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"I promise: with foreign workers the service will be better and the prices will go down" - Voila! Of money

2022-07-28T12:09:19.867Z


The CEO of Israel-Canada Hotels talks about his childhood in Kiryat, the moment he realized he was a mediocre basketball player, the long road in one of the most complex industries in Israel and his sympathy for Hapoel Haifa


"I promise: with foreign workers the service will be better and the prices will go down"

The CEO of Israel-Canada Hotels tells about his childhood in Kiryat, the moment he realized he was a mediocre basketball player, the long road in one of the most complex industries in Israel and also about the sympathy for Hapoel Haifa that brought him back to basketball, although not to the floor

Liat Ron

07/28/2022

Thursday, July 28, 2022, 08:32 Updated: 14:58

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The parents met in Kfar Hasidim.

She learned to be a nurse, he worked at the tractor factory (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Name

: Reuven Alex, 52 years old, CEO of "Israel Canada Hotels".



Who I am

: Connected to people, with the ability to analyze transactions and creative relative to a CPA.

Knows how to analyze numbers quite quickly and is sometimes too emotional, takes things to heart, can get angry beyond what is desired when there is a mistake and I try my best to moderate it.



Roots

: My whole family is from Poland.

Mother's side from Lodz.

Grandparents hid with their five children in the basement and when they went out to look for food, they were shot to death and left alone.

One of the children died.

Mother, who died two years ago, used to say that they hated the Poles more than the Nazis.

She was 14 years old when she came to Israel on a boat from Efilim, was deported to Cyprus and arrived at the youth village in Kfar Hasidim, where she learned to be a nurse.



Father's side also went through the Holocaust, grandfather died there, grandmother stayed in Poland after the war and later arrived in the religious Kiryat Shmuel in the north, and he immigrated to Israel with the children of Tehran and arrived in Kfar Hasidim, where he met his mother.

He worked at a tractor factory and later became a foreman at "Safah", a Yuli Ofer earthworks company and when he turned 43 he got cancer and died.

Mother dedicated her life to raising me, because my sisters were already grown up, and earned a living by taking care of children.

Accounting studies: "It wasn't easy for me, because I have an undiagnosed attention disorder and it was hard for me to sit, but I got through it" (Photo: Reuven Castro)

My childhood

: Kiryat Bialik.

I was seven and a half years old when father died.

In retrospect it strengthened me a lot, you learn to fight and appreciate everything there is.

I was a tall and somewhat talented kid, and I played basketball in Kiryat Bialik and Hapoel Haifa, which I liked because of my father, who would take me to the games.

I had no one to cheer me on in the games, to take me to throw in the basket.

I miss it very much.



I studied electronics and computers, because my mother wanted me to have a profession, only electronics was really not my direction.

When we fought, everyone's green boards were clean and straight, and I would come back with a board as crooked as an ashtray and dirty.

I dreamed of a family and the possibility of living well, being middle class, because we didn't have a car at home or a credit card.

Mother did everything so that nothing would be missing from us and that I would not feel that I had less than others.



Military Service

: I enlisted as a contact technician, I managed to last another year in basketball, and when I realized that I would reach the high levels, I left.

In Kiryat Bialik, whoever was not among me was in trouble.

I was both a jobber and a mediocre basketball player, so the pretty girls stopped looking at me.

I had to upgrade and went to the liaison officer course.

I was a SMP in the 300th Brigade on the Lebanese border, a period that brought me to the realization that I have the ability to lead people and make decisions.



Accounting

: after the liberation I flew to the East and the USA, and when I returned I wanted to study economics and I went to consult with my father's former boss about what to study, because I had no one to consult.

He told me that economics is not a profession and that I should go to accounting and have a shirt with a pocket for the pen.

While studying at the management college, I understand that the business world is based on accounting.

It wasn't easy for me, because I have an undiagnosed attention deficit disorder and it was hard for me to sit, but I managed it somehow.

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Entering the world of hotels was as a security guard at Crowne Plaza (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Hotels

: I studied at a management college, I worked in a building with my brother-in-law, then I started as a supervisor at the Crowne Plaza and I was also a bartender for six months. One evening there was an event for the finance department of Africa Israel Hotels. The chain's accountant preferred to sit down and talk with me, and during the conversation he offered me To be an accountant for three Holiday Inn hotels in Eilat.



I relocated to Eilat and after two or so years I moved to become the deputy accountant for the entire chain. After a hiatus, in which I founded the Histadrut's "Shahar On" company, which sends out employees for training and vacations, I was the financial manager of the Princess Hotel and from there I went on to manage the finances of Nochi Dankner's Gandan Tourism,



a chain of pomegranates

: I was offered to be the CFO of the chain, and Samdar Nimrod, the owner, believed that I could manage it and I owe her for the opportunity she gave me. The most important quality for a hotel manager is to know how to have fun when your guests are enjoying themselves and happy. In addition, a hotel manager must have the The ability to activate a team and make them come every morning and give their soul, which becomes very complex in the difficult employment crisis that the industry is experiencing.



