SHATEC, the hotel and tourism school of the Singapore Hotel Association, turns 30 years old on July 2. The pioneer in hospitality training and education has produced many leaders who now helm the industry in the region and beyond. Here are five of them and their tips on how to make it to the top*

* Excerpts from SHATEC’s commemorative book, written by Raini Hamdi, which will be presented during SHATEC’s 30th anniversary dinner at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore on July 2, 2013

Arthur Kiong
CEO
Far East Hospitality, Singapore

How did you find your job calling and what does it take to rise to the top?
I never started out wanting to be in the hotel business. It’s an industry I stumbled into – the opportunity was there and I was available. I think life is very much like that even though I am quite the meticulous planner. However, as the adage goes: Man proposes but God disposes.

Many people say, “follow your dreams, do what you love”. I learnt to love what I do and as a result lived my dream.

What’s your mantra?
In everything, give thanks.

What’s your advice to young graduates?
Nobody owns your career but you. You must know your strengths and limitations. Work on your strengths and manage your limitations.

In the first few years, work for strong brands. It will teach you systems and expose you to good practices.
Architect your resume but be careful not to job hop, you need to stay a minimum of two years in a company to build credibility and capability.

Take on the challenging assignments. Work overseas. Volunteer to do the hard stuff that others are intimidated by.

Always look for the strengths in others and make their weaknesses irrelevant.

While climbing the ladder to career success, never kiss up and kick down. Relationships are important and what goes around, comes around.

Always perform a level up. Do more than you are paid and you will end up being paid more than what you do.

Success is proportionate to your ability to conceptualise, your conviction to persuade and your courage to execute. Master all 3Cs.

Always question the status quo and challenge yourself to find a better way to achieve the desired outcome.

Never make money your primary motivator. Find a better reason.

Nicholas Lim
President-Asia
The Travel Corporation, Singapore

How did you find your job calling and what does it take to rise to the top?
I was just 12 years old and worked as a door boy at a local five-star hotel over Christmas as the management felt it was nice to have young boys greeting guests during the festive season.

That vacation job kickstarted my passion for the industry. Once I tried to be an engineer, but it was dreadful. So I decided to jumpstart my career in the industry and studied at SHATEC. And when I returned to the industry, it felt good and right.

What’s your mantra?
Your people (team), brand and bottomline matter. Everything else is secondary.

What’s your advice to young graduates?
You must constantly have the desire to excel and grow. Leave your Facebook and Twitter at home, read business publications and expand your mind. You are hired based on what you can contribute to the organisation, not how popular or how many ‘likes’ or ‘friends’ you have.

Kellvin Ong
Project director,
South Beach Hotel & Club, Singapore

How did you find your job calling and what does it take to rise to the top?
After spending six years with the Republic of Singapore Navy, I was looking to pursue a new career and came across a Hyatt advertisement. When they asked me what position I was looking for, I immediately replied front office manager! I didn’t know what it took to be one.

They offered me a position of front desk clerk.

After working for nearly a year, the hotel sponsored me to join SHATEC as its pioneer batch, in NTC-2 in Front Office course. The course gave me better insights into what the industry had to offer. I worked my way up from entry level to tour coordinator, sales manager, regional sales manager, conventions & incentives sales manager, director of sales, director of marketing, financial controller, EAM – F&B and Rooms, VP – Development and finally general manager with various chains.

What’s your mantra?
“When given lemons, make lemonade. Life is all about challenges; it’s what you make them out to be.”

What’s your advice to young graduates?
Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.

Nikheel Advani
COO and principal
Grace Bay Resorts, Turks & Caicos Islands

How did you find your job calling and what does it take to rise to the top?
I was planning to be an engineer and at the age of 16 my father had a heart-to-heart conversation with me about the “value of money”, “how he was rich and I was not” and “I had to go out and earn my living”. He was generous though; he said I could stay at home and he would pay for any education that I qualified for anywhere in the world.

