People. Philippe Lamadieu - a manager or and actor?

Have you already read our magazine? And what are your impressions?
Yes, I read it. There is also a "Time Out" magazine in Dubai. As I can see this magazine is to the same standards, the same quality as the "Time Out" in Dubai - very nice, very good pictures, a lot of necessary information about Uzbekistan. All the articles are interesting.

What about our article on Kupkari (goat tearing) - the traditional amusements of Uzbek men? How do the Europeans treat such cruel traditions, should we write about them or maybe they arouse some kind of protests from Greenpeace?
I don't know what the Europeans think but I know that in my country there is one game called "corrida" with the bull and they kill the bull with a sword. Some people are against that but this is a tradition which we cannot change, it should remain with the people and we cannot take the history away from people.

Which part of France are you from?
I am from the Southern part, half part is from a small island where Napoleon was born - "L'ile de Corse" (Corsica) and the rest of the family is from the South to the east of Riviera.

On which airline did you arrive?
Uzbekistan Airways

What are your impressions?
Nice airline, nice treatment, very friendly staff.

Have you heard anything about Tashkent before coming here?
Yes. We have one hotel here, so of course it's a part of our region.

And when you arrived did you find that your previous information about Tashkent is somewhat different from reality?
No, more or less the same because I was careful to get the right information. Did you have any difficulties in adaptation to the city, to the life here? No. Actually anywhere I go I don't have much difficulty to adapt, I integrate quite quickly to the environment and to the people and anywhere I go I can find my place.

Have you worked in any other countries before?
Yes, of course: Northern Africa, Asia, Middle East.

And which was the one that you liked most?
The country which I loved most is Cambodia. Now after the war it completely changed but that's really the place where you find it's so beautiful - the people, country and weather.

How do you like the weather in Tashkent?
So far it's not so cold. I expected it to be colder. To tell you the truth, I'm not really fit for cold but we'll see.

So it's not cold in Southern France?
No, it's never really cold there. However I have never lived long in France. All my life I lived and worked abroad, in different countries.

What changes will your arrival bring to the work of the Hotel?
I hope that I will change a lot here with the help of my team. First of all I have to build a team and then I can work. Building a team is the first stage of any work, it is like creating a football team or any other sports team - you have to gather the team, unite it, train it and then you can start working to achieve results. At the moment I am in the phase of creating the team around me, I want it to be strong and then I will guide them and explain them exactly which way to go and only after that we will start achieving results.

Your team consists of mostly locals. Are there any cultural or communicational barriers between you and the staff?
I don't think so. There actually should not be any barriers. Everything depends on the people - if they are willing, they are motivated and they have a good leader (like yours truly) they will follow.

Have you tried the national cuisine? And what are your impressions?
On my first day the owner invited me to a traditional meal - Plov. It is very good and I liked it. Whenever there is plov in the canteen I eat it.

Most Uzbek men like to cook. It is actually a tradition that men cook the plov instead of women. How about you, do you like cooking?
Yes, I like to cook but something original, something that comes to my mind. I enjoy Asian food so when I cook it will probably be something Asian. I take my time when cooking and like ebing alone at that time. Fortunately, I don't make a mess like men after which a whole clean up has to be done. (laughs)

Paris has always been a world trendsetter. Do you think our Uzbek women are able to keep up with the French women in the way they dress?
They are a little bit behind I would say. It is difficult to compete with Paris in fashion but I can see that the ladies here are well-dressed and they start to get into fashion. However I think that this is not a problem. When a beautiful woman wears a moderate dress she will look good anyway, when a plain woman wears a fantastic dress, she will still be plain! (laughs)

Did you have time to visit our bazaars? Do you like them?
No, not yet. All this time it has been all work and no play. The only time I go out is to play rugby at the Military Academy. We have a wonderful team of international people of various ages but unfortunately there is only a small number of us. We train every Tuesday and Thursday at 5pm. There also some ladies who play with us. You can come and watch how we play anytime and it would be very good if you write an article about Rugby in Uzbekistan to promote the game, the young players because we need new people in our teams.

Do you play professionally?
No, we play just for fun. We are too old to play professionally. (laughs). Of course, we have some amateurish matches and championships.

Have you been to the other famous Uzbek cities: Samarkand, Bukhara?
No, not yet. As I said, work, work and work. My friends invited me hunting in the mountains and I promised them to go but I need a couple of months to settle down with my work.

As you said you have a huge workload right now. Is it because everything was so unkempt here?
It is difficult for me to comment on that.

So you are planning to change the working system. What kind of system are you going to employ?
I have only one system which is the Le Meridien system and it is also my way of work. I teach people to feel pride of working here. You have to be proud of what you are doing: of taking an interview, of being a General Manager, of playing rugby and so on - you have to be proud of yourself. Also, you have to take pride in what you achieved at the end of the day. Because when you pride yourself upon what you achieved you can start setting new goals.

Who is you favorite actor?
Me. In the Hotel Business we are the best actors in the world. We act 24/7 - inside the hotel, outside the hotel. We have to act in front of the customers, staff, friends; at a cocktail, on a reception or during dinner.

Do you like dancing? And what do you dance?
Yes. Definitely not ballet (laughs). I like discos.

How is the wine business in France?
It is not as successful as it used to be long time ago. This is because there are many new countries-competitors who are producing good-quality inexpensive wine such as Australia, South Africa, USA-California, Chile, Argentina, China, Cyprus and so on. It is difficult for the traditional winery in France to compete because they did not open their eyes early enough to realize that maybe they have to change something: maybe the taste, maybe the flavor or to crate some new wine. However I still think that it's a genuine pleasure to drink a good French wine.

Did you try Uzbek wines?
Yes, I tried Uzbek wine, Uzbek Vodka and I was lucky not have headache next day (laughs). I had it during the night but next day I was fine, so it was good vodka. Yes, I tried the Uzbek wine, it was very sweet. For me it's good as an aperitif but for dinner I prefer to drink a whisky (laughs).

Can you tell us a little bit about your background, your family?
My father was in the air force so I traveled a lot since I was 9 month: to Africa, Asia, to different parts of the world with my family. I studied in France at the Hotel Management School and I carried on my career in Africa, Europe, and then Middle East (Dubai, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Malta also). Recently I was based in Fujira, the Emirates after having worked in India - taking care of a huge property, 65 acres in the South of India. After India I wanted to take a vacation but I was asked to come here. I have been in the hotel business for more than 30 years already. The only thing I can do is hotel business and I am proud of having reached a position of General Manager at the Hotel starting from a kitchen boy 30 years ago.

Can you advice our young people who are just at the beginning of their career how to achieve such a high position. How did you do it?
You have to believe in yourself. You have to be proud of what you are doing. And you have to have fun in your work. You should not take everything too seriously; otherwise there is not spice to the life. You should have fun in your work, fun in your life and at the same time you should balance fun and seriousness. But you should always enjoy what you are doing and do your maximum. If I succeeded, you can succeed - that is what I told my staff.

So we are still not sure whether Mr. Philippe was playing one of his roles during this interview and agreed upon meeting him once again in a few months - maybe then we'll be able to find out his secret: how can a man be so charming when he does not say much about himself. However, there is one certain fact that we managed to discover: Mr. Philippe is definitely an athlete and if you wish to see what kind of sports he plays turn to page…