InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) looks to have its finger on the pulse as it orders global staff training in Chinese etiquette, culture and hospitality.
China has already overtaken the US as the world’s largest outbound tourism market and IHG have responded with Zhou Dao, which will see 100,000 staff brought up to speed on how to communication effectively with new waves of Chinese tourists.
By November 2014, the number of China’s annual outbound tourists reached 100 million for the first time. Across the whole year, the number of outbound tourists reached 107 million, which was an increase of 19.49 per cent from 2013.
“Zhou Dao” integrates IHG’s Chinese name “Zhou”, with the philosophical concept, “dao”, which evokes the sense of “way”, in the sense of a road or path. Given the booming outbound travel market from China, IHG says it has designed thea tailor-made programme to prepare its hotels to welcome Chinese travellers with a ‘home-away-from-home’ experience.
New features will include more Chinese-speaking staff, either at front desks or via 24-7 phone support and acceptance of China UnionPay cards. Hotels will also feature a customised welcome pack, access to Chinese TV channels, Chinese tea and a variety of local delicacies.
The hotel brand has also invested heavily in equipping its worldwide hotel staff with Chinese etiquette, culture and hospitality training. By the end of 2014, over 10,000 employees around the world had undertaken “Zhou Dao” service training. Nearly 100 hotels across the globe are already participating in the programme, and by the end of this year, the number will more than double, to 250 hotels.
“In order to offer Chinese travellers a more confident, satisfactory and intimate travel experience, we are launching ‘Zhou Dao’, our meticulously developed China Ready programme globally,” said Kenneth Macpherson, the company’s Greater China CEO.
InterContinental Beijing Financial Street, China