Racing: Ayoub resigns to return to tourism

John Ayoub.
John Ayoub.
The Forbury Park Trotting Club will begin searching for a new general manager after John Ayoub resigned this week to re-enter the tourism industry.

Ayoub (61) took up the role in July 2014 but will finish up at the centre of Otago harness racing in the next two to four weeks.

‘‘I'm going to be contracting for myself, but working for tourism events or tourism transport companies wherever there are opportunities,'' Ayoub said.

‘‘I did that in Queenstown before I moved back here for a couple of years and I loved it - if I wanted to go fishing one day, I could go fishing.''

Ayoub will be dipping into tour planning, guiding and events, depending on the work.

‘‘If I don't make the move now, I won't be in the right place for the next touring season, which is from spring onwards.''

Ayoub will still be based in Dunedin but will travel around the country as required.

Forbury Park board of management chairman Tony Dunstan said Ayoub's resignation was a ‘‘great disappointment'' for the board, but ‘‘you could never stand in the way of somebody's passion''.

The club posted a loss of $205,986 before depreciation in the last financial year. While things are looking more promising this season, there is still a hard road ahead of the club.

‘‘We've got some challenges in front of us, as every racing club has, but we understand what those challenges are and we have some fairly solid plans,'' Dunstan said.

‘‘Our ultimate goal is to get racing back to a cost-neutral position but then to use some of our non-race revenues to be able to maintain and improve our facilities here.''

Differences between the club's committee and board of management had been a source of friction in the past at Forbury Park, but the two groups had established their roles and were working well together, Dunstan said.

‘‘The one advantage of having the committee and board structure is that the people who gravitate towards the committee are horse people, so that's covered,'' he said.

Forbury Park president Gerald Cayford said the interaction between the two governance groups - the board of management and the committee - had improved considerably.

‘‘With [the committee] being involved in the decision-making to a point, it's helped them along and opened them up to the big picture,'' Cayford said.

The catering business, Just Essence, and The Park conference centre were both recording good results after the club took over both operating arms last year.

‘‘The intent is to turn Forbury Park ... into a destination so that people get familiar with coming here and get comfortable,'' Dunstan said.

‘‘We need to sweat our assets a lot more because 23 nights of racing [a year] doesn't cut it for the facilities that we've got.''

The board of management will begin the search for a new general manager within the next fortnight, although Ayoub has offered to lend a hand where possible until his replacement is found.

‘‘It depends on what my commitments are in my new work, and I've made a commitment to Tony to do everything I can to make the transition work.''

Add a Comment