Who’s the new boss? Asia Pacific tourism industry association seeks leader

A long-estab­lished Asia Pacific region­al travel & tour­ism industry asso­ci­ation com­pris­ing pub­lic and private sec­tor mem­bers is seek­ing a new exec­ut­ive leader. 

What spe­cif­ic pri­or­it­ies and com­pet­en­cies should the ideal can­did­ate have?

Your cor­res­pond­ent put this (hypo­thet­ic­al?) scen­ario and ques­tion to “GT’s” diverse net­work of travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers — “GT” Insight authors, “GT” Part­ners, and their invit­ees — and reques­ted writ­ten responses of no more than 300 words. 

Thanks to those who chose to par­ti­cip­ate. Their answers appear in the order received. 

Click/touch a name to go to their answer:

• Peter Richards — Prag­mat­ic pri­or­it­ies: People, plan­et, pocket
• Saverio Francesco Ber­to­lu­cci — ‘Strength, trans­par­ency, and audacity’
• Wolfgang Georg Arlt — Pri­or­it­ise mem­ber­ship, China, and visibility
• Steve Noakes — ‘Have a tender heart and a tough hide’
• Zohreh Khos­ravi — Advocacy foun­ded on know­ledge and teamwork

What AI ‘thinks’:

• Chat­G­PT — Under­stand­ing, lead­er­ship, com­mit­ment, and drive
• Bard — Lead­er­ship, com­mu­nic­a­tion, plan­ning, col­lab­or­a­tion, etc …

More import­antly:

• What do you think?

Pre­vi­ous “GT” Insight Bites:

• ‘The hos­pit­al­ity industry offers a great career.’ Really?
• Cruise ships: Bless­ing or blight?
• Tour­ist vs trav­el­ler: What’s the difference?
• The heads of fin­ance, oper­a­tions, and PR walk into their boss’s office … 
• Yes, Tour­ism Minister
• What are tourism’s biggest chal­lenges & threats over the next five years?
• ‘Tour­ism is built on the back­bone of white suprem­acy’. What do you think?
• Really, what’s the dif­fer­ence? ‘Sus­tain­able tour­ism’ vs ‘regen­er­at­ive tourism’
• Want a career in tour­ism? Import­ant things you should know
• Diverse per­spect­ives on travel & tour­ism and a fairer world
• Diverse per­spect­ives on eco­nom­ic degrowth and tourism
• Diverse per­spect­ives on vis­it­or dispersion

Pragmatic priorities: ‘People, planet, pocket’

Peter Richards, Project Manager, SWITCH-Asia TOURLINK, Thailand

The lead­er needs to pri­or­it­ise the prag­mat­ic deliv­ery of a sus­tain­able COVID recovery. 

Fur­ther­more, they are presen­ted with a unique moment in time in which in-prin­ciple sup­port for a more sus­tain­able tour­ism industry has nev­er been higher. 

How­ever, the deep pain of COVID is still being felt, with many busi­nesses and their cus­tom­ers strug­gling with debts and high costs of liv­ing and travelling. 

The oppor­tun­ity for tour­ism to optim­ise its prom­ise of sup­port­ing sus­tain­able devel­op­ment is hanging in the balance. 

To achieve sus­tain­ab­il­ity will require going bey­ond the com­munity of ‘early adop­ters’ and those com­pan­ies already focused on mar­kets that value sus­tain­able behaviour. 

We need to reach out fur­ther, to the major­ity of com­pan­ies work­ing in the major­ity of mar­kets. And, if it’s going to work, we need to meet those com­pan­ies where they are rather than pres­sure them with unachiev­able expectations. 

Pri­or­it­ies will be hard to man­age amidst the great com­plex­ity of tour­ism sup­ply chains, and the many issues com­pet­ing for space in glob­al and loc­al agen­das. They should include how to har­ness tour­ism as a force for good, through:

• Sus­tain­able product development;
• Value added marketing; 
• Aware­ness rais­ing and capa­city build­ing deep­er into the sup­ply chain; and 
• Ini­ti­at­ives related to 
  • car­bon and cli­mate change, 
  • waste man­age­ment, 
  • driv­ing bene­fits to loc­al com­munit­ies, and
  • the empower­ment of women and youth, etc.

The can­did­ate needs to have vis­ion, exper­i­ence, and excep­tion­al people skills, to mobil­ise and motiv­ate across sec­tors, main­tain­ing a bal­ance of empathy, focus, flex­ib­il­ity, and integrity. 

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‘Strength, transparency, and audacity’

Saverio Francesco Bertolucci, Administrative Assistant, Alcambarcelona, Spain

For such a rel­ev­ant pos­i­tion, the right can­did­ate needs to be an inter­me­di­ary among a mul­ti­tude of stake­hold­ers and parties. 

The indi­vidu­al has to demon­strate effi­cient com­mu­nic­a­tion skills togeth­er with a strong mana­geri­al CV in the hos­pit­al­ity and travel industry. 

Any­one able to provide the board of dir­ect­ors with a risk assess­ment present­a­tion and a clear mis­sion should be included among the short­l­is­ted can­did­ates to cov­er this not­able role.

