October 28, 2024 • 38 mins
Aldau Development has earned a reputation for excellence in both Real Estate and Hospitality, with developments in Egypt and the United Kingdom. Their strategic partnerships with marquee brands such as Hyatt International, IHG, and Deutsche Hospitality have further cemented their standing internationally.
Boston University School of Hospitality and Questrom School of Business designed a customized Executive Education program for Aldau -- a testament to Aldau's commitment to leadership and entrepreneurship.
In this podcast, Dean Arun Upneja talks with Tarek El Masry, Chief Operating Officer, and Mario Larese, Director of Development & Technical Services, about Aldau's vision for bringing excellence in hospitality to real estate projects.
The “Distinguished” podcast is produced by Boston University School of Hospitality Administration.
Host: Arun Upneja, Dean
Producer: Mara Littman, Executive Director of Strategic Operations and Corporate Relations
Research and Content Creation: Lan Lu
Marketing: Anne Dawson
Editing: Isabella Laikin and James Leon
Music: “Airport Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:04):
Welcome to the Distinguished Podcast.
Have you ever dreamed of goingto Egypt?
Well, you are in luck today.
We have two exceptional leadersfrom Al Dao Development in Egypt
with us today (00:16):
Tariq Al-Masri, Chief Operating Officer, and
Mario Lerese, Director ofDevelopment and Technical
Services.
Al Dao is a leader in both realestate and hospitality, with
best in-class developments inEgypt, United Kingdom, and
hopefully expanding to many moreplaces.
I'm Arun of Neja, Dean of theBoston University School of
(00:39):
Hospitality, and I am excited tointerview these two amazing
gentlemen today.
Al Dau has earned a reputationfor excellence in both real
estate and hospitality withdevelopments in Egypt and United
Kingdom.
Their strategic partnershipswith marquee brands such as
Hyatt International, IEG, andDoshe Hospitality have further
(01:03):
cemented their standinginternationally.
So Al DAO's vision in partneringwith Boston University to create
a customized executive educationprogram showcases their
dedication to leadership andinnovation.
I've had the privilege ofwitnessing firsthand how Tariq
and Mario have gained valuableinsights into entrepreneurship,
(01:24):
hospitality, and real estatedevelopment through the program.
It's a pleasure to have Tariqand Mario with us today in the
studio, and I look forward tosharing their experiences and
insights with you, along with AlDao's vision for the future.
So welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
Thank you very much for this such great
introduction.
SPEAKER_03 (01:43):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
So I was really very impressed when I visited the
Hyatt Cairo.
You have beautifully blendedmodern luxury with Egypt's rich
historical culture ofhospitality.
Many times during my stay inCairo, I heard the term Egyptian
hospitality.
So how do you strike thatbalance between contemporary
(02:05):
design and honoring Egypt'sheritage?
SPEAKER_00 (02:08):
This is Tara El Masri.
First of all, uh thank you verymuch for your hospitality.
We are really happy to be heretoday.
Coming to Hyatt Residency CairoWest, it's a quite good story
for us.
This hotel was built during theCOVID.
It took from us uh one year anda half.
(02:28):
Uh everyone was working fromhome.
We were focused, working in thehotel, doing our best and utmost
to open on time, which we did.
The hotel uh uh uh is welldesigned.
The hotel uh is modern, umhaving the twist from the
(02:51):
Egyptian uh uh boat uh to amodern and uh nice culture uh
that anybody is coming, thehotel the hotel even colors is
welcome.
Um we have a quite nice openingbecause we are the only modern
hotel in this area, in Gizaarea, which is uh the pyramids
(03:14):
area.
Uh we are overlooking pyramids.
Um and the good thing in thishotel, after three months, we
got an award from Hyatt and wegot an award from TripAdvisor to
be number one in the destinationin terms of guest satisfaction.
SPEAKER_02 (03:29):
I loved it.
Yep.
When I went there, it was thethe pyramids were pretty close
by.
And um again, I was justimpressed with the level of
service that is there at thehotel.
So very impressive.
I want to talk about this newhotel that is going to be
opening very soon.
Uh so can you tell us what isspecial about this new
(03:49):
Hyatt-centric that you'reopening, Mario, and particularly
with reference to art.
SPEAKER_03 (03:55):
Absolutely.
Uh, this is Mario speaking.
Well, during the developmentphase and especially the
concept, the preliminary conceptphase, we spoke to Hyatt and he
explained to us what the centricis.
The Hyatt Centric Hotel is whatit stands for.
So it was supposed to becentral, centric in the city.
Uh, we wanted to add on thatthough, because we were very
impressed.
(04:15):
We just hired basically adirector of art, and she is very
well known in the art scene inCairo.
So we decided to make it an arthotel, and we add this with the
central location.
And in Cairo and in Egypt,especially, there's actually a
big art scene.
A lot of talented artists fromum from paintings to 3D works to
(04:37):
statues, whatever you tons.
So we added that all into theinterior design and into the
public area design.
So when you enter now, you havein in the lobby, for example, it
it's full of statues that areinspired by the actually seven
pillars of Cairo, of Egypt,sorry, of Egypt, which are I
(04:58):
have it's which is Islam, it'sum it's Greek, it's Roman.
So we added uh basically a lotof local artists uh doing the
design development to have theirinput in the public areas, but
also in the rooms.
So, for example, on top of theheadboard we have different
(05:20):
pictures and paintings insidethe room.
We have a baboon, which isbasically the baboon from the
temples that stands with thehands up and welcomes the people
that enter the temples and thesun in the morning.
So this we have at the entranceof the rooms, and then of
course, in the pool area, wehave uh statues from some local
(05:40):
artists in the restaurant.
And now Tariq, with hisoperations team, he added a lot
of other touches that reallymake the difference.
SPEAKER_02 (05:49):
So have you already handed it over to Tarek, or is
it still close to being handingover?
SPEAKER_03 (05:54):
We are working together now as a team on this.
Uh the construction is finishingthe last items.
Tarek and his teams areabsolutely helping, and from our
side, we only have to do thefire life safety commissions,
and then it's all in his handsas he opened the regency to open
the centric now.
SPEAKER_02 (06:11):
Many hotels in the US might have a dog or a cat in
the lobby.
Are you gonna have a baboonwalking around in the lobby?
SPEAKER_03 (06:19):
I wished.
I'd be the first one to say weneed to do that, but I don't
think that's allowed in thecity.
That's not a good idea.
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
Okay, let's get that.
Tarek.
Yes, second uh second baby inCairo.
Uh newborn by the 15th ofOctober.
I have a full team working sinceuh three months now uh to make
it happen.
We are doing our utmost uh toshow Cairo uh the first Art
(06:46):
Hotel in Egypt.
Uh it will be a plus for ourgroup.
It's a nice modern hotel, verycolorful.
We are using the orange, theyellow, uh, the blue.
Uh uh even the restaurant withnice uh art lobby.
(07:06):
When you enter the lobby behindthe reception, we have our
famous, famous singer, uh 1960,1970.
Uh her name is Omokal Sum.
It's an Arabic singer.
We have a full picture behindthe reception.
Uh we have really uh differentservice.
(07:28):
We different service than whatwe have in Regency.
Uh different uniform.
We even from the art, we got tothe idea that we really have uh
the uniform coming from art uhfor the stuff.
Um the hotel is very welcoming.
The hotel swimming pool isreally nice.
It's a 310 rooms.
(07:50):
It will be the first hotelhaving uh loft and having also
uh swim-up suites.
Cairo is missing such a nice uhnice modern hotel.
Uh we we we we are trying to goout of the typical city hotels
to a more resorty hotel toreally feel fun.
(08:13):
The clients are coming for anexperience, the clients are
coming for culture, so they willhave the first art hotel that
you really see uh a story behindthe hotel.
So we are looking forward toreceive the first client on 15th
of October, and this will be oursecond high hotel in Cairo.
SPEAKER_02 (08:30):
The first art hotel in Egypt, and I'm assuming the
first art high-centric as well,probably.
SPEAKER_03 (08:39):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (08:39):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (08:40):
Inspired by art.
SPEAKER_02 (08:41):
Inspired by art.
SPEAKER_03 (08:43):
And furthermore, we are now working with our real
estate division to also havebranded residences in our
complex.
