Lew Rood – Marketing & Trade Relations

Jennie: When did you enter the Tourism industry and why?

Lew: I do not come from a family involved in the travel/ tourism nor hospitality business, however had been fortunate enough to travel a great deal within South Africa, and decided I wanted to study tourism. There were in the early seventies, no really good accredited courses, so I opted to do the 3 year Hotel Management course at the Johannesburg Hotel School, linked at that time to the Witwatersrand Technical College, which became the Technikon. After a year at the college I did my first “in-service” training, and was assigned to the five star Heerengracht Hotel in Cape Town, now no longer in existence. Whilst it was South African owned the bulk of the staff were Italian, and I  enjoyed gaining valuable experience in this  excellent property, and maintain friendships still today with some of those I  worked with.

Then back to Hotel School for a year and for my second “in-service” training period, I was granted a bursary, and was sent to the very good historic five star hotel, The Amstel in Amsterdam, the first time I had travelled and live abroad. This proved a unique and worthwhile time for me, and on return, I then entered the work scenario in 1973 at  Sol Kerzner’s Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel in Durban. Owned and run by the Kerzners, (they also had The Beverly Hills) I  worked at this busy 453 room hotel for  2 ½ years as Front Office Manager. The client mix was domestic and foreign, leisure and corporate.

My first taste of living overseas, made me want to return, and whilst I hugely enjoyed the hotel business, I still had a great interest in tourism, and answered an advertisement in the newspaper by the  then South African Tourist Corporation (Satour) in Pretoria, who  were looking for staff. After several interviews I was accepted as a Tourism Promotions officer at their then Pretoria head office. In 1977 I was transferred to the  London office where I stayed until 1980 when I had to come back to South Africa for family reasons.

From there my career has continued through Springbok-Atlas, Conservation Corporation (Subsequently known as CCAfrica) and to Singita.

Jennie: Has technology made your job more challenging?

 Lew: On the subject of technology, yes it has been challenging at times, but then working with a team, there are those who have mastered it, and it is all  part of what one needs to operate  effectively and efficiently. Technology  backs up the relationships one builds and  ensures the outcomes one need, do happen!

Jennie: If you could advise young people entering into the industry how they can contribute towards tourism positively what would that be?

 Lew: I am not a teacher nor a professor on the subject but those coming into this business need to be passionate about it. Key elements to remember too that tourism is a great deal about giving support to conservation and community projects, you can’t operate in an environment that is not sustainable.

Jennie: You remembered my name after meeting me once a year before our second meeting.  How important do you think remembering names is your business dealings?

 Lew: They say some people are good at  figure work – i.e. the accounting and administration side, whilst others are  lucky enough to have “people skills” too. My way is to engage with people of all age groups and not  to limit oneself to getting “closer”  to people, just because they might be perceived as good looking, wealthy or glamorous . Never patronize people, so many are so interesting that it is natural to remember their names!

Jennie: How important is it to form and keep trade relations?

Lew: You don’t have to and won’t always agree, but trade relations are vital. They are your client, so the moment you find they become seemingly boring or an inconvenience, then you know you need perhaps to move on to another  career path.

Jennie: Thank you, Lew.  I’m sure we all have gleaned from you in this interview. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinions with me, and to all you PR and Trade relation managers in the tourism industry, I hope you can be as good as Lew Rood is – that way, we’ll improve tourism business relations globally!