Int'l hotels recruit Chinese staff

International hotel groups are seeking talented Chinese employees to work overseas now that China is emerging as a growing source of big-spending outbound tourists.

Chinese tourists made about 83 million international trips in 2012 versus 10 million in 2000, according to statistics released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

"(Our hotels in) the Middle East, in particular, have responded very well and actually are hiring a lot of Chinese, including receptionists and even butlers," says Michel Gehrig, Kempinski Hotels' vice-president for talent development, when he flew to Beijing from Geneva for the career day of European hotel group's China region in late March.