Michail SERGEEV
ALMATY, April 29 (THE GLOBE)
According to a decision of UNESCO (and with its support), the celebrations of 1100th anniversary of the Samanid State, which will last until September, have begun. However, the heads of the Tajik republic have decided to begin these celebrations not in Tajikistan, but in St. Petersburg. The ceremonies will be opened with an international scientific conference under the aegis of the CIS inter-Parliament assembly.
Sergei Klyashtorny, a participant of the scientific conference and recognized Orientalist, specializing in Turkology and Mongolistics, told THE GLOBE that a large delegation of senior representatives from different region of Tajikistan, the Federation Council of Russia and the CIS inter-Parliament assembly had arrived in the Russian northern capital.
Both the governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir Yakovlev and the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmonov spoke at the opening ceremony.
The conference was opened by the governor of St. Petersburg, who emphasized the traditional scientific, industrial and trade links of his city with Tajikistan. The governor also expressed his hope for further the development and strengthening of these links under the new conditions.
Mr. Rakhmonov spoke the first, and he remarked that the epoch of the Samanids had been the golden era in the history of the Tajik people, the beginning of their state system. The President emphasized that this jubilee is considered not only as the beginning of the Tajik State, but a part of the common history of Central Asian culture. According to the President of Tajikistan, the Samanid State contributed a lot to the world�s culture.
Following his speech, Mr. Rakhmonov awarded a group of orientalists from St. Petersburg with orders for their service to Tajikistan and invited them to visit his republic in September.
Nurlan Ablyazov
Almaty, April 29
(THE GLOBE)
Behind each business there should be a proprietor and manager. Sometimes these roles are filled by a single person, but as a rule they are performed by different people. A manager is like the coach of a football team. Success in business depends first of all upon Him. It may seem to a stranger that the product created by managers is perfect, perfected by the hand of God. The Regent Almaty/The Ankara in Kazakhstan, better known as the Ankara Hotel is something like that. Not every European capital is blessed with such a creation.
Today it seems that this hotel has always been a fixture in Almaty. However, the establishment of the hotel is not just a final result, it is a process. The process begins with the inauguration of the hotel, the adjustment of its entire complex structure: supply of the products and equipment, work of the personnel, sales� Then it should be improved, consolidated, perfected and � work, work and work.
In April, Timur Ilgaz, General Manager The Regent Almaty/The Ankara in Kazakhstan, received the baton from Hakan Ozalpay, the man who had managed the hotel since its opening in December 1996.
Today �The Ankara� is a five-star hotel, consisting of 290 apartments, three restaurants, 2 bars, a casino, Health Club (sports complex including tennis courts, basin, sauna, Turkish bath, training hall), conference halls, and a Ballroom (reception hall). There are approximately 500 attendants to attend to the needs of guests. This is, at last, a complex of modern and beautiful construction, decorating the main square of the principal city in the country.
The owner of the hotel is AYT Hotel Int. of Turkey. The company also owns the five-star �Kemer� hotel located on the Mediterranean seashore in Antalya.
The process of opening a hotel lasts for several years � and includes staff training, the introduction of a new system of hotel services, interrelations with the government and local authorities, etc. All these factors are necessary to ensure the highest class of the hotel service. The objective of the General Manager is to steer the hotel towards a high international standard. As a result of our hard work, in August 1998, the hotel was included in the world-class system of The Regent hotels. The Regent hotels are, in their own turn part of the Four Seasons Hotels chain, the second largest in the world (the biggest is the Ritz Carlton).
�The level which the hotel has achieved during the stewardship of Mr. Hakan Ozalpay is so high that my task as the new General Manager is extremely complex. It is difficult to improve something that has been so well done,� Mr. Timur Ilgaz stated at the ceremony devoted to his appointment as General Manager at The Regent Almaty/The Ankara in Kazakhstan on April 22 in Almaty.
In the exclusive interview to THE GLOBE the new General Manager of the hotel said, �we have some ideas, but� (Expressing his reluctance to inform his competitors of the company�s plans). You�ll have to wait for the results.�
�One of my main tasks is to decrease the number of non-Kazakhstani residents working in the hotel. Today out of about five hundred staff, their number comes to about forty persons: we need to adequately prepare local personnel. After The Regent Almay entered the hotel network, we twice conducted successful training sessions with The Regent specialists. Soon we are going to hold the next training session,� he said.
�It may be stated that we have felt the introduction of the free tenge�s rate�, Mr. Ilgaz said. �Luxury products, to which, hotel service of our level can of course be referred, are the first to feel the sudden economic changes. In the moments after the introduction of the free rate we saw some initial panic seize a number of Kazakhstan�s businessmen. But the situation seems to be stabilizing.�
�We expect moderate growth this year. In 2000 we expect the growth rate to rise significantly�, he concluded.
Mr. Hakan Ozalpay said that there is a big potential to supply products to the hotel from the Kazakh market: �At present we import about 90% of the foodstuff from abroad, due to the extremely high requirements of product quality for hotels of our class. The remaining10% is mainly fresh vegetables. After the opening RamStore we believe that supplies from the Kazakhstan market may increase substantially.�
�A leading company is planning to open a broiler farm in the Almaty suburbs. We are confident a product of high quality will be realized in the Kazakhstan market,� Mr. Ozalpay said.
�Important congresses that we have held at the Ankara hotel include the CIS summit with the participation of 10 presidents, a NATO conference, World Bank summits and numerous other meetings,� stated Hakanbei, the ex-General Manager of the hotel.
Mr. Timur Ilgaz has been working in the hotel since 1985. Previously he worked as a manager in Hilton hotel in Istanbul and in Toronto. Mr. Ilgaz last appointment was the regional sales and marketing manager for the system of 10 hotels Corintia Hotel Int. in Prague.
Mr. Hakan Ozalpay holds the MBA degree from California University in Los-Angeles. Mr. Ozalpay has been in business since 1977. He has a significant experience namely in the posts of manager � opening new hotels. Ozalpay worked as the General Manager while opening the Ankara Hotel and another five-star hotel the Turkiz (Renaisance Group) in Istanbul. The former GM is forty, and has two children: a 10-year-old daughter and a son of 5.
�I have not taken the final decision yet, as to where I will work next. I have received several interesting proposals, but I have time to choose. For the time being I am going back home, to Turkey,� Mr. Ozalpay said.
His motto (I would even say his deposition that he generously shared with the hotel personnel) is the following: �Be always positive and� patient.� I cannot say that I knew Hakan-bei very well during the time he was working here. But I could very well feel the positive atmosphere of his human charm. It was impossible to miss that. This was due to his educational level, as well as due to professional one, and possibly his nature.
Mr. Ozalpay will leave Almaty on April 30 on the morning flight of Turkish Airlines, which means, Dear Reader, he may be sitting in a Boeing armchair as you are reading this article. But Mr. Ozalpay plans to return. Mr. Ozalpay was one of the founders and is the president of the Kazakhstan Hotel Association. In his opinion, this organization (similar organizations exist all over the world) may and must become a locomotive of the tourist industry in Kazakhstan.
Welcome back, Hakan-bei, we�ll await you.
All Over the Globe is published by IPA House.
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