Best Western Australasia has announced the launch of a new social media campaign featuring profiles of the owners, operators and employees that form the fabric of the 125-strong property chain.
Angela Smith, senior marketing manager at Best Western, said: “You can talk about brand values all you like, but without our people putting in the hard work and offering genuine hospitality, it’s just rhetoric.
“We believe Best Western’s people give us an edge and wanted to celebrate that by putting the focus on them. Some of the stories are remarkable and prove that everyone has a tale to tell.”
There’s Vicki Rabjohns (pictured above), “a surfie chick from way back” who left Wollongong in 1980 as a young woman with three generations of her family to start a new life running what was then a faded motel in Goulburn.
It was a leap of faith that’s paid enormous dividends – a husband, loving family and a thriving, growing business. The Best Western Goulburn is now one of the best properties in the network.
Then you have Karen Baldwin, the owner-operator of the Best Western Kennedy Drive at Tweed Heads, who feels she was destined to become involved in hospitality due to an unusual upbringing that trained her well.
Her parents were deaf and, as the eldest of four children, Baldwin was relied on to solve communication issues – translating, liaising, ensuring no misunderstandings, keeping everyone happy.
Smith says there are dozens more stories coming, which will be posted on the Best Western blog site and distributed through Facebook and other social media platforms.
“It’s exciting and shows we are a real community made up of an incredibly diverse group of people,” she said,
