Interview with Ahmed Abdelsamie

“A strong team, genuine service, and high standards — this is precisely how true hospitality is created.”

Ahmed Abdelsamie, Cluster General Manager of Pullman & Mercure Sochi Centre, was featured in an interview in Dorogoye Udovolstviye magazine.

Over his years in the international hospitality industry, Ahmed progressed from operations management to leading major hotel projects. A significant part of his professional career is associated with the Hilton brand: he managed hotels in Novorossiysk and Krasnodar, headed Hampton by Hilton Krasnodar, and oversaw the chain’s properties in Ufa and Ryazan.

This experience shaped his approach to work — attentive to detail, grounded in international standards, trust in people, and a leader’s personal responsibility.

In the interview, Ahmed Abdelsamie shares his perspective on leadership and the industry’s development during a period of change. The pandemic, the transformation of the tourism market, staffing shortages, and new business conditions became a serious test for the entire hospitality sector. However, in Ahmed’s view, it is precisely during such periods that the most important truth becomes especially clear: business resilience begins with the team.

“If a person truly wants something, everything works. That is why I invest first and foremost in people: in the team, culture, service quality, and the ability to find solutions together,” Ahmed Abdelsamie notes.

Today, his key objective is to develop Pullman & Mercure Sochi Centre as two landmark hotels in Russia’s resort capital: strong in terms of business performance, recognized for their level of service, and truly comfortable for every guest — whether a traveler, a business event participant, or a resident of the city.

The interview covers professional achievements, recognition at the Russian Hospitality Awards, managing teams in different regions of the country, the challenges of today’s market, and a personal mission: to ensure that Russian hospitality is associated with professionalism, genuine service, and high quality.

Read Ahmed Abdelsamie’s interview in the new issue of Dorogoye Udovolstviye magazine: https://www.calameo.com/read/0078740339b729da12e1e