with Kerri Anderson
Australian country manager for Hawaii Tourism Oceania
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1. What does your role involve and how long have you been in your current position?
In a nutshell, my job is to get Australians to visit Hawaii! More seriously though, as a destination marketer, it’s a job with a huge amount of variety – from trade marketing to consumer marketing, airline partnerships, industry events, PR and social media, and MICE. I started as Australian country manager for Hawaii Tourism Oceania in early January so am new to the role and learning.
2. How did you start out in your career? Were you always destined to work in the travel industry?
I did want a career that would enable me to travel but working in travel was not my original goal. Rather, I studied journalism with dreams of becoming a foreign correspondent. After a few years as a newspaper journalist I moved into corporate affairs in a range of industries including health, universities and local government. It was more opportunity than design that led me to the travel industry when I was offered a role in Tourism Queensland’s corporate communications team back in 2000. Straight away I loved the industry and since then tourism has been my career home.
3. Did you complete formal qualifications, and do you think they are important?
I completed an arts degree majoring in journalism and economics also did some post-graduate business study – which was an excellent foundation to build my career on. While I do think formal qualifications (whether it’s university, TAFE or other) are important, particularly when you start out, as you travel further down your career path, life and work experience become more important. That said, I think you should never stop learning – whether it’s formal or otherwise.
4. What do you love about your job?
I promote Hawaii so what’s not to love? Until you’ve been you don’t really understand what the “aloha spirit” is – but Hawaii is a destination that gets under your skin. Sure, it’s physically beautiful, but it’s the friendliness of the people, their culture, the layers to explore and the multitude of experiences that keep people coming back time and again.
5. What were some of the greatest challenges you’ve had in your career?
Probably one of my biggest career challenges was when I first moved out of journalism and into PR and realised that the two fields are very different – I quickly gained a respect for how broad a skillset you need to be a good PR practitioner. On a specific level, I was working for Tourism and Events Queensland as Corporate Communications Manager when the Queensland floods hit in January 2011. During the height of the Brisbane floods I was trying to manage our communications from my spare bedroom as our office was closed. The internet and even mobile phone services went down as many mobile towers were inundated so getting messaging out was difficult at the height of the crisis – plus I had friends and colleagues who were personally affected. And then Cyclone Yasi hit North Queensland a month later. This was a very challenging time, both workwise and emotionally, but I worked with some amazing people, both within TEQ and the wider industry, media and government, we had a strong crisis plan in place, and everyone really pulled together.
6. What factors were central to your success?
I think not having a Five Year Plan (I always hate that interview question – “where do you see yourself in five years?”). I’m not impulsive but I’ve always been open to opportunities as you never know where something may lead you and fortunately I haven’t taken a majorly wrong turn yet! I also have two important philosophies in life – “If you don’t ask, you don’t get” and “Give it a good crack and see what happens!”
7. Did you have a mentor, and if so, how did you find them?
I wouldn’t say I had one particular mentor. Throughout my career I’ve worked with some amazing managers and leaders (and a few not so amazing ones) so I’ve always tried to learn from both the good and the bad.
8. What advice would you give to others in the industry who would like to follow in your footsteps?
The biggest piece of advice I can give is to go for opportunities when they come along. You may not succeed every time, and if you don’t, work out why and try to increase your skills or knowledge so you’ll have a better shot next time. And also, don’t be afraid to celebrate your and your team’s successes – if you do a good job, let it be known and accept the kudos with grace.
