“I admit it took me two years to understand the unique business model of a hotel company which believes that dividend is improvement of the quality of life of the community in which we work,” said Aziz Boolani, CEO Serena Hotels South & Central Asia. He is based in Islamabad, Pakistan, which is not exactly on the main map of either travel advisers or global travelers.
Serena is owned and managed by Tourism Promotion Services (TPS), which was started in the 1970s by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development SA. Today, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, TPS owns and manages 25 properties in East Africa, and a further 11 in Asia, notably Pakistan, with one in Afghanistan and two in Tajikistan.
“I report to global CEO Mahmud Janmohamed, who is based in Nairobi, Kenya, but I am lucky in basically captaining my own ship,” said Boolani.
“There may not be many tourists but even in Kabul, at the Serena Kabul, we maintain around 30% occupancy – despite advisories from Western diplomatic missions – and because of extremely alert necessary security, we have a captive market when it comes to dining. F&B, indeed, is a notable point of all the hotels in my care. Guests seem to have plenty of time to express views online and, as one TripAdvisor post commented recently about Serena Islamabad, there was an outstanding selection of items on the breakfast buffet.”
That post was, as always, answered and signed by Michel Galopin, general manager of Islamabad Serena Hotel. The Frenchman has wide experience in hospitality, which includes years at The Peninsula Hong Kong, and Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, St-Jean Cap-Ferrat, France. In Pakistan, however, he has been able to expand a general love of culture.
Galopin, like his boss Boolani, has realized there is more to life than putting profit first. “When we were building the Islamabad Serena Hotel, we could have merely stenciled the 36-foot-high ceiling in the lobby but the His Highness the Aga Khan wanted to protect the art and artisans so the ceiling is hand-painted, at 10 times the cost,” explained Boolani, with pride.
The company believes poverty can to some extent be alleviated through education and health. There are continual pop-up displays, in the lobby of Islamabad Serena, of paintings by up-and-coming young Pakistani artists, and regular educational talks. The company sponsors annual literature festivals in Balochistan and elsewhere in Pakistan. At all hotels, music initiatives find and promote the next generation of groups. There are public diplomacy discussions on such relevant topics as culture, the economy, heritage and health (politics or religion are banned).
“Serena also has sports diplomacy. This started with golf, and now we also organize cricket, football, skiing and squash, tennis and volleyball. We sponsor walks and car rallies and, in Gilgit-Baltistan, cycling races. We regularly host community hikes, and we sponsored a young Pakistani woman who has now climbed all the highest peaks in the seven continents of the world.”
The list of community initiatives goes on and on. “In Pakistan we are teaching sewing in rural areas, and buying resulting pieces to use in our hotels. We have given 300 rural families stocked beehives, and we buy the honey for our hotels, which also sell it.”
Boolani was born in Pakistan’s port city, Karachi, and after graduating in finance from that city’s main university he worked in Saudi Arabia. Wanting to spend “a year” back in his homeland, he was enticed into the hotel world by Marriott, whose Pakistan operations are licensed and run by Hashwani Hotels Limited.
“I never wanted to move from Marriott. I had worked my way up to be area director Pakistan but in 2000 the opportunity to do good for my countrymen was too strong and I moved to Serena. I consider myself blessed because I am learning the whole time, and integrating with our hotels’ communities,” he concluded.