The suc­cess­ful can­did­ate has to be time-effi­cient and deal with a lot of con­stant pressure. 

He/she does not have to be humble, but rather show strength, trans­par­ency, and audacity. 

This per­son needs to be trus­ted and respec­ted among his/her peers 

It is also true that there is no suc­cess without a group who sup­ports and pushes their ideas, so the can­did­ate has to fully plunge into the pro­ject and trans­pose his/her vis­ion and val­ues to the team. 

As an admin­is­trat­ive assist­ant cur­rently, I am cer­tainly inter­ested in tak­ing on such a pos­i­tion in the future.

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Prioritise membership, China, and visibility

Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO, COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute; Director, Meaningful Tourism Center, Germany

The CEO should have:

• Very good con­nec­tions inside the organisation;
• Very good con­nec­tions with oth­er organ­isa­tions espe­cially the United Nations World Tour­ism Organ­iz­a­tion (UNWTO);
• Prac­tic­al exper­i­ence in work­ing in private com­pan­ies in the Asia Pacific region;
• Prac­tic­al exper­i­ence as a coordin­at­or of dif­fer­ent tour­ism organ­isa­tions, and;
• Prac­tic­al exper­i­ence as a lead­er of a nation­al tour­ism organ­isa­tion (NTO).

The CEO should provide to the organisation:

• New ideas, espe­cially to increase mem­ber­ship, with­in a real­ist­ic framework;
• New ini­ti­at­ives to cre­ate a more import­ant role for the biggest source mar­ket China (based on my exper­i­ence of liv­ing and work­ing in this country);
• New ideas how the organ­isa­tion can increase vis­ib­il­ity with­in the region and with­in the glob­al tour­ism com­munity and the media

If two can­did­ates ful­fil all these cri­ter­ia, the female can­did­ate should be chosen, but there should be no pref­er­ence for a female can­did­ate if she is less qual­i­fied than a male candidate.

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‘Have a tender heart and a tough hide’

Steve Noakes, Chair, Binna Burra Lodge; Founder, Pacific Asia Tourism; Chair, Ecolodges Indonesia

It’s a com­plex job that requires an excel­lent can­did­ate who will embrace the inter­na­tion­al oppor­tun­ity! They will have more chance of suc­cess in the role if they:

• Have a tender heart and a tough hide;
• Have remark­able cross-cul­tur­al nego­ti­ation and com­mu­nic­a­tions skills;
• Know the dif­fer­ence between destruct­ive and con­struct­ive criticism;
• Have an open mind, a pos­it­ive atti­tude to life, and are tol­er­ant of diver­gent views; and
• Have an impress­ive track record in the Asia Pacific travel and tour­ism sec­tor across the private sec­tor, the pub­lic sec­tor, and not-for-profit organisations.

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Advocacy founded on knowledge and teamwork

Zohreh Khosravi, content strategist, Iran

The exec­ut­ive dir­ect­or of a travel & tour­ism asso­ci­ation in the Asia Pacific region should be suf­fi­ciently know­ledge­able about the oppor­tun­it­ies and poten­tial of the region to attract inter­na­tion­al visitors. 

He/she should select ambas­sad­ors for field research to invest­ig­ate des­tin­a­tions’ poten­tial to attract trav­el­lers, as well as to identi­fy the off-the-beaten-track areas. 

A pri­or­ity would be the abil­ity to lead and super­vise teams and take advant­age of each team member’s abil­ity to detect cultural/natural poten­tials and plan growth.

He/she should also know mar­kets well enough to recog­nise the pref­er­ences and beha­viours of dif­fer­ent inter­na­tion­al tour­ists and be able to dis­cov­er the platforms/methods for ana­lys­ing vis­it­or behaviour.

Since this asso­ci­ation con­sists of mem­bers of the gov­ern­ment and the private sec­tor, it should advoc­ate for the devel­op­ment of trans­port­a­tion and accom­mod­a­tion infra­struc­ture that suits inter­na­tion­al tour­ists and is sustainable. 

By set­ting up brief­ing ses­sions on the advant­ages of hav­ing tour­ists in the region, he/she should be able to effect­ively inter­act with the lead­ers of loc­al com­munit­ies and request their participation. 

The secur­ity of des­tin­a­tions, their com­munit­ies, as well as tour­ists are neces­sary items on the new lead­er­’s agenda. This may involve work­ing with loc­al secur­ity forces.

Edu­ca­tion and work exper­i­ence in the tour­ism sec­tor might be giv­en top atten­tion, par­tic­u­larly the hir­ing of young people, to ensure sus­tain­able livelihoods.

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Understanding, leadership, commitment, and drive

ChatGPT May 24 Version

The ideal can­did­ate for the exec­ut­ive lead­er pos­i­tion in the long-estab­lished Asia Pacific region­al travel and tour­ism industry asso­ci­ation should pos­sess a range of spe­cif­ic pri­or­it­ies and competencies. 

