“ MY BIGGEST DREAM IS TO REALLY BE A SMALL GLOBAL COMPANY
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parents run a Swiss country inn about 60 km ( 37 mi ) from Zurich . Today ’ s chief operating officer of The Peninsula Hotels and executive director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels very much liked his early taste of the hospitality lifestyle when he traveled with his parents and watched his father order Oysters Rockefeller at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago , and when he studied his father , a gifted cook , respectfully entertain family and friends at home .
“ Hospitality really came from my father ’ s heart , and that inspired me ,” the 60-year-old Borer reflects . “ Both of my parents had this very hospitable approach . We always ate lunch and dinner as a family — even if we were busy we found 20 minutes to sit , and it was always a good meal filled with conversation . Still now , with my sister and brother , it continues . My sister ( Rosmarie Berger , spouse of 2003 Independent Hotelier of the World Emanuel Berger ) hosts big family dinners , and I have a brother in Lucerne whose two kids are in the hotel business .”
The right constitution The lifelong bachelor Borer is also blessed with an abundance of energy , and has the ability to work hard , travel like crazy and rarely feel tired .
“ Peter is a fast thinker , a fast traveler , a fast eater — if it is not fast enough , he could become slightly dispassionate ,” says Emanuel Berger , now with
PETER BORER
AT A GLANCE
“ MY BIGGEST DREAM IS TO REALLY BE A SMALL GLOBAL COMPANY
THAT HAS REPRESENTATION IN THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT CITIES IN THE WORLD — NEW YORK CITY , TOKYO AND LONDON . WE JUST ANNOUNCED A DEAL FOR LONDON , WHICH IS A MAJOR MILESTONE THAT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY .”
– PETER BORER
Berger Hospitality Management in Switzerland . “ He is always on time , or a few minutes early . He has a tendency for perfection in every respect of management , and he strongly believes in sustainability , cleanliness , respect , modesty and high ethics .”
After interning during his school years , which was followed by a stint in the Swiss Army , in 1976 Borer came to the United States to take courses at Cornell . During that time , he was also fortunate to have a very impressionable experience spending three months under the tutelage of hotel legend Jim Nassikas at the Stanford Court in San Francisco , witnessing his “ enormous style ” as well as the display of mutual respect between line staff and management .
After a summer of wearing blue Bermuda shorts working at the Hamilton Princess in Bermuda , Borer headed back to Europe , where he learned another lesson : mass marketing at the InterContinental in Frankfurt was not his style . He then spent three years at a Swiss mountain resort in Davos , honing his administrative skills and starting
STYLE : “ I deal in a respectful manner and hence get respect back . The most important dimension in my life is respect . When I talk to our juniors that is always my introduction because with anything in life — both personal and professional — if you respect each other you can discuss everything , differ and , if respectful , solve anything .”
PET PEEVES : “ I don ’ t like it if people make a fuss about me . In our industry , it is very important to stay humble . Our industry has a tendency to spoil certain people , and when they get spoiled they take themselves too seriously and that is not necessarily healthy . I abhor this very much , and prefer to stay in the background .”
BORER ’ S WAY : Borer lives on the beach in Hong Kong and likes to run at night . He has a personal trainer to stay fit , does a lot of hiking with a core group of friends — including marathon hikes for charity — and likes to ski at Whistler in Canada every year . to develop his own management style . When an eager Borer decided it was time to head east to Asia , he fortuitously landed in 1981 as the F & B manager at the Peninsula in Manila .
After at times challenging — but always inspiring — stints with Peninsula in Hong Kong and Bangkok , in 1985 Borer was promoted to director of sales and marketing at the company ’ s head office . By 1990 , after several more promotions , he was named senior vice president , responsible for planning the renovation of The Peninsula Hong Kong and the construction of its new tower .
In 1994 , he returned to operations with the plum assignment as general manager in Hong Kong , charged with opening the hotel extension , and by 1999 Borer assumed wider responsibility for The Peninsula Hotels ’ portfolio of Asian properties ( Hong Kong , Manila , Bangkok and Beijing ). Fast forward to April 2004 , and Borer was appointed chief operating officer of The Peninsula Hotels and an executive director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd .
Along the way , Borer played an instrumental role in multiple decisions that helped change the way the small luxury hotel company operated and grew . When he was named head of marketing he decided to study with a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and subsequently wrote a plan asking for an unprecedented US $ 1 million for corporate advertising , public relations and regional sales offices . Eventually , he won approval and appointed Saatchi & Saatchi and Burson-Marsteller to help portray Peninsula hotels in a new light and develop a more structured sales approach that delivered more business .
After a few years in the marketing role , then-Peninsula President Onno Poortier asked Borer to work in his
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