Student Quote

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.” — Mark Twain

1. Studying in Australia – Why did you choose Australia as your final study destination. And how was your overall experience studying at Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School?

The reason of making this decision is simple – to be the best, you’ve got to choose the best and learn from the best. Through my online research and friends’ referral, I’ve got to know BMIHMS offers its the best from the supporting lecturers, to the learning resources.

While to be exact, I’ve chosen an Australian programme that allows me to complete the final path of achieving a hospitality degree at my home country – Malaysia. With this programme, I’ve got a chance for a one-week study tour at BMIHMS Leura campus. Although Australia is not my final study destination, both my learning experience and study tour with BMIHMS is great! The school emphasizes both practical and theoretical areas and it provides me a better understanding that I should have in the hospitality industry

2. My Program – Which program did you choose and describe in summary about what you learned from the program and being at the campus.

My chosen program at BMIHMS is a business degree majoring in International Hotel and Resort Management. It is an awesome program that involves academic knowledge and practical learning. In total, there are nine semesters and two of them are industry placement for hands-on training. The main focus that I’ve learnt from the program is business management as the industry is growing fast with high demand on qualified management level staff. It is not only about managing the hotel and resort, but also to manage the people as well as the organisation as a whole.

Being at the campus, there were a lot of projects for me to practice my leadership and management skill. For example, my leading project incorporated with WWF to raise funds for the endangered sea turtles. The project had resulted on the improvement of my communication and leadership skill, which I believe it will be useful in my career.

I’m thankful to have chosen the right program, which has given me lots of enhancement to be outstanding in today’s industry.

3. My Internships – Where did you do your internships and which one was your best experience out of all?

With BMIHMS, you have to complete two placements and they are being placed in the middle of the academic semesters. For example, semester 1 is academic semester, semester 2 is internship and semester 3 is academic semester where you have to go back to school for study.

My internships were both held in Thailand, one was in Bangkok, with Anantara Bangkok Sathorn; the other one was in Phuket, with Centara Grand Beach Phuket Resort. It might not sounds as fascinating as the others, as you can realize both brands I’d chosen to go with are not international well-known chain. Instead, I’d given a try on Thai authentic brands, which give me a truly blend in the culture.

Both internship experience were awesome, but if you would like me to choose be best one – Bangkok. I like the charm of the city, from its range of local street food to 5-Star fine dining experience, from its contrast of busy working day to happening nightlife, and most importantly the friendly Thais! My internship with Anantara was not only about working, but also to be part of the big family. I participated in some hotel activities, such as Family day and sports day. With these involvements, I felt homecoming to have worked with the team.

4. What are you are currently doing? What is your current position and what do you do daily on your job. What do you love most about it, next career move? 

I’m currently working as a sales coordinator with Hilton Malaysia National Sales Office. This is an exciting position because it is not attached to one Hilton property, but I’m taking care of all Hilton hotels & resorts in Malaysia, as of now it is nine properties. My current responsibility is to assist the sales managers in leisure and MICE segments, mostly on qualifying, contracting, and tabulating monthly reports. The leisure segment is mainly on selling the rooms whereas the MICE covers both rooms and meeting packages.

One of the reason I love my job because it is challenging throughout the year to plan and to sell for different brands and different hotels. Each hotel holds a totally different portfolio and has different strengths versus weaknesses. Hence, the planning and management on the sales requires various ideas

I’m happy with my current status and I continue thrive for personal development in order to move to upper level. With Hilton, there is an option to apply overseas transfer after one-year job fulfilment. Therefore, I am looking forward to be internationally mobile in the hospitality with the continuous growth and development seeking in sales department.