IHG starts global program to cater to Chinese visitors

'China Ready' capitalizes on the group's more than 30 years operating experience in China, Wang Zhuoqiong reports.

Finding a hot cup of Chinese tea or a bowl of congee for breakfast is a delightful surprise for Chinese tourists traveling overseas. Now a hospitality group is offering much more than that as it develops global standards for Chinese visitors to its facilities around the world.

The China Ready Program recently launched by leading international hotel group, InterContinental Hotels Group, features Chinese-speaking staff at the front desk, a Chinese welcome package, Chinese channels on in-room TVs, and Chinese tea as well as a variety of food and beverage options and other amenities that meet the needs of Chinese guests.

The group is capitalizing on its more than three decades of operating experience in China to launch "Zhou Dao", a tailor-made program designed to prepare its hotels to welcome Chinese travelers with a homeaway-from-home experience. "Zhou" in Chinese means continent as in InterContinental. "Dao" refers to the Chinese philosophy Taoism, which is also known as Daoism.

China's booming outbound travel market is changing the global tourism landscape. In 2014, the country surpassed the United States to become the world's largest outbound tourism market. Chinese travelers also emerged as the largest travel spenders worldwide.

IHG has also invested heavily in training its worldwide hotel staff in Chinese etiquette, culture and hospitality. By the end of 2014, more than 10,000 employees around the world had taken part in the China Ready service training program. Nearly 100 hotels across the globe are already participating in the "Zhou Dao" program, and by the end of this year, that number will grow to 250 hotels.

Kenneth Macpherson, chief executive officer of IHG Greater China, said, "With our unparalleled scale and distribution, as well as the IHG Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty program, we are ready to welcome more Chinese travelers to enjoy the 'best ever' lodging experience that they are familiar with at home."

The CEO said that implementing the China Ready program at hotels outside China is a major challenge, particularly how to implement the same standard at a large number of hotels worldwide. It involves a lot of training for hotel employees, he said.

The program is based on the knowledge and understanding of the Chinese market gained during IHG's 30 years experience in the country. Macpherson said the group, as the largest foreign hotelier in China in terms of the number of hotels - more than 240 in operation and another 200 in the pipeline, has vast data resources regarding the preferences of Chinese customers.

The research and efforts the group has put into building up its Hualuxe brand, a luxury brand designed with Chinese culture and characteristics in mind, during the past two years have also provided information on Chinese customer preferences to support the design and implementation of the China Ready project, he said.

IHG also announced its strategic partnership with "Welcome Chinese," a new hospitality standard specifically for Chinese travelers and the only industry standard recognized by the China Tourism Academy, a subdivision of the China National Tourism Administration.

With this partnership, all IHG hotels that participate in the "Zhou Dao" program will be issued a gold standard certificate by "Welcome Chinese". The mission of "Welcome Chinese" is to improve outbound tourism experiences for Chinese travelers and guarantee service quality by popularizing Chinese-style services to accredited organizations.

IHG published a report titled "The Future of Chinese Travel" in March 2015, indicating that favorable economic and demographic trends are shaping the Chinese travel market and are set to fuel huge increases in demand for international travel during the next decade. It also reveals the opportunities this growth will present as Chinese travelers' preferences evolve towards long-haul, leisure-driven travel.

Targeting such markets, Macpherson said the group would continue to focus on the development of its premium brands and mid-range brands. The number of its loyalty program members in China increased 20 percent last year to a total of 5.4 million and is forecast to continue to rise.

IHG's portfolio of hotel brands include InterContinental Hotels& Resorts, Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

In January 2015, IHG acquired Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the world's leading boutique hotel business, which it plans to introduce to China.

Contact the writer at wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/18/2015 page10)