From Country Victoria to Conquering the Hospitality World

As far as back as she can remember, Corinne Hurst, graduate of the Angliss Bachelor of Resort and Hotel Management (International Practice) and current student of the Master of Philosopy (Major Thesis), always loved to travel. Now working in the hotel industry, she recalls her career inspiration, "I took my first big trip when I was two years old. We travelled all around Australia." Her parents took her on many overseas trips including Disneyland, Disneyworld and Hong Kong Disneyland. "Every year, we would go somewhere, even just come up to Melbourne because we're from country Victoria. We stayed in a number of hotels." Watching the people work in hotels, she said, "I want to do that."

Today, Corinne is living her dream working as the Duty Manager at the Adina Apartment Hotel Melbourne on Flinders, part of TFE Hotels' global network.

Her eyes light up as she describes her job, "I love interacting with the guests, and no two days are ever the same. When Taylor Swift was in town, we decorated the lobby and had temporary tattoos for our guests. For the Grand Prix, we had little racing cars and little flag decorations in the lobby. In the rooms, we put out little gift boxes with some snacks they could take to the Grand Prix. For the footy, we have lots of balloons with the team colours."

"What I love about this job is that there's always different stuff going on. I'm looking after the training and development of the front office team. We've also recently had a refurbishment, so I'm now working on the design of the minibars. I've been working on curating local products to give our guests something special, something a bit different."

She has magically found all the ingredients to her dream job in her current role as a duty manager. "I've always loved to travel. I'm really interested in just guests and talking to people. I can't imagine myself ever being in an office job, sitting down from 9 to 5 every day, and not getting that interaction. I really love those moments with the guests, finding out why they're here, and suggesting things to do while they're here to make their stay special. These special touches are so important to me."

During her internship at Jamala Wildlife Lodge, the only five-star hotel within a working zoo in Australia, she got a masterclass in creating perfect moments for guests. She helped orchestrate perfect wedding proposals, from decorating the room with rose petals while guests were on tour, to putting treats in the animal enclosure to bring them close to the window when the couple walks into their room.

She credits the education she received from Angliss as pivotal in making her dream job a reality. "I like learning and I definitely wanted to get a formal education. I went to have a look at quite a few universities who specialised in hospitality. I felt that Angliss is superior. Coming from a small country town and a very small high school, it was important to me that it was like a small, specialised university. I just didn't want to feel like a number in a massive lecture hall. It felt like everyone was welcoming, friendly, and genuinely interested about me and what I wanted to do, rather than just pushing all this information at me."

"They also spoke a lot about all the industry connections, and all the roles that they could get you. I wasn't seeing that in any of the other competitors." Looking back, she values how studying at Angliss opened doors for her. Having networking events as well as guest lecturers made it easy for her to meet people in the industry and get job offers. She narrates, "When I was in my first year there, one of my teachers was the general manager of the Adina Apartment Hotel Melbourne. So, he was the one who then gave me the job to come be a receptionist in the hotel." Nearly five years on, she has grown in varying roles and properties with TFE Hotels, which has a global portfolio of distinctive hotels, including the homegrown Adina brand. Corinne recently graduated from TFE's in-house Future Leaders ACADEME Program. She is already determined to contribute to the industry. "I'm writing my Master's thesis, exploring what attributes of leadership can contribute to career progression."

From traveling to Hong Kong with her classmates to competing with other hotel management students from around the world to the joy of feeding giraffes and meerkats at lunchtime while working in a wildlife lodge, Angliss has opened her eyes to the boundless opportunities in the world of hospitality.

The sky's the limit for this aspirational hotelier ready to take on the world.

Learn more about studying the Bachelor of Resort and Hotel Management (International Practice) or the Master of Philosophy (Major Thesis), email enquiry@angliss.edu.au or call +613 8595 5334 for more information.

Published 30 August 2024