There was an extraordinary amount of experience sitting in that room. Operators who had spent decades building businesses, surviving recessions, adapting to online travel, weathering COVID and continuing to evolve as our industry changed around them.
I left that event with a question I haven't been able to shake.
We spend countless hours discussing legislation, staffing, insurance, technology and compliance, and those conversations absolutely matter. But if we don't invest the same energy into attracting, mentoring and developing future operators, we're solving today's problems while ignoring tomorrow's.
Every part of our industry depends on experienced operators eventually passing the baton to the next generation. The problem is, I'm not convinced we're doing enough to make sure that happens.
One of the things that has always fascinated me about management rights is how few people deliberately choose it as a career. Ask a group of school leavers what they want to do and you'll hear answers like law, accounting, engineering, software development or marketing. Some will dream of becoming entrepreneurs. Very few, if any, will tell you they want to own a management rights business, not because it lacks opportunity, but because they simply don't know the opportunity exists.
That should concern all of us because our industry has an incredible story to tell. It offers the chance to own a business, build long-term wealth, become part of a community and create experiences that people remember for years. Those are opportunities many people spend their entire working lives searching for, yet we do remarkably little to promote them outside our own industry.
The challenge has become even greater because we're no longer competing only with other accommodation businesses. We're competing with every industry. Twenty years ago, someone with ambition might have looked at management rights as one of the best pathways into business ownership. Today, that same person could build an AI company, launch an online business or start a technology company from their spare bedroom. If we want ambitious young people to choose management rights, we have to give them a reason to see it as an exciting future, not just an industry they stumble across by chance.
Technology is part of that story. We often talk about automation and artificial intelligence in terms of efficiency and reducing costs, but they're much more than that. They signal that this is an industry willing to evolve. Young professionals want to work in industries that embrace innovation, use modern tools and continue to improve. Technology doesn't just make businesses better, it makes industries more attractive to the people we're trying to recruit.
What concerns me even more is the lack of a clearly defined pathway into ownership. Most successful operators I know didn't follow a structured career plan. They found management rights through family, friends or circumstance, learned through experience and eventually built outstanding businesses. That organic approach has served the industry well, but I'm not convinced it will be enough for the future.
If a talented 20-year-old wanted to own a management rights business one day, where would they start? Who would mentor them? What skills should they develop? How would they gain the confidence and experience needed to make that leap?
These are questions that deserve far more attention than they're currently receiving.
Most importantly, who is responsible for driving that vision?
We have an industry body that's very good at telling governments what the industry needs today. Advocacy matters, and protecting operators will always be important. But sometimes I wonder whether we've become so focused on protecting the industry that we've forgotten to build it.
I don't see a coordinated long-term vision for attracting the next generation.
Where is the national mentorship program?
Where is the ten-year vision?
Where are the public information sessions?
Where are the partnerships with schools, universities and hospitality educators?
Where are the scholarships?
Where is the leadership academy?
Where is the pipeline of future operators?
That's important work. But advocacy shouldn't be the destination. It should be the foundation. Once you've protected an industry, the next responsibility is helping it grow.
For an industry that manages more than $120 billion in property assets, I find it remarkable that we seem to spend more time discussing the next legislative amendment than the next generation of business owners.
Here's my challenge to our industry leaders. If a 20-year-old walked into your office tomorrow and said, "I want to own a management rights business in ten years. Help me get there," what would your answer be? Would you hand them a structured pathway, introduce them to a mentor and show them what success looks like? Or would you simply tell them to go and figure it out?
I think the answer to that question says a lot about whether we're truly investing in the future of our industry.
I'm not suggesting our industry has a succession crisis. In fact, we're fortunate to have some of the most knowledgeable, resilient and entrepreneurial operators in the country. Their experience is one of our greatest assets. The challenge is making sure that knowledge is shared before it disappears.
Imagine what our industry could look like if every experienced operator mentored just one future business owner.
Imagine if there was a nationally recognised mentorship program.
Imagine if every industry conference included a Future Leaders stream.
Imagine if schools, universities and business faculties regularly introduced students to management rights as a genuine career option.
Imagine if experienced operators volunteered just one afternoon each month to mentor someone starting out.
Imagine if, instead of waiting for people to discover our industry, we actively went out and found the next generation ourselves.
This industry manages hundreds of thousands of lots and remains overwhelmingly owner-operated. That model has been one of our greatest strengths, but it also means our future depends on people continuing to choose this industry.
As I left the event, I kept thinking about the room I'd just been sitting in.
It was full of experience, resilience and knowledge built over decades. It reminded me why I love this industry.
But it also reminded me that experience doesn't last forever.
If we want the management rights industry to be just as strong in twenty years' time as it is today, we need to stop assuming the next generation will simply appear. We need to actively attract them, mentor them and create a clear pathway into ownership.
The true measure of a healthy industry isn't how well it responds to today's challenges. It's how well it prepares the people who will solve tomorrow's.
If our industry already has a long-term plan for attracting, mentoring and developing the next generation of operators, I'd genuinely love to see it. But from where I sit, that conversation isn't happening loudly enough.
And if nobody is prepared to lead it, perhaps it's time for others to step forward.
At Resly, we've always believed technology can improve the way our industry operates. But technology alone won't secure its future.
People will.
If that means helping create a national mentorship program, supporting education initiatives, opening doors for young entrepreneurs or simply bringing the right people together, then count us in.
Because I don't just want to build better software for this industry.
I want to help build the next generation of people who will lead it.
Next time we gather at an industry event, I hope we're not just celebrating the people who built this industry.
I hope we're introducing the people who will lead it next.
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