Behind a brilliant mind there is always a great person. Joan Torrens, CCO of BlueBay Hotels & Resorts, received this year the BlueBay Personalities Award at BlueBay Travel Awards 2016. In this short interview, LookOut Magazine wanted to get to know one of the directors of BlueBay Group who highlights the work of each of the members of his team as well as the personalized service he offers to each customer, in accordance with their needs.
“Certainly the relationship with my team and their contributions are one of the things that satisfy me, people who make it up are the best we could have and sharing with them the daily challenges and conveying enthusiasm, ideas, concerns, problems, joys, achievements is the greatest satisfaction”
LookOut Magazine: What has it meant to receive this year’s BlueBay Personality of the Year Award at BlueBay Travel Awards 2016?
Joan Torrens: First, it was an unexpected and pleasant surprise, and above all a great personal and professional satisfaction, it wasn’t even decided such an award would even be presented. It was a real pleasure to receive the award from the hands of our president, before an audience made out of our most important customers and friends, members of our BlueBay family, chairmen and managers of Le Royal, our new partners and allies, and other personalities who were present.
L.M.: What is it that you do?
J.T.: My job is to sell our product, now very diverse and very large geographically, to our clients and also convince them that our hotels are the best suited to the needs of their guests, it seems very simple, but it is not, we live in the times of aggressive competition in the sector and all the skills are not too much to achieve the objectives.
L.M.: What are your general functions?
J.T.: To direct and coordinate the sales team in Europe based in Palma de Mallorca, keep a close and constant relationship with our clients, see to their main needs and based on them, close agreements for our commercial and economic interests.
L.M.: What is it you like most about your job?
J.T.: The dynamism, variety, how every day different issues arise to be resolved, providing knowledge and solutions in varying degrees are certainly the small and large daily satisfactions of my work in the company, the challenge is daily and constant, selling our rooms takes priority over everything else.Without a doubt, the relationship with my team and their contributions are one of the things that satisfy me, people who make it up are the best we could have and sharing with them the daily challenges and conveying enthusiasm, ideas, concerns, problems, joys, achievements etc. is the greatest satisfaction.
L.M.: What is your main goal in your work? What would you like to achieve?
J.T.: As I said, the most important, undoubtedly, is selling our product daily at the best price, the room that is not occupied today will never be occupied again, it is the most perishable product there is and that’s the main goal and concern both mine and of the entire sales team.
I would like to get the name of BlueBay placed as high as possible, with hard work and sacrifice of all those who make up the great BlueBay family, we are already getting there, we have a name, a presence and a reputation which is more than remarkable in the industry, I always say that our company is trendy and I believe it, and that’s the message I get from our customers, the feeling we give off is a very positive one, modern and relevant, with that spark needed to inspire and convince.
L.M.: What would you say is the highlight of your job?
J.T.: The best moments are the meetings with my team, the time when together we can find solutions to the problems we may have, they are daily and there are quite a few, without this team connection and rapport it would be very difficult to resolve problems quickly and in a satisfying way, we have to row in the same direction in a coordinated manner to move as quickly as possible.
L.M.: What can never be missing from your suitcase when you go on vacation?
J.T.: I cannot go anywhere without my sunglasses and being a good Islander that I am, lover of the sun and the sea of, I certainly must have a couple of swimsuits and large doses of optimism.
L.M.: Not knowing who it is going to be, what question would you ask the nexting employee to be interviewed?
J.T.: I would ask: what would you like me to ask you?
L.M.: What place in the world would like to get to know and why?
J.T.: I love traveling, there are several sites that I have yet to see, such as Australia or Canada, but above all, I would like to get to know Argentina, because part of my family has lived there, also because I’d like to visit Buenos Aires, Patagonia, the Perito Moreno Glacier, and taste a good roast from a genuine Argentine grill.
