He defied all odds and rose through the ranks to the top to become the first-ever Ghanaian Managing Director of a 5-Star hotel in the country. Unprecedented!

From being a night auditor through to an assistant night manager, demoted to a shift leader, then moved to become a guest relations manager, then to a sales executive to an assistant house manager, and becoming the substantive house manager. Yes!

Mr. David Eduaful, the new Managing Director of Labadi Beach Hotel, shared the incredible story about his journey to the top when he took his turn on JoyFM's Personality Profile hosted by Lexis Bill on Thursday.

"Ghana's hospitality industry is young and still evolving, and the trend has been that expatriates have always occupied the top positions in most 4 to 5-star hotels in the country. In some hotels, front executives are even expatriates. So, I feel good that my efforts have been recognised and after 32 years, we have changed the narrative," Mr. Eduaful said cheerfully.

Labadi Beach Hotel, the premier 5-star hotel in the country, started operation in 1991 to meet the demands of both leisure and business travellers alike.

Its new MD, Mr. David Eduaful was born and partly raised in Akim Oda. At age eight, he came to Accra to continue his schooling at Sempe 1 and 2 and moved on to Accra Academy, but it was without struggle.

He had to sell paper bags and iced water to support his family financially.

This year, he'll be 31 years at Labadi.

Explaining why he's worked there for that long, the Labadi Beach Hotel MD said, "I enjoy what I do. I love nature, and the environment at Labadi gives me that joy."

"Moreover, the staff of Labadi Beach Hotel are awesome. Everyone of them is committed. From the doorman to those at the top. They always want to make sure the guests are comfortable and satisfied, "he added.

Narrating how he generated interest in hotels, Mr. Eduaful said, "When I was in sixth form, I had a cousin who was at Novotel, now Accra City Hotel. I visited him once, and I fell in love with the place. I told him to get a job for me, and thankfully, I went to do my national service there.

"At that time, my cousin had moved to Labadi Beach Hotel. I paid him a visit once again, and he told me about an opening for a night auditor.

"Although I had not finished my national service, I still took up the job at Labadi. As a night auditor, I audited the daily sales and every revenue centre, and with my background in accounting, I was able to do the job."

When asked what excited him about that role at the time, Mr Eduaful said he was happy about meeting people from different walks of life everyday, and he got excitement from the environment at the hotel.

Speaking about some of the challenges he encountered when he started work at Labadi, Mr. Eduaful narrated how he got suspended because he innocently changed fake money for a guy at the Forex bureau during his night shift.

"It was a tough time for me. When I returned to work, my MD at the time asked that I pay the money, so I did other jobs in the hotel for some additional money to defray the cost.

"The journey has not been smooth. It's been tough, but with determination and passion for what I do, I have come this far," Mr. Eduaful uttered.

He said Labadi has been at the top because its staff are awesome and experienced. They are dedicated, and they love what they do.

"You may have a beautiful building and facilities, but if the workers are not dedicated and do not have good customer relations skills, nobody will visit your facility."

Giving more exposition on why hotel rates in Ghana seem to be much higher than in South Africa and other countries, the Labadi Beach MD said "The cost of doing business in Ghana is high, and because the hotels can't afford everything, some of the costs are passed on to the consumer.

"For example, at Labadi, we import everything because if you want quality, you have to import. However, in South Africa and elsewhere, they produce some of the things so they can afford to have reduced rates."

He re-echoed the fact that the hotel is ready to patronise Ghanaian-made products if they are of good quality.