Nzavwala takes us through journey in the hospitality industry
Briefly take us through your journey in the industry
It all started about 20 years ago when I was compelled to make a decision on whether to join Catholic University to study Bachelor’s degree in commerce or hospitality management at the Kenya Utalii College.
I went for the later in October 2002 and that was the start of my journey. After four years of study and training, I joined the Serena hotels in October 2006 where I took a six months management training programme, which would see me work in at least one lodge, one resort and one city hotel.
After that, I was appointed as assistant lodge manager at Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge and that was around March 2007.
I worked there for barely five months, because in August the same year I was appointed as assistant lodge manager at Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge, which was the first in the northern corridor of Tanzania.
I was there for one year and this was a very tough moment for me as it was my first time working in a foreign country, but that would not stop there.
In August 2008, I was appointed as assistant food and beverage manager at the Kigali Serena Hotel, which had barely been operational as a Serena hotel when I was joining them.
The management was transitioning from Intercontinental Hotel to Serena. It was the only five-star facility there for about seven years up until 2016 when we saw the entry of other brands, such as Marriott and Radisson Blue.
In August 2019, I was then appointed as the pioneer general manager for Goma Serena Hotel.
I’ve been here for two years now going to three. One year was basically for setting up operations as we opened doors in September, 2020.
How tough or easy is being a General Manager?
Being a top executive of a hotel presents itself with a host of challenges, especially when working in a foreign country and in a region where the culture is probably different from what we are accustomed to as Kenyans.
We have had to put a lot of efforts in developing the staff and even sent some of the mid-level managers for at least a month in our properties in Kampala, Nairobi and Kigali to at least show them what our property is all about and to appreciate five-star services.
Though there are improvements, we still have to closely monitor, mentor and guide the staff and supervisors.
Other challenges are cultural differences where you have to adopt to the new norms and also language barriers because the official spoken language in Goma is French, Lingala and Swahili.
Settling family too was a problem and I had to bring my family here and schools here are not very well developed.
But we are meant for this and we are resilient and I feel like I’ve settled now and ready to take up new challenges here and beyond.