So next to the Hyatt Centric andthe Hyatt Regency, we we will
develop about 700 residences andwe will brand them centric and
regency.
So this is all in the worksright now, and we hope that we
(09:05):
will finalize these ones by theend of the year, and then we
will start building theresidences.
SPEAKER_02 (09:12):
So will these be uh rented out as or will they be
sold to individual uh people andthen they can sort of hand it
back to you for management incase they don't want to come and
stay?
SPEAKER_00 (09:23):
We sold it out uh and uh the clients will give it
to us back for renting pools.
Uh we as a hotel, we will lookafter service service apartments
in terms of or in all regards,housekeeping, food and beverage,
laundry.
So uh it will be the firstservice apartments for height in
Cairo.
And um good that Mario openedthe subject because Al Dow
(09:47):
Development is is uh is is notonly hospitality uh division,
it's a hospitality and realestate construction division.
So we usually we we own, weconstruct, and we manage with a
third party franchise.
So we choose in Cairo the thirdparty, which is Hyatt, and we
choose uh Steigenberger for uhHorgada Hotels.
(10:11):
And in London, we choose uh IHGto uh to have it as a franchise
and we operate.
So we're operating all.
Now it's a turn of uh realestate.
We bring uh hospitality to realestate, uh, which is really
different in Cairo as a slogan.
Uh usually every investor inCairo uh for real estate is
(10:31):
selling apartments andmentioning that he will build
the hotel.
We are doing it vice versa.
We build the hotels, we arewell-known hotels, and now we
are starting selling realestate.
So we do have 1,000 apartmentsin Horgada called the Dauhats,
and we have another one, El DauStrand, which is 350 apartments
uh uh facing the sea.
(10:53):
And in Cairo, as Mario justmentioned, we are coming up with
uh high-tresidence, uhhigh-centric and high-regency,
uh, in order that we promote ituh to Cairo, and uh Cairo will
see also something new becausethe hotels already exist.
SPEAKER_02 (11:10):
Okay, so with Egypt's Vision 2030 aiming for
sustainable growth, how has AlDAO aligned its development
strategies with these nationalgoals?
SPEAKER_03 (11:21):
So, how do we align that?
We have basically we developedsomething we called ALDAO
sustainability.
So we have a handbook and abrochure that we distributed to
our staff and as well as ourpartners.
For example, hired when we didthe hired regency Cairo West and
the Hyatt Centric Cairo West,they asked us, what is your
(11:44):
sustainability efforts?
So we showed them our brochure,what we were doing, and how we
implemented it into theirprojects.
Uh, as Tig knows in his hotel,so he has induction cookers
wherever possible to save onenergy, to save on gas.
We have steam boilers that arereally energy efficient for the
laundries.
We have in Huergada at the topof our Aldao International
(12:08):
Conference Center is plasterwith photovoltaic cells, which
directly feed into our uh airconditioning units and saves us
a lot of energy there.
Then we in the new hotels we arenow working to get um
xeroscaping, landscaping, whichmeans that we're only using
(12:30):
local plants.
We don't import anything,anything, everything is local.
And you know, Cairo is hot, huhgotta so we save a lot of water.
The water that we do use to umto fertilize the gardens and the
grass is basically filteredwater from our sewage tanks,
which go straight in there andare made safe to be used there,
(12:50):
so we don't go into the regularwater grid.
We have in Huaqada, we havelakes actually in our property,
which we use not regular water,but we use the seawater which
will be pumped from the groundup to go into those lakes.
And then, of course, I mean wehave low-flow faucets, we have
low flow toilets, we have anyany uh in all the corridors for
(13:15):
the staff areas, we haveautomatic lights so that the
lights always turn off whennobody is there working.
And yeah, basically, I mean Ican give you a couple more.
The new hotel we're doing now inHogada, a Sultan project, what
we are another 400, 500-roomhotel resort.
(13:35):
We decided with the interiordesigner and the architects to
use only local materials, whichmeans we will not import from
China.
So we have basically CO2consumption completely down.
All the interior wasspecifically tailored to be made
in Egypt by local uhconsultants, by local
(13:56):
businesses.
So this is also good for thelocal communities, and it's
gonna be a fantastic projectbecause it also then gives us uh
in the interior design, we havethe heritage of Egypt
incorporated because the lampswill be made there from the
copper manufacturers in Cairothat are in the Kana el Khalili.
Uh, all the furniture with woodcomes straight from Cairo.
It's built down in Hogara, andthen we bought, for example, I
(14:20):
don't know how many cubic metersare like, but uh tons of old
railroad slippers from the olduh Cairo Railroad.
And we just stored them, and nowwe're using them to manufacture
our own tables for ourrestaurants and the interior, uh
the interior of some of therooms for the new projects.
SPEAKER_02 (14:36):
Wow, you have an unbelievably extensive effort in
the sustainability area.
That's very impressive.
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (14:44):
One question, I just to follow up on that lakes you
said in her gata results thatyou pump the seawater.
So then those lakes are allsaline lakes, then they're
salt-watered?
SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
No, it gets filtered.
SPEAKER_02 (14:54):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (14:55):
It gets filtered and then it goes straight into.
I mean, they're not really biglakes.
We have a gulf course, but itdepends in between.
So it comes up, it gets filteredbecause the salt will block our
pumps.
Right.
And then it gets basicallywashed back down again.
SPEAKER_02 (15:10):
Oh, very good.
Very good.
Okay.
So let's um, you know, when I Iwant to talk about tourism in
Egypt and who is visiting.
Where are most of yourinternational visitors coming
from?
Are they which countries arethey from?
So which parts of the region,Tarek?
SPEAKER_00 (15:27):
Uh surprising.
Yes.
Cairo, number one nationality isAmericans.
Wow.
Okay.
The second nationality isSpanish.
Uh third nationality isChinese-Japanese.
Um, you know, it's Cairo isdifferent nationalities than
Horgada and Shalmashik.
For instance, we have our hotelsin Horgada, which is a
(15:48):
Steigenberger Dao Resort.
Um our Horgada hotels, there arethree hotels.
Uh Steigenberger Daud, smallluxurious at the beach.
We have Steigenberger Equamagfamily hotel with aqua parks, uh
720 rooms, and we have alsoSteigenberger Pure Lifestyle,
which is adults only, 135suites.
(16:10):
Umly Germans.
Uh 70% of the hotels areGermans.
Uh we have uh differentnationalities.
Uh we get used to uh in the 202020 27 20 207 208.
Golden Years for us is 210, 24different nationalities under
(16:34):
one roof.
Uh Russians was playing verywell.
Okay.
Uh half of the hotel was alsoRussians.
However, once 2011 incidenthappened, the Russians is
getting less.
But till now, it's one of ournationalities.
Uh we have in Horgada alsoPolish.
Uh we have uh Armenian, we haveUK, is uh the third nationality
(16:58):
mix.
Uh Egyptians this year, year todate, number one nationality.
We have a lot of Egyptianscoming to us during summer.
Uh Cairo also we have a lot ofuh Egyptians due to the weddings
and the events, so they aregetting used to come and stay
with us uh during their weddingson Friday weekends.
(17:18):
Uh, we do have also uh um like abrunch with an offer, special
offer for the clients.
So they are coming to stay onenight in Cairo.
So let's say that we havedifferent nationalities, but we
are depending on Germans uh onHorgada and American and Spanish
in Cairo.
This is our uh feeder market.
SPEAKER_02 (17:38):
So I'm assuming the Germans that are coming to the
Steinenberger Resorts on theReds in Horgata.
Yes.
They are mostly coming forleisure.
But what about the Americans inCairo?
SPEAKER_01 (17:48):
Is that leisure?
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
It's it's leisure, it's it's uh it's more culture.
Most of the most of the Cairo,Cairo is a three nights stay.
Okay.
Horgada is from seven tofourteen nights leisure.
Cairo hotels, uh uh usually wehave uh something called uh
touristry.
The tour street that people isgoing to Luxur, Aswan, then
Cairo.
(18:09):
So they are usually having afull uh tour, uh coming to Cairo
for pyramids, coming to Cairo tosee the museum, uh, and also we
will, according to the Ministryof Tourism and our uh
delegations, we are expecting uha big increase once we open our
(18:30):
new uh great museum, because youneed to have you need to spend
like three days to finish this.
