<B>A challenging come-back</B>

It is easy to walk past him without knowing that he is the general manager of Le Saint Géran. He looks so young, humble and simple. Most of the time, Jan is busy with meetings and other work commitments but that does not prevent him from remaining smiling and friendly with his staff and guests.

?I am very open-minded and quite relaxed. But, on the other hand, I know when I have to drive the people working with me. I know how to press the buttons. However, I?ll never ask somebody to do something I cannot do myself.?

Jan Tibaldi has all the assets and qualities to succeed. He is young, ambitious and last, but not least, he is experienced. He has grown up in hospitality and has worked for some ten different hotels in different places around the world. So his experience is even richer as he has learnt to live in different cultural backgrounds.

?Here, at the hotel, I am like the conductor of an orchestra. I know all my guests and all my staff. If I don?t keep my fingers on the pulse, in other words, if I don?t ask the clients their opinion, it would be wrong. I have to ask them, because they are the ones who will give me real feedback on our services and so on! My staff will always say that everything is fine. I just want to make sure I don?t get a different story from the clients.?

Something fascinating about Jan?s background is that he is a fourth-generation person in hospitality. Hence, his great grand-father, his grand-father and his father all worked in the same field. He started working at 20 years as a an apprentice in culinary arts in a Swiss restaurant. But this was nothing compared to what he was going to be. Then, he travelled and worked all around the world in places such as the Maldives, Thailand, Croatia, Brazil and other places.

His first job as general manager was in 1998 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. But before that, he had experienced different positions in hospitality. Furthermore, they gave him the chance to learn several languages. While his native language is English, his German and French are as brilliant as his English. He is also conversant in Portuguese and Italian. But his hopes and expectations are all related and he wants to use his vast experience to bring innovative ideas and positive changes within Le Saint Géran.

Jan?s is really passionate about sports. He just loves everything linked to sports, in particular golf. Moreover, what he also likes is travelling as he has travelled so extensively, and moreover, he loves eating good food in good restaurants. Regarding Mauritian food, he loves it as it is so diversified.

Jan was born on 26th September 1966 in Columbus, the state capital of Ohio in the United States. However, as his father was Swiss, his family moved back to Switzerland where he did both his primary and secondary education. As a matter of fact, he considers himself as Swiss. Jan just got married to Corrine six months ago.

He now he lives with her and his step-daughter Lili whom he considers as his own daughter. Within his words and his sense of humour, it is easy to see how happy he feels to be with them in Mauritius. ?They first joined me when I was in Maldives. Now they have joined me here and I can assure you that they are mari kontan (very happy) of being here. All I can say is that I am extremely happy to be back on Mauritian soil??