Catherine Racsko has been appointed as General Manager at Sheraton Nha Trang

Less than two years after opening as the first 5-star, internationally renowned hotel on the beach in Vietnam, Sheraton Nha Trang has notched another first in the country’s march to maturation as a tourist destination with the appointment of a female general manager, Catherine Racsko. Trailblazing is nothing new to the Australian hotelier. She was the first foreign female to pick up the reins at a Starwood property in China where she worked at Le Meridien She Shan Shanghai. While it’s tempting to dismiss the differences between the sexes when it comes to managing a hotel, Racsko insists there is a difference — not better, not worse, just different. “The so-called ‘female touch’ can be a very positive characteristic for a GM,” she said. “We tend to pay closer attention to detail and can multi-task better than most men. It’s also, I would say, easier for us to convey a contagiously enthusiastic spirit!” For other reasons, too, Racsko expects to feel right at home in Vietnam where, like many foreign travelers, she’s already observed the prevalence of a hard-working female workforce, both among the ranks of the blue collar and white collar workforces. “There are a lot of really influential women in this country,” Racsko said, just weeks into her appointment. “Maybe this is a legacy of the Hai Ba Trung sisters, or of the crucial role women played during Vietnam’s struggle for independence, but it is immediately apparent.”