Insider Special Edition 2015 | Page 58

How a leading hotelier has helped shape our country words: Steve Flinders How does someone go from primary school teacher to a businessman, entrepreneur and manager who has a huge influence on one of the major business sectors in his country? This is what we set out to discover on the eve of this year’s Mediterranean Tourism Forum when we interviewed Winston V Zahra, Chairman of Island Hotels Group plc. W inston V. Zahra is standing outside the five star Radisson Blu Resort in St Julians smoking a cigar when we arrive for our 9 a.m. appointment. He is a spry, energetic-looking 75-year-old with a direct expression and a vigorous step. He says “Buongiorno” to one of the receptionists as we cross the reception area to the lounge. Everyone smiles as he goes past. He’s easy to talk to from the start. He has a twinkle – maybe even a tiny hint of mischievousness - in his eye. 56 2015 We start with his background, which for a good part of his life is also the history of the Group, although it took him well over a decade to get into the sector where he has spent most of his career. “I left school at the age of 16 ½. At that time Malta was short of teachers and so I went back to school in the autumn as what was called an Emergency Teacher and worked for two years in a school in Zejtun.” He did two years of training at St Michaels Training College and then worked for nine years at Sliema Primary School which he enjoyed, although sitting in the staffroom with much older colleagues, he began to realise that this was not what he wanted to spend his whole life doing. Meanwhile his brother Tony had returned from the UK, intent on starting a business: Alpine Rent-a-car has grown into the Alpine Group which Tony chairs, with a share capital of more than €11million. With 200 Maltese lira between them at the outset, they built up the car hire business before buying their first hotel, the Riza, with a view to further vertical development. “We invested every spare penny we had in another INSIDER SPECIAL EDITION