Work honestly, work honestly

Interviewed: Elena Balina

Our interview with Sirak Muradyan, CEO of Al Khalidiah Group, took place in the new head office of the company, which is located in the newly built Sharjah Islamic BankTower building on Sharjah embankment, and began with congratulations on the new home.

Thank you for your congratulations. Our head office opened 4 months ago, we rented a room in this golden skyscraper on the 18th floor, equipped it, made it cozy and started working. The opening of a new office partially relieved our Dubai office, in which we also made a very good repair.

Has the company’s staff also increased?

I will tell you even more: the Al Khalidiah group of companies has not only not reduced its staffing since the beginning of the economic recession, but, on the contrary, increased the number of employees by 10-15%. Unfortunately, we still lost some specialists in connection with the decision to temporarily close the Marhaba Resort hotel, as the owner of the land on which the hotel is located tripled its rental value.

And, nevertheless, you do not follow the circumstances and continue to develop other areas of your activity?

Yes, the closure of the license and the Marhab Hotel is in no way connected with our financial situation. And we will still have the opportunity to return to this issue. Now we are not standing still, we are expanding the scope of our tourism activities. Al Khalidiah Tourism Company has opened an official representative office of its Dubai branch in the center of Almaty, which began work in Kazakhstan on August 17 this year. At our next meeting, I will definitely inform the coordinates of this office so that both citizens of Kazakhstan and guests of the country can use our services while in Almaty.

Will the activities of the Sharjah and Dubai offices be directly related to the Almaty branch?

Undoubtedly. Now we have a good potential for bilateral exchange of tourists without intermediaries. Moreover, the company is not going to limit itself only to the Kazakhstan market, we plan to provide the local market with the opportunity to travel to the countries of Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, for example, in order to organize falconry there.

Does the company have any special offers in the near future?

We now receive many special offers with reduced prices from our hotel partners. In addition to this, we provide our guests with the “visa free” service especially for staying at some hotels in Jumeirah (Dubai) and Sharjah. Such information should not leave indifferent our regular guests and those who are looking for new reliable tour operators in the UAE.

What are your forecasts for the upcoming season?

We are optimistic, and therefore expect that the next season will be more productive, efficient and fruitful than last year. We are positively inclined and are seriously preparing for the "high" season, since, as you know, during the crisis there is a competitive struggle for every tourist, for every client. For many years now, our company has withstood fierce competition, offering partners, tour operators and tourists services for booking hotel rooms, receiving guests from different countries, and opening visas. We provide transfers, organize excursions and various events. At the same time, we have low operator rates, which allow all participants to stay in the win.

What changes are planned in the excursion plan?

No one has invented anything supernatural, because after all, the Emirates is a young country, and boilerplate tours have existed for many years, practically, from the beginning of its formation. It’s not worth listing them, it’s a set of standard tours that only the lazy do not use, and sometimes even unprofessional people conduct tours. It is a pity that they closed the colorful laser show "Jumana" in Al Sahra, it was very successful, and there is no alternative. But I gave the task to our guides, department heads, creative young employees, so that they develop interesting routes, bring new ideas to our excursion activities, and come up with something exclusive for the Emirates. We are now developing new catalogs, new booklets for excursions, so I want to add something more complex and interesting that we could introduce to our tourists this year.

Are you ready to appear at tourist exhibitions fully equipped?

This year we take part in many tourism exhibitions that will be held in the CIS countries, in particular, in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan - Astana and Almaty, in Armenia, Russia - not only in Moscow, but also in St. Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg. Well, and besides this, a trip to China is also planned - to conduct an “exploration” of the Chinese market, there is an incredibly large potential hidden there.

For your Emirate friends, you too, for sure, are preparing some kind of surprise?

This year, our company plans, independently and together with the Stars Dome Group, to carry out several cultural events, which include five theater performances and two show programs - Our Russia and Comedy Club. I think that our viewers, friends and the whole Russian-speaking diaspora of the UAE will be happy and will gladly respond to the invitation to visit these shows and performances.

Along with this, we are preparing for the anniversary - in 2010 Al Khalidiah Group of Companies will celebrate its 15th anniversary. Preparations for the celebration of the anniversary are already underway, and we hope that the editors of the Russian Emirates will take part both in the festival and in its information coverage.

As old and loyal friends of the Al Khalidiah group of companies, we promise to be at the holiday!

Watch the video: Work Honestly (March 2024).