A Vibrant 25-Year Career (And Counting!)
We met with IHI President and Regional Operations Manager of Cliste Hospitality’s iNUA Collection Brian Bowler to talk about a career well spent in the hospitality industry and his exciting new role.
IHI President Brian Bowler has been in the Irish hospitality industry for over 25 years and in that time built a vibrant career working in some of the finest hotels in the country. Hotel & Restaurant Times was delighted to sit down with Brian to talk about his career path over the past two decades, his exciting new role as Regional Operations Manager of Cliste Hospitality’s iNUA Collection, and the challenges faced by the hospitality industry today, and how we could meet them.
Brian’s journey in hospitality is a testament to the rich opportunities that exist within the industry and offers a fascinating snapshot into how an individual can quickly progress with enthusiasm, hard work, and support. Brian started young; at 12 years old he worked in a local pub cleaning toilets and operating a petrol pump and by 14 was working as a barman in Krugers Bar in Dunquin on the Dingle Peninsula.This was the time, Brian tells us, that Dingle was in the early days of becoming more than a two month a year tourism hotspot. The pub was busy in the summer, and out of season was an important community hub. Brian continued to work in the bar on school holidays until he was 18, before going on to study computers. However, he quickly realised it wasn’t for him.
“I knew hospitality was really where I wanted to work,” he tells us. “I got bitten by the bug so I dropped out and applied for a trainee manager’s job in four places and managed to get all of them. I chose the Gleneagle Hotel as it was such a well-known name in Kerry. Eileen O’ Donoghue, one of the owners, took me on and I worked there for four years and completed the CERT trainee manager programme. I worked across all departments to earn my stripes and loved it.”
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Read the full April / May 2022 Magazine Publication