So we are also expecting to haveuh an extensive uh length of
stay in Cairo instead of threenights to be four nights, one
more night, that the clientsreally have the time to visit uh
more.
SPEAKER_02 (18:50):
Interesting.
Okay.
So the uh and and I'm I'm happyto hear that you have um a big
domestic um sector now.
Can you talk about labor costsand how does that make a
difference to the service?
SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
I have to say that um since I joined this company
19 years now working with them,we are looking after employees.
We are looking for uh stability.
I have a turnover of 3%, whichis very good in terms of 1,550
employees in Horgada.
We are talking about Cairo Hotelis almost 420 employees.
(19:29):
Uh we develop our employees, wetrain them, we look after their
career pass, we uh we promotefrom within.
We are trying to do our best interms of every uh everyone have
his choice to to move fromHorgada to Cairo for any new
openings.
So we are really looking afterour stuff, and uh we usually do
(19:54):
a lot of uh um appreciation forthem, uh especially in all
regards.
So uh our stuff is uh wellmaintained.
Um the clients know them verywell.
Repeaters, especially, we havelike 25% to 30% repeaters in
Horgada.
So they really look after ourstuff, and the staff uh are
(20:16):
always happy.
And Egyptians, I will not saythat because I'm Egyptian, but
Egyptians are friendly.
Egyptians like to serve uh aswell, they they they work from
heart.
And in our hospitality business,if you didn't work from heart,
you will never reach anything.
So we really work from heart andwe really uh like what we are
(20:36):
doing.
So uh the most important forEgyptians, you appreciate they
feel that you are your backbone,you are backbone for the staff,
you're looking after them in allregards, in bonuses, in
incentive.
So this is why we we have astable uh employment.
SPEAKER_02 (20:55):
You know, so when I was there, I mean I when I spoke
to so many people, thiscommitment of Al DAO to its
employees came through veryclearly in all my discussions
with so many people.
As an example, um what happenedduring the pandemic when
everyone else around was layingoff staff and firing them?
(21:15):
What was going on in Al DAO?
SPEAKER_00 (21:17):
Our owner, Engineer Bessel Semi-Sat, he decided to
ensure that there is no cut ofsalaries for all our employees
in SOLA 11.
We didn't fire any employer.
Even usually, when you have athree-month trial for any new
employer, we didn't uh cut, wewe left the employee to work and
(21:40):
continue working with us.
Um our owner really is lookingafter employees, he's looking
after management.
He is not he he he he said veryclear all this staff were
supporting me in a good times, Ineed to support them in a bad
times.
So he is one of the few ownerswho didn't.
Cut any uh from our staff, hekept the m the salaries 100%.
SPEAKER_02 (22:06):
So clearly he must have taken a lot of losses
during that time, but that justspeaks to his commitment to his
staff and his, you know, and thepeople who are.
SPEAKER_00 (22:15):
I don't see these losses.
I see this very smart.
He makes almost 2,000 employeesloyal to the company.
We are proud, while we arementioning it today, in 2024,
what we are what we did.
And we are really happy uh to uhto have this story, successful
story with us.
He was really smart, he he tookit, and now it's returned back
(22:38):
to him because now, as Imentioned in the beginning, it's
a 3% turnover, which is very lowpercentage in Egypt.
SPEAKER_02 (22:45):
Right.
That is absolutely incrediblylow percentage of turnover.
So um there is uh something elsethat you mentioned um that is
promoting from within, and I'mgonna return to that in a couple
of minutes.
But I want to ask uh Mario aboutwhat are the other opportunities
and areas of growth for thecompany?
What's next for Aldao?
SPEAKER_03 (23:07):
Well, we do have a couple of projects in pipeline.
I mean, we're working now on aon a mega project next to the
pyramids.
Uh we have Aldao is a subsidiaryof Sumcrete, and the Sumcrete
headquarters is very close tothe pyramids of Giza, and
basically on the opposite sideof the new museum, which is due
(23:31):
to open hopefully next year, ifnot this year.
And uh, well, we are planning ondeveloping a hotel there, about
700, 800 rooms when it'sfinished, but phase one will be
probably one tower with around350 rooms.
Um, the brand is yet to bedecided, but it it's it's a mega
(23:52):
project with a conventioncenter, with uh food court, with
with shopping malls, with acasino, with everything in a
really strategic location.
Uh, we do have other projectsaround the world as well.
We have one really big projectin London.
We own the holiday in LondonWest there.
Uh we did get planning consentfrom the mayor already to
(24:14):
basically demolish it and buildtwo towers there.
One with 47 stories and one with54 stories.
Where we also want to do ahigher-centric at this point.
We also have the verbalagreement to make it a
high-centric, plus another 702built-to-rent apartments, which
London is in dire need rightnow, as the housing is a big
(24:35):
catastrophe, if I may say so.
SPEAKER_02 (24:37):
Right.
Yeah, and not just London, butall major cities in the world
are I know in Boston and NewYork and all other cities, you
know, there is not enoughhousing.
So that is amazing.
That's a huge big influx ofapartments.
SPEAKER_03 (24:50):
And apart from that, we are planning to expand.
We're always looking for newprojects.
We we were looking in Greece, wewere looking in Spain, we were
looking in Hungary, uh, also inGermany for a little while.
Then, of course, London, ifanything else comes.
And as we discussed thismorning, maybe Boston now.
I hope so too.
But no, we are open for anydevelopments that come to our
(25:11):
tables and we evaluate anythingthat is there.
With, you know, we go throughthanks to you now, more detailed
visibilities.
Yes.
That was a big part of theexecutive education.
SPEAKER_02 (25:30):
Fantastic.
So uh Tarek, I want to come backto um you were part of this
inaugural Boston University'sexecutive education program.
Uh you both were participantthere.
So, my question is how did thatprogram help you to expand your
thinking or leadership skills orour real estate skills?
I mean, what did that do foryou?
SPEAKER_00 (25:52):
First of all, um finance played a good role.
We we're usually using ourlaptops in equations, uh easy to
do.
Right.
But we didn't do it, we didn'tknow really how it works.
So it was for us very good uh uhto understand from where this
(26:13):
number is coming and what'sbehind.
So uh uh it was very interestingto understand this.
Plus um the second course, whilewe are understanding as well uh
our personality, otherpersonalities, how we how how
from how you can figure out uhit's support it will support us
(26:33):
a lot during our interviews forour new hiring.
It will support us a lot for ourcurrently team members.
Um for me, this is my uh twomain uh took-home from such
great uh trainings uh which wegot in Boston University.
SPEAKER_02 (26:51):
Fantastic.
But you did mention that youpromote from within.
Yes.
So how what kind of trainings dothey are they only getting
on-the-job training, or how areyou sort of helping them expand
their skill set and theirmanagement and leadership skills
as you're promoting them?
SPEAKER_00 (27:09):
I learned it from this company.
Uh I started in this company asan assistant front office
manager in 2006.
And today I'm running the showin 2024.
Our owner invested on me.
I have a CEO who's also lookingafter me.
Uh I got uh e-cornel courses,revenue management, full course
(27:32):
for two years, and I full uhhospitality management master's
degree for two years as well.
So I learned it from them how Ican keep the employment, how I
can upgrade our management.
Therefore, I start to have uh uh10 to 15 senior management from
each hotel, uh looking afterthem, uh uh also offering them
(27:57):
equal courses in terms of onlinecourses uh wherever it's needed.
Um we uh we selected few uh uhgood uh employment in terms of
supervisor level and assistantdepartment heads in order to
start looking after theirweaknesses and provide the right
(28:21):
courses for them to move themforward to to being a department
heads.
So I have a lot of cases uh whois starting as an operator.
Today he is a front officemanager of height.
I have uh uh a supervisor at thedesk who is also now uh as an
EEM for one of our hotels, uhfood and beverage supervisor,
(28:44):
being now a food and beveragemanager, uh a restaurant manager
who is now a hotel manager, sowe really look after them in all
in terms of which trainingcourses you need.
Um for us, uh Boston this yearwas a plus that for me also to
have the knowledge, uh where Ican start now looking after the
(29:08):
new management of the hotels todo the same what we did.
So uh, you know, it's usually uhlife is a learning course.
So we we learn, we start givingour uh our team the same what we
did.
So for us, uh our goal now nextyear is that we have a pool of
people from the managementhaving the same uh courses which
(29:31):
we did.