While I was studying engineering, I did private catering for European embassies and worked at luxury hotels as a banquet waiter, bartender and dishwasher in the stewarding departments. It was an amazing experience and I just loved it – serving Chinese banquet dinners, taking care of VIPs at the embassies, mixing cocktails at weddings and dishwashing till the wee hours of the morning with a diverse team. A year went by and I sat down with my folks and told them that I loved this work more than engineering and I wanted to pursue a professional career in this industry. They were both supportive and in July 1989, I joined the F&B programme at SHATEC. It changed my life and gave me the solid foundation to build upon and made me the leader I am today.

This foundation, hard work and great mentors were the secrets of my success.

What’s your mantra?
1.  Always have a vision – if you don’t know where you are going you are not going to get there;

2.  Work hard and work smart – you need both to get to the top;

3.  Always take time to praise your team members who give it their best shot – you will be surprised at the quantum leap in performance.

What’s your advice to young graduates?
Always have great mentors throughout your whole career. There are leaders who take a personal interest in your growth and provide guidance and wisdom through their years of experience. Here is what one of my mentors told me: In your 20s, it is all about experience. Volunteer and be proactive in getting any additional experience in the business that you can, even if it doesn’t pay well.

In your 30s, it is all about position. Grow within your department and be exposed to as many positions within the business in an upward accent within the organisation until you reach the top.

In your 40s, it is all about making money and achieving results through your team members.

In your 50s, it is time to give back to the community, to the industry, to your country and leave a legacy! So far this advice has been invaluable to my success!

Justin Quek
Director
QBS Dining Concepts and principal chef
Sky on 57, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

How did you find your job calling and what does it take to rise to the top?
My travels and curiosity about the world shaped my culinary path.

I grew up in the Queen’s Street/Bugis area, tending to my parent’s fruit stall and developing a love for and familiarity with local food. At the age of 20, I joined the merchant marine as a steward. I remembered being fascinated by how simple ingredients could be turned into gourmet meals. This fascination eventually became a passion and I started teaching myself to make everything I could think of – breads, pastries, classic dishes, etc, from the different countries we docked at.

After this little adventure, I enrolled at SHATEC and trained at Mandarin Oriental, Singapore and The Oriental Bangkok (now Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok). A cooking tour of France followed and I found myself working in famed kitchens like Roland Mazere’s Le Centenaire and at Jean Bardet in the Loire Valley, among others.

I ended off my year in France by training in England at the Roux brothers’ restaurants, Le Gavroche in London and Waterside Inn in Berkshire. This was when I also picked up the French language.

It was my insatiable hunger to learn new things and explore the unknown that finally led me back to Singapore to carve out the path to where I am now. In 1994, I co-founded Les Amis, a French restaurant, with my good friend Ignatius Chan, and stayed there for nearly a decade before opening my own restaurants in Taipei and Shanghai. Life has been good to me, especially since I’ve had little formal schooling after leaving school at the age of 16.

What’s your mantra?
Always work hard and never give up. Learn from the best and never take for granted any advice given to you. Better yourself through your mistakes.

What’s your advice to young graduates?
In addition to the good foundation you have built, you need to be open to criticism – this is how you learn the most. If you learn from the mistakes you make, it will make you a better person. Finally, go out and try other chefs’ cuisines. Learn from them because if you don’t, you won’t be able to improve and you won’t have a point of comparison between your cuisine and theirs.

Finland, Switzerland, Britain and Italy pour more resources on Asian source markets

Finland taps its Polar forces to woo Asians

Source: Finnish Tourist Board

Each winter, when the Arctic night skies light up with auroras – also known as northern lights – hordes of Japanese and Chinese tourists flock to Lapland in northern Finland to watch the spectacular phenomenon, shared Finnair’s media relations director, Paivyt Tallqvist.

Indeed, Japan has become the top Asian source market for Finland, which welcomed 176,936 Japanese tourists in 2012, a rise of 20 per cent from 2011, according to statistics from Finnish Tourist Board (MEK). Japanese visitors also chalked up the highest daily spend at 126 euros (US$168), a significant amount above the average expenditure of 59 euros per day for foreign travellers in 2012.

