Meet Mark, Relief General Manager at Club Wyndham

Mar 14, 2023

This month's Employee Of Choice is awarded to Mark Hotchin, who is the Relief General Manager for the South Pacific Region at Wyndham Destinations. Mark currently moves from property to property across the South Pacific region to lead our resort teams and fill any leadership gaps, he’s currently located at Club Wyndham Wanaka. This role also allows him to work on projects and key operational matters. Read on to find out more about his hospitality career so far. 

About Mark:
Tell us a bit about yourself – how did you get into hospitality? 
I started my Hotel journey in Canada working as a housekeeper then moved into Bellman in a Ski Resort, in between ski seasons I was 1 week into an extended holiday in Central America I got appendicitis in Mexico City and had to get flown home after my surgery. This in retrospect turned out to be lucky, Wyndham was opening a new hotel which I applied and started my Wyndham journey as a Porter.

How did you find yourself in your current role?
I was working as Resort Manager at our property in Coffs Harbour and got asked to go to Japan to assist with our new property in Sapporo. While over there I was asked whether I would be interested in working in a role where I travel around to our properties and assist in a relief General Manager capacity which was a fantastic opportunity and one I couldn’t turn down.

What skills have you developed through your hospitality journey? 
Have picked up various business acumen, reading financials, dealing with conflict and confidence to speak with conviction when leading a team but important to not leave my passions of guest experience and leading by example.

Who’s one role model or mentor that you’ve looked up to throughout your career and why?
Warren Cullum, Senior Vice President Operations Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific has mentored me throughout my career with Wyndham Destinations. Warren was the General Manager that recruited me when I first stated with Wyndham 8 years ago. He has mentored and given me both personal and professional advice which has helped me progress in my career. There’s one quote which Warren said to me 6 years ago which still resonates with me today and I live by it in my career choices.

What’s the one utensil you can’t live without?
My Dyson vacuum cleaner.

What was your biggest mistake in hospo and what did you learn from it?
The usual checking guests into a dirty room, one of those mistakes that everyone does at least once in their hotel career. Mistakes are great learning experiences and if you own the mistake the guest appreciate it..

What advice would you give to your younger self thinking of working in hospitality?
Put in the hard work, it will pay off in the end. Be flexible in your role.

About Mark’s experience working for Wyndham Destinations: 
What do you love most about working in your venue? 
I am currently working at Club Wyndham in Wanaka. It’s a truly unique location. You look out the back door into mountains. Working with a great team who take pride in their property. I am loving the long days where you can finish work at 7pm and still have 2 hours left of sunlight.

How have you found working for your current hospitality group?
Wyndham is a great employer and provides plenty of opportunities to grow into a successful career.

About the industry:
What’s your most memorable hospitality experience?
Having a celebrity stay at our property, he was asking me about pineapple lumps which I had no idea what they were. They came back from their concert with a packet of pineapple lumps for me to try.

What changes in the hospo environment/culture have you noticed over time?
The investment into technology to improve guest experience  

What trend in hospo do you predict will happen next?
Seeing a decrease in domestic travellers as people start travelling abroad and an increase in inbound tourists as people get more confident to travel internationally. 

How can hospo be made better?
Keep investing into staff and development, without our people, our industry would not function

What do you love most about hospitality?
I love talking to guests and hearing about their holiday plans and where they have been with Wyndham. Seeing the smiles on their faces as they tell me about them is a rewarding feeling.

A big thanks to Mark and his hospitality insights! If you want to start you hospitality journey, Barcats is the place to start! Create your staff profile here.