Clare Davies was born and raised in the hospitality industry. Her family operated the Empire Hotel in Lyttleton, the Ascot Restaurant in Christchurch and many other motels, immersing her in the field from a young age and she’s been working in the industry ever since.
The first job she worked was at a wine bar, washing dishes and learning how to navigate her way around passionate and angry chefs.
Having been in the industry for 27 years now, Davies has experience working with all types of accommodation properties from backpackers, to lodges and international five-star hotels.
“I loved the people and the energy that the industry has to offer. Nothing came easy, I had to work my way through the ranks and prove I was capable and then have the confidence to take opportunities when they were presented,” said Clare Davies.
Her path into the industry wasn’t always smooth sailing though. When she was younger, there were times when she struggled with the confidence to back herself to get into senior positions in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
“It used to terrify me going to hotel conferences many years ago, and I couldn’t count the number of women in a room on one hand against the hundreds of delegates attending. Fortunately, this has changed a lot in the last few years.”
Davies is now managing director at Capstone Hotels & Resorts, a one hundred percent New Zealand owned hotel management and tourism distribution company. Its clients range from quality three to five-star hotels and resorts to boutique lodges and a wide range of tourism activities.
Day-to-day, Davies spends most of her time working on business development, liaising with hotel owners and general managers, and of course a lot of travel and emails in between.
“We offer full hotel operational management contracts, where we run the day-to-day operations and report back to owners. We also offer sales and distribution agreements to hotels for trade, OTA and C&I markets.”
Capstone’s focus is on the property’s brand and profitability as well as revenue management, ensuring the property is yielding.
The staff have extensive first-hand experience in hotel and hospitality ownership, management, sales and distribution.
Capstone’s services are ideal for independently owned hotels and lodges with about 80 rooms or fewer. The team will visit your business and work through your individual property needs to see where revenue can most effectively be driven from, but also to improve the performance, profile and best practice of the property.
“We are able to come into the business and work through the individual property needs to see where we can add value and drive revenue while improving the profile, performance and best practice of the property.”
Capstone is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth and now works with over 17 hotels and businesses.
Davies, on the other hand, has been living in Nelson for 17 years, where Capstone is based. Her approach to business is to work hard and deliver the results you expect yourself.
“I look forward to developing the business more over the coming years and ensuring that we are continuing to add value to our hotel owners and investors.”
Her advice to any newcomers in the industry is to work hard, be patient and take opportunities that may come your way. On top of that, she said don't be afraid to talk to people in roles which are of interest and to connect with others in the industry.
For more information on Capstone Hotels & Resorts visit www.capstonehotels.co.nz or call 0274476386.
