Development Quarterly - Issue 3 IHG Europe's Development, Design & Openings magazine

TRENDS
The two tiers on offer both present a healthy return on investment to
owners*. The Essential tier ensures hotels have the key infrastructure
to support the guest experience. This includes Chinese TV channels,
China Union payment methods, Chinese-speaking staff at the front
desk (or via 24/7 phone support) and condensed cross-cultural
training. The Premium tier offers that much more, with all restaurant
and in-room menus translated into Chinese, a full Chinese F&B
offering and extensive cultural training, something Drew feels is
key for both tiers, “We felt it was an important element to offer the
cultural training in both tiers as opposed to just one. It isn’t just,
‘Here’s the teas, here’s the food’. Understanding relationships,
respect and all the other cultural elements is make or break for a
good guest experience.”
Being China Ready is imperative, and IHG’s programme is putting
hotels well on the way to reaching this lucrative market. Drew sums
it up, “One fifth of the population of the world is Chinese and it’s
growing. The choice is to become China Ready and draw in that
market right now, or wait for them to come and then play catch up.”
Number crunch:
The ten most important things to Chinese guests*
1. Free WiFi
2. China UnionPay / Alipay accepted
3. In-house Mandarin speaking staff available 24/7 or phone
support 24/7
4. Translated travel / tourism guides
5. Hotel website in Mandarin
6. In-room food service options
7. Chinese TV programmes
8. Chinese breakfast
9. Translated welcome material
10. Chinese newspapers / magazines
Well, when you put it like that...
* ‘Is Your Hotel China Ready?’, IHG, 2015
** ‘The Future of Chinese Travel’, Oxford Economics report for IHG, 2015
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