Judy Chen receiving her NZ Hotel Industry Award, earlier this year.
The Tourism Export Council’s new chief executive, Judy Chen, is delighted to be in a position where she can help shape the future direction of the wider tourism industry.
Chen was appointed to her new role in August, following the earlier departure of Lesley Immink, who left to stand for the Opportunities Party in the General Election.
Previously, Chen was New Zealand director sales and marketing for the Hotel Grand Chancellor, and was recently awarded the New Zealand Hotel Industry’s Senior Hotel Executive of the Year for 2017. She is also a member of the Tourism Advisory Group and a guest lecturer at the Victoria University of Wellington, where she graduated with a Master of Tourism Management in 2002.
Chen says working for the wider industry cause is what drives her. “I am happy now to be in a position where I can positively shape the strategic direction of the broader tourism industry in New Zealand.”
Mentoring young professionals has been a particular strength in Chen’s career to date. “Tourism is a great industry and I want to help people who chose it for their career to achieve their goals.”
Chen was an inaugural member of the Tourism Export Council’s ‘Young TEC’, established to help the career development of young tourism professionals. Now that she’s ‘too old’ for the group she has become a mentor for younger members.
However Chen sends a word of advice to aspiring tourism professionals. ‘I know young graduates who haven’t been able to find the work they want. While the number of jobs in tourism is vast, for a new graduate entry level roles are limited; the ideal position is not at the front desk or as a waiter. So they need to have the right attitude and be prepared to move.”
That said, Chen acknowledges her own good fortune in finding Wellington-based jobs following her graduation. The first was with Tourism New Zealand, where she assisted the development of Asian, Middle Eastern and North American markets, helping to organise trade shows such as Kiwi Links and the Arabian Travel Market.
“Hosting families really built my knowledge of New Zealand; also I was able to develop relationships in these markets.”
Being able to speak Mandarin (Chen moved from Taiwan to New Zealand when she was ten) and understanding how to do business with Asian markets helped, and will continue to do so in her new role, she believes.
