Mark Turner

Mark has over 30 years’ experience in the international hotel industry, as General Manager, business adviser and development consultant, for leading hotel chains as well as private investors. As an industry pioneer he successfully opened far-flung destinations to tourism, often at challenging or isolated locations, in particular for start-ups or where repositioning or re-branding expertise is required. His ability to lead a team under hardship circumstances and create solutions outside the box has been characteristic of his achievements.

From the most luxurious hotel in London to wineries and conference resorts in Australia, CBD hotels to award-winning island resorts, boutique lodges to large resort villages, area management of multiple properties to strata resorts with vacation rentals component, his dedication to training and sustaining a culture of continual improvement in the work place was instrumental to achieving the exceptionally high hotel services standards that he has come to be known for.

In project planning and development, Mark’s expertise lies in analysing market trends and competitions and conducting in-depth feasibility studies with detailed financial projections. His insights and input on architectural and interior designs are geared to securing the stakeholders’ best interest as a cornerstone in the overall asset management plan.

Mark spent 7 formative years as a young hotelier at the Savoy London and Geneva prior to immigrating to Australia in the 1980s, the country he called home throughout his expatriate career.     

Elaine Turner

As a trainer and educator Elaine has thrived on developing and nurturing fresh recruits in post-war environment, first in Siem Reap and later in Kabul, where her resourcefulness and dedication extended beyond professional duties. Soft-opening one of the first international hotels in Shanghai, she delivered on-the-job training for a large front office and guest services team. For a Malaysian hotel group in a corporate role she provided training budgets, plans and policies, and personally trained the trainers.

As a marketing communications practitioner she has come a long way since her early career in marketing services with Hyatt. She was instrumental in propelling Kuda Huraa onto the world stage during a re-launch; 8 months into her tenure the island was named one of Condé Nast Traveller top 10 small resorts in the world. With her providing marketing and rebranding services, a large MICE hotel in Hat Yai achieved a seamless transition in a management takeover. In Costa Rica she founded the first ever consolidated marketing channel for over 800 holiday rentals operators, representing them with an interactive website which she wrote, designed and developed. During the covid crisis, she comprehensively utilized digital marketing to galvanize the domestic market base for a Tasmanian wilderness lodge, empowering it to reopen for business, with high-yield direct bookings replacing those from OTA channels.   

On development projects her contribution as a pre-opening consultant has centred on market research, feasibility reports and conceptual proposals to the investors and developers, such as the masterplan Silver Tip Resort outside Banff National Park and Pearl Island off Panama City. For more advanced projects her areas of expertise include FFE and amenities procurement, graphic manual, print and collateral productions and departmental SOP manuals.

Elaine is a Canadian and Australian dual citizen and her multilingual skills aptly reflect her mixed Asian heritage. She is a graduate of the University of Alberta and the Education Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.