So, hotelier Donald Trump is President – who would have thought and who said our industry doesn’t provide opportunities? Well at least it does in the United States of America, the land of the free and home of the brave!

With a new President recently installed, the world is waiting to see how he will perform and how his unorthodox style will work in the leadership of his country and at the forefront world affairs.

We, the citizens of this world have been part of history in the making, with the election of Donald Trump as US President. An election campaign that was bizarre, controversial, regularly outrageous and unbelievable but occasionally entertaining to say the least.

Having spent some time in the US during the Ross Perot election campaign in the early 90s and having attended one of Perot’s fundraisers, the spectacle and extent to which Americans go to elect their President seems absolutely amazing and can probably only be understood if you are an American at heart!

While I’m not the least interested in political commentary, I enjoy the fresh wind blowing in the political arena and the way Trump handles his opponents. They are all stunned, speechless and waiting to see what’s going to happen over the next couple of years, a bit like the new GM arriving in a hotel with a reputation for being different!

Now, here is a thought for the people in the hospitality industry; how about you use your experience in our business and become President? There are plenty of similarities, starting with those you need to please…

As a hotelier, you are supposed to satisfy your customers, the people for whom you promised you would make everything better (think voters); You similarly need to satisfy the needs of owners, delivering on the assurances you gave in the job interview (think election campaign).

As a politician, you are supposed to make sure the economy is doing well, ensuring everyone makes money, can afford a new car, take regular holidays etc, whilst never saying the wrong thing, (so equivalent to meeting customers, staff and owner needs and requirements…)

At the end of your term you either get reappointed or you are let go because of your perceived ability to achieve those results and meet expectations (so everything is the same – elected official or hotel employee).

As we all know, Hotel Executives from a certain management level upwards are politicians by default, and we also know plenty around that survive in the industry by being politically correct (rather than by having any particular ability). This sounds very similar to a number of Presidents who survived that way for quite some time before being given their marching order by the voters…

So, this is a call for all people in the hospitality industry to stand up and show the world that the old (hospitality) image still exists. A world where the potwasher can become GM/CEO and now perhaps even President! (although today it helps to have a BA, MBA or lots of money and 20+ million twitter followers to promote your cause!).

So, if there is a future President, Prime Minister or Premier out there amongst our industry readers please make a note. Elite Search is happy to offer a free recruitment service to help fill the various ministerial positions once you are elected.  We believe this is the least we can do to ensure that the hospitality industry takes its rightful place at the forefront of democracy, after all, if you can survive in hospitality, politics should be a breeze….

About the author

Karl Faux is a veteran Hotelier and Managing Partner with Elite Search – a leading hospitality recruitment firm.
For more information about Karl and Elite Search visit http://www.elitesearch.com.au and The Elite Hotelier http://www.elitehotelier.net