Uh we have still uh a group uhworking now in e-cornell online.
They will finish by 2027.
So they have two years and ahalf only concentrated.
So this is the only way that youcan uh retain uh the people and
ensuring that they arecontinuing success with you.
(29:52):
And always every every employeror every uh senior management is
looking for his second step.
So if he feels comfortable thathe will reach it by learning,
then he continue working withyou.
SPEAKER_02 (30:04):
That is excellent.
Continuous investment ineducation and development of the
staff is is critical to thesuccess of any company.
Okay, so what I want to do iswant to have a little bit of a
fun to wrap things up.
So I'm gonna ask you some quickquestions and you can take turns
answering, but let's start withMario.
Um I know that you just landedum today morning.
(30:27):
And so um when you do get alittle bit of time, what is one
thing that you have been wantingto do in Boston?
What is the first thing you'lldo in your free time?
SPEAKER_03 (30:37):
Oh um, well, as I discussed with Tarek this
morning, we need to go for alobster somewhere.
Okay.
I definitely would like to havea good Atlantic lobster.
SPEAKER_02 (30:46):
Excellent.
And I know um, Tarek, you camein yesterday.
So what was what did you do thefirst thing?
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
I uh I just took an uh I took a car and just uh to
walk in the street.
I need to, I like when wheneverI reach a country, just to walk
in downtown.
I asked, where is downtown?
Uh they said, Boston.
Uh it's a small city, you justgo and walk.
And I felt very well.
I didn't really, the time wasflying.
(31:13):
I was just walking for fourhours, left and right, going
around.
I looked to the churches, howthey look, urban designs, how
the city is clean, how thepeople is happy.
Um I was really enjoying by byeven having one ice cream.
I was just like having fun by bywalking, looking to the people
(31:34):
and looking to such nicebuildings.
Uh still I have four or fivedays to continue to understand
more.
Especially that I'm coming fromNew York.
So it's totally different.
SPEAKER_02 (31:47):
It's very different, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:47):
Totally different.
SPEAKER_02 (31:48):
Yeah, much better.
Um walking is always good, andif you can pair up walking with
ice cream, there's nothing tobeat that.
Um, what's your favorite sport,Mario?
SPEAKER_03 (31:59):
Um I would say kiteboarding, although I love
all types of sports.
But kiteboarding right now is myfavorite.
SPEAKER_02 (32:07):
Kiteboarding.
Explain that a little bit.
SPEAKER_03 (32:09):
It's like, you know, like uh surfing.
SPEAKER_02 (32:12):
Surfing, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (32:13):
But not uh windsurfing, actually.
Oh winds.
But it's it's a new type ofwindsurfing.
I started that when I wasworking in Turks and Caicos 20
years ago.
And basically what you have isyou have a kite and then you
have a surfboard on your feet,and you steer the kite in the
wind, and then it you know itdrags you around.
SPEAKER_02 (32:30):
Sounds very exciting.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
No, no, it's excellent.
I love it.
SPEAKER_02 (32:34):
Okay.
I'll be happy watching it.
I'm gonna let you do it.
Tariq, how about you, I'massuming?
SPEAKER_01 (32:40):
Is it kite surfing by any chance?
Swimming.
Swimming, swimming and swimming,okay.
SPEAKER_00 (32:44):
Swimming and football.
Football, I I love I lovefootball and watching football.
SPEAKER_02 (32:47):
So Yeah, by football you mean soccer, as we say in
the US, right?
SPEAKER_01 (32:52):
We have our famous Muhammad Salah, so we he he
makes us so excited to watchmore.
Fantastic.
SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
So, Tariq, what are the top three places a
first-time visitor to Egyptshould do?
Probably we should skip uh thepyramids because we all know the
pyramids.
Other than pyramids, what arethe other things to do in Egypt?
SPEAKER_00 (33:12):
Uh in Egypt or in Cairo?
Because in Egypt.
Either way.
Either way, he uh for me, anyanyone he needs to to come and
stay.
He needs to see Luxur, Aswan.
Cairo, he needs to see themuseums.
I'm talking about Luxor andOswan because really it's quite
a lot of temples, a lot, a lotof culture, which if somebody
(33:35):
liked it.
And Cairo Pyramids Great Museum,Hanal Khalili, it's an enjoyable
place.
While you are really see the oldtown, while you are passing by,
you will really enjoy it.
This is one of the iconic uh uhfor for me.
If if somebody is in Horgada asa client, I'm trying to bring
(33:56):
the repeaters now to Cairo, I'mtrying to make for them an offer
that they just need to come andsee such nice places.
SPEAKER_02 (34:02):
Mario, do you want to change any of these?
SPEAKER_03 (34:05):
No, I agree 100% with Tarek.
I can add a lot.
Being not Egyptian, to behonest, I'm I'm still amazed by
the sites that this country hasto offer, and they're finding
more and more every day.
Uh so when you go to thepyramids, uh you need that
everybody thinks there's onlythree.
There's almost a hundred there.
So there's also the red pyramid,there's the black pyramid,
(34:27):
there's the saqara.
Next to Saqqara pyramid is theSerapeum, which is really
unknown, but it's absolutelystunning.
It's a cave with hugesarcophagus in there.
And the they thought that theyput bulls in there back then and
buried them, but they are as bigas this podcast.
And the the detail, how theywere made, that they are
actually airtight, is absolutelystunning.
(34:49):
There's the Fayum Desert, uh thelakes, which are stunning, like
blue water in the middle of thedesert with fish and you know
palm trees around it.
There is next to that, there isa museum, an open-air museum,
where you can see fossilizedprehistoric dinosaurs, sea
(35:10):
creatures.
They are just there in thedesert, they lie there.
You've never seen anything likethis.
It's huge fossilized whales, butthey were like, you know, more
dinosaur whales.
And they're just there in themiddle of the desert.
Ooh, and so much more.
I mean, you could you wouldnever stop.
Okay.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (35:26):
Unfortunately, was with what Mario said, and it's a
good thing that Mario is anexpert.
We only have 15 million touristsin last year.
We are aiming to double thenumbers by and this is a
government uh view, and this isthe role of the Ministry of
Tourism uh by end of uh 20202030, after opening the new
(35:49):
museum, to double the numbersbecause we really have a lot to
be seen.
And uh still uh we we need more.
We we we are looking now, we arebuilding a lot of hotels.
All owners nowadays are buildingreally out of you are coming now
every year like 50 hotels new.
So the room inventory is comingup, and we are looking for
(36:09):
doubling the numbers, which iswill support us a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (36:12):
Yeah, that's gonna need a whole lot of
infrastructure, development,airports and roads and other
services, and like youmentioned, hotels and
restaurants.
SPEAKER_00 (36:20):
Yes, we are doing that nowadays, really with the
new vision of the government interms of infrastructure and
roads, and now with the newhotels coming up, with the new
museum coming up, we are uh weare feeling that we can do it
easily.
But uh uh we will see uh thenumbers getting by closing 2024.
We see first uh how did we closethe year, and then we aim for
(36:43):
the next year's.
SPEAKER_03 (36:45):
But also the Ministry of Antiquities is
working with UNESCO to redo whatI mentioned already, the Khanel
Khalili, which is like it thisthis should be something like
Venice, for example.
It's a benchmark for KhanelKhalili for the old town of
historic Cairo.
It's absolutely amazing when youwalk through that and the
history that is there, the oldbuildings.
I mean, once they rejuvenatethis area and make it accessible
(37:08):
for tourists to actually bewalkable, like Venice, it will
hugely lift up Cairo again as atourist destination.
SPEAKER_02 (37:16):
Great.
So it's been fantastic havingboth of you, and I've learned so
much about Al DAO's commitmentto both Egypt's future and the
hospitality industry.
Thank you again for joining uson the Distinguished Podcast.
We look forward to seeing AlDAO's continued success both in
Egypt and internationally.
SPEAKER_00 (37:35):
Thank you very much for the time.
SPEAKER_01 (37:36):
Uh we really have the pleasure to have you to be
here today.
SPEAKER_03 (37:39):
Thank you very much.
It was a pleasure being here.
SPEAKER_02 (37:42):
So if you want to join the conversation and share
your thoughts and suggestions,email me at sharkin at bu.edu.
