When I was GM at Disney ’ s Newport Bay Club , one of the stewarding cast members requested an appointment with me , which seemed odd at first , and we arranged some quality time around a coffee . I asked him : “ Why did you come ?” And he said : “ I ' m now going on retirement ; I ' m going to go back to my home country and I wanted to express my gratitude to Disney . And big thank you to the management .” When I asked what we had done , he replied by saying “ I wanted to compliment the management for being always close to the cast and caring sincerely about our wellbeing ”. And then he said : “ Thanks to Disney , I have been able to send my children to school in Mali . And I have now a doctor , I have a dentist , I have a lawyer . And now it ' s a time for them to pay for me ”. It was a moment of truth , when someone comes to you and gives you a very big , golden present .
What one piece of advice do you wish you ' d heard at the start of your career ?
I am a coach at the École hôtelière de Lausanne and I say to the student ; there ' s not much you can do about your upbringing , but once you become adult , you need to have the courage to go that step ahead in order to be yourself . Maybe I would have liked to be myself earlier in life . It ’ s not a regret , but it ' s something I share with the students .
How can we make the sector more attractive to people considering working in it ?
There is one thing that I think we have done wrong : we think anybody can work in hotels ; anybody can do anything . And we have been trying to find labor that is inexpensive . Why should you work when there is no recognition professionally , and certainly not with the money ? This is a mistake and we are regretting it right now , because with the pandemic , people have seen doors opening elsewhere . They have realised that they can do other things and they ' re being recognised for it .
In Disney , we do a nice job in recognizing people , as do companies of my other fellow hoteliers . But it is not enough just to talk , we need address seriously our benefit packages in order to allow our teams to have a balanced work and personal life . Without our teams we put in danger the operation our guest experience and finally our company ’ s image and this needs to be avoided at all cost !
The whole approach towards hiring , towards personal recognition and career expectations , can be enhanced and better adapted to today ’ s needs of our potential hires ”.
Tomas , what can you share about your current agenda ?
In line with the Disneyland Paris Hotel rehabilitation plan we have closed the Disneyland hotel for a major revamp . This hotel is known not only for its privileged position at the Disneyland Parc entrance , but also for its impeccable service that has propelled it as one of the preferred addresses for our guests and visitors .
The elegant Victorian exterior that our visitors have cherished since the opening in 1992 will remain , whilst the Disney magic will be reinforced in its interior . The Disneyland Hotel will transform to reflect a Royal theme and become a truly royal venue for our numerous Princesses and Princes from our beloved Disney Classics such as Beauty & the Beast , Cinderella , as well as more recent successes as Frozen . The flagship Disneyland Hotel will maintain its current 5-star status as per the French Hotel classification .
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