Graduate Profiles: It's true what they say

Queenstown resort College gave me the opportunity to get my teeth sunk into the hospitality Industry and stand out above my co workers. They gave me the opportunity to discover myself, make new friends, and live in a new place and to explore

At the moment, I am living and working in Whistler, Canada, the home of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I’m working at the Hilton Whistler resort and Spa as a Reservations Agent. During the Olympics we had to manage blocks of reservations which was more challenging and demanding than working in reservations on a normal basis. During the Olympics I also volunteered to be a part of the Cultural Olympiad at a show called NiX which was a theatre production of fire and ice.

Prior to moving here, I was in London working at Sofitel London Heathrow as a Front desk Agent. This Sofitel has 605 rooms and being an airport hotel, was very transient with a multitude of different cultures and different guests, business, leisure, groups etc.

I have been working at Raffles Hotel Singapore for over a year now and the experience has and is great. I work with many great people from all around the world and am still learning new things every day, new skills, increasing my learning and my knowledge.  The most important experience to me is when the guest leaves the hotel with a happy and smiling face because you then know that you are the one who gave them the "best first impression and the wow factor."

 As we say here in Raffles - Arrive as friends, Leave as residents, Return as family

Where else to study Adventure Tourism than the Adventure Tourism Capital of the World!, Destination Queenstown had kept me inquisitive for a very long time with its super strong branding I would read about Queenstown in local newspapers in Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore wherever I traveled. Then I heard about QRC's course, it was BANG on what I wanted to learn about! To get a diploma in Adventure Tourism Management from the town that has over 200 adventure tourism operators gives you a bag-load of insight into the industry.

I now run my own adventure travel & sport co. in India with a really nice team. The diploma has helped me learn and create a foolproof (well almost ;-) business plan and given me the required skills (and brushed up some rusty old ones) to create, run and manage Quest Adventures Asia.

After I finished QRC I continued working at the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown which I was working at casually whilst studying and I worked in the Food and beverage department. Working in the a la carte restaurant, conferencing (setting up, service, preparation), the bar and room service.

I did this for about 6 months and then I decided to move up to Auckland, travelled for awhile and now I am working at the Q Restaurant which is part of the Westin Hotel Auckland. My position is events coordinator and hostess, I have been working at Q Restaurant for over 18 months and I am loving it.

My day to day is setting up the breakfast buffet, hosting, waiting tables, managing the events for the restaurant which includes: liaising with my manager, clients, kitchen and restaurant.

QRC helped me improve my customer service skills, F&B skills and being confident in myself. QRC also helped with starting my career, with inspiring lecturers and internship opportunities. When you get into the work place - people say "you don't need qualifications for hospitality", this is 100% incorrect. Without my Diploma from QRC, I would not have learnt about Sales and Marketing, Events, Management roles and accounting. If I did not learn those - I would not be on the career path I am on now.

I have now been an Event Coordinator for 3 months and I have got four school groups, one inbound group, 10 Conferences, 11 weddings and two Christmas parties – let’s just say, I was thrown in the deep end. The role of Event Coordinator involves organising the events, liaising back and forth with organisers, meetings, administration, contracts, accounting, sales, negotiations, communicating with all levels of staff and event orders (agenda). I have learnt so much and so quickly.

After I graduated I decided to come back to the company I did my internship with for another summer season. I am now Trip Leader taking the responsibility for all the aspects of the trip. The logistics of the trip, making all the risk management calls and making sure we deliver a great product. Now during the winter season 2010 I am working on Kiwi Discovery arranging the transports up the ski fields and selling all the adventure products in town. It’s a good opportunity to check out the ins and outs of the face to face duties with the customers every day. After the winter I am planning to start chasing the summers again.

After graduating I worked at Real journeys full time from July through to Feb. 09, doing the same duties and also staff training. I also worked as a Food and Beverage attendant at Walter peak occasionally.

In August 09 started with Explore NZ as Sales and Reservations Consultant.

I believe that by studying and graduating from the college has given me an advantage, as the college has numerous amounts of contacts within the industry as they have helped me succeed with both of my jobs in the tourism industry.

We have a full staff of 42 personnel, my role as a manager is to help each one of these 42 people perform their duties as efficiently as possible through logistical planning (resupply trips) training, service quality control, safety, problem solving, and maintenance of the vehicle and boat fleet.

The most important part of my role is multi tasking and keeping calm under sometimes stressful conditions. The manager does not run a camp on his own-its the staff who ultimately get the job done. We have a great team and I'm grateful for their support and guidance from my superiors who have been in the industry a lot longer than I have. I'm learning more and more by the day.