A day in the life of a hotel general manager

Published Jun 30, 2017

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Hard work pays, just ask Pam Nagappa.

She was the financial manager for Umfolozi Hotel Casino and Conference Centre for 10 years before taking up the role of General Manager last year. A typical day for the 40-year-old starts with a routine check on the property each morning. Afterwards, she looks at the  complaint and compliment cards so that she can properly understand what the hotel is doing right and what they doing wrong.Most of her days are spent in meetings on how to generate revenue, events and other activities that would draw people to the Empangeni hotspot.

It is evident that the mom to 16 month old Priyanka is career driven. She completed her BCom and Accounting degree in 2000, after saving enough money to study.

“We did not come from a rich background. I was one of four siblings and my father, a mechanic, was the only breadwinner. Still I owed it to myself to follow my dreams and make my family proud,” she said.

Now as she sits in the helm of leadership, she wants the property to become a destination of choice, for people to think of the tourist spot when they visit Empangeni.

From her interaction with staff, it's evident she lives by the ethos of keeping them happy and wanting them to grow in the industry.  

“We hope to grow this brand internationally and we are reaching this one step at a time. We want to cater to customer’s specific needs and providing them with the best possible experience.

“We are working on some exciting new projects including a beauty spa that will be launched sometime this year,” she said.

Some of her hobbies include scrapbooking and riding Harley Davidsons motorcycles. Nagappa loves travelling.

Among her favourite destinations are New York and Vegas. She had been there for 8 days last year, but wants to go back to experience more of the culture and its people.

“I fell in love with New York and Vegas. There is so much more I need to explore and do in the United States, so family holidays are going to be there from now on,” she said.

She loves local holidays just as much. As an avid motorcycle enthusiast, she enjoys the South Coast in KwaZulu-Natal as it is usually held in the Margate area.

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