Mountain Retreat for First Kiwi Chief of Village

2 April 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Mountain Retreat for First Kiwi Chief of Village

New Zealander Ben Martin made history earlier in the year with his appointment as the first Kiwi Chief of Village and his first assignment is as general manager of Club Med Sahoro on the island of Hokkaido (Japan) for the Summer ’09 and Winter ’10 seasons.

The 32-year-old, originally from Auckland’s NorthShore, has spent 8 years with Club Med working around the world in various roles including flying trapeze instructor, Chief of Sports and Chief of Entertainment.
Located 170km from Sapporo, Club Med Sahoro is a pristine mountain retreat perfect for the entire family. Hokkaido, Japan's most northerly island, has been known as Japan's mecca of winter sports since it hosted the Sapporo Olympic Games in 1972. Its climate guarantees plenty of snow and great powder on the pistes, situated between 3280 and 1312 feet.

Ben’s new role is that of a General Manager, the figurehead of the resort.  “My job is to ensure not only guest satisfaction, but also the resort’s financial performance, as well as the development and satisfaction of the employees.

“A Chief of Village’s day is anything but typical and can include tours of the resort to get to know all of the guests, to rehearsing for the latest stage show, to MC of a large family event on the beach, to business reviews of the month’s performance. It’s a general manager position with a large component of Public Relations, where you are to be present in all aspects of the operations.”
 
The fluent French, Portugese and Japanese speaker – who is also semi-fluent in Italian and Mandarin - says he is very proud of his achievement, a goal he set himself when he joined Club Med in 2001.

“My first love is languages, I usually learn a different language every year or so, to try and attain a level of fluency. It helps when you live in the country. I get a lot of help from the international staff I work with,” Ben says.
“My other big love is circus, specifically the flying trapeze,” says Ben, who will be able to indulge this passion on Sahoro’s very own flying trapeze during the summer months.
 
Ben began his Club Med career in Lindeman IslandAustralia, before moving to the Maldives, Bali, Japan, Thailand, Senegalin Africa, Bodrum in Turkeyand Trancoso in Brazil. Ben has just completed four months of management training in Franceand will take up his role at Sahoro in May.

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