CHANGE OF GUARD AT THE SHERATON KAMPALA HOTEL
(Posted 20th January 2016)
(From left to right outgoing General Manager Ian Duncan, Director of Sales and Marketing Jenifer Musiime and incoming General Manager Jean-Philippe Bittencourt)
The Kampala Sheraton Hotel this evening laid on a splendid farewell function where it proverbially snowed food and rained drink, as Ian Duncan and his wife Paula said their good byes to their corporate clientele, members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of the EU Election Observer Mission to Uganda, travel agents, tour operators and airline representatives, among many other guests.
Ian during his just over two years at the helm of the hotel is credited with turning around the reputation and fortunes of the Kampala Sheraton Hotel when together with a team of new chefs he set out to improve food quality and service and put the smiles back on the faces of his staff. Under critical review from this correspondent can it be confirmed that he succeeded on all these scores and left the hotel beaming with renewed confidence in Kampala’s competitive market place.
He and his wife Paula will spend some time at their home in Portugal it is understood before embarking on new ventures.
Said Ian at the party: ‘I am very grateful for your support for the past two years I have been in Uganda and I definitely hold Uganda close to my heart. I have cherished the support that I have received from the community and the team work from the staff that has helped me achieve my goals and those of Sheraton Kampala Hotel. I believe my counterpart Mr. Bittencourt will continue to raise Sheraton Kampala Hotel to new heights‘.
Jean-Philippe Bittencourt comes to the Kampala Sheraton Hotel from the sister property in Djibouti, also owned by Constellation Hotels and also operated as a Sheraton franchise.
Jean-Philippe already sampled some aspects of Uganda, which with its mild tropical climate is in stark contrast to the hot and humid Djibouti weather. When meeting this correspondent earlier in the day for an introduction he readily admitted that he had indeed come to the ‘Pearl of Africa’ as Uganda is known.
Jean-Philippe responded to Ian when he said: ‘My goal is to engage with you so that you can let us know your requirements or even feedback so that we can improve and offer value and bespoke needs. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all so much for giving me such a great, warm welcome and look forward to meeting you all once again in the weeks ahead‘.
It is a very fond farewell to Ian and Paula, who during the past two years made plenty of friends in Uganda and a warm welcome to Jean-Philippe.
