CEO-FOUNDER
Ronald “Roni” Duncombe born 7 December, 1970 in Nassau Bahamas is a seasoned hotelier, with 25 years of hospitality experience and premiere butler service within the tourism sector. He began his amazing career in 1989 at Carnival Crystal Palace Resort & Casino in tropical Nassau, Bahamas on the sandy shores of Cable Beach as a banquet waiter before becoming banquet captain. In 1992 the first Butler Services Department in the Bahamas was organized launching Roni into the Butler Services profession where he was chosen with three other Bahamians to be trained in the exclusive Art of Butler Service. After graduating with honors, he honed his craft as a Butler at the exclusive VIP Crystal Beach Club until 1994.
Continuing to enhance his career in tourism, he became a Casino Dealer at the Carnival Crystal Palace Resort & Casino. Later in 1997 he accepted a position as VIP Services Concierge and Hotel Duty Manager at the Crystal Club with Carnival Crystal Palace Resort.
In 1999 Roni’s talents were recruited to join the luxury resorts of Kerzner International as the highly regarded Imperial Club Manager at Atlantis Paradise Island Resort & Casino. In 2001 he was certified by the prestigious Ivor Spencer International School of Butlers, after which he was appointed the first Butler Services Manager in the Bahamas at the Atlantis. Roni established the first Butler Services Division in the Bahamas at Atlantis in 2002 where he managed the executive services for all VIP guests of the Resort. As part of Atlantis Senior management team , Roni enrolled himself into the Leadership Skills Program called Atlantis University . He recognized that to achieve his ultimate goal of a successful business he would need to be equipped with the skills and exposure within the Business sector.
The many accolades by guests and industry peers positioned Roni to be awarded an Associate membership with the distinguished Guild of Professional English Butlers in 2003.
As a result of his stellar work and steady accomplishments, Roni was personally requested by Solomon “Sol” Kerzner, South African accountant and business magnate, to become his personal Butler and Director of his villa where he served for three years.
Roni enrolled himself into the Bahamahost program and was selected as Chairman of the board for Bahamahost session #515. He received his certificate of completion with a 96% and was awarded for diligence and personal achievement from The Ministry of Tourism, which recognized him, as the most outstanding participant of the Bahamahost program by The Minister of Tourism. Ronald also was instrumental with the amalgamation of Kerzner International’s Bahamahost programme. As Chairperson he organized the first and only Bahamahost Culture Night Festival event held at the Atlantis Paradise Island.
In 2007, Roni ended his tenure at Kerzner International and founded his company Distinguished Enterprises Limited. He saw the need to promote his illustrious Bahamas by providing superior professional, customized personal VIP services to discerning A-list clientele. Distinguished Enterprises is an all inclusive VIP personal service company providing unique Bahamian experiences with enduring and unparalleled service tailored to each client. Personal services include but are not limited to Chauffeur Driven Transportation, VIP Hosting, VIP Island Yacht Tours, Butler Services,and VIP Property Management.
He recruited a stellar team of consummate professionals with a combined knowledge and experience of more than 80 years in the Bahamian tourism sector and acquired the finest VIP transportation fleet combined with his excellent business acumen.
Paramount to Distinguished Enterprises’ success is Roni’s incomparable relationship building skills and differentiated service which singularly contributes to repeat visits from International celebrities and news makers. His pursuit of excellence is evident in the loyalty his clients show to him.
Showcasing the beauty and allure of the Bahamian Islands is an integral part of Roni’s business philosophy. Through his relationships, he has not only attracted International celebrities and news-makers to the Bahamas but ensures through his extraordinary services that his clients enjoy an unforgettable experience. Roni’s business enterprise provides stellar service which simultaneously facilitates an infusion of significant tourist revenue into the economy for many other Bahamian businesses. Demonstrating his commitment to highlight the goodwill and talent of the Bahamas, His business relationships have contributed to the revenue for Atlantis Paradise Island Resort & Casino, The Ocean Club , Sapodilla Resturants, The Mahogany House Resort,Graycliff, The Hilton Hotel, Charters, Odyssey Aviation, Jet Aviation, The Mandera Spa, Sapodilla, Café Matise, Drifters at Fish Fry, John Bull, Venetians Jewelers, Straw Market, Solomon’s Fresh Market and Galleria Cinema.
The heart of our success is our people.
When we hire people, we look for four characteristics, while most companies only look for three:
- Competence. We want a high intellect, and particularly in jobs that need experience and skill, someone with all the proficiency possible.
- Confidence. Someone can be the smartest person in the world, but if they lack confidence, they won’t project themselves well and they won’t be as effective in their work. By hiring people who are confident and competent, we maintain an organization where everyone is a good communicator and has high intellect. We don’t have a single employee that we wouldn’t put in front of a customer.
- Passion. We look for people who like to be on a winning team and have fun. At Transportation Insight we fist bump, we high five—we have a very energetic staff and work environment. We promote that by sponsoring a lot of contests and activities to engage people who have a competitive nature.
- Humility. This is the secret sauce. A lot of people who have the above three characteristics tend to be fairly successful—and can be arrogant. People with humility know they don’t know everything and constantly have a quest for knowledge.
In our culture, we say a manager’s job is to serve his employees, not the employee’s job to serve the manager. So when our customers have an issue at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, not only is someone going to answer the phone, they’re also going to try to solve the problem and exceed the customer’s expectations.
The biggest challenge in any business is to assemble a team of like-minded people with the same value system and cultural DNA and to scale that over time as the company grows. This is predominantly because of our people. Our customers appreciate us because they know we have their backs, we serve them and we try to make things better every day.
We walk the talk.
That’s not about me—that’s about people rallying around a common cause. And that’s one thing that I believe distinguishes Transportation Insight.
Ronald C Duncombe