Touching the heart

Guido de wilde, Vice-President and Regional Director of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Middle East

It is important to be involved in charity. There are so many needy people in the world. I have been taught to help those less fortunate than myself. I think any sort of charity touches the heart.

I speak seven languages.

I was born and raised in a town called Zele located in northern Belgium, with a population of about 20,000 people. My mother tongue is Dutch. In school, I learnt French and German. Radio and television helped me learn and understand English.

By the time I left school, I was fluent in these four languages. However, I was particularly attracted to the Germanic languages like Swedish and other Norwegian languages.

I got a diploma in Philology from Ghent University, which is one of the three largest Flemish universities in northern Belgium. I specialised in the history and origin of Scandinavian languages. Traditionally, this course prepares you to become either a teacher or a journalist. In my case, I just wanted to learn many languages!

Joining the hotel industry was never an aspiration of mine.

I applied for a scholarship to study at the University of Oslo in Norway shortly after. But while I was waiting for a reply from the university, I decided to work for a city library. Part of my job was organising two exhibitions. It was during this time that I came across an advert by Sheraton Worldwide stating that they were looking for a person with sound knowledge of Swedish and Norwegian languages for their call centre.

I joined them in March 1983. My job was in Brussels where I had to manage reservations made by callers based in Scandinavian countries. I found it very exciting and I realised that the hotel industry had so much to offer.

In the meantime, I also took up a one-year course in marketing and juggled my tertiary studies along with my career.

I was thrilled to take my first steps outside of Europe.

In September 1984, I was selected from five candidates to manage the operations of Sheraton Worldwide reservations call centre in Bahrain. More than anything else, I really liked the people and Middle Eastern culture.

After a four-year stint there, I was promoted to director of sales and marketing at the Sheraton in Casablanca. But I instinctively knew that I would return some day to the Middle East. In fact, I continued to visit Bahrain almost every year and stayed connected with friends and associates there.

Working in a hotel is one thing – opening a hotel is another.

The hotel in Casablanca was still under construction at the time of my joining. I had no idea where to start. I had always been involved in reservations and had never worked as a waiter or at the reception or as a bell boy! I did not even have a hotel management background. I still think of those years fondly because it is not often that a company's management trusts someone with no experience in a field [to head a major department].

I have always believed that if you find yourself in a tricky situation, simply ask for help.

I have faced many difficult situations but I have never hesitated to seek help. I feel blessed that I always had good people around me who I could depend on to help me.

My father's words have stayed with me.

When I took up the post of director of sales and marketing at Sheraton Casablanca, the first thought that

came to mind were his words to me when I had started studying at university. He said: 'Guido, when you go to University, do not disappoint me. I have to work very hard to pay for your education'.

As a result I have never repeated a term or had to redo a subject.

I realised that I was given a certain privileged responsibility and was expected to contribute my side to the bargain.

I will never forget working in Munich.

The year was 1989 and I was the assistant general manager. It was not easy managing a 650-room hotel which incidentally also boasted the largest conference centre in southern Germany. On the first day of my job, just as I was about to start addressing a department head meeting, my general manager asked me to speak in German. The last time I had spoken this language was when I was at school. I broke out into a sweat and became very nervous. I later realised that my boss was a true mentor and an excellent teacher. He allowed me to make mistakes and gave me ample opportunities to learn from them.

My biggest mistake has been that I did not learn Arabic.

In Bahrain I had started learning it but gave up half-way. I may not have been that fluent but I would have been in a better position than I am today

If I had learnt it properly. It is a regret I harbour till today.

But it was a mistake that I did not repeat. When I moved to Portugal, I hired a tutor who came to my office everyday to teach me the local language.

In Portugal, the locals do not expect a foreigner to know their language.

I learnt it as a gesture of my respect for the locals and their culture, society and traditions. As a result, it opened many opportunities for me. Learning Portuguese through French was the most difficult experience. It is easier to pick up a foreign language when you are a kid.

In 2005, when the company acquired Le Méridien, they asked me to move to Dubai and I returned to the Middle East as I had always wanted to.

I met my wife Joanna when I was 15.

She has supported me in every way and helped me grow in my career. She has worked in France, Germany and Portugal and whenever I moved to a new country, Joanna quit her job to join me. Whenever we get the opportunity, we love to go out to restaurants to enjoy a good meal together.

Age is merely a state of mind.

I am 51 now. From September 4–6 this year, I will be leading a cross-country cycling trip over some of the most legendary climbs in the French Pyrenees. I have chalked out the entire plan based on the lines of Tour de France. We are a total of 19 cyclists from within the Sheraton group.

My colleagues, from a range of countries, will represent Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) region. Last year's charitable ride raised funds for Unicef's Child-to-Child radio project in Mozambique. We were 12 executive-rank cyclists who covered 450km, including Mont Ventoux, one of the most notorious mountain climbs in Tour de France. We raised 250,000 euros (about Dh1.3 million). It also marked the introduction of the Le Méridien hotels to the Check Out for Children partnership with Unicef. This time, we are giving our best to support the 'Street Children in Egypt' project, again in conjunction with Unicef.