Wayne has 25 years experience in Real Estate and almost this entire time has dedicated it to the sale of Tourism and Hospitality. Almost half of this time was spent with multi national real estate companies who dabbled in the sales of hotel and motels but none of which really recognised the value of a dedicated tourism brokerage team.

Now with 12 brokers nationwide, Wayne continues to work closely with each of the team along with introducing new opportunities to the company via his existing network or through corporate advisory.

“It has been great to see our progress over the last 12 years building a brand that is now recognised as the countries leading Tourism Property Brokerage Company. We are in a very specialist field and pride ourselves on supplying quality information in a professional manner.

How did you get into the hotels industry?

I started my career in the early 90s with Auckland based company Bayleys Real Estate. I cut my teeth on commercial sales for about 12 months prior to becoming one of handful of Hotel Business Brokers nationwide.

In the late 90’s I was offered a position with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and a couple of years later CBRE Hotel Director Gordon McGregor offered me a position. In 2002 Gordon and I started Resort Brokers New Zealand, which is now the leading authority in the sale of accommodation businesses.

What are some of your career highlights from your time in the industry?

Whilst most people like to talk about the largest deal they have done, I feel a huge sense of achievement in founding Resort Brokers with fellow director Gordon McGregor. Now entering our 15th year, it has been most satisfying to be market leaders in the tourism industry throughout this period.  

What are the biggest issues facing the hotel industry at the moment?

Online Travel Agencies have had a major influence on all accommodation providers and how they go about their business on a day-to-day basis. This monopoly and the blatant attack on brand names through the use of Ad Words, accommodation businesses are finding it increasingly more difficult to secure their customers in the first instance. 

As a result of this, profit margins are being eroded which leads to the next issue being aging properties and the deterioration of FF&E. With the need to continue refurbishment in order to maintain rate, margins have never been tighter.

How has the industry changed in the time you have been involved with it?

Without doubt, technology has provided the most rapid change in every industry. If used correctly it is an extremely powerful tool providing instant results and revenue to the benefit of those that have the platforms to take advantage.

From a salesperson perspective the same applies however, it now places a much higher expectation on the salesperson to deliver results in a faster more efficient way.

The dangers of today’s technology for any service orientated person but in particular for salespeople, is being too reliant on communicating to clients through electronic means rather than picking up the phone and speaking to them.

See also:

Get to know Gordon McGregor, Director of Resort Brokers New Zealand

Wellington Boutique Luxury Hotel Business For Sale