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Property Profile

Property Profile: Aurthur Gillis

For Arthur Gillis, the hospitality industry has been a home away from home. And now that South Africa is scooping some major international events, he is excited and eager to see more tourists arriving to enjoy that unique SA flavour of hospitality.

‘I love every minute in this business. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some astounding people and, after 35 years, I still consider it to be cool,’ says the industry veteran.
The hotel industry is in his blood. It all started when Arthur was a schoolboy with a dream to buy a motorcycle. There was only one glitch: he needed to finance the purchase on his own. So he took a job at a hotel on an ostrich show-farm in Oudtshoorn. Little did he know that his schoolboy dream would shape his career.

After studying at hotel school, Arthur joined the Heerengracht Hotel as a storeman. But the position, which involved buying supplies, wasn’t enough for the driven young man. ‘Otto Stehlik was the general manager at that time, and the hotel needed some restructuring as it was about to be sold to Sol Kerzner by what was then Trust Bank. Otto and I convinced them that the hotel could do better if we ran it. They cancelled the deal with Sol and allowed us to put our little management team together. We made a profit in the first year – it was great!’ he says with pride.
Inspired and focused, Arthur and Otto decided to expand and apply their managerial skills to other hotels. ‘One day we said, “Maybe we should go into the hotel management business”, and on 1 July 1984, we started our company with two management employees. Today, we have 14 000 people in and around the Protea Group, and we’re the largest hotel group in Africa.’

Arthur sees life, work, customer service, the recession and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in a refreshingly positive way.
‘Success equals results minus expectations,’ Arthur says. ‘That’s our company’s policy. We try to under-promise and over-deliver. Our job is to give people an experience that’s better than they expected.’ He reflects on the new Melrose Arch Hotel, which falls under Protea’s superior-deluxe brand, African Pride. ‘This type of hotel is challenging because it’s a five-star establishment and we are constantly searching for ways to make it exciting and new. We want guests to walk around every corner of the hotel and find something that impresses them or makes them smile.’

Customer service remains his top priority. ‘People who give exceptional customer service are very important for the overall persona of South Africa.’ Arthur gives the recent Indian Premier League as an example; in his opinion, South Africa played the part of host country brilliantly. ‘I had the opportunity to speak with first-time guests to the country. They arrived with low expectations and we produced a world-class event. It just shows that South Africa can do this. And the sceptics who don’t believe we can host an event of such magnitude are talking nonsense. We are clearly capable of doing it and 2010 will be a phenomenal experience for all of us.’

Proudly South African and 100 per cent South African owned, Protea Hotels announced on 11 April this year that its existing broad-based black economic empowerment (BB-BEE) shareholders had acquired the equity that was previously held by the Australian-based Stella Group on behalf of a consortium, comprising the BB-BEE partners, Investec Private Equity and Protea Hotel management. Arthur explains, ‘It became a bit of a challenge when the private equity group was unable to complete its original strategy. The worldwide economic meltdown caught them at the wrong time. We moved into a situation where we were no longer in control of our own destiny, and that threatened to affect our core values. That was why we put together a team that bought the business back.’

Arthur has a ‘one-day-at-a-time’ attitude that, together with a large dose of good humour, allows him to maintain a balance between his professional and private lives (the latter includes five children and a beloved Cavalier King Charles puppy). Balance, he believes, gets us through the difficult times. ‘When you’re in a recession, it’s hard to see that times can get better. And when times are good, it’s hard to believe that things can turn bad. In my opinion it is about maintaining a balance – an equilibrium – and understanding that this too shall pass.’

As for his ‘baby’, Protea Hotels, Arthur says, ‘As long as we are appropriately geared, with not too much debt in the company, and we remain focused on customer service and understand the lifetime value of a guest, I believe we are set for a business that will endure forever.’