The Ramada Bahrain’s general manager Hans Radek looks perfectly at home in his office. He has an air about him that personifies a confidence that can only come with success. He speaks measuredly, but expresses vital opinions.
The Ramada Bahrain will be at the ATM this month. Radek feels that events like the ATM do a lot to give hotels much-needed exposure with travel agents and tourism groups. “It gives us a platform from which we can share our vision with the world,” said Radek. “In fact, we will be focusing on our renovation, which at the moment will be centred on two floors. We are also looking at refurbishing the lobby at some later date.”
Radek expects the renovation to be complete by the third quarter of this year.
“We’re also upgrading our in-room facilities by introducing a wireless internet system and replacing the key-locks with a card system,” he added.
Ramada Bahrain will also be showing at Bahrain’s BITE 2005, another travel and tourism expo. But for Radek, the ATM is the big one “Dubai has become a hub for the world, and hence the ATM has added importance,” he said.
It was then inevitable that the questioning would wind its way to the recently concluded Bahrain F1, arguably the biggest event on the Gulf calendar. “The hotel performed better than last year over the F1 period,” said Radek with a smile that says it all.
It is important that Bahrain develops road links with other countries like Qatar and the UAE,” he added. “As Dubai has become such a hub, with Doha catching up at a pace. Most F1 fans prefer to stay there, as getting flight links is much easier out of those two cities. But if Bahrain had road links, then I don’t think they would mind driving for a couple of hours to stay in Bahrain,” he said with conviction.
Radek used the German GP as an example, stating that the GP in Germany, be it at Hockenheim or the Nurburgring draw crowds in excess of 100,000 simply because fans from all over Europe can simply get into their cars and drive across borders.
On a personal note, and it is quite evident, Radek is enjoying his job. “The hospitality business is such that you must learn to take the good times with the bad times,” he said. Radek banishes any thoughts of retiring from his mind: “I’ve got a good 15 years left in me,” he emphasised. “Mind and body permitting, of course.”