The younger generation thinks differently from my generation. For us, the most important thing was to get to an apartment and live with an account that is not foreclosed. They, on the other hand, prefer to gain experience from accumulating assets. It is more important for them to dive in Costa Rica and spend a lot of money there, than to save for an apartment.



Fatal

: After five years in Ramonim, David Fatal contacted me and asked me to manage the network.

I entered in 2012 and left in June 2017, very significant years in its development.

We opened 11 hotels in Israel and I had the privilege of working alongside him and learning from him.

After five years I realized that if I want to become a significant partner in a company that I can lead in Tzalami.

I have to make a move and move on.

I was 47 years old and for me it was the 90th minute.

"The younger generation thinks differently from my generation. For us, the most important thing was to get an apartment and live with an account that is not foreclosed. They, on the other hand, prefer to accumulate experiences than accumulate assets" (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Independence

: For a year and a half, I managed the Brown Hotels, at the request of my friend, Manny Weizman, a retainer, and at the same time I joined the Mord family from Tiberias, who are my second family, and I led a move to buy the Pomegranate chain, which unfortunately did not succeed in the end, due to the death of Yehezkel Mord, who worked on it with me.

I single-handedly renovated the Lake House, a former Holiday Inn, and the Harlington in Ashkelon, Solei Eilat and another hotel in Tiberias.



Israel Canada Hotels

: After the Pomegranate deal fell through, I met in July 2019 with Barak Rosen, the co-owner of Israel Canada, a friend for 20 years, and we decided to establish the hotel company, with me as CEO and holding 20% ​​of the shares. My hotels were the basis of the activity And I was reimbursed for all my expenses.



We currently have nine active hotels, three owned, one owned by the parent company and five managed by us, and in addition, a plot of land we purchased in Eilat on which a hotel with 302 suites and a 5,000-meter commercial floor will be built.

We go on three levels, premium, family and business hotels.



Corona

: half a year after we started working, the epidemic broke out.

In the first month I was scared and then we turned the hotel in Ashkelon into the Corona Hotel, the Lake House Hospitality College continued to work and we took all the employees out of work. It was clear to me that we would make it through the difficult year and in the end we purchased the "Tamars" chain at a great price, followed by the "Nopi Gonen" hotel and " Port & Blue" in front of the port in Tel Aviv. I knew that the world would return to normal and these deals would justify themselves.

Buying hotels during the corona: "I knew that the world would return to normal and these deals would justify themselves" (Photo: Reuven Castro)

PLAY Tel Aviv

: a concept of a business hotel combined with a hotel for young people, the first of which was established in the Midtown area of ​​Tel Aviv.

Each room has a punching bag or rings for fitness, you can order a climbing wall, tickets to Zappa and go down to see a show in your pajamas, most of the rooms have a sleeping gallery, breakfast is served in the wine bar and in the future the roof will also be open for activities.

We are looking into the option of taking the chain abroad in the future as well.



Gali Kinneret

: our strongest hotel. It was established in 1946 and attracted the Israeli financial aristocracy. in Israel

When the time came, we signed a management contract for 25 years, I recruited a talented designer and Assaf Granit and the Machaniuda Group, who opened the restaurant "Lota" Hachshara, named after the hotel's founder.



Jerusalem

: A boutique hotel has been built in the old Shaare Zedek hospital complex, one of the most beautiful historical landmarks in Jerusalem, we are working on another hotel in the city.



High prices

: at the end of the day, a hotel is a large household and when you look at how much the family's expenses have increased due to the rising prices in the economy, you have to multiply it several times.

This is in addition to the fact that property tax abroad accounts for 0.75% of revenue and in Israel 5%. In addition, we finance, among other things, the water corporations and kosher supervisors, and an employee's salary is 70 shekels per hour, this creates a situation that despite the high price, our profitability is low, because the base costs are crazy



Lack of workers

: We are experiencing a crazy employment crisis .

We lack workers in every position, not only farm workers, but also cabotets, bartenders and managers.

The solution for the industry is to bring foreign workers to the basic positions and cancel the levies on them.

I am ready to commit that with foreign workers the service will be better and the prices will drop.


Family: I married Maya, my ex-wife, in 2002, we had two sons and we separated in 2012.

"At the age of 50, I decided to return to Hapoel Haifa, my old love that was promoted to the first league" (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Sharon

: My wife, the love of my life, is a lawyer, today she works in Hod Hasharon Municipality.

We met at a job interview for my personal assistant position, and she eventually became my boss.

She brought a girl to the relationship, we have a son together and we live in Hod Hasharon.



Hapoel Haifa

: When I was CEO of Fatal, I returned to basketball through "Fatal Eilat". The closeness to Oded Ketch and the other team members whetted my appetite and at the age of 50 I decided to return to Hapoel Haifa, my old love that was promoted to the first league and I am responsible for the relationship with the coach and the players. The professional boss is the coach And I support him.


Basketball is mainly at night and at the expense of the family and once a week there is a game.



Leisure

: I make sure to train in the gym and be with the family.



Looking forward to the future

: I see myself developing and leading "Canada Israel Hotels" to achieve additional goals.

About two weeks ago, we added Menorah to the partnership, as part of a strategy of bringing in an institutional partner that would open the door to significant transactions.

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Source: walla

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