The Fujairah Tennis & Country Club (FTCC) is under new management and ambitious plans are in place to improve services and create a tennis academy to rival any other in the UAE, according to the new management.
The new CEO of FTCC is Oktay Talibov and at just 28 he is already a well established entrepreneur having set up a couple of Dubai and Fujairah companies, one of which is now running the FTCC, as well as holding down another job as first representative of share holders in Fujairah for a European based company.
Fujairah Tennis & Country Club opened its doors in 2007 and has since held a number of mostly youth tennis tournaments as well as a number of cultural events.
The new CEO sat down with Fujairah Observer to talk about his plans for the club and we started by asking what made him want to take over the club?
Oktay Talibov: I joined the club as a member about two years ago and I enjoyed coming here and using the facilities. Then I started talking with the management about the possibility of taking over before entering serious negotiations with the Fujairah government and starting the paperwork. It took us nearly a year and half from the time we started talking about it until we finally completed the deal and we’re delighted to finally be here and excited about taking over the club and putting our plans into action.
I worked and learnt from top business managers in Russia, UK and UAE and I love sports which has always been an important part of our life as a family. So this opportunity is like a dream come true and I feel happy and comfortable being at the heart of this project.
Fujairah Observer: What is the nature of the takeover deal?
O.T: I can’t go into the financial details but I can say we have an 80-year lease deal from Fujairah government; it more or less makes us owners of the establishment, for that period at least.
F.O: That’s a long and considerable commitment; how confident are you of making it work financially and how soon can make a return on your initial investment?
O.T: We’re confident that we can break even in two or three years. We have a number of ways of increasing revenue through improving existing services and facilities and we have lots of ambitious plans to introduce new services including a new tennis academy. We already have in place some top class facilities such as a wonderful tennis stadium, 7 professional-level tennis courts, indoor sports courts, a restaurant, excellent hotel and other features. From an investment point of view it’s a solid investment with lots of potential for growth.
F.O: Tell us about your plans for the new academy?
O.T: We’ve made a strategic decision to concentrate more of our efforts into improving the sports business sector at FTCC; at the top of that will be a new tennis academy which we hope will rival the best in the country. We already think the facilities here put us among the best 5 centres in the UAE and with a new academy we hope one day to be the best.
We have recruited a new Sport Sector Manager in the person of Milos Jevtic, who is a graduate of Sport and Physical Education in Serbia where he also worked with a number of football clubs. We also recruited Milan Radjenovic who is a former tennis player, coach and referee and is now our new Head Coach of Tennis. With those two on board we hope to establish an elite tennis academy in cooperation with international tennis academies and associations such as the Russian and Uzbek federations. We also have a winter camp which will run for 3 weeks between the 18th of December and 5th of January.
F.O: How about the food and hospitality sectors at the club? What are your plans for them?
O.T: We have a top notch restaurant and super deluxe hotel and they form an important side of the club. We made certain changes such as recruiting the well know Chef Wadi’ as our new Head Chef; he is one of the best at Arabic and international cuisine and we’ve agreed with Fujairah TV to host his daily cooking show right here in FTCC. We also have a new Guest Relations Manager who has lots of experience in the UAE and Ireland.
F.O: How about marketing? How are you going to let people know about your plans and improvements?
O.T: We’ve only taken over in October but we’ve already formulated a marketing campaign that will cover all media outlets. We will also hold events such as on New Year’s Eve to announce ourselves on the scene. I believe we have good services and facilities that once people sample they will like and come back for more.
F.O: Finally, how did you find your first couple of months since you transformed yourself from member to owner ‘effectively’?
O.T: It’s been exciting and fun but we’re still at the beginning and we have lots of things to do yet. Of course, I would like to thank our club President, Sheikh Rashid bin Hamad Al-Sharqi and our club chairman Mr Abdul Ghafoor Behroozian. They have done a lot to help us get going and we hope to work together to improve the club still further.
