Service with a smile gives competitive edge

After managing hotels in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland for more than 20 years, Vincent Chan was not expecting the challenge that awaited him running a hotel in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, when he transferred from the China National Travel Service Group Corp's headquarters in Beijing in September 2013.

Founded in 2004, the Grand Metro Park Wanshi Hotel was the second five-star hotel in the city of 3.4 million residents. Located on the main avenue of the city's high-tech zone, it is well situated just 20 minutes by car from the airport and 15 minutes by car from the high-speed railway station.

However, despite this advantage, the hotel suffered when the Chinese government and State-owned enterprises started tightening the spending on official feasts and receptions in 2012.

"We had to divert our catering attention to middle-class consumers and their families," said Chan, who is the hotel's general manager. "The main growth area is now wedding parties and birthday feasts."

Wanshi's F&B department now offers many tailor-made promotions aimed at middle-class spenders. For example, couples holding their wedding in the hotel will be treated to a free anniversary-day dinner every five years and receive discounts on meals.

"A wedding feast is a lifelong memory. I hope such promotions can help couples remember their special day forever," said Chan.

After careful calculations, Chan lowered the price of a wedding feast from 2,280 yuan ($363) per table in 2013 to about 1,800 yuan in September 2014. Since then, the hotel's sales revenue has increased by nearly 50 percent year-on-year.

And to attract guests, Wanshi not only offers a free breakfast, but also a free buffet supper and provides various discounts for contracted business customers.

"The more people have supper in the hall, the less food is wasted, and the buffet needs a good, if not bustling, atmosphere," said Chan.

With several new hotels coming into operation within about three kilometers of Wanshi since 2013, Chan is now focusing on what he considers Wanshi's main advantage.

"Our competitive strength is our thoughtful service and the hospitable atmosphere that comes from every smile of our employees," Chan said.

He thinks that local people in Taiyuan are more conservative than those he used to work with in Jiangsu province, Hong Kong and Beijing. So he pays special attention to face-to-face communication with the staff.

"I want to raise their awareness of being a considerate service provider, and I want them to feel they are respected and that every smile counts in building our brand image and reputation," he said.

"More capital from the real estate industry has entered the hotel market. In the next five years, the hotel industry in China will see more new players. The old hotels cannot survive without good brand images that are based on good service," Chan added.

Chan's approach has ensured the occupancy rates of Wanshi are markedly above average for the hotels in Shanxi province, even though it does not rely on Internet hotel booking websites for its customers.

"Some of the main websites have a monopoly and seriously erode profits with their high commission. If a hotel totally relies on these websites, it will end up working totally against them," Chan said.

Contact the writers through liyang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/28/2015 page10)