Michael Quigley knows a thing or two about preparing for disaster. Michael is the manager of Discovery Holiday Parks at Airlie Beach, a wonderful destination that went through some rough luck last year. When Cyclone Debbie rolled through, Michael found himself preparing the park for what would become a massive storm that completely reshaped the local landscape. By the time …
Running your own business comes with a fair share of doubt and stress. Will you succeed or will you fail? Will you always be struggling for money? Will you let your friends, family and employees down? These are all common thoughts that run through the mind of pretty much every entrepreneur and business owner. Another problem is that a large …
On the latest episode of That Bad Review, I spoke to Amanda Hinton, general manager of Capricorn Caves in Queensland. Being a general manager of a hospitality-based business is impressive enough, but Amanda got this position when she was 21 years old. In addition to having such a great job, Amanda is on the board of Caravanning Queensland. She started …
Few would consider receiving a bad review online a good thing, but is that the end of the story? The wonders of the web and social media give us the capacity to turn a bad review into a positive promotional opportunity. If done right. I recently had the great pleasure to talk with Eric Cacciatore on the That Bad Review …
Some of us are obsessed with it. Others can’t stand it. Some, unfortunately, are clinically addicted to it. Wherever you stand, social media is a ubiquitous part of modern life. In Australia, 1 in 2 people uses Facebook every day, while 1 in 3 is a daily Instagram user. If you run a business in the hospitality industry, social media …
Mining is in an upswing, and, depending on where your accommodation business is located, accommodating mining and construction crews can be a lucrative regular income stream that’s not dependent on seasonal or tourism factors. But, whether deserved or not, there is a certain stigma about providing this type of accommodation among some providers, with the perceived rowdy, hard-working, hard-living mining …
Most of us would like to make a difference; you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that has no interest in helping the world. But how many of us actually do that? Harvee Pene is an accountant who has made giving back to the world the central focus of his career. He’s the founder of Inspire, which he hopes to build …
In just two short years, the Rivershore Resort in Southeast Queensland has become a park renowned for its customer service and great value. The family-run business has amassed an impressive amount of reviews in its short tenure, most in the four or five-star range. Will McGovern, one part of the McGovern family unit that runs Rivershore, spoke to me on …
Motivated staff members are the key to the success of any business. One of my previous guests on the That Bad Review podcast, Cath Bellchambers, said it best: We spend so much of our time on our tools, facilities, software and vehicles, but we don’t spend as much time on our people, and they’re the biggest financial investment we make. …
On a recent episode of That Bad Review podcast, hospitality veteran David Jones and I had an enlightening chat about his 25+ years in the industry and how he has stayed excited and innovative for so long. Most of it, David says, comes down to putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and always looking for new ways to keep things …
