New Appointment Hits The Ground Running

The appointment of Ben Patten to manage the interests of accommodation members marks the first time an industry veteran has filled this role.

But as his title suggests, the AHA|SA’s Manager of Accommodation, Tourism and Strategy is bringing a new focus to ensure that accommodation hotels play a greater role in the visitor economy.

It’s certainly been a whirlwind three months since Ben started.

30 one-on-one meetings with accommodation general managers, planning a major industry forum, four regional trips and meetings with Ministers and stakeholders have filled his time. He has also pulled out all stops to ensure hotels reaped the rewards of the recent British & Irish Lions tour, which saw an estimated 15,000 visitors travel from interstate and overseas. Lions supporters stayed longer and spent widely across accommodation and hospitality venues including pubs. Ben is organising the inaugural

Accommodation & Tourism Forum, which will be held at Adelaide Oval on September 8 under the Accommodation Australia banner. The Forum has attracted interest from hotel general managers, publicans and the ‘who’s who’ of tourism in SA including leaders from the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC), Business Events Adelaide, the Adelaide Oval, Convention Centre and more.

The forum goes well beyond the normal briefing for hotel general managers, with a range of high calibre thought leaders speaking on the day. These include:

• Emma Terry, South Australian Tourism Commission CEO.

• Matthew Burke, Regional Director, Asia Pacific ex China at STR Global

• Steve Sammartino, futurist and technologist

Among his other achievements since starting, Ben and the team at AHA|SA has secured Majestic Hotels as Accommodation Australia members for the first time.

“This represents six hotels and over 400 rooms, which is a really strong outcome,” he said.

“At the other end of the scale, we’ve also brought in Kingsford the Barossa, an iconic, 15 room luxury property in the Barossa Valley that was used in the filming of McLeod’s Daughters.”

Ben is keen to lift the profile of Accommodation Australia.

“People aren’t totally familiar with that brand yet” he said.

“It actually is part of the AHA and does excellent work on our behalf at a federal level, particularly in relation to advocacy on issues such as workforce and visa conditions, skills shortages and education.”

PERSONAL CONNECTION

Ben is an industry veteran who spent more than a decade running hotels for Accor throughout Australia and Southeast Asia.

He has spent the last 5 years working in regional SA and most recently was Head of Destination and Special Projects for Barossa Australia.

In his new role, he oversees around half of the state’s hotel and pub rooms. His initial priorities are “personally connecting with that group, being their advocate,

supporter and connecting them with the wider industry and each other”.

“Accommodation members are my core cohort.

“Of the regulated accommodation industry, we estimate there’s 18,000 to 20,000 rooms across the whole state.

“So with our 10,000 ‘member rooms’ we’re talking about one in two - or 50 per cent - of regulated accommodation rooms connected with AHA. And that’s tremendously exciting for me.

“Interestingly, we’re also talking about 3,000 to 4,000 rooms attached to pubs that are members of our general division. Working directly with publicans and owners in relation to their accommodation is a great opportunity for me personally.

“So I really have a broad church to look after.

V ISITOR ECONOMY

In terms of tourism, Ben wants to strengthen the connection between AHA members and the wider visitor economy through industry organisations.

“South Australia welcomed 8 million overnight visitors in 2024 and we know that visitors come in all shapes and sizes,” he said.

“So do the businesses that support those visitors. It’s not just shark diving or a $250-a-head degustation experience. Our members provide exceptional accommodation at all levels and great dining and entertainment during their visit to South Australia.”

He sees his role a key connection point for member hotels, leveraging his relationships with key stakeholders such as the State Government, South Australian Tourism Commission, the SA Tourism Industry Council, convention centres etc.

“In relation to the British and Irish Lions Tour for the first time that I

recall, the AHA was brought into a multi-industry working group to make sure that the city was open for business during the Lions arrival,” Ben said.

“It was, in part, about making sure that our venues were open and ready to receive these wonderful English travellers.

“We had a voice in the room. But it also ensured that we could share messaging around licence extensions and what sort of food safety and cultural priorities there are for these travellers.

“That was amazing. And the numbers bear that out. It was a tremendous tour for everyone.”

South Australia is also bidding for COP 31 in November next year which, if successful, would also require a massive, coordinated effort.

The international summit attracts tens of thousands of delegates, typically lasts a fortnight and injects hundreds of millions of dollars into an economy.

Accommodation has been a key focus area and AHA|SA is working with government agencies to ensure they reach the entire accommodation sector in SA, as well as considering new options to cope with the massive influx.

“We’re pulling out all stops to try and make sure that we can do it,” he said.

“It would be an enormous benefit for our members.

“But it does require a known and deft touch to get operators on board big and small, even though it is not confirmed.

“That’s where having an organisation like AHA can play a valuable role. It’s not just an email from a federal agency. It’s contact from people you know.”

FUTURE STRATEGY

Ben is already working closely with CEO Anna Moeller and other

leaders at AHA|SA to identify the opportunities that exist for the association over the coming decade – but says it is “early days”.

And it is this considered approach that underscores why he is such a great fit.

“I’ve had many positive interactions with the AHA|SA over many years, using the services and engaging with its people and networking opportunities when I managed hotels.

“When this opportunity arose I was attracted by the brand and the reputation of the association. It is unsurpassed nationally and at a state level.”

Ben’s voracious appetite to “get the job done” has, in part, been shaped by circumstances experienced by so many in the industry.

“I worked in hotels for 20 years,” he said. “For most of those years, I worked every public holiday and weekend, led teams of over 100 people and had tremendous life experiences.

“COVID disrupted that and I lost my job and ended up having four months off like a lot of other people.

“It was a difficult period.

“In finding a job immediately after COVID, it was a matter of choosing a new pathway that was linked to my previous pathway but was also interesting and new and challenging.

“And to that end, I landed in regional tourism, first in the Riverland and then the Barossa.

“I was dealing with a broader set of stakeholders - but tourism is an international language.

“There are interconnected ecosystems in tourism and the visitor economy. There is a real opportunity for hotels - we have a strong role to play in tourism in South Australia.