When Ms Franseska Handoko was growing up she spent all her school holidays travelling and staying in hotels. "I have been in love with the hospitality industry as long as I can remember," she says.

In 1992 Fransiska was attracted to the Blue Mountains Hotel School in Australia for several reasons: the fact it offered two Diplomas in Hotel Management (an Australian Advanced Diploma and a Swiss Diploma from IHTTI) as well as the opportunity for hands-on training, two paid industrial placements and a culturally diverse, international student body.

“The best experience at School was the CHASE (Cornell Hotel Administration Simulation Exercise) where we were responsible for every decision we made from day one in the running of a hotel,” says Fransiska. “It was also a great experience running the bistro during the final year and trying to make it the most popular meal 'destination' for all students with our unique theming.”

On graduation in December 1995, Fransiska became a Front Office Trainee at the four star Papandayan Hotel in Bandung, back home in Indonesia followed by a job as Duty Manager with the Sol Elito Paradiso resort on Bali. From March 1998, she was Sales Manager for a four star hotel property in Legian and Sales and Marketing Manager for the Risata Bali Resort.

Fransiska began her career with Accor as an Assistant Director of Sales. She capitalised on her BMHS training with Accor Asia Pacific training programs. “The course at BMHS gave me the ability to handle the workload and pressure,” she says, “The theories I learned still make good reference points as needed and I make the necessary adjustments to the practical side in the light of the local environment and market trends.”

In her next role as Director of Sales and Marketing for two hotels, the Novotel Coralia Benoa Bali and Lombok, Fransiska was responsible for short and long term sales strategies, advertising and promotion, travelshows and roadshows, and external relationships with partners such as tour operators, airlines, the Accor group and the media. Before taking this job she helped with the pre-opening sales strategy of the sister hotel, Mercure Kuta, a new Accor property in Bali.

In October 2002, Fransiska left Novotel to take up a promotion as Director of Sales and Marketing, Public Relations and Reservations Department with the five-star 404 room Ramada Bintang Bali Resort located in Tuban, south of Kuta, in Bali.