At the same time, China has rapidly emerged as a source market for this Nordic nation too. Last year, Chinese arrivals reached 100,075, up 8.7 per cent from 92,099 in 2011.
The rise of these two Far Eastern countries as visitor source markets has prompted MEK to reassess its previously Europe-centric marketing strategy.

Mervi Holmén, MEK’s director of nation brand and marketing, said: “We will not pull out from Europe as it is still very important for us in the future, but our marketing emphasis will be stronger in Russia, Japan and parts of China from the beginning of next year.”

Shanghai, Chongqing, Beijing and Hong Kong – also destinations that Finnair flies to – have been identified as MEK’s focal cities in Greater China. The NTO is “negotiating joint activities and marketing campaigns with Finnair”, according to Holmén; further details will be unveiled in September when the board finalises its marketing plans.

As the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, Finnair is a key player in attracting Asian travellers to the country and will work with the tourism authorities where its objectives are “aligned”, such as selling Lapland as a destination for the outbound segment in Japan, according to the airline’s senior vice president commercial, Allister Paterson.

He quipped: “Finland wants to bring people to Finland, whereas we want to bring people to Helsinki, then either have them stay in Finland or elsewhere in Europe. We’re just as happy if they land in Finland and leave again.”

Having rolled out an Asian-centric strategy with plans to double its revenue from Asia-Europe traffic by 2020 from a 2010 baseline, Finnair continues to leverage on the geographical location of its Helsinki base to tap growth opportunities in Asia-Europe traffic.

Earlier this month, Finnair began thrice-weekly flights to Xi’an and Hanoi, becoming the first European airline to connect these cities and bumping up its Asian destinations to 13. Xi’an is the airline’s fourth destination in China, following Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing.

Said Finnair deputy CEO, Ville Iho: “North Asia-North Europe is the sweet spot for Finnair. Going via Helsinki saves four hours on average, an important consideration for business travellers.”

Paterson agreed: “The Asia-centric approach works better for the Far East markets…The majority of our growth and revenue over the last couple of years has been from Asia.”

Second-tier cities in China are clearly on Finnair’s development radar, Paterson pointed out. “We’re the first ones into Chongqing and Xi’an from Europe as a non-stop (service). These cities are secondary markets but they are big – Chongqing has 30 million people.

“We are seeing good load factor on our Asian routes, although they are lower on developing markets like Chongqing and Xi’an…Not everyone knows the Polar route, so we need to teach geography (to the travel trade). There is a lot of growth left in Asia, which we plan to grow.”

However, further network expansion in Asia will be restricted until the airline starts to take delivery of its 11 Airbus A350 aircraft order in 2015, according to Iho. Finnair’s executives declined to reveal new destinations on the company’s radar.

In addition, Qatar Airways’ and SriLankan Airlines’ upcoming entry into Oneworld will
also spell opportunities for Finnair to extend its reach, said Paterson.

Meanwhile, MEK has no plans to ramp up its presence or marketing efforts in India or South-east Asia at the moment “due to limited resources”, Holmén revealed.

Sunny Asian market for Switzerland

Source: Kurt Rufli

Switzerland Tourism expects five to 10 per cent additional visitors from Singapore and Australia as a result of Swiss International Air Lines’ (SWISS) direct daily Singapore-Zurich service, which took off on May 13.

The NTO has set aside “a special budget” to promote Switzerland in both markets, according to Switzerland Tourism’s executive vice president, Urs Eberhard.

“We have seen time and again that every direct connection into our country brings five to 10 per cent additional visitors,” Eberhard said.

Arved von zur Muhlen, SWISS’ head of sales & marketing-Intercontinental, noticed “a shift” in Australian visitors using Hong Kong as gateway to Europe, to Singapore, as a result of the Singapore-Zurich service. “Now that we have started this service, our customers from Australia who flew Australia-Hong Kong-Europe are now flying Australia-Singapore-Europe. It may balance out over time, but this is what we’re seeing now. This is not an issue, as it means we have more seats for our Hong Kong customers,” he said.

