Interview by: Aulia R. Sungkar. Photos: Ricky Adrian. Originally published in Indonesia Design, Oct-Nov 2017 edition.
Pascal Caubo has only been in Indonesia for less than a year, but he is no stranger to the both eastern and western worlds of hospitality. His over two decades of working in the industry includes taking various stints in various countries, including his native land in Holland, China, Egypt, the US, Vietnam, and recently Indonesia where he took the role of the general manager of InterContinental Bandung Dago Pakar.
Indonesia Design recently talked with the Dutchman who is determined to take the hotel he leads to the next level.

What made you choose Indonesia, Bandung in particular, as your career destination?
It’s my first time in the country. I had never been here before, but I heard so many beautiful things about Indonesia. The economy and the development are moving fast. So I said to myself, ‘Why not becoming part of it…and taste the flavor of how it is to be in Indonesia, be part of the development and move to the next chapter.’ When talking about Bandung, I’ve fallen in love right away the moment I landed here. Especially in Dago Pakar, who doesn’t want to wake up seeing the beauty of green scenery every day? [smile]
What is your long-term goal in terms of running this hotel?
I want to make this hotel more famous and more popular. I want this hotel to stay at the forefront of the industry in Bandung, not only for leisure travellers but business travellers alike.
What steps have you taken towards achieving the goal?
The first is to ensure we have the right people and the management team. So we make sure that the management team consists of individuals who are motivated, have a sense of belonging, and can encourage the team.

How about the challenge?
We always have it when trying to achieve a goal. The challenge that I had was it took quite sometime to get the right people on board. You know I’ve been here for 10 months, last person who came on board was two weeks ago, so now we have a full team. I cannot make any difference if it’s just me as one single person running the hotel. We need a full solid team where everyone works hand-in-hand to achieve our common goal, which I call true hospitality. [smile]
How do you define true hospitality?
It is the friendliness and the helpfulness of the team. In other words, true hospitality is the ability to provide a seamless experience for guests. With true hospitality, I want to create an environment where our staff feel comfortable and energetic at work. I want them to feel energized and motivated to bring out the best. When you have that environment and the staff produce great output, it means that our guests will be happy. When guests are happy they will create words of mouth. The more the guests are coming, the more we can generate revenues.