by Dr. Iain
Corness
The
general manager of the Amari Rincome Hotel is a Swiss national Marc Dumur.
He is a paradox. A man who could not complete his secondary schooling as
he was found to be dyslexic, and yet is a man who now speaks six
languages!
He comes from Lausanne, but had no connections towards
the hospitality industry. His father sold microscopes and of the two
children, even his younger sister is a lawyer.
He was not a good student, with very apparent
difficulties with reading and writing holding back academic progress. He
was eventually sent to vocational school to see if they could find a niche
in life for this young man with an affliction. While there, the students
were taken to visit a hotel and Marc was immediately attracted to the
lifestyle, and began an apprenticeship as a waiter. He enjoyed this
departure from school, “I liked it, but I knew I was not going to be a
waiter all my life.”
After 2 years he finished this training, but had no
real plan. Looking at his parents, uncles and aunts who spoke many
languages, he realised that an ability to speak different languages was an
asset, but with his dyslexia he would not be able to just pick up a book
and start speaking. The only way he would be able to learn would be total
immersion. “For me to learn a language I had to go to the place.”
Fortunately he had uncles and aunts all over the world
so he set forth firstly to the United States to stay with an aunt who had
married an American. By this trip, Marc also found that he had a natural
propensity for languages and was able to pick up foreign languages very
quickly.
He returned to Switzerland with the intention of
enrolling in a hotel school, to be told there was a 4 year waiting list!
This was not the news a young man with language ability and a desire to be
involved in the hospitality industry wanted to hear! While working out his
next move he joined a restaurant in Switzerland and learned the kitchen
and cooking. From there it was to the front office in a ski resort which
had a connection with a 5 star hotel in Amsterdam, Holland. He had been
noticed by the manager and was offered a training post so he went to
Holland for 5 months with the large 400 room hotel. Those 5 months turned
into 3 years. During that time he was introduced to aggressive sales and
marketing, some aspects of which he admits he still uses today.
However, with Switzerland being a non-EU country, Marc
suddenly found visa and work permit problems were looming (it is not only
in Thailand that this happens) and he returned to his native Switzerland
to join the sales side of an international hotel chain, ending up as
assistant manager of sales in Zurich.
Having by this stage travelled extensively he found the
Zurich lifestyle oppressive, “I like the cosmopolitan life challenge, so
I resigned. Initially I was going to try Mexico but found they did not
need any Swiss. Then I received a call from Thailand to say the Amari
Airport Hotel needed a resident manager, so I came over in 1988.”
The Amari group, at that stage, was mainly provincial
and when Marc was offered the post as general manager of the new Amari
Boulevard Bangkok he jumped at it. This was a phase of construction and
Marc found that he was a “hands on” type of manager. “In a country
like this it’s the only way of doing it. It’s harder for me to get
people working, so I have to get involved myself.”
This was now the early 1990’s and times in the hotel
business were tough, with the fallout from the Gulf War and then the
internal democracy riots in Bangkok. Marc was getting married and a total
change was necessary. He went to Hat Yai to run a 400 room hotel there,
but again the depressed tourist market and a relative lack of funds from
the owners to renovate the property resulted in his calling it a day after
23 months.
Fortunately it was at this time he received a call from
his previous employers - the Amari Group - who were looking for someone to
run the Amari Rincome Hotel in Chiang Mai. He came up to look at the
property, staying with his mother-in-law. It was the 15th of July 1996 and
he is still there!
Marc seems to be the type of manager who revels in the
challenge of renovations and constructions, and the initial phase at the
Amari Rincome was just that. He had just got the new pool, elevators and
rooms completed when the baht collapsed, but he views the future with
optimism.
Success for Marc Dumur is being recognized for your
worth within your circle of friends and workmates. “Financial? It’s
relative. It comes and goes,” he said philosophically.
He feels very much “at home” in Chiang Mai. “I
hope to stay here for some time yet to make this one of the better hotels
in the north in its class.” He has plans to build a home, but rues that
the dream house is still in the planning situation 3 years down the track.
He does have hobbies, but like most hoteliers, time
constraints are omnipresent. “Hobbies I have, but I have no time to do
them!” He has an old VW he is restoring, enjoys motorcycle touring and 4
wheel driving and even has the hope of driving overland to Europe one day.
He also has community work which he does through his membership of Rotary
International in Chiang Mai, but the majority of time goes to the hotel.
Marc Dumur comes across as a man who has definitely found his niche in
life, and a shining example of not using problems as an excuse. Overcome
them!
