TOURISM BUSINESS MAGAZINE – April/May Edition

“To be professional, act professional”

The new chief executive of ITOC is on a mission. She wants to raise the levels of professionalism in the tourism industry and have the industry valued by every New Zealander. For the past 30 years she has been involved in tourism and says the standard of professionalism has declined despite all the market intelligence, evolvement of technology and education and training that is available. Her comment is not a swipe at industry colleagues but highlights the changing attitudes of society, ourselves and prospective employees. The easy entry and transient nature of the tourism industry has been its own worst enemy and we have fallen into the trap of thinking tourism is not seen as a ‘profession’ or an active career path.

Lesley started in the tourism industry as an enthusiastic seventeen year old at THC Milford Sounds working as a housemaid. She fell in love with the ‘people industry’ and recognised tourism wasn’t about being a definition, but helping people enjoy spending their money and being the best employee you could be. This philosophy of being the best tourism ‘professional’ has led to a rewarding career of working at many of New Zealand’s top destinations, starting an inbound tour operation (NZ Educational Tours) and developing tourism education programmes. Lesley says we need to stop highlighting that because there doesn’t seem to be a clear career path in tourism, that it is a negative. Yes, to start in tourism and hospitality you don’t need to be qualified but you can teach anyone a skill – changing an attitude is a lot harder. Most employers across all industries will state that the number one requirement in a prospective employee is a good attitude. Working in tourism requires a professional attitude to be successful and it is commendable now that workplace training and the education sector is providing the pathway for qualifications to balance practical application.

Of her role working with the Inbound Tour Operators Council, Lesley’s main goal is to remind the industry that despite the advent of e-technology and booking direct with product suppliers, working with an inbound operator is the vital link in the distribution chain that provides ‘security’ in good times and in times of adversity. The recent Christchurch earthquake was a great example of the inbound operators network and tireless efforts they went to in locating their clients.

To paraphrase Dale Carnegie’s “to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic”, if we want to be taken professionally, we need to treat ourselves as professionals – as people and as an industry. I look forward to meeting with all sectors of the industry during the year.