MILO VERGUCHT

 

MPI PRESIDENT BELGIUM

Most of us know Milo Vergucht (37) from his job at MCI or previously at Gent Congres and definitely as President of MPI Belgium, but how did he get there and does he live up to the image of the ‘perfect son in law’?
From the first question onwards I got a few surprising answers…

BBT: Milo, how did you get to work in the travel business, did you study tourism?..

Milo:Well, after finishing high school I wanted to become a musician so I started out by going to the Conservatory for Music is my first love2 years. However, it was more fun as a hobby than as a career and after two years I quit and went to look in another direction.
As a student I had already worked in restaurants and I decided that hotel management could be my thing. When the school Director told me he did not necessarily see a lot of possibilities in me, I took the challenge and decided to go for it!

Milo was not predestined for the hospitality business as his father was in the electronics business, but Dad did not stand in the way of his choice as long as he could see that he did it well and with full conviction. After an internship and his first job at Sheraton Airport, young Milo landed a job in banqueting at the Plaza hotel where he stayed for 4 years before going back closer to his roots, Ghent, and taking up a position at the Cour St Georges which unfortunately did not work out. He then landed a job at Gent Congres where – literally – a new world opened up for him. Milo confirms that not only this has been the best and steepest learning curve for him as far as the Mice business was concerned, but he discovered a passion for the business. When he took over as Manager from Jacques Tytgat he threw himself in his new passion with great enthusiasm.

Milo remembers:” Those were exciting days in Gent: the city was blossoming and growing as far as business travel and tourism in general was concerned. I had the unique opportunity to create an office with national and international status, an office that could really play an important role in attracting MICE business to a city that until then had only had a small share of the market. I loved it and had great fun & worked hard there for 3 years!”

 

BBT: So, why leave if you were having such a great time?

Milo: When you are still very young – as I was at the time – 3 years in the same position is a long time. I had created an efficient and successful office, time for a new challenge as far as I was concerned! Mind you, I seem to be the guy who in between good decisions takes sometimes les good decisions…I took up the offer to work for an owner of 3 Accor hotels in Bruges & Ghent …but that was a mistake…I decided  leave after only 5 weeks! But in the meantime I had met up with Robin Lokerman and from one thing came another, after two weeks I started my new job at MCI!

Milo has now been with MCI for 3 years as External Relations Director, responsible for attracting new clients, a job that evolves every day!

 

BBT: Milo it has been 3 years again, do you feel like moving on again?...

Milo: Definitely not! The company is evolving so rapidly and continuously that I have no time to think about anything else, let alone feel that I have achieved all I could achieve...The fun part is that there is no defined target, just this great feeling of wanting to grow and develop at the same rhythm as the company, no lack of excitement, that’s for sure! This continuous challenge makes life at MCI a blast, I do not like to just float along with the general flow, I like to break out and do my own thing, must be a throwback to my upbringing in a family of independents, a ‘bug’ that seems to stick up its little head from time to time (smiles). If ever I should leave MCI I am convinced I would start up my own thing.

 

BBT: So why, with all that excitement and big workload going on at MCI, take on the Presidency of MPI?

Milo with Annick Debels, Gent Congres and Pauy Suy, gm Marriott Ghent

Milo: Must be my independent streak again, I like to step out of the normal context of my job, organize. As a young lad Annick Debels instilled in me that if I wanted to become successful in this industry I needed to become a member of MPI! She also told me that if you wanted to be noticed at all you made sure to get a seat on the board of MPI and be an active member! So I followed her wise advice and at the next elections got a seat on the board. MPI Belgium Chapter has evolved a lot in the last few years and I am happy that we can now look at a well organized and structured MPI chapter with new format activities that attract more and more attendees. Our membership keeps on growing and in general MPI has become a driving force in Belgium, I feel proud to be contributing actively to this development.

BBT: You studied classical piano for two years at the Ghent conservatory, don’t you feel sad that you did not do anything with this gift?

Milo: I was good , but not that good and today I still play but purely for amusement. My piano has an important place in our house and will never be removed. I do play in a band and we rehearse once a week, just for the fun of it. Once a year – and only once! – we organize a concert and then just for friends and family. There are 7 of us and we each invite our friends for an evening of fun. We are a “cover band” – “Torkest” - and play contemporary dance music, sixties to nineties. I am of course on the keyboards! Playing music is a great way to relieve stress in your head as you have to concentrate on the music and the rhythm, you forget about all the rest! How I got into this band, one of the original members was a friend of my father and they were looking for a replacement on the keyboards, this band already exists 50 years and I joined when I was studying music.

I also have a very eclectic taste in music; I can switch from Radio Klara to Q Music, depending on the moment and the mood! It is a fact that classical music has a relaxing effect but, although I work hard, I do like my party time and dance music!

 

BBT: Will we ever see you play with your band at an industry do?

Milo: Probably not, we really keep it at just the one evening in the year, our fun is had at the weekly rehearsals!

 

Milo: what you see is what you get!
Milo has been married for 10 years to Inge whom he met when working at the Sheraton Airport Hotel. As he worked nights he confesses that he always had a pale color and he was convinced that that was the reason she did not pay much attention to him to start with. But after he came back from a holiday with a healthy complexion that changed rapidly! They have two children Paulien (7) and Margot (6).
“When I come home, I turn the button and concentrate on what goes on there, I keep my private life completely separated from my job. I am easy going, especially on holidays when everything goes, nothing has to happen! The project of the day can then simply be …the menu that evening…Hotels are not really our thing as I work in and with them all year, I like to keep my freedom without too much programming. That is why we like to go to the wonderful B&B “Le Pas de l’Ane” run by the mother of Nicolas Le Brun in the South of France.
Our own country Belgium, is the ‘Land of the good life’ and that is also what I aim for in my private life: good living, good food, enjoying the good things in life, to live today!

I am a man who likes to make time for interesting and fun things. I like change and need change in my life . For me a perfect day is a day that did not end following a preset pattern, but a day full of good surprises, changes and twists and turns…God creates a new day, every day, up to us to make the best of it!

 

 

Milo Vergucht
MCI Group - Milo.Vergucht@mci-group.com
MPI Belgium President – www.mpiweb.be

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