Mr Naoufel Chtara is the New General Manager of Laico Atlantic Hotel in Banjul. Mr Chtara has a 23 year Hotel Experience and has managedmany Hotels of Laico within the Sub Region. The New GM recently reveals his plans to the press regarding how he intends to manage thebusy hotel. The GM said the first thing he is working on is the long term and short term plans for the Hotel.

The new GM said it is the high season now but it is among his plans to train his staff to maintain the standards of the hotel. He said he is very impressed with the performance of the staff he met at Atlantic and would like to maintain all of them. He said in the off season he would make lots of rehabilitation in the hotel and most of the staff to betrained as well during that time. He said he found the hotel operating in casual staff and permanent staff and said in most cases the casual staff are engaged during the high season and may not necessarily work during the low season. He was quick to say that all the permanent staff will stay. He said he is also working on to increase thecapacity of the hotel so that they can employ more people to work with the hotel.When told that many hotel staff are complaining of unlawful termination, he said from his experience hotel staff are the ones who made a hotel to be a hotel and that he would not play with theirwalfare. He said Atlantic Hotel was awarded Hotel of the year and that's because of the staff, so he asked, how could he sack or change those hard working staff? "I will only upgrade the occupancy and motivate the staff to perform more. I want to operate to international standard. We have lots of tourists coming to the Gambia and they havelots of other destinations they can go to, so we should deliver quality service to them when they come".The new Atlantic GM said some of his staff would be trained locally while others may receive international training. He said most of themwill be trained in countries where Laico hotel is operating.When asked what are some of the things he would not compromise with his staff at the hotel? Mr Chtara said " we have our rules and regulationshere in the hotel and the staff know it, but just as I told you it will be hard to sack a winning staff, they made it Atlantic hotel and it will be very unfair on my side to come and sack them. I will ratherprefer to keep them, to be frank, I will try to increase salaries and other wages soon, am hoping that they will like working with me. I will give transport allowances and I will soon get them a staff bus as well. So it seems our interest are the same".