KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Tan Sri Tony Fernandes says he has been able to stay ahead of the game and expand his airline empire by building businesses people want.
The man who runs Asia’s biggest budget carrier told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in an interview published today that he has managed to venture into sports and the hotel sector by having the right people, giving them the strategy and letting them get on with it.
“I honestly believe the first thing in business is: can you make something that people want? Cheap travel in Asia is a no-brainer,” he was quoted as saying.
“How do you build a competitive business? Whether it’s Lotus, whether it’s QPR, whether it’s Tune Hotels… build a business that people want,” Fernandes told the international daily. “Have the right people. Be focused and allow people to get on and do their jobs. Give them a strategy, but allow them to go and do it.
“The very last thing, which I think is the most important, is: people have simply got to enjoy coming in to work.”
The high-stakes player appears to hold firm to the belief that “fortune favours the brave”, he told WSJ in the interview.
“I bought a football club, I own a Formula 1 team. I have been in the music business and I own an airline,” he was quoted as saying.
He credited his British public school education for shaping his personality by exposing him to different experiences.
He told WSJ: “What did I take away from it? A challenge — that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. That nothing comes easy in life [and the importance of] teamwork.”
Fernandes has now taken a similar low-fares approach towards his expansion into the hotel sector with Tune Hotels, formed in 2007.
Tune now has 14 hotels in Asia and Europe and is planning to reach 100 hotels worldwide by 2016.
