 1st campus outside Switzerland was Established in Athens-Greece in 1987, and is a pioneer of hospitality management education, a la Suisse! Alpine has attracted students from over 75 countries in the last three decades, making it a truly international institute of learning.

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