Articles by Martin Kelly

Simon joined Accor in 2005 as General Manager, Sofitel Reef Casino Cairns and was later appointed Regional General Manager, overseeing all hotel operations in Northern Australia and Western Australia in addition to his role at the Sofitel.

Simon’s career has allowed him to work in Thailand, Malaysia, Hamilton Island, Ayers Rock, Gold Coast, Cairns and Sydney. Resorts feature as a key element of Simon’s background; having worked at Ayers Rock Resort and Hamilton Island Resort in Executive roles.

In December 2006 Simon McGrath was appointed to the position of Vice President Australia responsible for all Accor’s Australian hotels and in March 2012 Simon was promoted to the role of Chief Executive Officer for Accor Australia.

Simon currently sits on a number of Boards including Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre (SCEC), and Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF). Simon is a Director of AAPC, AVC and Reef Casino Trust.

Bob East commenced with Mantra Group in 2006 and has held the position of Chief Executive Officer since 2007.

Since his appointment, Bob has been responsible for the strengthening of the Mantra Group brands and has developed the group into one of the most impressive accommodation providers and marketers in Australasia.

Bob’s enthusiastic leadership style and vision has seen Mantra Group grow from 50 properties in 2006 to more than 100 properties in 2012.

With over 20 years in the industry, Bob is well positioned for Mantra Group’s future growth and aims to make Mantra Group the favourite provider of hotel, apartment and resort accommodation in Australia and New Zealand.

Bob holds an MBA and sits on a variety of boards including the Gold Coast Tourism Board, Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF), the Gold Coast Football Club (AFL) and the Bond University Advisory Board for Tourism.

With more than 35 years in accommodation and hospitality, Quest chairman and CEO Paul Constantinou is a respected industry leader.

Paul founded Quest in 1988 and has built the business to be the largest serviced apartment group in Australasia. Today, Quest has more than 140 properties operating throughout Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

After gaining a scholarship at Footscray institute, Paul completed a four year diploma course in Catering and Hotel Management which equipped him with the right skills to operate effectively within the industry.

When he completed his studies, Paul and his wife managed a number of motels throughout Victoria and also spent some time as an assistant accountant with the Commodore Group.

Together with his father, Paul then purchased a hotel in Collingwood and after selling it purchased a restaurant business in Melbourne’s CBD.

By the mid 1980’s, and the age of 30, Paul had an extensive background in owning and operating accommodation and food and beverage businesses.

He then conducted a thorough review of the accommodation industry and came to the realisation that it was failing to meet the needs of extended-stay business travellers. This proved to be the catalyst for Quest Serviced Apartments.

Paul realised that to gain market share in the competitive accommodation sector his business model needed to be innovative. He achieved this by developing a unique franchise model, targeting and understanding a niche market and setting aggressive growth targets.

After gaining buy-in from key relationships an financiers, Paul opened “Quest Royal Gardens” in Melbourne in 1988.

Initially competing against established hotels and motels, Paul’s strong and long lasting relationships with Quest’s stakeholders and staying true to the principles on which he founded the business has meant that the Australian serviced apartment industry has emerged as an industry in its own right.

Being a 100% franchise group, Quest has set the benchmark for both the franchising and hospitality industries in Australia with some notable awards including:

• Customer Service Institute of Australia – Australian Service Excellence Award – National Customer Focused Franchise Award (2010)
• Australia and New Zealand Pacific Hotel Investment Conference – Brand of the Year (2009)
• PricewaterhouseCoopers Excellence in Franchising – Service Franchisor of the Year (2007)

Personally, Paul has received a number of awards including:

• The Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Excellence Award (2011)
• Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association of Australia – Excellence Awards – Attitude, Commitment, Enthusiasm and Service (2010)
• Ernst & Young, Australian Entrepreneur of the Year – Services (2009)
• Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association of Australia – Chairman’s Award (2005)

One of the benefits of growing the Quest business are the employment opportunities created, particularly in key regional areas where some expansion has occurred in recent years.

These employment opportunities arise both during construction of the purpose-built property and afterwards with franchisees employing, on average, 12 to 15 local staff at each location.

Some of these staff eventually become franchisees, and Paul’s greatest satisfaction comes from helping them to realise their dreams and ambitions.

Under Paul’s leadership and commitment to family values, Quest and its franchisees contribute to the wider community in a number of ways.

Under the banner ‘Quest for a Cause’, Quest has selected to work with the charity MS Australia to promote awareness of the disease, the charity and the fund-raising activities and events that it hosts. In addition, Quest and its franchisees contribute to and support each local community that Quest operates in.

