Having worked in both the private and public sector and in countries across Asia, James Mabey has managed to build relationships across all areas of the tourism spectrum. He credits his doctorate in hospitality and tourism management from Hong Kong Polytechnic University to giving his career a huge boost in terms of experience and success. As chief operating officer (hospitality and real estate) in Beijing at Antaeus Group, a position he took in June 2017, Mabey, 29, manages US$4.2 billion in assets across 9,000 hotel rooms, 140 restaurants, two theme parks, and more than 180,000 square meters of retail space.
Mabey is one of 20 rising stars (all 40 and under) HOTELS interviewed for our May feature. All shared their insights about their lives in the business and thoughts about some of today’s challenges and opportunities. In a Wall Street Journal-sponsored series, read Mabey’s responses to our questions and click here to link to the full list of interviews with HOTELS 20 Next-Gen hospitality leaders.
Contributed by Debbie Carlson
HOTELS: Evolution of hotel industry opportunities: How plentiful are they, is there a variety, and do they require additional training?
James Mabey: The World Trade and Travel Council said roughly 10% of the world’s workforce is in some type of travel. Of course that’s not all hotels, but a lot of it is. All around the world there’s a lot of hotel development and a lot of new, interesting areas in developing countries that are opening up.
There are a lot of opportunities for people in the hotel industry. But running a hotel today is not at all like running a hotel years ago. You have to be very savvy about technology. It’s made the idea of an independent GM sitting in his hotel, operating the hotel as he sees fit, no longer a model that works. You have a lot of increasing specialization within the hotels as well. Like the revenue manager. There were no revenue managers 20 years ago, but now the revenue manager position in the hotel is one of the most significant.
H: How prevalent are glass ceilings and the old boys network in the hotel industry?
JM: The good ol’ boy network is still around, for sure, a hundred percent. It’s one of the reasons why the hotel industry has been so slow and just has proven to be completely incompetent, to be honest, in terms of capitalizing on IT development. While the hotel guys have been messing around trying to figure out what to do with themselves, AirBnB has as popped up, which was totally foreseeable and they did nothing to stop that.
H: Are younger professionals creating their own networks? How do you develop your own network?
JM: It’s a different generational mindset. I don’t know that the younger professionals have their own special cliques, but obviously they utilize social media much more and they stay connected much better, I think, than the older generations through those types of platforms, which enables them to have more, stronger networks. For my own network, I blend a bit of the old and a bit of a new, where you work with industry people that are in your area and you travel to the different events, helping each other and sharing ideas.
I don’t participate in a lot of the less-professional social-media platforms. I don’t have an Instagram account and perhaps I should. I don’t do Facebook because one of the problems today with the networks is there’s a lot of blurring between professional life and private life.
H: Company cultures: What do you think needs to be updated about company culture to ensure that younger professionals are attracted to the hotel industry?
JM: Company culture is a hundred percent the most important thing. And I would say that in general, once again, the hospitality industry traditionally has not been on the forefront of establishing a good, high-energy creative culture. The hotels are still very, very hierarchically set up. Regardless of how ambitious or smart you are, the idea that you have to pay your dues before you can move anywhere is a part of a culture that really still dominates in the hotel industry.
The social experience that hotels are trying to create for their guests, we need to do that within our own hotel. We need to be thinking about driving experiences for our staff, our employees, our colleagues as well. The culture needs to be making memorable experiences for the employees, creating friendships and creating teams that are highly functioning, highly efficient, but still creating experiences that are valuable because that’s all what the millennial generation is about.
H: Where do you find inspiration outside your industry?
JM: I love music. I play the saxophone and guitar, the piano a little bit. I like to listen to music, all kinds of music. I think music has really helped build creativity and can help you meditate to help you stay present and balanced. Getting back to nature would be the second one. I love surfing, skydiving, rock-climbing, sailing, flying airplanes, helicopters, anything that can fly.
H: What’s one prediction you’re willing to make about your discipline in the coming year?
JM: The tech field is going to just eat hotels’ lunch. Say goodbye to your room service because Uber Eats is going to eat your lunch. It’s the same way that you’re not making any money off of phones. Know your room service is gone. Why in the world would I order a US$30 hamburger from room service and wait 45 minutes for a mediocre meal, when I can call Uber Eats and have a gourmet burger for 15 bucks and get it in 20 minutes?