It was in the early hours of August 29 1983 when I first set foot in Dubai as a 25-year young boy.

It was a very tiring and exhausting day because during my travel from Beirut the airport was closed due to the bombarding during the civil war. I can still recall how flights were stopped for over six hours so instead of reaching Dubai by 4pm I actually arrived at 1 after midnight.

Since my arrival was delayed the company representative had left and my visa was not submitted at the airport as there was no quick communication at that time when technology was not a trend. I called the hotel and informed about my arrival and then they sent somebody again along with my visa. I was working in an international company and was transferred from Hyatt Middle East in Jeddah to Hyatt Dubai due to my hard work. I started my first job at Hyatt in Jed-dah as sales manager for government accounts and transferred to Hyatt Dubai as the emirate was emerging as a potential growth market for the hospitality industry.

Before I landed in Dubai I al-ready got an insight about what the state would offer in terms of lifestyle comfort freedom when compared to other neighborhood Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states as I had travelled most part of the region.

I lived in Jordan for two years in Saudi Arabia for two-and-a-half years and then I lived in Kuwait for one year. I found Dubai to be the best because of its excellent infrastructure remarkable hospitality and conducive economic policy.

Dubai is now my second home as I have been in the hospitality industry for 40 years and spent 33 years in the emirate. When I landed in Dubai I was neither surprised nor disappointed be-cause I came from a similar background. I was familiar with the environment and the culture so I adjusted myself very quickly despite some challenges and difficulties.

Our transportation at that time was nowhere locally-owned taxis and they were the smaller ones. My first salary was Dh5500 and of course the company had provided me with an accommodation along with other benefits. I had to save a good portion of my salary as I was expecting my wife to join me and I had to buy stuff to furnish my house. First business venture I focused and capitalised on my work and that's how I succeeded in my career. I worked with Hyatt for nine years and left as a director of rooms. I then joined Abu Dhabi National Hotel Company where I developed two resorts in the Ghantoot area. My career took a major turn when I was appointed the general manager of Al Bustan Centre and Residence in May 1996.

I feel proud to complete around two decades at Al Bustan Centre and Residence which was the biggest residential complexes in the area with one million square feet build up space at that time. I was promoted as chief operating officer in 2000.I still recall the golden moments when we officially opened Al Bustan Centre and Residence in March 1997 which coincided with the Dubai Shopping Festival. HoResidencetels were struggling in the summer at that time but we were almost full.

We offered the first unique product as a hotel apartment with luxury and big inventory plus facilities that had been introduced at that time to the GCC and the local market which was very widely accepted and appreciated.

Tech makes life easy today

Now if I compare today's business environment with 33 years back when I landed in Dubai it is much easier but competitive. Physically it was much more difficult in the past than what it is now because the way of reaching people was a challenge at that time. You need to go physically to visit companies and see people and know who is performing in what capacity.

There was no technological accessibility at that time which can help you with just a push button and one click and you get to know hundreds of company and thousands of people to address you to target certain products to specific group and also it will only take minutes and hours and your targets were reached like of today.

However today it is more challenging as the offering is more broad and competitive so you have to work harder and be competitive and establish yourself to be able to sustain yourself and be on top of your achievement.

My achievement professionally is that I have been stable with my career. I have almost completed three decades in Dubai and they were in three companies and this shows how stable I am and how dedicated and secured I was in my job. I definitely must have progressed very well that's why I did not leave frequently from one company to another like how other people are doing.

'I found Dubai to be the best because of its excellent infrastructure remarkable hospitality and conducive economic policy'