Paul attributes many of the inherent values evident in Quest’s culture to what he learnt from his father. The key value of relationships, alignment, respect and understanding and personal best ensure that all stakeholders associated with the Quest brand benefit from its continued success.

Paul has continued to maintain his ties with the Footscray Institute, now Victoria University, with the Quest Group providing over the last six years 12 month Co-Operative placements to students. Many often remain with the Quest group once they have graduated.

In broadening his experience outside of the accommodation industry, Paul has been on the board of directors of a Melbourne based bank, Transcomm Credit Union since March 2010.

Having studied at the University level in five different countries, including a Masters in International Tourism Strategy, Bryon has a strong understanding of the global tourism marketplace.

For the past three years he has been the Sydney based sales manager for STR Global, which tracks hotel performance on a daily basis for over 38,000 hotels globally.

Within Australia and New Zealand, Bryon oversees the measurement of 900 accommodation properties and pursues further expansion.

This comprehensive data is used and trusted by all leading hotel companies, as well as by most consultants and development firms.

In his spare time he co-organizes the socially popular Hotels After Hours Networking Events, ensuring he stays well connected with the industry.

Nikolai Pitchforth developed a passion for the web while studying in California during the first dotcom boom. Since then he has helped a wide variety of online and offline businesses navigate the digital world.

For the last four years Nikolai has worked at Google, focusing on the travel industry. As Google’s Industry Head for Online Travel he leads a team that partners with many of Australia’s largest OTAs and other online travel businesses to help them connect with their customers on the web.

Before moving to Sydney, Nikolai worked in the Strategic Planning Unit of News International in London. His focus there was on digital brand strategy, monetisation and analytics for several brands including The Times and The Sun. Earlier employers included NOP New Media in London and Frost & Sullivan in San Jose.

When he’s not surfing the web Nikolai spends his spare time traveling and punishing himself by running ultramarathons. His favourite Australian accommodation is Crocodylus in the Daintree.

Leah Lipman has been working in the hotel industry for 20 years; building a successful and diverse career with IHG Australasia.

Leah is a specialist in Revenue Management and is a pioneer in the way Revenue Management works in IHG.  Her success stretches across many facets of the business, including the successful implementation of revenue management clustering across Australasia and IHG’s first revenue management clusters in Greater China.

As Director of Revenue Management, Australasia since May 2009, Leah’s key responsibilities are in overseeing the performance and development of her team; to be the key conduit for global revenue management and systems deliverables and to provide functional support and strategic direction to regional and subregional colleagues.

She worked on the development and implementation of RGI Strategic Planning into IHG globally and currently Leah is overseeing the pilot of global initiatives such as Strategic Business Revenue Planning and Predictive Demand Intelligence.  Locally, the team preparing for implementation of next generation planning tools in 2012 and is focussed on Profitable Revenue Management.

Awarded IHG’s Multi Unit Revenue Individual in 2008; Leah is now a successful coach in the business and has closely worked others with their professional and personal development; whom have then gone onto to winning the award in recent years.

For Leah, one of the greatest things about working for IHG is the people culture and passion to be the absolute best.  “Revenue Management sits at the junction of these two important aspects, providing me and my team with many opportunities to try new things, challenge conventional thinking and strive for the out-performance of our business… both locally and globally.”

Anton Stanish is currently General Manager of Travel within the Marketplaces division, leading the team behind the Stayz, Rentahome and TakeABreak businesses. He first joined Fairfax Digital in 2006, and has enjoyed stints in Strategy and Product Development in both the Media and Transactions divisions. Highlights include the start-up of BrisbaneTimes and BusinessDay websites, and the acquisition of InvestSmart.

Prior to joining Fairfax Media, Anton’s career spanned corporate development, product development and consulting roles in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia, including time at Hoyts Cinemas and Fletcher Challenge. He holds a Civil Engineering degree and completed an MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management and London Business School.

Anton is passionate about the holiday rental industry and looks forward to further establishing this sector as a key component of Australia’s broader tourism industry. He is also passionate about continuing to increase the popularity of holiday rentals, which offer consumers unique holiday options that provide space, privacy and value for money.

Outside of work, Anton hopes to be seen  relaxing on a golf course or watching New Zealand win another Rugby World Cup, but he is more likely to be running around after his pre-school aged children!

