“Being owned by your management company’s group has advantages – and opportunities,” says Elaine Yue-Wibisana, GM of 304-room Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, Penang, Malaysia.
“We are saved management fees and third party governance and interference, but it means everyone, from the most junior team member up, is responsible for the hotel’s ultimate profit and loss,” she explained. Today’s youngsters, in Penang as elsewhere, are not always immediately drawn to working in hotels, but once she can keep a recruit for about six months, she is pretty sure they will stay, often for decades. It is her 406-strong team that is generally the top reason guests return, followed by gorgeous grounds. At least 50 regulars have returned annually for 10 years or more, staying two weeks to a month: The overall average for long-haul guests from the UK, Europe, southeast Asia and Australia, is 12 days. Staff-guest interaction is crucial.
“As well as training in a multiplicity of disciplines, I make sure that that even the most junior team member feels responsible finally for the entire operation,” she said. Elaine Yue herself was a department head before she thought about rising to the GM level – but she does have a somewhat unique background.
She insists she has never been ambitious, but she has always wanted to do her best. She finished school in Kuala Lumpur and was studying civil engineering when she realised that was not the career for her (though she admits today that early training comes in very useful when discussing maintenance and upgrades at a 42-year-old hotel, built on what was a vacation home of the Kuok family, owner of Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts). She liked people, so she tried a spell as guest relations at the then-Regent Kuala Lumpur.
“I moved to a Swedish construction firm in Kuala Lumpur, but the Malaysian economy collapsed and I was redundant. Next, I was a Cathay Pacific flight attendant for three years,” she recalled. She deliberately grounded herself, to work in events at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, where then-hotel manager of the Kowloon Shangri-La, the late John Segreti, pulled her across to the hotel world, and she has been with the company ever since. Segreti and Shangri-La SVP Australia Michael Cottan, plus Cetin Sekercioglu, now President Asia, Millennium & Copthorne, remain her mentors.
“Many of my colleagues here have the challenges I face,” Elaine Yue added honestly. Her husband’s business takes him regularly to Jakarta, Indonesia, and they have a 14-year-old daughter – fortunately childcare, or teenage care, is plentiful and reliable in Malaysia. “My daughter knows I always have to be on-property at holiday times, but then we take her away somewhere and she often chooses where. I learn a lot about Gen Z,” she laughed.
Elaine Yue knows she must attract not only regular older guests but also new segments of traveler. Last August, for instance, the hotel launched Wholistic Wellness. Working with the local Penang Adventist Hospital, there are two- and four-night escape packages, and all outlets offer Wholistic Wellness options, which list calorie counts and benefits of eating certain foods. She still offers tradition, as well.
“Wealthy young Penang millennials, often returning from early lucrative careers overseas, love our Feringgi Grill dinner-only restaurant, and despite the fact that this island is known for its modest habits, they are sometimes prepared to splash out on a Grand Cru bottle to show off,” she admitted, with a smile.