ITI Articles

Ensuring that Pacific International Hotel Management School (PIHMS) students continue to be the first choice of hotel industry employers is one of the main goals of PIHMS’s new principal Flora Gilkison, who joined the school on 2 July.

While staying in hotels throughout New Zealand Mrs Gilkison says she has often come across PIHMS students and has been able to recognise them by their high standards of customer care. Now she is principal of PIHMS, she intends to ensure the high standard of PIHMS students is maintained.
Mrs Gilkison has had a long-standing interest in PIHMS, as her daughter was one of the school’s founding students. Her daughter studied at PIHMS for one year and continued her studies at PIHMS’s sister schools in the Blue Mountains, Australia and Neuchtal, Switzerland.

Mrs Gilkison has a strong background in education administration, mostly in vocational education. Most recently, she held the position of Dean of the Business and Technology Faculty at Waikato Institute of Technology. She has also held senior management positions at Hutt Valley Polytechnic, Taranaki Polytechnic and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and has tutored in management, accountancy and economics at Massey and Waikato Universities. Her career also includes senior management positions in non-educational organisations. She was Director General of the New Zealand Red Cross and General Manager Corporate Delivery for the New Zealand Lotteries Commission.

Mrs Gilkison holds a Masters in Education Administration from Massey University, and she is currently studying towards a Doctorate of Management and Organization Leadership through the University of Phoenix, Arizona in the USA.