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Mountain Retreat for First Kiwi Chief of Village
2 April 2009
PRESS RELEASE
Mountain Retreat for First Kiwi Chief of Village
New Zealander Ben Martin made history earlier in the year with his appointment as the first Kiwi Chief of Village and his first assignment is as general manager of Club Med Sahoro on the island of Hokkaido (Japan) for the Summer ’09 and Winter ’10 seasons.
The
32-year-old, originally from Auckland’s NorthShore, has
spent 8 years with Club Med working around the world in
various roles including flying trapeze instructor, Chief of
Sports and Chief of Entertainment.
Located 170km from
Sapporo, Club Med Sahoro is a pristine mountain retreat
perfect for the entire family. Hokkaido, Japan's most
northerly island, has been known as Japan's mecca of winter
sports since it hosted the Sapporo Olympic Games in 1972.
Its climate guarantees plenty of snow and great powder on
the pistes, situated between 3280 and 1312 feet.
Ben’s new role is that of a General Manager, the figurehead of the resort. “My job is to ensure not only guest satisfaction, but also the resort’s financial performance, as well as the development and satisfaction of the employees.
“A Chief of Village’s day is anything but
typical and can include tours of the resort to get to know
all of the guests, to rehearsing for the latest stage show,
to MC of a large family event on the beach, to business
reviews of the month’s performance. It’s a general
manager position with a large component of Public Relations,
where you are to be present in all aspects of the
operations.”
The fluent French, Portugese and
Japanese speaker – who is also semi-fluent in Italian and
Mandarin - says he is very proud of his achievement, a goal
he set himself when he joined Club Med in 2001.
“My
first love is languages, I usually learn a different
language every year or so, to try and attain a level of
fluency. It helps when you live in the country. I get a lot
of help from the international staff I work with,” Ben
says.
“My other big love is circus, specifically the
flying trapeze,” says Ben, who will be able to indulge
this passion on Sahoro’s very own flying trapeze during
the summer months.
Ben began his Club Med career in
Lindeman IslandAustralia, before moving to the Maldives,
Bali, Japan, Thailand, Senegalin Africa, Bodrum in Turkeyand
Trancoso in Brazil. Ben has just completed four months of
management training in Franceand will take up his role at
Sahoro in
May.
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