INDIA-BORN Rama Rebbapragada, managing director – Asia-Pacific of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, had finished his studies at the Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management in Salzburg and was all set to stay put and embark on a career. But everything came to a screeching halt when the Austrian government denied his application for a working visa.
“The options were to either go back to India or accept a job as a busboy on a cruise ship,” he said, looking back. “The rest is history.”
Chronology:
1977 – Started a three-month internship as room service waiter at Hotel Ambassador, Mumbai.
1983 – Joined Royal Caribbean Cruises as a busboy on a ship sailing out of New York.T
1984 – Held several shipboard supervisory and management positions, moving up the ranks as head waiter and assistant F&B manager. Moved to corporate headquarters as fleet human resource manager, responsible for the hotel manpower planning, recruiting and scheduling function.
1995 – Joined the international sales and marketing department as regional sales manager – Asia/Pacific.
2001 – Promoted to director of international sales based at the corporate headquarters, manaqing the Asia/Pacific region as well as working on strategic projects in other emerging markets.
2006 – Appointed managing director – Asia/Pacific.
2007 – Moved to and opened regional headquarters in Singapore and first representative office in Shanghai, China. Has complete responsibility for all aspects of the business in the region – sales, marketing, PR – regional product development and itinerary planning.
Glimpses:
Who is your mentor?
Adam Goldstein, RCCL president and CEO. He is a great leader and motivator, a true visionary and the brains behind our international growth.
Who is your role model?
My late father, a doctor by profession. He was a hard-working individual, who dedicated his life to social service. He also taught at the top medical college in India and groomed several thousand medical professionals. My goal is to be like him- build and leave behind a team of “best-in-class” industry professionals that would lead our brands and the industry in the future.
Where do you go from here?
I just got here. And this is just the very beginning of an exciting period of growth and development for this industry and our brands in the region.
