How did you start your career?
I am an outgoing personality from the start and people have been telling me to start doing modeling and you can be a good hotelier too. So I did modeling and started working in a hotel too. You would be surprised that I worked as a receptionist in a hotel in 1984 during my matriculation holidays. Then I did my intermediate after that I worked in couple of hotels .I got a chance to go to Australia. I did my hotel management course from Melbourne and lot of advance courses too. I came back to Pakistan then went to Dubai then again came back Pakistan and joined Marriott Hotel. After that thing started working in my favor I started working for Pearl Continental Hotel Peshawar as Front Officer Manager for 4 years and then I worked for Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi and then Lahore as the front desk operation manager. I spent 4 years there and worked as a room supervisor and of pearl continental hotel Lahore. At the age of 29 I got the chance of working in Holiday Islamabad as a general manager. I must thank Allah that so far life have been very favorable for me and success came from nowhere but Allah. While I was working in holiday Islamabad by the grace of ALLAH I became talk of the town. I came back to Pakistan and started working with Mehran Hotel and again by the grace of ALLAH and hard work MEHRAN HOTEL was 3 star hotel but it was then ranked among 5 stars hotels. I joined Avari in 2006 the same hotel and by grace of Allah and then again worked in different hotels and in different cities. I also did general manager certification course from India. I came back and I was asked to work with Avari Dubai and then I was asked to open Avari apartments and thanks to Almighty it went well. Then I came back to Karachi and took over PC Karachi for 4 years then I joined pizza hut as COO.
I have introduced institutional sales and bank alliance in the fast food chains.
I came back to Avari on 17 April 2017 so far it has been a nice experience, nice team and we have achieved so much in these 6 months by the grace of Almighty ALLAH, team and chairman of the hotel himself. I belief if we work together we can do wonders and whatever I am today is because of Allah, my parents and my wife.
Managing hotels have ever been hard for you?
Managing hotels are easy. You have to be focused on your goals and then the treatment how it should be done. People have this perception that hotel jobs are part time affair but let me tell you it’s a perfect job and it needs your dedication because running a 5 star hotel people expect things to be perfect and thanks to Almighty up til now I am able to manage that successfully.
Are you a foodie?
I am from Hyderabad Dakkan and people there are extremely foodie so yeah I am a foodie too. I want good food and good tea.
If you are not a foodie then you are not an hotelier.
What do you think about the future of hotel business?
The future is very bright I must tell you. Now we have big opportunities coming up. I have always said, that we should give credit to the owners of the hotels for running hotels in such bad conditions of this city. We need to make an event calendar to promote our hotels worldwide.
How can we flourish our hotel industry?
First, make sure you have clean and green Pakistan. This concept has to be marked that we love colorful Pakistan where we love festivities, we don’t discriminate and everyone have free will to pray. And Allahumdulliah now we are in a position to invite people. We need to create festive events in Pakistan to flourish our industry. Secondly we should have some foreign chains as Avari .How we will manage? We can manage by the team work. We do festivities in Avari and Beach Luxury and have complete co-operate setup here. Numbers of events are lined up. So Avari is not only contributing towards food but hospitality and excellence like any international hotel. It is working as a platform for external services and as well as internal.
What are the ups and down you have faced in your career?
There are no downs in my career. I take those down as a lesson. So yeah! There are many lessons I have learned. There are lessons that take you up.
You learn from your mistakes but those mistakes should not be repeated.
Repeating mistakes are blunders, don’t make blunders because you aren’t doing things for yourself but contributing for your society and your family so you have to be responsible and co-operative.
What is the recipe of success in hotel industry?
Let me tell you the recipe of success not only in hotel industry but in life. I am blessed to be born in a Muslim family. Whatever I am today it is because of Almighty Allah. Follow Allah and be obedient towards you family, then nothing will stop you from being successful. Second most important thing is to look after the employers who are working under you. Humanity is another big thing. So by following Allah and being a helping hand for others is a ultimate secret of success.
Rapid Fire:
Favorite Hotel:
Pearl Continental Karachi
Favorite cuisine:
Lebanese Food
What would have happened if you were not an hotelier?
I would have become an actor
Pakistani Desi or Continental?
Pakistani Desi
Sweet or Sour?
Sour
Favorite chef
Not yet.