Special thanks to the team whoproduces this podcast, producer
Mara Littman, editor and soundengineer Andy Halleck, Director
of the BU School of HospitalityRealistic Program, Kashik
Burdharajan, and the entire teamat Boston University School of
(38:03):
Hospitality Administration.
To keep up with theDistinguished Podcast, be sure
to subscribe wherever you listento your favorite podcast.
You can also learn more aboutexperience innovation in our
undergraduate and graduateprograms by visiting pu.edu
slash hospitality.
Have a great day.
Welcome to the Distinguished Podcast.
Have you ever dreamed of goingto Egypt?
Well, you are in luck today.
We have two exceptional leadersfrom Al Dao Development in Egypt
with us today (00:16):
Tariq Al-Masri, Chief Operating Officer, and
Mario Lerese, Director ofDevelopment and Technical
Services.
Al Dao is a leader in both realestate and hospitality, with
best in-class developments inEgypt, United Kingdom, and
hopefully expanding to many moreplaces.
I'm Arun of Neja, Dean of theBoston University School of
(00:39):
Hospitality, and I am excited tointerview these two amazing
gentlemen today.
Al Dau has earned a reputationfor excellence in both real
estate and hospitality withdevelopments in Egypt and United
Kingdom.
Their strategic partnershipswith marquee brands such as
Hyatt International, IEG, andDoshe Hospitality have further
(01:03):
cemented their standinginternationally.
So Al DAO's vision in partneringwith Boston University to create
a customized executive educationprogram showcases their
dedication to leadership andinnovation.
I've had the privilege ofwitnessing firsthand how Tariq
and Mario have gained valuableinsights into entrepreneurship,
(01:24):
hospitality, and real estatedevelopment through the program.
It's a pleasure to have Tariqand Mario with us today in the
studio, and I look forward tosharing their experiences and
insights with you, along with AlDao's vision for the future.
So welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
Thank you very much for this such great
introduction.
SPEAKER_03 (01:43):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
So I was really very impressed when I visited the
Hyatt Cairo.
You have beautifully blendedmodern luxury with Egypt's rich
historical culture ofhospitality.
Many times during my stay inCairo, I heard the term Egyptian
hospitality.
So how do you strike thatbalance between contemporary
(02:05):
design and honoring Egypt'sheritage?
SPEAKER_00 (02:08):
This is Tara El Masri.
First of all, uh thank you verymuch for your hospitality.
We are really happy to be heretoday.
Coming to Hyatt Residency CairoWest, it's a quite good story
for us.
This hotel was built during theCOVID.
It took from us uh one year anda half.
(02:28):
Uh everyone was working fromhome.
We were focused, working in thehotel, doing our best and utmost
to open on time, which we did.
The hotel uh uh uh is welldesigned.
The hotel uh is modern, umhaving the twist from the
(02:51):
Egyptian uh uh boat uh to amodern and uh nice culture uh
that anybody is coming, thehotel the hotel even colors is
welcome.
Um we have a quite nice openingbecause we are the only modern
hotel in this area, in Gizaarea, which is uh the pyramids
(03:14):
area.
Uh we are overlooking pyramids.
Um and the good thing in thishotel, after three months, we
got an award from Hyatt and wegot an award from TripAdvisor to
be number one in the destinationin terms of guest satisfaction.
SPEAKER_02 (03:29):
I loved it.
Yep.
When I went there, it was thethe pyramids were pretty close
by.
And um again, I was justimpressed with the level of
service that is there at thehotel.
So very impressive.
I want to talk about this newhotel that is going to be
opening very soon.
Uh so can you tell us what isspecial about this new
(03:49):
Hyatt-centric that you'reopening, Mario, and particularly
with reference to art.
SPEAKER_03 (03:55):
Absolutely.
Uh, this is Mario speaking.
Well, during the developmentphase and especially the
concept, the preliminary conceptphase, we spoke to Hyatt and he
explained to us what the centricis.
The Hyatt Centric Hotel is whatit stands for.
So it was supposed to becentral, centric in the city.
Uh, we wanted to add on thatthough, because we were very
impressed.
(04:15):
We just hired basically adirector of art, and she is very
well known in the art scene inCairo.
So we decided to make it an arthotel, and we add this with the
central location.
And in Cairo and in Egypt,especially, there's actually a
big art scene.
A lot of talented artists fromum from paintings to 3D works to
(04:37):
statues, whatever you tons.
So we added that all into theinterior design and into the
public area design.
So when you enter now, you havein in the lobby, for example, it
it's full of statues that areinspired by the actually seven
pillars of Cairo, of Egypt,sorry, of Egypt, which are I
(04:58):
have it's which is Islam, it'sum it's Greek, it's Roman.
So we added uh basically a lotof local artists uh doing the
design development to have theirinput in the public areas, but
also in the rooms.
So, for example, on top of theheadboard we have different
(05:20):
pictures and paintings insidethe room.
We have a baboon, which isbasically the baboon from the
temples that stands with thehands up and welcomes the people
that enter the temples and thesun in the morning.
So this we have at the entranceof the rooms, and then of
course, in the pool area, wehave uh statues from some local
(05:40):
artists in the restaurant.
And now Tariq, with hisoperations team, he added a lot
of other touches that reallymake the difference.
SPEAKER_02 (05:49):
So have you already handed it over to Tarek, or is
it still close to being handingover?
SPEAKER_03 (05:54):
We are working together now as a team on this.
Uh the construction is finishingthe last items.
Tarek and his teams areabsolutely helping, and from our
side, we only have to do thefire life safety commissions,
and then it's all in his handsas he opened the regency to open
the centric now.
SPEAKER_02 (06:11):
Many hotels in the US might have a dog or a cat in
the lobby.
Are you gonna have a baboonwalking around in the lobby?
SPEAKER_03 (06:19):
I wished.
I'd be the first one to say weneed to do that, but I don't
think that's allowed in thecity.
That's not a good idea.
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
Okay, let's get that.
Tarek.
Yes, second uh second baby inCairo.
Uh newborn by the 15th ofOctober.
I have a full team working sinceuh three months now uh to make
it happen.
We are doing our utmost uh toshow Cairo uh the first Art
(06:46):
Hotel in Egypt.
Uh it will be a plus for ourgroup.
It's a nice modern hotel, verycolorful.
We are using the orange, theyellow, uh, the blue.
Uh uh even the restaurant withnice uh art lobby.
(07:06):
When you enter the lobby behindthe reception, we have our
famous, famous singer, uh 1960,1970.
Uh her name is Omokal Sum.
It's an Arabic singer.
We have a full picture behindthe reception.
Uh we have really uh differentservice.
(07:28):
We different service than whatwe have in Regency.
Uh different uniform.
We even from the art, we got tothe idea that we really have uh
the uniform coming from art uhfor the stuff.
Um the hotel is very welcoming.
The hotel swimming pool isreally nice.
It's a 310 rooms.
(07:50):
It will be the first hotelhaving uh loft and having also
uh swim-up suites.
Cairo is missing such a nice uhnice modern hotel.
Uh we we we we are trying to goout of the typical city hotels
to a more resorty hotel toreally feel fun.
(08:13):
The clients are coming for anexperience, the clients are
coming for culture, so they willhave the first art hotel that
you really see uh a story behindthe hotel.
So we are looking forward toreceive the first client on 15th
of October, and this will be oursecond high hotel in Cairo.
SPEAKER_02 (08:30):
The first art hotel in Egypt, and I'm assuming the
first art high-centric as well,probably.
SPEAKER_03 (08:39):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (08:39):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (08:40):
Inspired by art.
SPEAKER_02 (08:41):
Inspired by art.
SPEAKER_03 (08:43):
And furthermore, we are now working with our real
estate division to also havebranded residences in our
complex.
So next to the Hyatt Centric andthe Hyatt Regency, we we will
develop about 700 residences andwe will brand them centric and
regency.
So this is all in the worksright now, and we hope that we
(09:05):
will finalize these ones by theend of the year, and then we
will start building theresidences.
SPEAKER_02 (09:12):
So will these be uh rented out as or will they be
sold to individual uh people andthen they can sort of hand it
back to you for management incase they don't want to come and
stay?
SPEAKER_00 (09:23):
We sold it out uh and uh the clients will give it
to us back for renting pools.
