Upon meeting the Room division Manager at Hotel Jen Mr. Ahmed Siaar, we unraveled his diverse journey through the tourism industry in his career progression up until now. Siaar is a Maldivian like no other, upon completing his studies in Maldives with no special career selected.

In 1999, he started his first journey in the tourism industry as a housekeeping trainee in Laguna Beach Resort (present Velassaru Maldives). After a year, he moved to One&Only Kanuhura as a Supervisor and then got promoted as an Assistant Housekeeping Manager in 2005.

In 2005 Siyaar moved to White Sands and Spa Resort now LUX* Maldives as Executive Housekeeper and worked with several other well-known hotel brands in the Maldives such as Anantara, Irufushi, Holiday Inn and presently the Rooms Division Manager of Hotel Jen, Malé.

He has done lot of travels in relation to his job and attended several training and seminars both in and outside Maldives. As Rooms Division Manager, he puts premium on grooming – appearing neat and presentable. Siaar believes in honesty, care and integrity.

It’s important how he handle the team with utmost care. Here at Jen he have created a staff activity committee which is responsible for all staff activities giving best employee’s award, entertainments and employee surveys which plays a huge role in staff needs of tools and ideas to go to that extra mile in their field of work. He always ask the team to bring creative and innovative ideas which can enhance the work place. He has a good sense of passing over to his team what he has learned from his role models and people he greatly admires in this industry.

During his working endeavors with the other industry enthusiasts, he and fellow colleagues created a housekeepers group forum since he believed that Maldives tourism industry must be localized with the local talent. With the help of the expats and locals working in the tourism industry he started encouraging and training locals. Currently the housekeeper forum is online with ideas and knowledge are exchanged. The Housekeepers forum can also hire locals within the forum. This initiative catapulted a lot of locals in today’s tourism industry with opportunities. Siaar is still working to get more locals who are completing their studies and choosing the hotel industry to join the housekeeping.

Frequently people ask if he prefers to live in a resort or in Malé in working perspective. Siaar believes by working in resorts we may be able to give more time to the job but as long as you are focused it doesn’t many any difference. But he says he is lucky working in Malé since it keeps him close to family and friends which is very important. Regarding the tourism industry in Maldives, Siaar is proud to see many of his former colleagues climbing up the ladder to top positions at leading resorts. Siaar always believe “the hard work pays off” when you are focused to achieve success in your career.

Ahmed Siaar proves to be an example for young Maldivians that work in the tourism industry with reaching goals. We wish Siaar all the best in his future endeavors and we hope more locals be inspired by the journey of Ahmed Siaar.