James Cassidy, General Manager of HomeAway Australia, has been with HomeAway 18 Months, helping to manage the acquisition and integration of Realholidays.com.au, which was acquired from realestate.com.au by HomeAway on April 1, 2011.

The HomeAway Australia Team manages the operations for HomeAway in the Asia Pacific region, with particular focus on Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, India and China.

Prior to HomeAway, James worked both for Realestate.com.au managing the Realholidays.com.au business, and for Fairfax managing their Stayz.com.au business. James has a BSc and MBA from University of Melbourne and Melbourne Business School.

William Hunter Deague is the Chief Executive Officer of Asian Pacific Group (APG), the parent company of Australia’s hottest hotel group – Art Series Hotel Group.

Educated at Melbourne Grammar, Will holds a Domestic Builders Licence (unlimited) and a private fixed wing and helicopter licence. Joining APBC in 1996, Will worked on a range of projects before being appointed as CEO in 2008.

His first major project as CEO was to organise and oversee the refurbishment of the former PANCH hospital in Preston into what is now known as Bell City, a very successful project for the company.

In 2001 the Deague’s sponsored a project to create excitement around landscape painting in Australia titled William Creek and Beyond.

Will and ten of Australia’s greatest artists including John Olsen went on an exploration to central Australia to create a series of artworks that received critical acclaim.

It was on this trip, that the idea for the Art Series Hotels was born.

In 2009 Will made this vision a reality taking charge of the $500 million Art Series Hotel Group project. In October 2009, The Cullen opened on Commercial Road, Prahran and has already received two international accolades including a listing on the Conde Nast Traveler Hot List for 2010 and a nomination for Australasia’s Leading New Hotel at the 2010 World Travel Awards.

The Olsen Hotel opened in March 2010, the flagship of the group including 14 floors, glass-bottomed swimming pool, two restaurants and day spa. Rounding out the group, The Blackman opened in Melbourne in August 2010.

A commitment to implementing eco-conscious initiatives within the Art Series Group has seen Will purchase eco-friendly SMART cars and bicycles for guests to hire.

Energy efficient globes and equipment replacements, building control upgrades, drought-resistant gardens and rainwater tanks at selected sites are all a part of the group’s efforts to be conscious of the environment.

Over the next twelve months the main focus will be on project design and optimisation in sourcing energy-efficient solutions.

Aged 34, Will is currently the president of the St Kilda Road Precinct Committee, a role that requires him to chair meetings and lobby sponsorships and funding for future projects.

To build on his already diverse skill set for his varied roles, Will has recently completed the OPM Course at Harvard for CEO’s.

Will Deague is the eldest of four siblings Anthony, Jonathan and Camilla Deague. In February 2007 Will married Natalie Brownlee and they have two children Hugo and Sibella Deague.

Will enjoys membership to the following clubs; South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club, Victoria Racing Club, Melbourne Cricket Club, The National Golf Club, and the Sorrento Golf Club.

As Global Vice President of Sales, Julio Bruno oversees the TripAdvisor for Business division's worldwide sales and advertising operations, including TripAdvisor Business Listings.

Bruno comes to TripAdvisor from Travelport, where he headed sales for Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, with a special remit to reintroduce Travelport in Latin America and launch the company in several new countries.

He has also held executive positions at Cendant/Travelport B2B as Managing Director for Europe and South America; Regus plc, Diageo plc and Energizer Corp.

With a rich international business career covering diverse sectors, Bruno has successfully managed multinational companies, and more specifically, their expansion plans and investment strategies worldwide.

Bruno holds a master's degree in International Business from the University of London, Birkbeck College, and a post-graduate certificate on leadership from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania.

An Information Technology professional with 15 years experience in the marketing services industry, Dave has worked with clients all over the world to help them to understand, develop and implement successful multi-channel marketing solutions.

Dave now runs the Asia Pacific consulting practice and research team for Experian; a global information solutions provider.

Relocating to Melbourne Australia last year, Dave brings a global perspective on digital marketing and industry trends to this region.

Daniel Bridges is Head of Travel for Trade Me, where he has been for the last 3 years running the Travelbug website and more recently the BookIt booking engine and associated operator and reseller networks and the Holiday Houses website.

Prior to Trade Me, Daniel worked in the wine industry for 5 years running the Lower North Island for Villa Maria Estate.

In other earlier lives, he was a travel agent, a restaurant maitre’d, a budding chef, a shoe salesman and a theatresports performer.

Daniel lives in Wellington with his wife and two children and enjoys the occasional boutique beer, a nice cold ginger beer and a decent flat white.