Australia is a growth market for Switzerland, as is the whole South-east Asian region.
“The direct Singapore-Zurich service is an important trigger. If you fly to London, Paris or Rome (to tour Europe), you might or might not visit Switzerland, but if you fly to Zurich, you are likely to spend some time in the country before going on, adding overnights for us,” Eberhard said. Zurich, along with Luzern and Geneva, is the most popular destination among South-east Asian visitors, he added.

South-east Asia, which Eberhard said had been “a success story for us from 2008 to 2012”, is on track to contribute some 500,000 overnights in Switzerland by 2016, from 350,000 overnights now. “That’s a year-on-year increase of 10-20 per cent, depending on the South-east Asian market. Indonesia is hot on the heels of Thailand in growth, but Singapore remains by far the most important market, which was why we opened our office here in June last year.”

The average spend of South-east Asian visitors in Switzerland is around CHF350 (US$379) per day, which is 30 to 50 per cent higher than the average spend of Chinese visitors, according to Eberhard.

His plan is to target more seasoned travellers from South-east Asia – as well as China – in a bid to improve yield.

Switzerland Tourism is working with agencies in South-east Asia and land operators in Switzerland to create new products and itineraries that go beyond Swiss icons such as the Jungfrau, Titlis, Lucern and Interlaken.

“We hear from the agencies that their discerning travellers want deeper experiences, so together with the agencies, we’re trying to create new icons in, say, the eastern parts of Switzerland, where there is a lot of century-old traditions and colourful festivals their clients can enjoy.

“It’s a mix of us getting an education on what Asians want and us giving new ideas to the travel agencies. We are coming up with seven to eight new itineraries which we hope can be in the programme in 2014,” Eberhard said.

Switzerland Tourism has given the Asian market a lot more focus since 2008, when the impact of the US and European debt-crisis started to bite its visitorship from traditional markets.

Eberhard said in the end Swiss travellers themselves saved the day. ‘We were extremely afraid that the strong Swiss franc would cause Swiss travellers to abandon Switzerland and holiday in Italy, France, etc. But the domestic market has been stable – if it had left us, that would have been a problem. The domestic market is 33 to 34 per cent of the total market.

“This attests to the quality and value they get in a Switzerland holiday, which visitors from Australia and South-east Asia recognise as well,” he said.

Britain trains sights on China, India

Source: VisitBritain

VisitBritain, the national tourism agency of the UK, will focus on growing emerging outbound markets such as China, India and the Middle East as a key strategy to reach its target of 40 million tourist arrivals and an expenditure of £31.5 billion (US$42 billion) by 2020.

The Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) market is expected to account for two million of the targeted nine million visitor arrival increase to Britain by 2020, contributing £1.9 billion of the anticipated £12.8 billion rise in inbound tourism spending.

While the US and Australia remain core visitor source markets for Britain, VisitBritain is increasingly looking east for long-term sustainable growth, said its director of overseas networks Keith Beecham.

“About 179,000 Chinese travelled to Britain last year, compared with one million from Australia, our fourth biggest value market,” said Beecham, who deemed China an important market despite its “relatively modest travel number”.

“We are also looking at emerging opportunities where arrivals are growing 10 to 30 per cent per annum and are generally high-spending visitors.”

Some 339,000 Indians visited Britain last year and VisitBritain aims to raise the figure to 500,000 by 2020. It is also targeting 382,000 Chinese arrivals in 2016, up from 179,000 last year.

To tap growth from these focus markets, the NTO and its partners have implemented a series of initiatives that go beyond its global GREAT Britain – You’re Invited marketing campaign.

In China, VisitBritain has injected an additional £2 million this financial year, a move that follows the recent appointment of a dedicated travel trade representative in Beijing by London & Partners, the capital’s tourism promotion agency.

