Andrew Wood: The Height of Hospitality

Steve Thompson catches up with Andrew Wood, who not only serves as general manager of the Chao Phya Hotel on Rathcadapisek Road, but also contributes greatly to the well-being of Thai tourism and hospitality as president of SKAL International, Bangkok.

Originally published in 2009 by ThaiAsiaToday.com
Steve Thompson (ST): Firstly, I'd like to ask you, what advice would you give to someone considering a career in the tourism and hospitality sector?
Andrew Wood (AW): My advice to anyone entering the hospitality industry, whether that's the accommodation sector or the travel sector, is that it is largely about serving customers, so, if you like people, you can really find a fantastic career in this industry.
Ive been involved since I was 13 and Ive had a fantastic life in travel and tourism. It has all been in the hotel business every day of my (working) life has been in hotels. Im very happy I think I have a reasonably good lifestyle. I enjoy coming to work every day, and its been interesting to see the highs and lows of Thailand over the past 18 years.
Advice? Yes, embrace it come in with your eyes open. Its hard work, you have to earn your stripes you work from the bottom up, theres no silver spoon.
ST: Can you share any personal insights with our readers?

AW: I always remember the first day at university (in Edinburgh, Scotland) we were all enrolled in a degree course on hotel and catering management and the lecturer said, after you finish [your four-year degree program], what job will you want and expect to have and what salary?

Some of my fellow students who had never experienced the industry would say 'I want to be a general manager earning 50,000 pounds [2.5 million baht]!'.
I'd been involved since I was 13, as my family had friends in the hotel business in the Lake District and I used to go and help during my school holidays. Anyway, it came to my turn and I said, I'd like to be a junior manager in a five-star hotel in London.

That was my answer and I think my advice is if you come into this industry, you've got to be prepared to work and if you like people, that's great, but if you don't like people, and you're not service minded, then maybe this industry's not for you. You have to like people, you have to like providing service. And if you find that in any way uncomfortable, then maybe you should look at other specialized areas.

ST: Could you explain a bit more about those options?

AW: Well, the good thing about a hotel is that it's almost like a 'laboratory of life'. A hotel has engineers, it has chefs, sales and marketing, public relations, EDP (Electronic Data Processing), IT, management, human resources, security, and gardens so a hotel is almost like a mini world. So even if someone enters into the industry in food and beverage, which is very service oriented, there are other specialist areas you can move into.

Travel and tourism is here to stay, it's an industry that will never go away. It changes in the way that fashions change. From large hotels to small boutique hotels, three star to five star, to resorts to upcountry properties, from DIY team-building kind of holidays to fully pampered first class service all the way. From hotels, to resorts to jungles, so there's a lot in it and I thoroughly enjoy working in it.

ST: Is Thailand a good place to train in this field or for someone in hotels, tourism and hospitality to develop their careers?

AW: I think in terms of training, it's probably better to do it in your home country, since you have a lot to deal with. And if you deal with moving home, leaving your parents and living in a foreign country, as well as trying to learn a skill, and study it's hard. Unless you can maybe take it in small bites. I always recommend that you go overseas for your first year(of your working life, following graduation) unless you've already got some experience of a country already.

ST: Can you mention any of the major institutions involved in training?

AW: Rangsit University, Mahidol University, and all the technical colleges are involved in hospitality training. The industry needs thousands of graduates in hospitality, and there aren't enough graduates coming out of further education to satisfy the demand for the growing hospitality industry in Thailand. Now of course we're currently undergoing somewhat of arecession or downturn, but, if you look at a five-year plan, something like 5-10,000 graduates are coming out of colleges of further education or hotel schools. With the universities, it's usually a four-year program culminating with a degree, whereas at the colleges it's usually a two-year course, coming out with a diploma. There are also a number of private institutions that are training hospitality students.

ST: And do you recruit from those institutions?
AW: Nobody is recruiting at the moment!

ST: But under normal circumstances?
AW: Well I think it's important to point out that the industry is undergoing a crisis, which is possibly the worst I've seen during my time (working) in Thailand (18 years).
I've lived through coups, through SARS, a currency crisis, but since the closure of the airport it actually started before (September 2008) when the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) first took on the government, which led to the closure of the airport, and that, coupled with the recession, and now we have to deal with swine flu, it is nasty for both employees and employers.
Many companies are facing cutbacks, not only in costs, but in personnel, so recruitment is not happening at the moment. It's very slow, so it's going to be a difficult graduation this year.

However, these things are always short-term and people often talk about things taking one year or two years to turn around, but in Thailand tourism seems to rebound after about six months. I'm certainly confident and expecting some improvements in terms of visitor arrivals.

So 'do I recruit' well, the answer is 'yes, normally'.
ST: Could you give our readers an idea of what might help address the current situation regarding winning back some credibility for the tourism sector?
AW: I think it's very important to point out that the key tourism organizations, including the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand), need to appoint heads since it's essential these bodies have strong leadership.

ST: Is there any chance that Thailand may be losing ground in terms of price competitiveness?
AW: The result of a recent poll, publicized on CNN, suggested that Thailand remains the best value tourism destination in the world. If you look athotel prices alone, that would be quite apparent. I was in Europe (London and Paris) recently and you would pay 300-400 euros (14,276-19,034 baht) for something you would pay only 100 euros for in Thailand (in three-star accommodation). The prices of rooms in (Thailands) four-star accommodation sector offer particularly incredible value. Even when compared with Hong Kong and Singapore, Thailand offers extremely good value.
ST: And what drives this keeps people coming back and what has driven Thailand's tourism sector over the fairly sustained period of strong growth?
AW: I think it's down to fundamentals. Thailand has been enormously successful and when you ask most people about their experiences in Thailand it generally invokes smiles and happy memories.
The fundamentals of Thailand's tourism are huge. The friendly, smiling people, the first class food, the world class hospitality, the facilities, hotels on the river, that have been voted the best in the world, hotels in town that constantly win awards for being the best in their particular category, 'grade A' destinations you can go from jungle walks, or to World Heritage sites in the central plains, you can come to the metropolis and enjoy fantastic shopping, fantastic experiences, the Grand Palace, nightlife, or head up to more tranquil national parks, or to the beach and resorts. When you look at Phang-na or Krabi or these kinds of places, they're just absolutely beautiful. So I think those fundamentals, and of course
the Thai people are always perhaps the biggest draw card so accommodating and so happy.
ST: Thank you very much indeed for sharing your time and opinions with us today.

AW: You're welcome.
For further information about the Chaophya Park Hotel, visit http://wwwchaophyapark.com.

For further information about SKAL Thailand and Young SKAL, visit http://www.skalthailand.org.

Striking a balance
I never feel comfortable if I'm not working, but you quickly realize that you need to develop an organization that can run effectively 'with or without you'. I still feel it's important to understand that. Some people understand it more than others, some people never leave the hotel, others may play golf too much!
Sport and leisure

I play tennis, maybe only once a week these days, although in the past I would try to play twice a week.
I enjoy investing in property and recently refurbished my apartment. That was a 14 month project, which ended in December 2008.

I enjoy exploring new restaurants. I like to dine out, and see what other people are doing in the food and beverage context.
I enjoy music and the theater.
I have a boat and am now 'Captain Andrew'. I've always enjoyed the sea I've always enjoyed sailing.