A passion for international experience

Steve (Keng Heng) Tan graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Adelaide with a Bachelor of Business (International Hotel & Resort Management) in 2007. His international career has focused on travel, working in luxury hotels where he has quickly risen to Rooms Division Manager.

A hospitality management diploma from Singapore gave Steve advanced standing toward his Le Cordon Bleu degree (International Hotel & Resort Management) allowing him to enter the programme in Stage 3. Steve says he is very happy with his decision to undertake higher education at Le Cordon Bleu.

I chose Le Cordon Bleu for its reputation as a quality educator and leading culinary arts provider. The high standard of living in Australia was also a deciding factor.

After graduating, Steve’s passion for experience led him to Philadelphia (USA) on an 18-month sponsored visa for the luxury Ritz-Carlton group working in Rooms Division, followed by an adventure in Singapore at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia where he managed a 600-room hotel as Duty Manager. Promotions were never far away - within one year Steve was promoted to Assistant Front Office Manager.

A desire for variety saw him jet off to Abu Dhabi to join the Ritz-Carlton opening team for a 532-room hotel. Steve takes great pride in this achievement, as he was instrumental in setting up the Property Management System (PMS) which is still operational today.

After two years in the Middle East, Steve returned to Australia to work as Front Office Manager at Hyatt Regency (Perth). An opportunity at Crown Resorts (Perth) as a member of the pre-opening team in August 2016 led to his next role as Front Office Manager. Happily settled in Perth, in his new role as Rooms Division Manager at Mantra Charles, Steve plans to put his down roots here, saying: “There are not many countries that can better Australia for quality of life”.

His advice to new graduates is: “Don’t limit yourself, be open to opportunities. Broaden your experiences, travel overseas. The Middle East has amazing opportunities to advance your career and offers employee sponsorships.”

Steve recalls his Work Integrated Learning (Industry Placement) as an invaluable experience, and advises current students to make the most of it. He quickly moved from housekeeping to front office during his 6-month Le Cordon Bleu Work Integrated Learning placement at five-star Shangri-La in Cairns. Looking forward, Steve aspires to be General Manager of an international luxury hotel with teaching also on the cards, as he is keen to share his knowledge and experience.

I would love to teach at Le Cordon Bleu as I am very proud of my qualification. My lecturers at Le Cordon Bleu had extensive industry experience and were always willing to share. It would be an opportunity to give back to the school which provided me such an incredible learning experience.

CRICOS 02380M / RTO 4959