20-21 / 204
20
21
where you don’t hear about corporations, or the
stockmarket, or POTUS.
LS:
What brought you into the folds of such an
exclusive industry?
PT:
I grew up in Austria where my parents
owned hotels, and a Michelin Star restaurant
which was unique 40 years ago. So, I was always
exposed to the hospitality industry in one way
or the other.After getting an MBA, I worked for a
fewyears in Hong Kong, in the early 1990s when
it was still a British colony.This was my first ex-
posure to the private club industry. Back then,
when Hong Kong was booming,money was no
object.And the company I served on the board
for provided unbelievable services to the wealthy
Chinese and Hong Kong-Chinese people. It was an
eye-opening experience.
One of the greatest things I learned there came
frommymentor,who told me,“If you want to be
successful in Asia, you need to be like an egg.You
can be white on the outside, but if you want to
do proper business here, you have to be yellow
on the inside.”Meaning you need to respect the
business life and traditions of whatever culture
you’re living in. I tried to apply that in my time in
the U.S. and Europe, and it worked well. Because,
born in Austria, I’ve always been a foreigner wher-
ever I worked–in Asia,America, and the UKwhere
I spent four years working out of London.
Between 1995 and the early 2000s, I founded
and ran a company that developed many high-
end golf facilities. In 2003, I sold it to a publicly
traded company called Centex Homes,which was
the largest American-based home builder. It was
a good move because a fewyears later the whole
housing market fell, and I was glad to be out of it.
Subsequently, I went back to Austria, and didn’t
do much–except manage one of the most
prominent hockey clubs in Central Europe.
The next really big thing happened when I
became a board member of Palmerston Resorts
& Hotels, based out of London, England. It’s the
leading resort management company in Europe.
I was invited by the main shareholder, a German
citizen, and became the Chief Operating Officer
for almost five years.We operated the top six
private club facilities in Europe, and I was so
fortunate to help guide that great company in
the directions where we were able, in one year,
to show a fantastic increase in value that they
EXECUTIVE VIEW
paid out to our shareholders. In 2011, the HSBC
Bank out of London recognized me as the turn-
around specialist in the hospitality industry for all
of Europe.
LS:
Brilliant! And you’re so humble when you
speak of these things…
PT:
It was pretty cool, because it’s very difficult
to get the banks to do anything, especially Hong
Kong and Shanghai Bank because they are so
large.To work with high-end bankers who see the
big picture, and receive that award from them as
Restructuring Manager of the Year in the hospital-
ity industry was just a phenomenal accomplish-
ment,which I was happy to accept. But it wasn’t
onlymy fault, there were many people involved.
In 2015, I decided it’s time to move back to my
good old U.S.A. and start from scratch.To get a
couple core management contracts,which I’ve
done, and begin catering to the very wealthy
members and individuals in that niche market.
That’s basically what we’re doing today.
LS:
And you’re running a hockey club, I hear?
PT:
Yes. In my ventures, everything involves
hospitality; providing experiences to people.
So, I ended up buying a hockey franchise,which
sounds glorious, but… it’s a junior hockey team
franchise, Florida Jr. Blades, in the USPHL (Unit-
ed States Premier Hockey League). I feel strong-
ly that there is a big need in southwest Florida
to add a second team into this US-wide league,
because there is already one. Your publisher,
Marcus, is very helpful with this whole process.
It is a new venture, but I have experience from
playing professional hockey before and, also,
I managed the largest club in central Europe,
with an unbelievably high budget. So, I under-
stand the numbers. This is really close to my
heart, because it has to do with the develop-