A welcoming world

By ANGELA McCARTHY

When Rodney Samuels took a holiday job as porter at the Regent Hotel in 1989, he was thinking of summer cash, not hospitality management. Fifteen years later Samuels - manager of Hilton Auckland's Bellini Bar - doesn't regret leaving university after one year.

"I really enjoy the whole environment of the hotel."

Enjoyment is a must in tourism and hospitality, says Samuels, and work experience is the way to find out whether you'll enjoy the sector or not.

He spent five years at the Regent in roles varying from reception and reservations to house keeping. "I learned by getting in there and doing it."

He then helped to set up a Sheraton island resort in Fiji where he stayed for two years, ending up as residence manager. On returning to New Zealand, Samuels continued to broaden his experience, working in food and beverage at City Life Hotel, then as Stamford Plaza rooms senior assistant manager before taking a sales and marketing role.

This led to a corporate sales manager position before the opening of the Hilton Auckland.

"Initially sales and marketing was scary because I hadn't done it before but my saving grace was that I knew the product so well. It was an interesting experience but it made me realise I was an operational person."

He never returned to university although he's done several hotel-based training programmes, including sales training and management.

Back in operations, Samuels' goal is to become a general manager who can walk the talk on most aspects of the hotel environment.

Now involved in hiring, he feels many young people with hospitality and tourism qualifications, but little or no customer service experience, are missing the people skills required. Many also have unrealistic expectations, he says, for no matter what the qualification, you have to work from the bottom up.

Kiwi Experience sales and marketing manager Felicity Witter lists a vibrant personality and strong people skills as paramount for success in the sector. "You need to be able to engage with people, network, build relationships. Degrees aren't essential. I'm the only one in the office with a degree."

However it was Witter's degree in Japanese that gave her her first taste of tourism - she worked as a guide for Japanese tourists while studying. On graduating she gravitated to tourism through a sales and marketing job with Fullers. Then a weekend trip with Kiwi Experience attracted her into a new area of tourism - the backpacker industry. She decided to become a Kiwi Experience bus driver for six months.

"This required three weeks' training. At the end I was told my commentary, people skills and New Zealand knowledge were great but my driving was terrible and they wouldn't give me a job."

Undeterred, Witter headed off to a private heavy vehicle driving school, re-sat the test and finally got a bus driver position. Six months stretched into three years. "It was wonderful. There was lots of outdoor time and fantastic people, experiences and activities," she says, adding the remuneration was also good because all living expenses were paid for when travelling.

She believes her driving experience played a big part in gaining her current role because she has working experience of the industry.

If you have a natural flair for service, enjoy food and wine and enjoy organising people, you are likely to do well in the industry," describes Accor Hotel New Zealand and Fiji regional Human Resources manager Graeme Ham. "Higher levels of learning may help you move up the ladder further down the track, but there are also tremendous opportunities for people to learn while working and advance into supervisory and management positions."

Hospitality Standards Institute chief executive Kevin Hanrahan says it is common to enter the industry without specific qualifications, often through a part-time position.

"This makes it a good career path for people that really don't want to spend anymore time in a classroom, because employers are happy to take someone on with little skill if they have the right personality. The majority of people will have worked their way up and some organisations, like Accor Hotel, have formal career pathways that link in with ITOs and NZQA qualifications."

The Accor training includes the Accor Hospitality Programme, an induction programme with credits towards a national certificate, a supervisory development programme and apprenticeships.

"Hospitality and tourism offer careers in which you don't need to start with a degree to succeed. There are opportunities to train while you work that will take you to management level," says Ham, adding there is also plenty of variety in roles and locations.

Samuels puts his success down to taking on the challenges of new roles and being prepared to work hard. "If you are open to trying new tasks and challenges and set goals, you'll never know what might happen."