KEY POINTS:
One of Grant Webster's fondest childhood memories is of hopping on his dad's coach and going on tours of the Waikato and Hawke's Bay regions, visiting attractions like the Waitomo Caves.
"My father was a tour driver for Newmans and in the school holidays at this time of
year he would go through Napier, where I grew up, and I would join him on the day tours."
But the 36-year-old, who has just taken over as chief executive of Tourism Holdings, never pictured himself going into the tourism industry.
"I would have to say no."
It has been a far from direct route back to his family roots.
Webster studied commerce at Victoria University in Wellington and majored in management and commercial law, before being snapped up by supermarket giant Woolworths for its management trainee programme.
There he travelled the country learning the retail business and by 25 was in his first general management position - heading up 2000 staff in the South Island.
"It was a great opportunity to get exposure to so many management experiences - the supermarket business is so dynamic and competitive."
But after nearly 10 years he began to question whether he wanted to be in retail all his life.
"At the time the SkyCity job came up and I jumped on the chance to try something new."
He describes SkyCity as a fantastic company. "It's iconic - one of a kind. What I took to SkyCity was the non-SkyCity perspective.
"It was a time when SkyCity had been through significant growth and it was looking to bring in outside leadership."
But that also brought major challenges with huge numbers of employees to manage.
He looked after the Sky Tower, hotels, the convention centre, property services, security and surveillance, carparks and The Force entertainment centre.
Webster says it exposed him to broader things but gave him an understanding that his skills were transportable.
During his time there he helped open the convention centre and Grand Hotel. "It was a very busy place," he said.
Three years later he took the opportunity with Tourism Holdings partly because it was a much smaller company.
"The opportunity at THL was to have a division that was completely yours. When you are the chief operating officer with all areas of the business to control, you can really put your mark on the business in quite a different way to SkyCity.
"SkyCity's business was so enormous that everything was a major collaborative effort. It's a team effort at THL as well but your impressions, values and style do have a greater impact."
When he joined the business there weren't any plans to sell off the leisure division. It was late 2006, 18 months after he joined, when Australian investment company MFS began due diligence on buying the division which at the time included Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World, Waitomo Caves and the Milford Sound Red Boat business.
When the deal failed to go through, despite coming very close, Webster says the team just accepted it and got on with the job.
"There had been a lot of work put in to do what was required but at the end of the day the shareholders, while it was just a few, said no. We stood up, dusted ourselves off, and kept going."
Since then Tourism Holdings has sold off a significant portion of its leisure business, leaving just its backpacker coach business Kiwi Experience, Waitomo Caves and Fiji Experience coaching business.
Tourism Holdings' main focus is now on its campervan manufacturing and rental business here and in Australia.
It's somewhat ironic that the part of the business that has been Webster's baby for the last few years has mostly been sold off.
But he says campervans are not too different to other businesses he has managed, including SkyCity's hotels.
"There are a number of aspects that are quite similar. You could say we have got hotels on wheels," he jokes.
Webster says the biggest challenge ahead now for the tourism company is trying to predict what is going to happen and responding quickly enough.
"We do have a number of plans in place depending on what scenarios happen. We should have a better idea in February/March."
He is focused on ensuring the company has a strong balance sheet and keeps its market share. "It's about sticking with the strategy."
The group's online strategy is a significant part of the business plan.
"We see some real advantages in that platform - that is scaleable, we have got to continue that. It will also continue to invest in its fleet of VW and Mercedes vehicles."
As for the US expansion plans the company has previously talked up, Webster says they are on hold for now but it is staying close to the situation there.
"It's all about timing, it's all about predicting and assessing the situation."
Webster says his focus is on making sure the business comes out of the tough times with strong balance sheets and people that have been upskilled.
"We are not ignoring what is going on. We are cutting back and doing all those things that will ensure we will be in best possible shape to ensure we come out the other side well prepared."
GRANT WEBSTER
* Chief executive, Tourism Holdings.
* Age: 36.
* Educated: Victoria University in Wellington. Bachelor of Commerce majoring in management and commercial law.
* Career: Three years at Tourism Holdings as chief operating officer.
* Three years as general manager at SkyCity Entertainment Group.
* Various positions with Woolworths supermarket group.
* Family: Married with three children - Deanne, 6, Nicolas, 3 and Katheryn, 18 months.
* Hobbies: Likes science fiction and cricket. Plays indoor netball and squash.
