As the oldest of three, my family moved around a lot within Australia. I had an incredible childhood – growing up in a household where no-one missed dinner and everyone was nice to each other! My passion for travel began early – so early, in fact, that I was flying before I could drive. I worked after school and on weekends in the local pharmacy to fund my flying training. I flew an aircraft solo on turning 16, before I could legally drive to school.
Leanne Hucker, at the Sanctuary Bains Camp in the heart of the Okavango Delta Safari, Botswana.
I am a global sales, marketing and operational leader supported by 15 years of experience in the luxury hotel and tourism sector having worked in Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Thailand. I recently graduated with a Masters of Business Administration.
WHEN.
I have always loved travel and adventure. Adventure continues to inspire me every day.
My parents would give me the task of calculating fuel requirements on camping trips and choosing the caravan park from the Big 4 (The Australian guide to caravan and camping – before the internet!). Funny enough I always gravitated towards 5 star!
I then started reading up on people that travelled to every country in the world and I remember watching Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing tennis on the helipad of the world-famous Burj Al Arab – it was an email being circulated in the office. I said to my colleague I was going to work in Dubai one day!
I remember sitting at a Business Chicks event (an incredible network I have been a part of for my entire career) and the speaker was Gregory David Roberts. He was on a promotional tour of his new book Shantaram. He said, “Be true to love whenever you find it, and be true to everything you really are.”.
It was at that point when I realised that I had to step outside of my comfort zone and really start travelling the world.
WHERE.
After graduating, I rapidly gained travel industry experience.
As I had already commenced my flying training while at school, I continued full-time at Moorabbin Flying School after VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education). To build up my flying hours, I moved to the Yulura Community in the Northern Territory where I worked in hotel management at Ayers Rock Resort, adjacent to the Uluru Kata Juta National Park.
Events soon overtook my plans. The Ansett collapse in 2001 changed Australian Aviation dramatically and subsequently the course of my career.
As I was working at the resort at the time, and really enjoyed hotel management, I ended up staying there for five years. Since then, I’ve moved at a frenetic pace.
I moved to Sydney with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, working with 72 of the finest hotels in Asia Pacific, before embarking to the Middle East and working in Global Sales with Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts. I then journeyed to Egypt with a large property developer building tourism assets.
I returned to Dubai for a second stint with Jumeirah before moving to Thailand as Sales & Marketing Director with Trisara, an incredible luxury hotel in Phuket.
I then went back to Dubai for my third stint, this time joining Emirates Airlines to manage the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar hotel contracting for the airline before grabbing the chance to work once again in Thailand as Sales & Marketing Director for The Siam.
I am now in the process of moving back to Dubai for my fourth stint. This time, I’ll be launching a new hotel company.
I learnt from a very young age that change is the only constant and to thrive off it and not fight it. I wanted to be a pilot as the way to travel the world. I now see it as simply one avenue to the incredible world of travel. While I admire my friends that now fly for the leading airlines, I far prefer drinking champagne up front.
WHY.
I have never followed the path well-trodden, I love the ability to set goals and push the boundaries of what is expected.
I only really realised recently that I don’t know mediocre. I set very high standards for my own goals and know that only I am responsible for my success.
I have truly had some amazing mentors in my career; I look back on my time at Ayers Rock Resort with the experience of working around the world and can honestly say I’ve worked for some of the world’s best hoteliers very early in my career. I didn’t realise this at the time.
However, I am inspired by the love of connecting people, paying it forward and I truly love the fact I know people all over the world. I am now inspired to take everything I have learnt in the travel and hotel world to build a hotel company that delivers to the traveller of the future.
Follow Leanne’s wanderlust life on Instagram.
Get in touch with Leanne on LinkedIn.
For the Animal Lover: Find out more about the Sanctuary Bains Camp and how you can support the Living with Elephants Foundation.