Monday, April 07, 2008 Bragg's island experience By Jenara Regis Newman
SHANGRI-LA’S Mactan Resort and Spa’s new general manager is New Zealander Raymond Bragg.
He has been with the hotel industry for the past 23 years, the last 10 of which has been with the Shangri-La chain: in Traders Hotel in Penang, Malaysia; Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa in Yanuca, Fiji Islands; Traders Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar; and Shangri-La Hotel in Dalian, China.
Taking over the job of Timothy Wright, who is now in Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, Bragg is upbeat about his new post.
He describes the resort as a “complete resort catering to honeymooners, incentive and corporate groups, leisure travelers and families.
“I do not think there is any other resort that provides such a wide variety of facilities and services. At the same time, you really feel a sense of exclusive service because of the standards we have set in place.”
Though this is his first assignment in Cebu, Bragg said he has been here thrice before on vacation with his family (wife Susan and daughter Kylie), not knowing that he would be assigned here one day.
So far, he has found the Filipinos he works with in the hotel as “very talented and very friendly. The natural smiles and positive disposition are really appreciated by our guests.” And he thinks Cebu “very natural and warm” and a change from the four seasons he has back in New Zealand. But what is similar, he observes, is “the focus on family values and lifestyle.”
During his stint at Shangri-La, Dalian, Bragg established its Corporate Social Responsibility committee, with education and the environment as its focus.
He promised to be also involved in the community here. In his words: “I will certainly get involved in helping develop tourism and promote Cebu as a destination; and I want to contribute whatever I can to help the less fortunate in our community.”
Bragg comes into Shangri-La Mactan at a time when the resort has expansion plans that will soon be underway to add more rooms and a new restaurant to be located beside the Ocean Wing.
For the hotel staff, he plans to have “company team buildings,” which should go a long way in his wish for every hotel guest: whatever the reason he may have for choosing to stay in Shangri-La Mactan, to have memorable experience, something he will remember fondly in later years as a beautiful stay in this island resort.
