Macanese hotelier awarded by global brand

Ivo Estorninho

For many of us, ascending to a top position within a large-scale company might seem almost unattainable due to the unimaginable amounts of time and effort required to do so. In spite of this, for Ivo Estorninho, a Macanese executive currently in charge of two high-end hotels in Guangzhou, striving for his goal against all odds has proven a worthwhile endeavor. For him, it is just a matter of time, passion and attitude.
The bilingual Macanese man, has just received the “Asia Pacific Best Starwood Careers Award” from his employer, global high-end hotel company Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The accolade is a recognition of the contribution Estorninho has made to the company due to the extensive human resources training provided to at the two hotels he has managed since 2008. 500 candidates from the Asian Pacific region were in the running for the award.
Tremendous success does not come without motivation and passion. Ivo is no exception. Growing up interested in pursuing novel ideas and meeting new people, the self-acclaimed “fortunate man” took a risk to pursue a career in hospitality,
against the background of a lethargic local hotel industry more than 25 years ago. He spent four years in Portugal studying hotel management after secondary school, and entered the industry right after graduation as an assistant manager at a local hotel. “When I decided to work for the hotel industry, it was out of pure passion. No one knew what would happen, we didn’t have big casinos and hotels at that time. All I knew was that I always wanted to do something different,” Estorninho said proudly, adding that almost all his peers from his high school went for other professional careers such as architecture and law. Iwo feels that working in a hotel enables him to “help people” and grants him freedom to travel, both of which he has thoroughly enjoyed throughout his career.
The Macanese executive told the Times that he has never been motivated by the thought of obtaining an award, yet admitted that occasional encouragement is important to him. To many, a pat on the back probably means more than expected, on which the hotel practitioner with far more than two decades of work experience seemed to agree. “Recognition, something that can’t be bought with money, is something everybody needs,” said Ivo. “It doesn’t have to be a grand award to be valuable. If I have done something well, a pat on the shoulder, or simply encouraging words like ‘well done’, is delightful enough.” This is a strongly held philosophy of Estorninho, one he deeply believes and has applied to managing his team, with whom he has maintained enduring rapport. The general manager continued: “I have a close relationship with my team, as I have to make sure that I ‘serve them well’ in order for them to deliver good service to guests.”
Appreciating his team’s efforts and performance, the award-
winner says that he is glad to see many of the staff that he trains advance in the career and be promoted within his resort hotels. However, to determine if one is talented and has enough potential as a hotel practitioner, working attitude is the crux, which could be reflected in a phrase from his mouth – “Hire for the attitude, train for the skill.” Estorninho commented: “A high potential staff member has to be assiduous, with a good attitude and a desire to succeed in the hotel industry.” In his opinion, a man’s success comes from his good manner at work instead of his practical skills because the latter can be acquired one by one through training programs. Through his company’s internal staff training program, the “Starwood Careers Program,” staff are able to only hone their vocational skills and develop their sense of leadership level by level. The general manager would like to return the favor to the company by raising more and more talented employees through the training program. “Training is vital, I always have the opportunities to learn since I worked to build my own career,” said Ivo. “What I have been doing is working to return the learning opportunities to my team. I keep providing them with training options. It is not often that someone with a desire to succeed is unable to be trained.”
Positive about the future of the local hospitality market, Estorninho also urged local undergraduates majoring in hospitality-related subjects to venture outside of Macau to gain international exposure through internships before coming back for work. Recalling the hardships he endured during the early stage of his career, the local manager said that successful professionals need to be fearless even if they start from the bottom.  Staff reporter

adjustment period

“All economies go through adjustment periods. It’s a normal phenomenon,” says Ivo Estorninho, commenting on Macau’s slowing gaming economy. “Macau itself has always been a tourist destination, and has withstood different climates over the years. This period the city has been impacted by a variety of external and internal factors. We have already laid a firm foundation [for the tourism industry], what really matters now is whether the city has a clear direction,” he said, adding that the economic slowdown has brought with it a clear warning of the need to address economic diversification, as the city has much more to offer than just chips and slot machines.