Firstly, they should have extens­ive exper­i­ence and a deep under­stand­ing of the travel and tour­ism industry in the Asia Pacific region. This includes know­ledge of the mar­ket dynam­ics, trends, chal­lenges, and oppor­tun­it­ies spe­cif­ic to the region.

The can­did­ate should demon­strate excep­tion­al lead­er­ship skills to effect­ively man­age and unite a diverse mem­ber­ship com­pris­ing pub­lic and private sec­tor stake­hold­ers. They should be adept at build­ing and main­tain­ing rela­tion­ships with gov­ern­ment offi­cials, industry lead­ers, and key decision-makers to advoc­ate for the interests of the asso­ci­ation and its members.

In terms of pri­or­it­ies, the can­did­ate should pri­or­it­ise the pro­mo­tion and devel­op­ment of sus­tain­able tour­ism prac­tices. With the increas­ing import­ance of envir­on­ment­al and social respons­ib­il­ity, the ideal can­did­ate should have a strong com­mit­ment to sus­tain­ab­il­ity and pos­sess strategies to mit­ig­ate the neg­at­ive impacts of tour­ism while max­im­ising its pos­it­ive contributions.

Addi­tion­ally, the can­did­ate should be for­ward-think­ing and innov­at­ive, cap­able of driv­ing digit­al trans­form­a­tion with­in the asso­ci­ation and its mem­bers. This involves lever­aging tech­no­logy to enhance cus­tom­er exper­i­ences, stream­line oper­a­tions, and adapt to evolving con­sumer preferences.

Fur­ther­more, the ideal can­did­ate should be an effect­ive com­mu­nic­at­or, cap­able of rep­res­ent­ing the asso­ci­ation on both region­al and inter­na­tion­al plat­forms. They should pos­sess strong advocacy and nego­ti­ation skills to influ­ence policies and reg­u­la­tions that affect the travel and tour­ism industry.

Over­all, the ideal exec­ut­ive lead­er for the Asia Pacific region­al travel and tour­ism industry asso­ci­ation should pos­sess a com­pre­hens­ive under­stand­ing of the industry, excep­tion­al lead­er­ship abil­it­ies, a com­mit­ment to sus­tain­ab­il­ity, a drive for innov­a­tion, and excel­lent com­mu­nic­a­tion and advocacy skills to effect­ively advance the interests of the asso­ci­ation and its members.

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Leadership, communication, planning, collaboration, etc …

Bard [Experiment]

The ideal can­did­ate for the exec­ut­ive lead­er pos­i­tion at a long-estab­lished Asia Pacific region­al travel & tour­ism industry asso­ci­ation com­pris­ing pub­lic and private sec­tor mem­bers should have the fol­low­ing pri­or­it­ies and competencies:

• Strong lead­er­ship skills: The exec­ut­ive lead­er should be able to provide clear dir­ec­tion and vis­ion for the asso­ci­ation, and motiv­ate and inspire its mem­bers to achieve its goals.
• Excel­lent com­mu­nic­a­tion skills: The exec­ut­ive lead­er should be able to com­mu­nic­ate effect­ively with a wide range of stake­hold­ers, includ­ing gov­ern­ment offi­cials, industry lead­ers, and the gen­er­al public.
• Stra­tegic plan­ning skills: The exec­ut­ive lead­er should be able to devel­op and imple­ment stra­tegic plans that will help the asso­ci­ation grow and succeed.
• Col­lab­or­a­tion skills: The exec­ut­ive lead­er should be able to build strong rela­tion­ships with the asso­ci­ation’s mem­bers and stake­hold­ers, and work col­lab­or­at­ively to achieve com­mon goals.
• Prob­lem-solv­ing skills: The exec­ut­ive lead­er should be able to identi­fy and solve prob­lems that may arise in the travel & tour­ism industry.
• Adapt­ab­il­ity: The exec­ut­ive lead­er should be able to adapt to the ever-chan­ging travel & tour­ism industry, and be open to new ideas and innovation.

In addi­tion to these pri­or­it­ies and com­pet­en­cies, the ideal can­did­ate should also have a strong under­stand­ing of the Asia Pacific region, and [its] travel & tour­ism industry. 

The can­did­ate should also have a proven track record of suc­cess in a lead­er­ship role.

The Asia Pacific region is a rap­idly grow­ing mar­ket for travel & tour­ism, and the asso­ci­ation has the poten­tial to play a sig­ni­fic­ant role in this growth. 

The ideal can­did­ate will be able to help the asso­ci­ation achieve its goals and make a pos­it­ive impact on the travel & tour­ism industry in the Asia Pacific region.

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What do you think? 

In a com­ment below share your own thoughts on the ideal com­pet­en­cies and pri­or­it­ies of a new boss of an Asia Pacific travel & tour­ism asso­ci­ation. (After sign­ing in you will need to refresh the page to see the com­ments section.) 

Or write a “GT” Insight. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog wel­comes diversity of opin­ion and per­spect­ive about travel & tour­ism, because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business.

“GT” is where free thought travels.

Fea­tured image (top of post): Who’s the new boss of an Asia Pacific travel & tour­ism industry asso­ci­ation? Map source.