Ministers of Europe in the hospitality of the Majestic!

Student
February 16, 2023
Student
February 16, 2023

By Max van der Heiden

The Majestic hotel is a 5-star luxury hotel on Barcelona’s most expensive street in the beautiful and scenic Eixample district. Guests visiting the hotel are mainly in the higher tourism segment. Only Last week, we were in the presence of world leaders. A dinner was planned with all the ministers of the Mediterranean countries, including the countries Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Morocco. For this event, 150 ministers were invited who also stayed overnight. The high degree of preparation and organization required optimal commitment from every employee at the Majestic hotel to make this event a success.

During the preparations for this event, I was amazed by the enthusiasm, high level of hospitality and quality that the Majestic performed. A lot had to be done, namely, firstly, security and police with dogs checked the entire hotel constantly. For the ministers’ dinner, there were even four ME military police vans in front of the hotel. Hotel guests, staff and managers were all checked on entering and leaving the hotel. For instance, they were asked for first name and surname, what department and times you work in and had to show your passport. In the reception hall of the hotel an additional checkpoint was established, a kind of customs office. Bags were sent through an x ray scanner and there was an extra gate that everyone had to walk through so that dangerous weapons or substances could possibly be caught.

Second, the banqueting halls and restaurant had to be prepared and the tables set. I noticed a focused atmosphere where everyone wanted to give their all. Many interns and staff members from different departments were asked to help out to get everything done on time. In short, all staff poured their heart into the work and not mindlessly executed tasks which made it stand out to me what a family working culture is. This is in start contrast with recent numbers of the Netherlands, my home country, where only 9% of employees feel committed to their employer. I am proud that I am now part of this family working culture. You can clearly see these cultural differences in the Hofstede model of corporate culture as well. Namely Dutch corporate culture is much more individualistic versus the Spanish collectivism, where the family culture is strongly woven into the corporate culture, and thus you feel and experience that the entire organisation strives to achieve one common goal: High performance and Hospitality!

In short, this big event where all ministers from Mediterranean countries came together was a special experience for me. Employees show that work is fun no matter what hotel guests are there. They take pride in the work they do. Values, customer and employee experience, personal leadership and guts create the true family feeling through which both high performance and hospitality are felt whether it is an hotel guests, tourist or minister. Majestic blood flows through the veins of the staff!

Ministers of Europe in the hospitality of the Majestic!

by | Feb 16, 2023 | Uncategorized