Canberra’s East Hotel, General Manager, Todd Handy works at keeping everyone happy. He recently caught up with Travel Monitor to discuss his role, why he enjoys it and more in this week’s Talking Travel.
Read Travel Monitor’s Review of East HotelWatch Travel Monitor’s video of East Hotel
What does your job involve?
When people ask what my role is, I always respond with “keeping everyone happy”. My job is to ensure everyone: guests, employees, stakeholders, the hotel owners (my employers!), community engagement partners are all getting more than they expect! I have to plan, play, operate, defuse, strategize, have a good poker face and know how to talk through just about anything at a moment’s notice
What do you enjoy most about your profession?
To be a bit cliché – it’s the people and the world of engagement, challenges and excitement that makes the travel and hospitality industry different from any other. I like getting to know suppliers and wine makers and working together for solutions. Recruiting, training, motivating and being motivated every day by my team. We work with some amazing community partners that do amazing things for various segments of the community and it’s very inspiring to work together with these partners to deliver amazing outcomes together. The family I work for are always inspiring – pushing for the best and looking to keep things fresh and exciting – and pushing me to be my best. The guests of course, do very much the same – we establish relationships with our guests, and they push us and encourage us to do better. We always listen, track feedback and keep our finger on the pulse of what they need, and we use feedback to constantly improve. I think a lot of industries aren’t quite as dynamic as the tourism trade. It’s business, it’s psychology, it’s always different…and so much more!
What are the biggest challenges for you in your profession?
A very common challenge in this profession is that of human capital. To find motivated people who are passionate people who actually enjoy engaging, sharing and creating experiences with others and for others is always a challenge. Consumers are very picky with how they spend their money and so we have to work on creating much more than a transactional relationship with them. Even for quick overnight business guests, there is so much we can do to make their stay and their life better, so we need people who appreciate the value of relationships, attention to detail and pride in their work while working constructively in teams.
What do you think are the biggest challenges the industry faces?
There are many large challenges the industry faces. Take, for example, the challenge of human capital I mentioned above. Our wage rates are very high and always increasing in Australia and unfortunately, we generally cannot increase our prices at the same rate as our expenses are increasing. People are a vital part of making our industry work and always will be. And for accommodation providers where the experiential component is so large, this is an ever-increasing issue. However, combine this with the larger global issue of what I’ll refer to as a very large stock of boring old hotels and hotel procedures not keeping up with the times and the rise of consumer reliability on services such as Air BNB, Uber and the like, and we start to have real problems with the sustainability of our sector. I’m all for a good shake-up, the general accommodation industry needs it, but the “traditional” model has to morph and become smarter and fresher. Greater investment and effort must be made for the traditional model to prove it’s worth and value proposition to the travelling public. In a nutshell…
What do you think will be the biggest game changer in the travel industry in the next 12 months’?
I think an ongoing game changer in our industry is time. The time people have to do business, take time off, spend time with family and friends. The pressures of wanting/needing more valuable time in your desired location, will mean that travellers will look for providers who have a reputation for efficiency and excellence of execution. Every step along the way should be as seamless as possible from transfers to transport, accommodation, food and beverage service and tours. In all aspects of the industry, we need to ensure we have our game down, be clear on our value proposition and over-deliver on what we promise.
Who inspires you most and why?
I cannot pick one person – I am inspired daily by people in life. With our partnership with the Canberra Hospital Foundation, I am regularly inspired by the general, and generally anonymous, public who donate the most thoughtful things to people experiencing hardship and trauma in hospital. People like this warm my soul and give me hope for society. Professionally, I am also regularly inspired by people every day. People I work with today and I still drive on inspiration that lives within me from a few amazing people I worked with/for about 20 years ago. Leaders who are driven, relentless in the greater journey, passionate in their role and know their stuff. I always try to find the positive in people and situations, but I consider myself lucky.
Who would you invite on your next holiday if you could choose anyone and where would you go?
My family. I don’t get to spend enough time with them, and I love spending time with my girls, watching them grow up. We’ve just come back from an amazing time in South Africa which was an incredible experience. But if we’re looking to the future, I’d love to go with them to Japan – so much to experience together.
