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Drop in business keeps hotel employees scrambling

By Ding Qingfen (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-23 08:02

Qiu, a sales executive at a major hotel group in China, is much busier than last year. Before last December, Qiu, speaking on condition of his employer's anonymity, spent most of his working time in the office, surfing the internet, with few worries.

But the past few months were fully scheduled.

"All I do is call or visit clients. There are at least 10 visits every day. It is frustrating," he said.

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The financial crisis has devastated China's hotel industry, especially the luxury sector.

The local hotel industry grew explosively the past three years, driven by the rapidly growing Chinese economy.

International hotel giants such as Marriott, Starwood and Accor entered the Chinese market and developed networks in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The occupancy rate of five-star hotels in these cities was more than 80 percent in high season.

"When the economy is prospering, the hotel business is buzzing. Fixed corporate clients, though few in number, contributed about 80 percent of annual sales," said Qiu.

"We hardly went outside to visit potential corporate clients," he said.

But luxury hotels watched business plummet the past four months as international companies cut traveling budgets.

The hotel occupancy rate in major Chinese cities reportedly declined by around 30 percent.

Sales persons now spend most days canvassing for customers, focusing their efforts on State-owned companies, embassies and travel agencies rather than international companies.

"Getting the cold shoulder from potential clients is hardly novel. We often see sales staffs from other hotels heading unsuccessfully out of the gate of the same company we are about to try," said Qiu.

"What they (corporate clients) really care about is service quality and brand awareness," he said.

Independent hotels will struggle to stay in business and even the biggest chains will need to scramble to improve their service, said Geoff Garside, Marriott International Asia-Pacific's executive vice-president.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group recently launched a cross-training program in its China hotels, encouraging staff to get training in virtually any other department.

"This is a way to help employees better understand what the customer needs," said an executive from the group.

"If staff from the food and beverage department go to departments where there are more opportunities to communicate with the guests, they will get know more detailed information on their customers," he said.

Accor also set up its Accor China academy last year to strengthen staff training and improve service.

The academy trains staff in hospitality, sales, marketing, office automation, languages, operational management, and leadership development.