Sheraton, an international luxury hotel brand affiliated with Starwood Group, opened a new hotel in Guiyang Municipality, Guizhou Province, Southwest China in May this year.

"The major reason behind Starwood Group's decision to invest in Guiyang City is that we see great potential in the development of Guiyang's hotel industry", said Vincent Thong, General Manager of the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel.

Guizhou is fast becoming an emerging tourist destination. Tourists can find natural scenery, ethnic culture and profound historical and cultural legacies. Adding a pleasant climate, Guizhou is nicknamed as a "dreamy city to while away hot summers".

Not long ago Libo, a minority ethnic group located on the southern end of Guizhou Province, successfully entered the list of World Natural Heritage, which helped put Guizhou on the map and create a boom in the tourism industry.

In addition, during the past several years, Guizhou has made enormous efforts in urban construction, and the provincial government has hosted many tourism promotion fairs to encourage the influx of foreign investment. All these measures have significantly improved the development of Guizhou's tourism industry and economy.

"Even since Sheraton Guiyang Hotel opened its doors in May, business has been very positive. We have full confidence in the future of Guiyang's tourism industry," said Thong.

Affiliated with Starwood Group, the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel is well positioned as a high-end business hotel. Businessmen and high-end tourist groups make up the majority of the hotel's guests.

"In the future, the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel will build on the local market while expanding its international market to attract more people to Guizhou either on business trips or for sightseeing by means of the Group's global sales network and its huge guest base. We are willing to contribute our bit for the future to make the world better understand Guizhou and as well as facilitate the opening of Guizhou," explained Thong.

The 40-storey high Sheraton Guiyang Hotel boasts 346 guest rooms and suites as well as six Chinese and Western restaurants and bars. The 1,370 square meter exhibition space can seat 15 to 500 people and serve various conference and banquet needs. These are complemented by a number of recreational facilities, such as a luxury spa center, gym, swimming pool and boutique shops.

In addition, facilities inside the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel meet top international business hotels. For example, every guest room has a Sheraton exclusive sweet dream bed, two international direct dialing (IDD) lines, voice mail, high speed broadband access, and independent worktables. Conference rooms and business centers are all equipped with the most advanced conference and electronic communication facilities. Wireless Internet connection is available in all public areas inside the hotel.

"We are consistent with Sheraton's top quality services and stress the importance of customized quality services. Guests will feel the unique pleasure of staying at the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel. The one-button service provided by the Guests Service Center helps to solve our guests' various problems. Caring and customized services like these have won high acclaim from our guests," says Thong.

The Sheraton Guiyang Hotel intends to bring guests a brand new "brand experience".This is also the brand image Starwood Groupis now building across the globe.

Guests feel the difference the moment they enter the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel. All Sheraton hotels share The familiar melodious background music and the hint of fragrance floating in the air. When guests first arrive, staff greet them with friendly smiles and warm greetings, while senior hotel managers ask guests about their needs. As an extra touch, the Sheraton Guiyang also has paid post cards at the reception desk. Guests can send them to friends back home to keep in touch.

"It's through putting more effort into the little things and valuing emotional communications with guests that they develop a genuine brand affection towards Sheraton. That's what will lead to our success," explained Thong.

Sheraton also treats its regular guests with special favors. Frequent guests will receive special complimentary services when they patronize any hotels affiliated with Starwood Group around the globe. Starwood has a number of priority incentive schemes for frequent guests. In the Scheme of Priority Guests (SPG), guests of all Starwood hotels are entitled to a SPG membership which entitles them to the global, easy and flexible guests points scheme, which is valid in over 890 Starwood hotels in more than 100 countries. With an accumulation of these points, guests can get free rooms or various gifts.

In addition, Sheraton keeps detailed records of every guests' information on their stays in Starwood properties, as well as birthdays, and anniversaries. When guests come to a Starwood hotel for a second time, they will receive greeting cards and gifts. Through these services Sheraton manages to maintain a long-term relationship with many guests the membership is growing worldwide. These guests also develop a "second home" affection towards Sheraton and they name the hotel their first choice when they travel.

An expert in the hotel industry, Thong says as one of the three pillars of tourism, the hotel industry plays a significant role in the elevating the city's entire tourism image. Presently there are many hotels in Guizhou Province but not many of them are at an international standard. Sheraton's entry into Guiyang not only signals the growth of Guizhou's hotel industry, but will also Sheraton's active role in standardizing the Guizhou hotel industry and elevating Guizhou's tourism image.

As Guiyang's internal tourist market has been improved steadily during the past several years, more people are coming to Guiyang for sightseeing or on business trips. "I believe that with the constant improvement of Guiyang's tourism facilities, Guiyang is going to usher in more high-profile business trips," predicted Thong.

The cooperation between Starwood Group and Guizhou Aviation to establish the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel is a mighty one. On the one hand, Guizhou Aviation is one of the most powerful enterprises in Guizhou Province. Its choice of Sheraton as a partner represents its affirmation of and confidence in the international hotel brand. On the other, as a leading management group, Starwood Group chose Guizhou because it believes Guizhou has a promising tourism and hotel industry.

Starwood Group owns nine world-renowned hotel brands including Sheraton. It operates a total of over 890 hotels in more than 100 countries. As one of the earliest international hotel brands entering Chinese market, Sheraton has established a good reputation after years of steady development. Sheraton also offers advanced international hotel management expertise, sophisticated and stable operational models, top class quality standards and professional services. All these will greatly improve the overall quality of Guizhou's hotel industry.

Through the Group's global sales network and huge guest base, the Sheraton Guiyang Hotel also features a series of promotions, such as conference packages to have more people come to Guizhou for sightseeing or business trips.

"I am not sure yet whether Starwood Group will introduce its other brands into Guizhou in the future," says Thong, "but I am quite sure that with the steady development of Guizhou's economy, more and more world renowned hotel brands will enter Guizhou Province and Guiyang Municipality. I am looking forward to Starwood Group introducing more brands to Guizhou and make contributions to the development of Guizhou's hotel industry," Thong says.