It means selling the journey, the destination and the opportunity to give delegates an experience they could never recreate in a CBD conference room.
Kinateder has worked across properties ranging from backpacker accommodation to five-star hotels, with roles in the Blue Mountains, Cairns, Cape Tribulation and Queenstown before arriving in Marysville.
His hospitality career began almost by accident. While studying engineering, he accepted a job as a porter at the Fairmont Resort in the Blue Mountains.
“I loved it and never looked back,” he says, adding that he has moved through all areas of hotels, including finance, housekeeping and food and beverage.
But it’s his experiences, particularly working in regional destinations, that led him to recognise regional locations as an advantage rather than a geographical hurdle.
Roughly 90 minutes from Melbourne, he says the journey to Peppers Marysville should be reframed as “90 minutes to unwind”.
“We need to make the drive itself part of the experience,” he says. “For MICE groups, we can look at incorporating team building activities or a stop in the Yarra Valley for a team activity, so the journey becomes productive.”
He jokes that it’s a similar concept to Disney World, which uses every minute of a ride queue to entertain guests, and says there’s ample opportunity to take a similar approach with business events delegates.
During his time in Cape Tribulation, the journey north from Cairns was positioned as part of the visitor experience, incorporating the coastal drive, a stop in Port Douglas and the crossing of the Daintree River before guests entered the rainforest.
Kinateder sees opportunities to take a similar approach in Marysville, particularly for business events.
White Cape Tribulation was considerably more remote and typically attracts more incentive groups, Kinateder says the fundamental challenge is familiar: planners must be given a compelling reason to take delegates beyond the city.
Marysville’s natural environment, in particular the highly photographed Black Spur Drive connecting it to Melbourne, makes it a popular destination for automotive groups using the mountain and surrounding roads for vehicle testing, drive days and photography. Add the hotel’s 20-acre site ideal for outdoor activities and team building, its luxury accommodation and event facilities, and groups get an immersive experience quite different to a CBD ballroom.
At the same time, the challenge of tighter corporate budgets means transport to regional areas can often be seen as an added expense.
“We are seeing smaller meetings, and they might be two-and-a-half days rather than three,” Kinateder says, adding that the property works with local operators commission-free to organise coach transfers from the city.
To compete, he believes regional venues must offer experiences that cannot be lifted from one hotel and dropped into another.
It’s led the Peppers Marysville team to work more closely with local producers, including Cathedral Range Winery and Utter Wines. Tastings can be brought into the hotel and paired with canapés, communal dining and stories from the winemakers.
The hotel is also exploring seasonal truffle hunts, experiences at Buxton Trout and Salmon Farm and cooking challenges for smaller groups with the property’s executive chef.
These partnerships give delegates a stronger connection to the destination, while spreading the economic value of conferences beyond the hotel.
Kinateder says they regularly suggest local venues, including the community volunteer-run golf club, for casual dinners and off-site functions.
“We don’t want to be the big corporate dog that takes over the town,” he says. “We don’t want ‘For Lease’ signs in the windows around us. We want to be a good citizen that looks after and nurtures the community so there is economic sustainability.”
Kinateder says planners are often surprised by the scale of the hotel, due to its low-rise design sitting quietly within the landscape.
“People often think we’re just accommodation and a restaurant,” he says. “You probably don’t get a proper idea of how large the conferencing space is.”
Peppers Marysville has five event spaces, with the largest able to conference 350 delegates in theatre or do cabaret set-ups for 184.
It’s the generosity of space and hospitality, he says, that truly lets delegates connect with a destination and feel as though they’ve stepped away from the everyday. It’s also the principle he’s carried throughout his career, whether it’s accommodating backpackers or corporate guests.
“There’s a difference between service and hospitality,” he says.
“The difference between a three-star and a five-star hotel is the services offered. But the way we treat people and the way we make them feel, that’s hospitality, and that should always be five-star.”
