Peter Edler : A hotelier with a sunny disposition
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The new General Manager of Maritim Resort & Spa Mauritius, which is celebratingits 25th anniversary, has a background of 26 years’ experience in the tourism sector. Resolutely optimistic, he has set himself the mission of promoting the strengths of Mauritius as a destination.
“I may be 48 but in my head, I am only 20!” says at the outset Peter Edler, the new General Manager of Maritim Resort & Spa Mauritius, located in Balaclava. Forget about the strict image ge-nerally associated with a GM of a 5-star hotel. Peter Edler is just the opposite. No suit, no sign of the oppressive tie, he moves around the hotel in a casual style. Moreover, wearing his eternal smile, he is a very optimistic person – which is quite rare in this domain.
Half Canadian and half Australian, Peter Edler comes from a family which has always been close to the hospitality sector. Indeed, his grandparents and even his parents are all hoteliers so that, according to him, “It was clear that [he] was going to plot [his] route through the hotel business”. Nevertheless, before taking the hotel path, Peter Edler was predestined to a sport career. He was playing handball on a professional level but after three knee surgeries in the space of one year, he had to give up that dream.
Wishing to take some distance, at that time he decided to fly to the Maldives. “I stayed in the Maldives during three years, helping a friend with his windsurfing and sailing business”, Peter Edler recounts. While he was living on the archipelago, he also joined the Robinson Tui Club where he learned a lot about the various jobs that exist in the tourism sector. “I was introduced to the animation or kitchen part. It was a management training program.” He followed this program during six to eight months.
The knowledge acquired through the Robinson Tui program would be useful to Peter Edler later on when he joined REWE Touristik Hotels & Investments. He worked for the group in Singapore and Egypt. Thereafter, he moved to Switzerland with his family. “My daughter had to go to school. And for us, it was perfect to go to Switzerland”, he points out. Once established in that European country, he set out to discover another facet of the tourism industry, that is, the tour operator segment. “I wanted a change. So, I said yes to ErlebnisScheiz AG, a tour operator.” In doing so, Peter Edler learned more about marketing, sales and products. “I got an overview of this segment of the tourism industry where, at the end, the client remains the most important.”
It is with a background of twenty-six years’ experience in the tourism sector that Peter Edler joined the Maritim team in Mauritius recently. He explains that he has known the Maritim Group for many years. “I have once worked with a Financial Director of Maritim and we remained in contact during the last decade. In fact, he is the one who informed me about this great opportunity in Mauritius.” However, when Peter Edler learned about the job opportunity at Maritim, he was torn between his wish to come to Mauritius and his role as a father and husband. “My daughter is schooled in Switzerland. And as I am a very family type man. It was impossible for me to be separated from my small family.” His wife helped him to make a decision though. “I strongly believe in this saying: ‘Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And my wife was a great help. She clearly convinced me that this job in Mauritius was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
Now that he is at the head of Maritim Resort & Spa Mauritius, what are Peter Edler’s priorities regarding this hotel which celebrates its 25th anniversary? The GM reacts enthusiastically to that question: “Yes, the lady turned 25! But she is still good looking and strong!” In fact, in the context of that anniversary, Peter Edler wants to lay emphasis on the quality of the hotel services and team which he consi-ders as being the real strengths of Maritim Resort & Spa Mauritius. Besides, by April 2016, the hotel, and more precisely its standard rooms, will be renovated, the GM reveals. The last renovation took place in 2009.
From a wider point of view, Peter Edler has set himself a mission, that of encouraging the local authorities, people from the tourism sector and Mauritians at large, to appreciate the strengths of the island. “In every country and in the tourism sector in particular, people tend to concentrate more on the weaknesses than the strengths of the destination. It is the case in Spain, Greece and Mauritius as well”, he observes. Among the strengths of Mauritius, the GM mentions the bilingualism and multiculturalism of the population. Moreover, he goes on to say, “There is a discussion about Chinese tourists in Mauritius. However, I strongly think there is no need of having this type of discussion as there are Chinese people living here.” Yet, Peter Edler concedes that Chinese tourists are a must for all destinations in the world. “I must admit that this discussion is getting more and more international. In Switzerland, the complete summer business is running with Chinese, South Korean and Indian money. They are the new rich, they travel more and more, their mindset is changing. So, I think that for Mauritius too, this type of tourist is important.”
