initial investment is a challenge.
Hard work and determination will
see you through. Indeed this is how
Winston responded to our question
about his own personal qualities:
“Work hard. Have determination.
Know where you want to go. Set targets although recognise that it’s easy
to set targets, the important thing is
to meet them! Manage by example.
Remember too that the companies’
success is due to the hard work of all
the management and staff. I never
get tired of saying that they are our
greatest asset.”
We asked Winston what advice he
would give to a young manager starting out in the hospitality business
today. “If you’ve got ideas, don’t be
afraid to stand up and be counted.”
How has tourism changed in Malta
since you started out? “Forty years
ago, people’s expectations were not
as high as they are today. We had no
instant feedback from customers
on websites like Trip Advisor.
In those days, we fixed all our
prices for the season six months
in advance so they could go in
the brochure. People and tourist operators booked quite a long
way ahead of their visit. Now people book at very short notice. On
the other hand, cash flow can be
better under the system today
because more people pay in advance online or when they check
out compared to our waiting for payment from operators which can be much slower.”
Some key insights from Winston V. Zahra’s career: • Understand the market and anticipate its changes.
• Plan your voyage but be ready to identify and
grasp opportunities which you hadn’t anticipated
(“See beyond the end of your nose.”).
• Think long term.
• Be determined.
• Be courageous.
• Challenge the accepted way
and the accepted
authority if need be.
• Take calculated risks.
• Enjoy what you do.
• Build great relationships – with
customers, staff, banks, government,
competitors, ...
• Communicate clearly.
• Work hard.
• Fix targets. And achieve them!
INSIDER SPECIAL EDITION
What about the six star tourist?
“They’ll come if we upgrade the
island. Doing this will change
our profile, enable us to exploit
more niche markets – like scuba
diving, for example – but we
have to remember that numbers
are important too. You can have
a five star experience in a one
star hotel. Currently we have 1.7
million visitors and I think up
to a quarter of those find their
own accommodation. In fact I
prefer to think in terms of bed
nights than numbers of visitors.
The average number of nights’
stay is actually going down at the
moment. We need to think about
quality because as expectations
go up, we can charge more but we also need to think about
numbers. If the average stay is
ten nights, then I think we need
1.6 million visitors to sus tain the
sector across the islands.”
As our readers see, Winston communicates plainly and straightforwardly about his decades of
experience. He has not succumbed to talking business speak
or jargon. He might allow himself
to digress from a point (or allow
his interviewer to do so), but he
doesn’t forget where he was or
to take up where he left off: the
sharp mind and the clear sense
of organisation which must have
stood him in such good stead
in the major projects he’s seen
through over the years are still
very evident in an armchair
discussion with him today.
Our very last question was:
If someone asked you to become the Maltese Roads Tsar
or Mr Tarmac Malta, would
you do it? No hesitation – “Yes
I would.” We shook hands and
said goodbye to Winston Zahra
senior and walked out of the Radisson with a lingering memory
of that slightly mischievous twinkle in his eye.
2015
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