Uh we as a hotel, we will lookafter service service apartments
in terms of or in all regards,housekeeping, food and beverage,
laundry.
So uh it will be the firstservice apartments for height in
Cairo.
And um good that Mario openedthe subject because Al Dow
(09:47):
Development is is uh is is notonly hospitality uh division,
it's a hospitality and realestate construction division.
So we usually we we own, weconstruct, and we manage with a
third party franchise.
So we choose in Cairo the thirdparty, which is Hyatt, and we
choose uh Steigenberger for uhHorgada Hotels.
(10:11):
And in London, we choose uh IHGto uh to have it as a franchise
and we operate.
So we're operating all.
Now it's a turn of uh realestate.
We bring uh hospitality to realestate, uh, which is really
different in Cairo as a slogan.
Uh usually every investor inCairo uh for real estate is
(10:31):
selling apartments andmentioning that he will build
the hotel.
We are doing it vice versa.
We build the hotels, we arewell-known hotels, and now we
are starting selling realestate.
So we do have 1,000 apartmentsin Horgada called the Dauhats,
and we have another one, El DauStrand, which is 350 apartments
uh uh facing the sea.
(10:53):
And in Cairo, as Mario justmentioned, we are coming up with
uh high-tresidence, uhhigh-centric and high-regency,
uh, in order that we promote ituh to Cairo, and uh Cairo will
see also something new becausethe hotels already exist.
SPEAKER_02 (11:10):
Okay, so with Egypt's Vision 2030 aiming for
sustainable growth, how has AlDAO aligned its development
strategies with these nationalgoals?
SPEAKER_03 (11:21):
So, how do we align that?
We have basically we developedsomething we called ALDAO
sustainability.
So we have a handbook and abrochure that we distributed to
our staff and as well as ourpartners.
For example, hired when we didthe hired regency Cairo West and
the Hyatt Centric Cairo West,they asked us, what is your
(11:44):
sustainability efforts?
So we showed them our brochure,what we were doing, and how we
implemented it into theirprojects.
Uh, as Tig knows in his hotel,so he has induction cookers
wherever possible to save onenergy, to save on gas.
We have steam boilers that arereally energy efficient for the
laundries.
We have in Huergada at the topof our Aldao International
(12:08):
Conference Center is plasterwith photovoltaic cells, which
directly feed into our uh airconditioning units and saves us
a lot of energy there.
Then we in the new hotels we arenow working to get um
xeroscaping, landscaping, whichmeans that we're only using
(12:30):
local plants.
We don't import anything,anything, everything is local.
And you know, Cairo is hot, huhgotta so we save a lot of water.
The water that we do use to umto fertilize the gardens and the
grass is basically filteredwater from our sewage tanks,
which go straight in there andare made safe to be used there,
(12:50):
so we don't go into the regularwater grid.
We have in Huaqada, we havelakes actually in our property,
which we use not regular water,but we use the seawater which
will be pumped from the groundup to go into those lakes.
And then, of course, I mean wehave low-flow faucets, we have
low flow toilets, we have anyany uh in all the corridors for
(13:15):
the staff areas, we haveautomatic lights so that the
lights always turn off whennobody is there working.
And yeah, basically, I mean Ican give you a couple more.
The new hotel we're doing now inHogada, a Sultan project, what
we are another 400, 500-roomhotel resort.
(13:35):
We decided with the interiordesigner and the architects to
use only local materials, whichmeans we will not import from
China.
So we have basically CO2consumption completely down.
All the interior wasspecifically tailored to be made
in Egypt by local uhconsultants, by local
(13:56):
businesses.
So this is also good for thelocal communities, and it's
gonna be a fantastic projectbecause it also then gives us uh
in the interior design, we havethe heritage of Egypt
incorporated because the lampswill be made there from the
copper manufacturers in Cairothat are in the Kana el Khalili.
Uh, all the furniture with woodcomes straight from Cairo.
It's built down in Hogara, andthen we bought, for example, I
(14:20):
don't know how many cubic metersare like, but uh tons of old
railroad slippers from the olduh Cairo Railroad.
And we just stored them, and nowwe're using them to manufacture
our own tables for ourrestaurants and the interior, uh
the interior of some of therooms for the new projects.
SPEAKER_02 (14:36):
Wow, you have an unbelievably extensive effort in
the sustainability area.
That's very impressive.
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (14:44):
One question, I just to follow up on that lakes you
said in her gata results thatyou pump the seawater.
So then those lakes are allsaline lakes, then they're
salt-watered?
SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
No, it gets filtered.
SPEAKER_02 (14:54):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (14:55):
It gets filtered and then it goes straight into.
I mean, they're not really biglakes.
We have a gulf course, but itdepends in between.
So it comes up, it gets filteredbecause the salt will block our
pumps.
Right.
And then it gets basicallywashed back down again.
SPEAKER_02 (15:10):
Oh, very good.
Very good.
Okay.
So let's um, you know, when I Iwant to talk about tourism in
Egypt and who is visiting.
Where are most of yourinternational visitors coming
from?
Are they which countries arethey from?
So which parts of the region,Tarek?
SPEAKER_00 (15:27):
Uh surprising.
Yes.
Cairo, number one nationality isAmericans.
Wow.
Okay.
The second nationality isSpanish.
Uh third nationality isChinese-Japanese.
Um, you know, it's Cairo isdifferent nationalities than
Horgada and Shalmashik.
For instance, we have our hotelsin Horgada, which is a
(15:48):
Steigenberger Dao Resort.
Um our Horgada hotels, there arethree hotels.
Uh Steigenberger Daud, smallluxurious at the beach.
We have Steigenberger Equamagfamily hotel with aqua parks, uh
720 rooms, and we have alsoSteigenberger Pure Lifestyle,
which is adults only, 135suites.
(16:10):
Umly Germans.
Uh 70% of the hotels areGermans.
Uh we have uh differentnationalities.
Uh we get used to uh in the 202020 27 20 207 208.
Golden Years for us is 210, 24different nationalities under
(16:34):
one roof.
Uh Russians was playing verywell.
Okay.
Uh half of the hotel was alsoRussians.
However, once 2011 incidenthappened, the Russians is
getting less.
But till now, it's one of ournationalities.
Uh we have in Horgada alsoPolish.
Uh we have uh Armenian, we haveUK, is uh the third nationality
(16:58):
mix.
Uh Egyptians this year, year todate, number one nationality.
We have a lot of Egyptianscoming to us during summer.
Uh Cairo also we have a lot ofuh Egyptians due to the weddings
and the events, so they aregetting used to come and stay
with us uh during their weddingson Friday weekends.
(17:18):
Uh, we do have also uh um like abrunch with an offer, special
offer for the clients.
So they are coming to stay onenight in Cairo.
So let's say that we havedifferent nationalities, but we
are depending on Germans uh onHorgada and American and Spanish
in Cairo.
This is our uh feeder market.
SPEAKER_02 (17:38):
So I'm assuming the Germans that are coming to the
Steinenberger Resorts on theReds in Horgata.
Yes.
They are mostly coming forleisure.
But what about the Americans inCairo?
SPEAKER_01 (17:48):
Is that leisure?
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
It's it's leisure, it's it's uh it's more culture.
Most of the most of the Cairo,Cairo is a three nights stay.
Okay.
Horgada is from seven tofourteen nights leisure.
Cairo hotels, uh uh usually wehave uh something called uh
touristry.
The tour street that people isgoing to Luxur, Aswan, then
Cairo.
(18:09):
So they are usually having afull uh tour, uh coming to Cairo
for pyramids, coming to Cairo tosee the museum, uh, and also we
will, according to the Ministryof Tourism and our uh
delegations, we are expecting uha big increase once we open our
(18:30):
new uh great museum, because youneed to have you need to spend
like three days to finish this.
So we are also expecting to haveuh an extensive uh length of
stay in Cairo instead of threenights to be four nights, one
more night, that the clientsreally have the time to visit uh
more.
SPEAKER_02 (18:50):
Interesting.
Okay.
So the uh and and I'm I'm happyto hear that you have um a big
domestic um sector now.
Can you talk about labor costsand how does that make a
difference to the service?
SPEAKER_00 (19:04):
I have to say that um since I joined this company
19 years now working with them,we are looking after employees.
We are looking for uh stability.
I have a turnover of 3%, whichis very good in terms of 1,550
employees in Horgada.
