Striving for an alluring prospect

A Community Day was held on Aug 15 by Shangri-La Hotel, Shenyang to celebrate the second anniversary of its opening in the capital city of Liaoning province.

Over the past year, Shangri-La Hotel, Shenyang has hosted three Community Days, an event that opens the hotel facilities to the residents nearby.

"Our local customers loved the use of the swimming pool, tennis court, Kids Club, or simply enjoy the great restaurants," said Raymond Teo, general manager of the hotel.

Situated along the "Golden Corridor", Shangri-La Hotel, Shenyang, has leapt to be the best hotel in the city in the past two years.

Teo said the strength lies in how they cope with the changing demand of customers.

Like any Shangri-La counterpart, the Shenyang hotel tries to integrate with local cultures.

Shenyang's Imperial Palace, the only other existing royal palace on the Chinese mainland after the Forbidden City in Beijing, is the inspiration for the hotel design. Therefore, it is not surprising to see related elements in the hotel lobby or guest rooms.

The hotel has changed the way it operates its restaurants. "Over the past 24 months, our menus in the restaurants are constantly being adjusted to suit the taste of our customers in Northeast China," said Teo.

Excellent overall staying and dining experiences, as well as competitive prices helped Shangri-La Shenyang to take first place on the lists of local hotels on social media websites such as Tripadvisor.

"You will be pleased to see our new set of menus and pricing for this year - Shangri-La is really an affordable destination," said Teo.

Apart from offering a better experience to attract more customers, Shangri-La Hotel, Shenyang has been striving to shoulder more social responsibilities.

In 2013, the hotel signed a 10-year contract with Liaoning Guangming School to provide pupils with a more family-like learning atmosphere and work experience to prepare them for the outside world. Established in 1965, the school is the largest orphanage in China. It is home to over 1,800 orphans and is the only social service school with both nine-year compulsory education and vocational education.

"With the hotel hiring coming-of-age kids into our hotel, we provide them with a training program to give them real-life exposure," said the general manager.

"At the beginning of this year, we took our first student from the school into our work force. Feedback has been very good, and I can see many more opportunities with the school."

Teo has been running the Shenyang hotel for more than a year now, but he is already a veteran in Shangri-La Hotel Group. He recently celebrated his 20th year with the group. He appreciates the training given to him while working for a growing company.

He said he has been very lucky to be given many opportunities within the group, to travel and to learn new skills. As the general manager of the hotel, he is trying to offer opportunities to many of his colleagues to grow as well.

"No one is an island. My success comes only when the team has performed well. It's all about teamwork in the hotel industry," he said.

Teo believes that one can only be successful if supported by the people around them. It never occurred to him to look elsewhere because he has a good network of friends working within the same company.

However, competition in the hotel industry is prevalent, especially in China. With so many hotels opening every year, Teo agrees that he and his team must work hard to stay ahead.

"As market leader, we must work even harder, to ensure that we continue to be creative in our offerings and consistent in our service," he said.

To make this happen, he welcomes more people who are passionate about the hospitality industry. "Shangri-La Hotels has always been strong in training. We hire for attitude, and train for skills. We will continue to provide an environment where our colleagues can achieve their personal and career goals."

His advice to anyone who wants to work in this exciting industry is "Be Patient. Make Lots of friends and enjoy what you are doing".

Contact the writers through

liuce@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/19/2015 page10)