Southern regional winner Mia Visser (23), of Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Resort, beat seven contenders to win the 2009 New Zealand Hotel Receptionist of the Year trophy at the Intercontinental Hotel Wellington last Friday.
Miss Visser won a pendant of the same design as the trophy, a certificate, a bouquet of flowers, industry recognition and the ultimate accolade of representing New Zealand at the AICR International Receptionist of the Year competition, in Madrid, in January 2010.
"I was lost for words, it came as a complete surprise. It still hasn't hit me.
"All my work and studies have finally paid off. It's nice to have something for receptionists, because they don't always get recognition."
Four hospitality panellists grilled Miss Visser and fellow regional finalists on their knowledge of costs, profits, revenue, yield management, staffing level, structure and promotional ideas. This was followed by a role play to demonstrate skill.
"It was set at the Intercontinental at 9am. The hotel was full from last night [and] some of the pre-registered rooms were sold the night before.
"There were no suites available at the time, some checkouts had happened and there was one standard room available. The manager was away fixing a leak."
An actress played a guest who was ready to check in to her suite after a flight from Dubai. Miss Visser apologised to the guest, explained there was a maintenance issue but assured her the hotel was in the process of fixing the situation and offered the standard room to freshen up in until the suite was available.
"At that moment, an actor walked in wearing a bathrobe and was upset there was no hot water. He was late for a business meeting and needed to shower."
Miss Visser was not thrown by the disgruntled guest in the bathrobe, as some contenders were, and approached the scenario coolly and calmly as if she were at Sofitel.
The South African-born graduate of International College of Hotel Management now needs to secure several thousand dollars to pay for her and her partner's travel and accommodation expenses for the Spanish final.
Accor hotel group, which owns Sofitel, has offered to contribute. Miss Visser said she was working with them on fundraising and sponsorship ideas.