We are talking about Cairo Hotelis almost 420 employees.
(19:29):
Uh we develop our employees, wetrain them, we look after their
career pass, we uh we promotefrom within.
We are trying to do our best interms of every uh everyone have
his choice to to move fromHorgada to Cairo for any new
openings.
So we are really looking afterour stuff, and uh we usually do
(19:54):
a lot of uh um appreciation forthem, uh especially in all
regards.
So uh our stuff is uh wellmaintained.
Um the clients know them verywell.
Repeaters, especially, we havelike 25% to 30% repeaters in
Horgada.
So they really look after ourstuff, and the staff uh are
(20:16):
always happy.
And Egyptians, I will not saythat because I'm Egyptian, but
Egyptians are friendly.
Egyptians like to serve uh aswell, they they they work from
heart.
And in our hospitality business,if you didn't work from heart,
you will never reach anything.
So we really work from heart andwe really uh like what we are
(20:36):
doing.
So uh the most important forEgyptians, you appreciate they
feel that you are your backbone,you are backbone for the staff,
you're looking after them in allregards, in bonuses, in
incentive.
So this is why we we have astable uh employment.
SPEAKER_02 (20:55):
You know, so when I was there, I mean I when I spoke
to so many people, thiscommitment of Al DAO to its
employees came through veryclearly in all my discussions
with so many people.
As an example, um what happenedduring the pandemic when
everyone else around was layingoff staff and firing them?
(21:15):
What was going on in Al DAO?
SPEAKER_00 (21:17):
Our owner, Engineer Bessel Semi-Sat, he decided to
ensure that there is no cut ofsalaries for all our employees
in SOLA 11.
We didn't fire any employer.
Even usually, when you have athree-month trial for any new
employer, we didn't uh cut, wewe left the employee to work and
(21:40):
continue working with us.
Um our owner really is lookingafter employees, he's looking
after management.
He is not he he he he said veryclear all this staff were
supporting me in a good times, Ineed to support them in a bad
times.
So he is one of the few ownerswho didn't.
Cut any uh from our staff, hekept the m the salaries 100%.
SPEAKER_02 (22:06):
So clearly he must have taken a lot of losses
during that time, but that justspeaks to his commitment to his
staff and his, you know, and thepeople who are.
SPEAKER_00 (22:15):
I don't see these losses.
I see this very smart.
He makes almost 2,000 employeesloyal to the company.
We are proud, while we arementioning it today, in 2024,
what we are what we did.
And we are really happy uh to uhto have this story, successful
story with us.
He was really smart, he he tookit, and now it's returned back
(22:38):
to him because now, as Imentioned in the beginning, it's
a 3% turnover, which is very lowpercentage in Egypt.
SPEAKER_02 (22:45):
Right.
That is absolutely incrediblylow percentage of turnover.
So um there is uh something elsethat you mentioned um that is
promoting from within, and I'mgonna return to that in a couple
of minutes.
But I want to ask uh Mario aboutwhat are the other opportunities
and areas of growth for thecompany?
What's next for Aldao?
SPEAKER_03 (23:07):
Well, we do have a couple of projects in pipeline.
I mean, we're working now on aon a mega project next to the
pyramids.
Uh we have Aldao is a subsidiaryof Sumcrete, and the Sumcrete
headquarters is very close tothe pyramids of Giza, and
basically on the opposite sideof the new museum, which is due
(23:31):
to open hopefully next year, ifnot this year.
And uh, well, we are planning ondeveloping a hotel there, about
700, 800 rooms when it'sfinished, but phase one will be
probably one tower with around350 rooms.
Um, the brand is yet to bedecided, but it it's it's a mega
(23:52):
project with a conventioncenter, with uh food court, with
with shopping malls, with acasino, with everything in a
really strategic location.
Uh, we do have other projectsaround the world as well.
We have one really big projectin London.
We own the holiday in LondonWest there.
Uh we did get planning consentfrom the mayor already to
(24:14):
basically demolish it and buildtwo towers there.
One with 47 stories and one with54 stories.
Where we also want to do ahigher-centric at this point.
We also have the verbalagreement to make it a
high-centric, plus another 702built-to-rent apartments, which
London is in dire need rightnow, as the housing is a big
(24:35):
catastrophe, if I may say so.
SPEAKER_02 (24:37):
Right.
Yeah, and not just London, butall major cities in the world
are I know in Boston and NewYork and all other cities, you
know, there is not enoughhousing.
So that is amazing.
That's a huge big influx ofapartments.
SPEAKER_03 (24:50):
And apart from that, we are planning to expand.
We're always looking for newprojects.
We we were looking in Greece, wewere looking in Spain, we were
looking in Hungary, uh, also inGermany for a little while.
Then, of course, London, ifanything else comes.
And as we discussed thismorning, maybe Boston now.
I hope so too.
But no, we are open for anydevelopments that come to our
(25:11):
tables and we evaluate anythingthat is there.
With, you know, we go throughthanks to you now, more detailed
visibilities.
Yes.
That was a big part of theexecutive education.
SPEAKER_02 (25:30):
Fantastic.
So uh Tarek, I want to come backto um you were part of this
inaugural Boston University'sexecutive education program.
Uh you both were participantthere.
So, my question is how did thatprogram help you to expand your
thinking or leadership skills orour real estate skills?
I mean, what did that do foryou?
SPEAKER_00 (25:52):
First of all, um finance played a good role.
We we're usually using ourlaptops in equations, uh easy to
do.
Right.
But we didn't do it, we didn'tknow really how it works.
So it was for us very good uh uhto understand from where this
(26:13):
number is coming and what'sbehind.
So uh uh it was very interestingto understand this.
Plus um the second course, whilewe are understanding as well uh
our personality, otherpersonalities, how we how how
from how you can figure out uhit's support it will support us
(26:33):
a lot during our interviews forour new hiring.
It will support us a lot for ourcurrently team members.
Um for me, this is my uh twomain uh took-home from such
great uh trainings uh which wegot in Boston University.
SPEAKER_02 (26:51):
Fantastic.
But you did mention that youpromote from within.
Yes.
So how what kind of trainings dothey are they only getting
on-the-job training, or how areyou sort of helping them expand
their skill set and theirmanagement and leadership skills
as you're promoting them?
SPEAKER_00 (27:09):
I learned it from this company.
Uh I started in this company asan assistant front office
manager in 2006.
And today I'm running the showin 2024.
Our owner invested on me.
I have a CEO who's also lookingafter me.
Uh I got uh e-cornel courses,revenue management, full course
(27:32):
for two years, and I full uhhospitality management master's
degree for two years as well.
So I learned it from them how Ican keep the employment, how I
can upgrade our management.
Therefore, I start to have uh uh10 to 15 senior management from
each hotel, uh looking afterthem, uh uh also offering them
(27:57):
equal courses in terms of onlinecourses uh wherever it's needed.
Um we uh we selected few uh uhgood uh employment in terms of
supervisor level and assistantdepartment heads in order to
start looking after theirweaknesses and provide the right
(28:21):
courses for them to move themforward to to being a department
heads.
So I have a lot of cases uh whois starting as an operator.
Today he is a front officemanager of height.
I have uh uh a supervisor at thedesk who is also now uh as an
EEM for one of our hotels, uhfood and beverage supervisor,
(28:44):
being now a food and beveragemanager, uh a restaurant manager
who is now a hotel manager, sowe really look after them in all
in terms of which trainingcourses you need.
Um for us, uh Boston this yearwas a plus that for me also to
have the knowledge, uh where Ican start now looking after the
(29:08):
new management of the hotels todo the same what we did.
So uh, you know, it's usually uhlife is a learning course.
So we we learn, we start givingour uh our team the same what we
did.
So for us, uh our goal now nextyear is that we have a pool of
people from the managementhaving the same uh courses which
(29:31):
we did.
Uh we have still uh a group uhworking now in e-cornell online.
They will finish by 2027.
So they have two years and ahalf only concentrated.
So this is the only way that youcan uh retain uh the people and
ensuring that they arecontinuing success with you.
(29:52):
And always every every employeror every uh senior management is
looking for his second step.
So if he feels comfortable thathe will reach it by learning,
then he continue working withyou.
SPEAKER_02 (30:04):
That is excellent.
