The tourism industry is challenging, but it has vast opportunities. Growing up in Queenstown, Amelia Gain has always loved travel and tourism. She studied IT and eventually joined her sister in running their hotel.
At her first venture, as the owner and operator of The Spire Hotel in Queenstown alongside her sister, Gain discovered that hotel management tools could be dramatically improved with better ease of use, integrations and customer support that understood hoteliers' challenges.
“I started to develop Preno with my co-founder, Max. Initially, we looked just to solve my problem. Still, the interest from other operators I’d met along the journey inspired us to develop and sell it globally,” said Gain.
Today, Preno has built an incredible team, with Gain as the CEO and Director. This has been a natural progression from running a hotel to creating software focused on helping small hoteliers run theirs.
“I’ve always been passionate about this industry, so I’m glad I found a way to stay contributing to it.”
The team's collaborative nature and constant support have allowed Gain to learn and grow as a business owner. Visiting customers and seeing how Preno makes their day-to-day operations easier never gets old, which was the goal set from day one.
“I think being passionate about your work and continuing to challenge yourself is very important and will ultimately get you to where you want to be.”
Gain’s advice to her younger self would be to put health and well-being first, like putting your oxygen mask on before you can help others. Focusing on creating a healthy balance is essential because it benefits everyone else around you when you work in this industry.
As a mentor, investor, and former chair of Preno, Norm Thompson ONZM has also been invaluable to Gain and Preno.
“He has been pivotal to our success and development in our journey, and I will forever be grateful for his help and time.”
Knowing that Preno products are making a positive difference in hoteliers’ lives keeps Gain motivated to keep improving Preno.
“We’ve always got more problems we want to solve for our customers, and we’re always continuing to push to offer a better product and service based on their feedback.”
It’s an ever-evolving industry that keeps you on your toes, so it's hard not to feel driven in such a dynamic environment.
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