Royal Pines general manager John Morris reckons we should embrace dining on the beach and sky bars

THE boss of Gold Coast golf resort Royal Pines wants to see a world-class cultural precinct developed.

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WHEN John Morris was six, he was chased up baobab tree by a charging elephant. With his father and older brother, he clung to the branches as the rogue beast circled and trumpeted in the dust below before it “went off to try and find somebody else to squash”. It’s just one example of the great stories you can tell when you spend your first nine years growing up in a rural Kenyan village. From that world of simplicity, where Mr Morris Senior worked as a missionary, the family moved to Wollongong - a fast-paced new land of traffic lights, lifts and no need for a snake stick in the lounge room. The journey took three weeks on a boat and brought John Morris to a career which has since spanned other decades and oceans.

Mr Morris has worked throughout Australia, Asia and the Pacific as a regional director of sales and marketing and a general manager in resorts and corporate hotels. He worked, like everyone in hospitality seems to at some point, on Hamilton Island, and also opened the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas. He managed properties across Thailand and in Vanuatu, where his hotel was rocked by a 7.8 Richter scale earthquake.

“It literally shakes your world. The actual earthquake itself went for about 30 seconds, just a grinding, shaking. Luckily the hotel that I was in at the time in Vanuatu had this massive old, post-colonial concrete structure which just moved and nothing broke. At the same place we also had a cyclone where winds came through at 230km/h and it did no real damage - it probably wasn’t the most attractive building in the world but it was very functional.”

Excitement on the job has been less destructive for Mr Morris in his three years at the helm of Royal Pines - overseeing a multi-million-dollar remake of the Coast’s great golfing resort.

GOLD COAST BULLETIN: What do you love about the Gold Coast?

JOHN MORRIS: “The acceptance. People come to live and work here from all over Australia and internationally and they are welcomed and accepted.

“The Gold Coast business community is more professional than ever before and reflects the lifestyle – welcome, open and friendly.

“I also love what I do on the Gold Coast – working in a fantastic resort with a great team and as part of the broader tourism community.”

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GCB: What do you think can be done better on the Gold Coast?

JM: “Supporting events – especially homegrown events. I am a huge fan of events where competitors come and compete over a few days with the potential to bring family and friends and spend some pre- or post-leisure time.

“The Festival of Cycling is a great example as are any of the many Golden Oldie events. Noosa does this especially well, as does Melbourne.

“We have the building blocks with some great success stories such as the Gold Coast Airport Marathon.”

GCB: In your travels, what have you seen being done elsewhere that you think could work here?

JM: “From my time in Asia, dining on the beach and sky bars — both are ideally suited for warm climate destinations and are embraced by locals and visitors alike.”

GCB: If money, time, laws and approvals were no issue, what is one big project you’d undertake today?

JM: “Apart from connecting the heavy rail to the light rail, I would love to see a world-class cultural precinct.

“It is really exciting that the planning is in place for one and it will add another dimension to the Gold Coast as a destination.”

GCB: What are the conversations Gold Coast movers and shakers should be having?

JM: “There are a few topics that come up regularly during the Leaders Lunches that I host — a focus on positive publicity is a common theme, the opportunities afforded by the Commonwealth Games (and its legacy), the diverse market potential in South-East Asia — there is a real sense of optimism and a growing business confidence as leaders from a range of industries are seeing consistent signs of growth.”

THUMBS UP TO:

- Dining on the beach

- Sky bars

- Better supported events

- Light to heavy rail

- New cultural precinct