What do you do?
I manage and operate hotels across the Cape, in the northern parts of South Africa and into Africa in the safari space. I am involved in tourism. Fedhasa is one of the key hospitality business representation councils, and we participate with the provincial and national government, as well as national tourism bodies. The President Hotel is one of Africa's largest independent hotels and is a major player in the Cape and South African tourism sector.
What do you love most about your work?
I love people-centric work, which is a common thread across hospitality. It's all about nurturing relationships with team, clients, contacts and networks.
What part of it would you rather not do?
This is a difficult question to answer when the past 18 months have been anything but "business as usual". It has been an incredibly challenging time for all industries, and our hospitality industry has particularly suffered with the lack of both international and local tourism. I am, however, a firm believer in adversity breeding resilience. Right now, we are focused on trying to find innovative and safe ways to get more guests into our hotels, so I suppose I would say that I would prefer to have plenty of tourists again and not have to be resilient, yet I know how much we are growing, strengthening and collectively learning through these challenging times.
What is the best career advice you have ever received?
I have three pieces of great career advice from various mentors in my career.
The first is that in life you have peaks and troughs. Enjoy the ups and be persistent and persevere through the downs. You never know what's around the corner, and it's all about showing grit in those valleys.
The second piece is to interrogate everything, whether that means spreadsheets or personal scenarios, drill down and try to understand everything that you need to before making a decision.
The third is to take time to establish what is meaningful. We have to make so many rapid decisions daily and get so preoccupied, but it is critical to determine what are the key decisions and make important moves that will give the most meaning to your life.
What is the biggest issue facing the hospitality industry?
[Covid meant] 2020 and 2021 have probably been two of the worst years for the hospitality industry in the past few generations.
Recently, the looting and civil unrest have caused even more uncertainty for the hospitality industry.
At the same time, I am hugely optimistic about the comeback of hospitality.
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