HK Hotels Make Efforts for Luring more Mainland Guests

Home>>Life

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 22, 2003

HK Hotels Make Efforts for Luring more Mainland Guests

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

If inviting a marketing manager who can speak fluent standard Chinese in a five-star hotel in HongKong is not unusual for Chinese mainland guests, then having chopsticks at its typical western style cafe may give them a happysurprise.

After 16 months renovation at a cost of 7 million Hong Kong dollars (897,435 US dollars), Marriott Cafe at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong reopened last weekend not only with the so claimed "super fresh" seafood like lobsters, oysters, and shrimps, but alsowitnessing changes targeting at the mainland guests.

Besides the chopsticks, the manu of the cafe for the first timehas a Chinese translation and each silver plate of food in counters has both English and Chinese names.

Christian Abell, director of food & Beverage of Marriott, said Hong Kong is embracing both western and Chinese cultures, it is also the case for the food in the reopened cafe.

To welcome more people from the mainland, especially those fromBeijing and Shanghai, the cafe has begun to prepare for the first time Beijing and Shanghai dishes, though Cantonese dishes are always at service.

Mark Conklin, general manager of JW Marriott said in an interview with Xinhua Friday that the rebound of hotel room occupancy rate is "surprising"!

He said that when severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) hit Hong Kong, the occupancy rate accounted only for about 10 percent,now the number is around 75 percent.

Though the number of mainland passengers only accounts for 8 to10 percent for the hotel traditionally, Conklin sees great potential of them.

He said Chinese mainland is the booming part of the world, withthe ink of Chinese mainland/Hong Kong closer economic partnership arrangement and allowing more mainland residents to make HK trips since late July, he is confident that more mainland guests will stay in his hotel.

He estimated that the hotel room occupancy rate will resume to its normal statues or above 80 percent in October and the increasing part may be passengers from the mainland.

During the weekends in the past few weeks, quite a number of passengers from the mainland have resided in his hotel and he said his hotel is making more preparations for the surging of these guests.

He said the JW Marriott chain hotel to be opened in Shanghai inSeptember will be another "permanent advertisement" and his company is under negotiation for building three other hotels in Sanya of Hainan, Shenzhen and Guangzhou of Guangdong province.

Elaine Luey, director of marketing of Marriott, said to betterreceive mainland passengers, the hotel is running a dialect training course and room service introduction will also be translated into Chinese for the first time.

Peninsula Hotel, another well known hotel in Hong Kong, has decided to cash in on its 75th founding anniversary that will fallon December 11 for its marketing promotion.

Lamey Chang, its marketing director said Shanghai is a major place for her hotel's marketing promotion. One of her hotel's marketing manager has just made a promotion trip to Shanghai. The hotel sees Shanghai a place with big potential.

Meanwhile, Wilson Lee, marketing director of Grand Hyatte Hong Kong, told Xinhua that his hotel is drafting a marketing promotionplan targeting the Chinese mainland market and his hotel has joined hands with other two chain hotels in Beijing and Shanghai for market promotion.

The hotel has already invited two personnel from Beijing and Shanghai to take the posts of sales managers in charge of mainlandguests.

Portia Lau, market communications manager of Grand Hyatte, saidlike many other five-star hotels, her hotel's training department runs regular dialect courses for all front line employees.

In addition, the hotel brochures are produced in both English and Chinese, making sure that all pertinent information is communicated to the mainland guests in the most effective manner.

As for the "hardwares" of the hotel sector, Hong Kong is speeding up its hotel projects and new hotels with over 30,000 rooms are expected to be built up in six years.

Tourism experts here believe that Hong Kong has limited scenic spots and the future tourism should focus on luring white-color mainland tourists who spend much money in Hong Kong, saying that the white-colors would not reside in lower priced hotels.

In July, the tourist arrivals in Hong Kong reached 1.3 million,up 78 percent over that of June. Hong Kong tourism officials said that over 60 percent of them came from the mainland and the tourist arrivals in Hong Kong in August is expected to exceed thatof in July.

Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa has urged earlier this month the tourism related sectors to prepare enough hotel rooms, and improveservices in retail stores and catering sector, to meet the surgingof tourist arrivals in the next few years.

By September 1, residents from Beijing and Shanghai will be allowed to travel to Hong Kong individually, adding the total number of Chinese mainland cities allowing solo HK trips to eight.Experts estimate that at least 10 million mainland tourists would come to Hong Kong next year.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China Eases Travel Limitations to HK, Macao

HK Travel Expected to Jump

Travel Scheme Causes Concern in HK

US Conducts Land-based Missile Test ( 2 Messages)

Chinese Personages Appeal to Japan to Face up to History ( 2 Messages)

Disgraced Official Highlights Chinks in System ( 3 Messages)

Beijing's Economy Forecast to Grow 9-10 Percent in 2003 ( 2 Messages)

China Puts New Anti-AIDS Drug in Clinical Use ( 2 Messages)