NEW YORK — In his first year with Aimbridge Hospitality, Mark Tamis has been focused on helping his team support hotel owners and recruiting talent.
In an interview with Hotel News Now at the 2023 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, Tamis, president of global operations at Aimbridge, said while the company's scale alone is a benefit to owners, it’s also important for the company to operate nimbly on a daily basis at the property level.
Aimbridge, the world's largest third-party hotel management company, has more than 55,000 associates and more than 1,500 properties across the globe.
The company's recent divisional reorganization has allowed it to respond faster than before, Tamis said. It has four divisions in North America: select-service, enhanced select-service, full-service and resorts, and lifestyle. Its international divisions include one in Mexico leading Latin America and another in Glasgow, Scotland, overseeing Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.
“I always tell my team: Focus is our friend,” he said. “As big as we are, the more we can focus, the better we can deliver results.”
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Aimbridge recently appointed Aly El-Bassuni divisional president for its Enhanced Select Service Division. El-Bassuni previously served as chief operating officer in the Americas for Radisson Hotel Group and vice president of brand operations at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
“Aly’s amazing, and we were fortunate to find him and we’re happy to have him on the team,” Tamis said.
During the hiring process, the Aimbridge team spoke to a lot of people who worked with El-Bassuni and shared stories about how he led through the pandemic with “incredible, huge compassion,” Tamis said. El-Bassuni was out in front of his team daily, communicating with them. The lack of information can cause anxiety, so it was important for leadership to be engaged and communicating with employees regularly.
Hiring El-Bassuni was part of Aimbridge’s ongoing efforts of investing in talent. It’s a companywide effort, not just at the divisional president or executive level but at the property level as well, Tamis said. Calling it the “Aimbridge Way,” he said it’s about building a place where people feel they have an opportunity to grow, succeed and feel like they belong. The goal is to be an employer of choice at every level.
“It’s really how you treat your people,” he said. “Every time we’re thinking about big decisions, it’s about how do we bring that 'Aimbridge Way' to life. Are we really creating this place where people will feel like they have a sense of belonging and that they have the opportunity to succeed and grow?
“And giving people that in this day and age is so much more important than it's ever been. People want to belong. They want to belong to something bigger than just what their actual job is.”