Anniversary Spotlight: Marcel Schlotterbeck’s 10-Year Milestone at HotelPartner
Celebrating a decade of impactful contributions! Marcel Schlotterbeck, Director of HotelPartner Lausanne, reflects on his journey since the creation of the subsidiary in this interivew. As a partner with a unique dual perspective, Marcel shares the exciting challenges of fostering innovation while maintaining the core business intact. From the importance of curiosity for new colleagues to the significant implementation of yield controlling, Marcel provides a behind-the-scenes look at his remarkable tenure. Join us as we explore his experiences, lessons learned, and his vision for the future of HotelPartner Lausanne.
Congratulations on your 10-year milestone! Can you give us a brief overview of your journey with HotelPartner so far?
Joining HotelPartner started with a very lucky meeting where I met Oliver Meyer, the owner of HotelPartner for the first time. A few months later, we created the subsidiary “HotelPartner Lausanne” together.
As a partner, I have a different status and HotelPartner Lausanne was created to test new partnerships without jeopardizing the core business. At the same time, the aim was to serve existing customers of Latin origin and expand this market. So, it’s very interesting because I have one leg in the subsidary in Lausanne and another in HotelPartner the international brand. This gives me a view that is unique.
That sounds very interesting and insightful indeed! With your wealth of experience – what advice would you give a new colleague on their first days at HotelPartner?
Don’t forget what you have learned but try new ways every day. If you are not curious, then HotelPartner is the wrong place to work.
Always stay curious – great advice! If you had a theme song that you played every time you came into the office, what would it be and why?
It’s boring to listen to the same song every day for 10 years (laughs).
But I turn on the radio every day and we are lucky that there is always a comedy program playing on the station for 6 minutes at 7:50 am, which makes the current news funny. So we start the working day with a laugh!
A great way to start your day! Now looking back on your time here so far, what has been your most significant personal contribution?
The introduction of yield controlling was an important step. Our portfolio managers all do an excellent job, but it is good to have someone else check the settings from time to time. This enables us all to become even better, promotes exchange and contributes to improvement
Marcel, can you think of a particular project that has helped you grow during your time at HotelPartner?
We learned a lot from HotelPartner Lausannes’ attempts to implement new projects. The lack of comparable data from HotelPartner for the latin markets forced us to question our approach more, rather than relying solely on data comparison. The best part was realizing that it’s often easier to make changes within yourself rather than expecting others to change.
A tenure of this length suggests great interpersonal relationships. How have your colleagues contributed to your positive experience here and are there any collaborations you would like to highlight?
My team in the office, as well as colleagues from other offices, have all contributed to my development. But it was my first apprentice, Salah, who enabled me to grow personally. Learning means making mistakes and learning from them. One of the biggest challenges is admitting mistakes and owning up to them. It’s easier to ask this of an apprentice, but it also requires you to apply it yourself in order to be credible to them.
The proof that it worked well is that Salah is still with us after graduation!
And we are very happy to have him as part of our team! Now after ten years, there are many reasons to celebrate, if your anniversary were a public holiday, how would you ask people to celebrate it?
I don’t like being in the limelight myself, as I prefer to help others. I am more of a “power behind the throne”.
But I like to be surprised by others, otherwise it would be just another day.
You’ve heard it here first HotelPartner-Team – make sure to surprise Marcel from time to time! Even after 10 years, there may still be things your colleagues don’t know about you! Would you like to give us a behind-the-scenes look?
In my early years up to the age of 8, I had major hearing problems and was rather deaf. I therefore developed other skills such as better visual perception and interpreting my surroundings, as I lacked sounds. I even started to learn to lip read.
This handicap enhanced my ability to observe. With hindsight, I can even say that this time helped me later on. I can no longer lip-read, as I regained 100% of my hearing after an operation.
That’s indeed a surprise and an interesting tidbit! Now moving on from the past to the future, what idea would you still like to realize at HotelPartner ?
There is no shortage of ideas. We are currently working on two different projects, the first of which aims to improve forecasting for our customers and the second to develop a new way of communicating in order to further establish the HotelPartner name.
We are excited to hear more about that in the future! Speaking of, how do you see your future career at HotelPartner?
Since I am a partner at HotelPartner, this answer should be quick. (laughs) My goal is to push HotelPartner Lausanne even further while growing our team with the same profit and performance ratios.
Well, that sounds rather positive! Now to end today’s interview dear Marcel, what would it be if you had one wish at HotelPartner for free?
Let’s let our customers talk more about the success of their hotels. Their successes are also our successes.
Dear Marcel thank you very much for these fascinating insights, and here’s to the next 10 years!
Your HotelPartner Team.