Continuous investment ineducation and development of the
staff is is critical to thesuccess of any company.
Okay, so what I want to do iswant to have a little bit of a
fun to wrap things up.
So I'm gonna ask you some quickquestions and you can take turns
answering, but let's start withMario.
Um I know that you just landedum today morning.
(30:27):
And so um when you do get alittle bit of time, what is one
thing that you have been wantingto do in Boston?
What is the first thing you'lldo in your free time?
SPEAKER_03 (30:37):
Oh um, well, as I discussed with Tarek this
morning, we need to go for alobster somewhere.
Okay.
I definitely would like to havea good Atlantic lobster.
SPEAKER_02 (30:46):
Excellent.
And I know um, Tarek, you camein yesterday.
So what was what did you do thefirst thing?
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
I uh I just took an uh I took a car and just uh to
walk in the street.
I need to, I like when wheneverI reach a country, just to walk
in downtown.
I asked, where is downtown?
Uh they said, Boston.
Uh it's a small city, you justgo and walk.
And I felt very well.
I didn't really, the time wasflying.
(31:13):
I was just walking for fourhours, left and right, going
around.
I looked to the churches, howthey look, urban designs, how
the city is clean, how thepeople is happy.
Um I was really enjoying by byeven having one ice cream.
I was just like having fun by bywalking, looking to the people
(31:34):
and looking to such nicebuildings.
Uh still I have four or fivedays to continue to understand
more.
Especially that I'm coming fromNew York.
So it's totally different.
SPEAKER_02 (31:47):
It's very different, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (31:47):
Totally different.
SPEAKER_02 (31:48):
Yeah, much better.
Um walking is always good, andif you can pair up walking with
ice cream, there's nothing tobeat that.
Um, what's your favorite sport,Mario?
SPEAKER_03 (31:59):
Um I would say kiteboarding, although I love
all types of sports.
But kiteboarding right now is myfavorite.
SPEAKER_02 (32:07):
Kiteboarding.
Explain that a little bit.
SPEAKER_03 (32:09):
It's like, you know, like uh surfing.
SPEAKER_02 (32:12):
Surfing, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (32:13):
But not uh windsurfing, actually.
Oh winds.
But it's it's a new type ofwindsurfing.
I started that when I wasworking in Turks and Caicos 20
years ago.
And basically what you have isyou have a kite and then you
have a surfboard on your feet,and you steer the kite in the
wind, and then it you know itdrags you around.
SPEAKER_02 (32:30):
Sounds very exciting.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
No, no, it's excellent.
I love it.
SPEAKER_02 (32:34):
Okay.
I'll be happy watching it.
I'm gonna let you do it.
Tariq, how about you, I'massuming?
SPEAKER_01 (32:40):
Is it kite surfing by any chance?
Swimming.
Swimming, swimming and swimming,okay.
SPEAKER_00 (32:44):
Swimming and football.
Football, I I love I lovefootball and watching football.
SPEAKER_02 (32:47):
So Yeah, by football you mean soccer, as we say in
the US, right?
SPEAKER_01 (32:52):
We have our famous Muhammad Salah, so we he he
makes us so excited to watchmore.
Fantastic.
SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
So, Tariq, what are the top three places a
first-time visitor to Egyptshould do?
Probably we should skip uh thepyramids because we all know the
pyramids.
Other than pyramids, what arethe other things to do in Egypt?
SPEAKER_00 (33:12):
Uh in Egypt or in Cairo?
Because in Egypt.
Either way.
Either way, he uh for me, anyanyone he needs to to come and
stay.
He needs to see Luxur, Aswan.
Cairo, he needs to see themuseums.
I'm talking about Luxor andOswan because really it's quite
a lot of temples, a lot, a lotof culture, which if somebody
(33:35):
liked it.
And Cairo Pyramids Great Museum,Hanal Khalili, it's an enjoyable
place.
While you are really see the oldtown, while you are passing by,
you will really enjoy it.
This is one of the iconic uh uhfor for me.
If if somebody is in Horgada asa client, I'm trying to bring
(33:56):
the repeaters now to Cairo, I'mtrying to make for them an offer
that they just need to come andsee such nice places.
SPEAKER_02 (34:02):
Mario, do you want to change any of these?
SPEAKER_03 (34:05):
No, I agree 100% with Tarek.
I can add a lot.
Being not Egyptian, to behonest, I'm I'm still amazed by
the sites that this country hasto offer, and they're finding
more and more every day.
Uh so when you go to thepyramids, uh you need that
everybody thinks there's onlythree.
There's almost a hundred there.
So there's also the red pyramid,there's the black pyramid,
(34:27):
there's the saqara.
Next to Saqqara pyramid is theSerapeum, which is really
unknown, but it's absolutelystunning.
It's a cave with hugesarcophagus in there.
And the they thought that theyput bulls in there back then and
buried them, but they are as bigas this podcast.
And the the detail, how theywere made, that they are
actually airtight, is absolutelystunning.
(34:49):
There's the Fayum Desert, uh thelakes, which are stunning, like
blue water in the middle of thedesert with fish and you know
palm trees around it.
There is next to that, there isa museum, an open-air museum,
where you can see fossilizedprehistoric dinosaurs, sea
(35:10):
creatures.
They are just there in thedesert, they lie there.
You've never seen anything likethis.
It's huge fossilized whales, butthey were like, you know, more
dinosaur whales.
And they're just there in themiddle of the desert.
Ooh, and so much more.
I mean, you could you wouldnever stop.
Okay.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (35:26):
Unfortunately, was with what Mario said, and it's a
good thing that Mario is anexpert.
We only have 15 million touristsin last year.
We are aiming to double thenumbers by and this is a
government uh view, and this isthe role of the Ministry of
Tourism uh by end of uh 20202030, after opening the new
(35:49):
museum, to double the numbersbecause we really have a lot to
be seen.
And uh still uh we we need more.
We we we are looking now, we arebuilding a lot of hotels.
All owners nowadays are buildingreally out of you are coming now
every year like 50 hotels new.
So the room inventory is comingup, and we are looking for
(36:09):
doubling the numbers, which iswill support us a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (36:12):
Yeah, that's gonna need a whole lot of
infrastructure, development,airports and roads and other
services, and like youmentioned, hotels and
restaurants.
SPEAKER_00 (36:20):
Yes, we are doing that nowadays, really with the
new vision of the government interms of infrastructure and
roads, and now with the newhotels coming up, with the new
museum coming up, we are uh weare feeling that we can do it
easily.
But uh uh we will see uh thenumbers getting by closing 2024.
We see first uh how did we closethe year, and then we aim for
(36:43):
the next year's.
SPEAKER_03 (36:45):
But also the Ministry of Antiquities is
working with UNESCO to redo whatI mentioned already, the Khanel
Khalili, which is like it thisthis should be something like
Venice, for example.
It's a benchmark for KhanelKhalili for the old town of
historic Cairo.
It's absolutely amazing when youwalk through that and the
history that is there, the oldbuildings.
I mean, once they rejuvenatethis area and make it accessible
(37:08):
for tourists to actually bewalkable, like Venice, it will
hugely lift up Cairo again as atourist destination.
SPEAKER_02 (37:16):
Great.
So it's been fantastic havingboth of you, and I've learned so
much about Al DAO's commitmentto both Egypt's future and the
hospitality industry.
Thank you again for joining uson the Distinguished Podcast.
We look forward to seeing AlDAO's continued success both in
Egypt and internationally.
SPEAKER_00 (37:35):
Thank you very much for the time.
SPEAKER_01 (37:36):
Uh we really have the pleasure to have you to be
here today.
SPEAKER_03 (37:39):
Thank you very much.
It was a pleasure being here.
SPEAKER_02 (37:42):
So if you want to join the conversation and share
your thoughts and suggestions,email me at sharkin at bu.edu.
Special thanks to the team whoproduces this podcast, producer
Mara Littman, editor and soundengineer Andy Halleck, Director
of the BU School of HospitalityRealistic Program, Kashik
Burdharajan, and the entire teamat Boston University School of
(38:03):
Hospitality Administration.
To keep up with theDistinguished Podcast, be sure
to subscribe wherever you listento your favorite podcast.
You can also learn more aboutexperience innovation in our
undergraduate and graduateprograms by visiting pu.edu
slash hospitality.
Have a great day.
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