Jim Moore is the proud General Manager of Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, a tranquil waterside escape nestled on the shores of Lake Wakitipu.
Initially pursuing a career in management outside of tourism and hospitality, Moore has always enjoyed the variety, energy and people of the hospitality landscape.
One day his brother-in-law and sister convinced him to join them and undertake a traineeship with THC Group - a company specialising in investment support, development and management services for hospitality brands, managers and investors.
There, Moore worked many long hours and discovered his passion for hospitality.
With a wealth of experience across various roles and companies, Moore has worked at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside for 14 years and AccorHotels for 25 years in Rotorua, Hamilton, Auckland and Queenstown.
Before this, he was the opening Hotel Manager for Sky City in 1996 and served in an array of management roles over the past 38 years with THC Hotels, Quality Hotels, Waipuna International Hotel and Conference Centre. He also spent two years working in England for Thistle Hotels and a range of bars.
Novotel Queenstown Lakeside
As the General Manager of Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, Moore now manages a diverse team made up of over 25 different nationalities - most of whom are away from their family.
"Here, we set out to create a New Zealand family for our team and do what we can to look after their needs and ensure they look after each other too. In doing so, we have created a team that genuinely looks after our guests as well as each other, which benefits the hotel in many ways."
The last couple of years has been most challenging for Moore.
From pre-COVID levels of 95 percent occupancy to lockdowns where they had one to two guests, there were many issues with staffing and costs.
However, having supportive owners that recognised the long-term situation and kept the hotel afloat and the staff engaged made an impossible situation more bearable.
"At the start of the pandemic, we managed the team numbers down organically by almost 50 percent, making only one role redundant," said Moore. "Since then, we have increased and decreased the team with the flows of COVID restrictions."
The challenges now are to cope with large numbers of guests with less staff available. Challenges with staffing have meant that the hotel has had to adjust the product offering for services such as the buffet and housekeeping to continue delivering the best services to guests.
Since 2020, Queenstown has had five new hotels open, and the competitive landscape for existing hotels is more intense than ever.
"When you run an older hotel, an even great emphasis on staff and on giving excellent genuine service and maintaining your asset is of even greater importance."
Currently, three rooms are being redesigned as mockups to decide what the next chapter of development will look like for the Novotel Queenstown Lakeside. Moore and his team are confident that the finished product will significantly enhance and reinvigorate the hotel for its future guests.
