On April 4, Sinan Köseoğlu, general manager of the Sheraton Ankara Hotel and Convention Center and Lugal: A Luxury Collection Hotel Ankara, visited the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management to give a talk as part of the THM420 Seminars on the Tourism Industry course. The talk, in which he shared his experience and knowledge of the industry, attracted an attentive audience of faculty members and students, including those studying in the Preparatory School.
Mr. Köseoğlu began his remarks with an overview of his career, noting that he entered the hospitality industry at the age of 17, working at the Ankara Hilton Hotel. Over time he gained a wide range of international experience in the food and beverage area, holding senior managerial positions with various brands and in various countries that included Egypt, the UAE, Vietnam and Russia.
Turning to the more general topic of how one should go about forging a career in the industry, Mr. Köseoğlu suggested to the aspiring candidates in the audience that although the food and beverage area is an accepted operational pathway to becoming a hotel general manager, they would do well to discover themselves by looking for experience in different areas in hospitality, including the front office, marketing and finance. He also stated that there is no one “best” management style, declaring that the style most suited the culture in question should be employed.
With regard to the background needed by those entering the field, Mr. Köseoğlu noted that foreign language and computer skills are a must in the industry. In addition, he advised tourism and hotel management students to keep pace with the new trends and developments in technology that will influence the hospitality industry in the near future.
Mr. Köseoğlu, a graduate of Hacettepe University (BSc, Hotel Administration) and Cornell University in the USA (MBA, Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Management), was named Manager of the Year for the European region by Marriott International in 2018.