In this article, we are introducing Nikita Lisins, our Vatel alumni who is currently based in Prague, Czech Republic, to pursue his career! Read on to find out about his bachelor’s degree journey with Vatel Singapore and get some pointers on how one can prepare for a career in this industry!
What have you been up to since graduating?
Upon finishing my last module, I had to take up an internship and, being between choices, I applied for a job at Expedia Group in Prague, Czech Republic, where I worked for a year and a half as a Lodging Partner Associate – helping hospitality sector partners to have a seamless and efficient experience while hosting their property on our website.
About 7 months ago I joined Cloudbeds – a hospitality SaaS (Software as a Service) company – where I have been working within their Sales department as a Market Manager for the EMEA region. This is my first experience at a fully-remote company with working from home culture, with a strong focus on the hotel/tourism industry.
Can you describe your role in the organisation?
As a market manager, I identify potential prospective customers who are looking to change their hotel management software and find the best possible solution for them, while bearing in mind the goals of the customer. A lot in this position depends on your knowledge of various property types and their unique challenges – this has been especially crucial throughout Covid-19 times, where hoteliers would look to reduce their costs, improve their guests’ experience and find new ways to optimise their revenue. That’s where we would come in, with a strong consultative approach and help them get the best out of our platform to satisfy their business needs. Of course, there’s a whole lot more to it, perhaps even too much to put into one paragraph.
How has Vatel prepared you for your career path?
Finishing my education at Vatel with a hands-on approach from our lecturers has helped me to gain deep insight into what really matters within each of the hospitality sector’s areas – what challenges are there in the Marketing department? How do revenue managers utilize best practices in yield management? What is going on in the GM’s mind when he is in one of his morning meetings? All of this has given me both theoretical and practical knowledge of ways that a hotel, hostel, or a simple bed and breakfast can utilize their environment to provide the best experience for both employees and guests.
So, to anybody thinking about joining the hospitality SaaS industry – memorize all of your notes about problem-solving within the many departments of a hotel, as they will come in handy when you are trying to understand how to solve a challenge which the property owner has just shared with you and, perhaps, share a revolutionary new approach.
Any tips on how one can prepare for a career in this industry?
Knowing how to improve a property’s online presence, whether it’s yield management, marketing efforts or the diversity of OTAs will also be very useful in identifying and fixing roadblocks.
P.S. CHIA has made it much easier to talk about improving/reading Key hotel performance indicators and to understand STR seminars on worldwide hotel data analysis.
A huge thank you to Nikita for making this interview possible!
For more information on our Bachelor’s Degree in International Hotel Management programme, check out this link!