In addition, VisitBritain will soon launch a China Welcome initiative to educate the British travel trade on the specific requirements and preferences of Chinese visitors, said Joss Croft, marketing director, VisitBritain.

Flight capacity between the two countries will also be expanded when British Airways starts its thrice-weekly service between London (Heathrow) and Chengdu via Shanghai on September 22.

Furthermore, the recent £2 million, two-year Britain, A Tradition of Luxury joint marketing campaign launched by VisitBritain and Emirates to target affluent international travellers between 35-55 years old is set to play a significant role in India, whose outbound segment is generally younger and more adventurous than China.

Promoting destinations outside of London, which are visited by 53 per cent of all arrivals to Britain, is another key strategy of VisitBritain to garner more international footfalls.

While VisitBritain will not launch major promotions in South-east Asia due to budget constraints, it has identified key “nurture” markets such as Indonesia (see TTG Asia e-Daily, May 15, 2013).

As well, the BritAgent programme  will continue to play an essential role in educating travel experts, said Croft. Over 3,170 of 5,150 agents are based in APMEA, with China and India accounting for about 1,900.

Italy charms Asian shoppers

Source: Hannah Koh

The third most visited country in Europe with 17.3 per cent of the continent’s total arrivals after Spain (23.2 per cent) and France (26 per cent), Italy has shifted its focus to the fast-growing BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations as well as Japan.

According to Confcommercio data, Italy’s inbound tourism revenue peaked at 36 billion euros (US$48 billion) and 47.4 million inbound tourist arrivals in 2012. The most visited regions by international tourists are Venice, Tuscany, Rome and Emilia-Romagna.

“Indian tourists to Italy have grown 94 per cent in the last five years” said Marco Bruschini, director-general of Italian State Tourist Board (ENIT). “Some 467,000 Indians travelled to Italy in 2012, up from 191,000 in 2007.”

Having just reopened its Mumbai office in May 2013 after a year-long absence, ENIT will establish the Italia Academy for the Indian travel trade in 3Q2013 and will bank on Italy’s popularity as a setting for Indian films.

“Asia is emerging quickly as a prime source market…The Italian travel trade is gearing for the market shift from traditional sources like the US and Germany and reorienting itself to India and China,” said Beatrice Steffanelli, incoming & events consultant of Bologna-based Viaggi Salvadori, which has designed shopping and gastronomy tours to capture a larger slice of the Asian inbound market.

As Chinese, Japanese and Russian tourists form a large segment of its clientele, Castel Guelfo The Style Outlets has rolled out Asian-centric initiatives, said marketing specialist Margherita Macchia. “We are targeting India and China, as brands that are currently being advertised and retailed in these countries add outlets in our malls. Personal shoppers trained in Asian tastes and preferences are employed to help them shop (at our outlets).”

The perception of Italy as a luxury shopping destination will lure more visitors from China, travel experts opined. Chinese arrivals to Italy are expected to grow by more than 15 per cent each year from 2012-2016, according to the World Travel Market Global Trends Report  2012.

Wang Chenchen, European operations executive of Beijing-based U-tour, remarked: “Italy will be big in the next five years for Chinese outbound. We have seen more than 30 per cent growth year-on-year.”

However, direct flight connections between Italy and China remain limited, with most links currently served by Air China and China Eastern Airlines.

Samuel Wong, managing director of Hong Kong-based Jetway Express, said: “More direct flights (from China) to Rome and Milan will improve numbers by at least 20 per cent. However, since China is a large country, flights will have to originate from several source cities other than Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to realise the true potential from this market.”

ENIT’s efforts to woo Japanese tourists with more roadshows and trade fam trips have paid off, as Japan is Italy’s second largest non-EU visitor source market. Said Izumi Sasamori, manager of Tokyo-based Athteion: “The exposure to Italian tourism products has helped us to promote Italy well and the number of tourists to Italy is growing at least 15 per cent annually. Gastronomy is a binder as we pride ourselves on our cuisine too.”

Additional reporting from Raini Hamdi, Greg Lowe and Shekhar Niyogi