Brands tweak amenities to appeal to Chinese guests

Hilton has 17 hotels in China, including the new Guangzhou Tianhe.

National Report-- The battle to draw Chinese travelers is heating up with the recent announcements from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Hilton Hotels & Resorts that they are launching personalized travel initiatives targeting Chinese travelers. 

Starwood—a major player in China with 75 hotels in operation and nearly 100 in the pipeline in the country—announced earlier this month the launch of its Starwood Personalized Travel program.

Some 19 Starwood hotels currently offer the program, including the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers and Le Méridien Piccadilly, London, with plans to roll it out across all Starwood hotels and resorts by the end of 2012. Elements include in-room tea kettles, slippers, translated welcome materials and on-site translation services as well as restaurant menus in Chinese and popular Chinese dishes such as congee.

“As Chinese travelers begin to travel beyond their borders en masse, they, like their Western counterparts before them, will gravitate to the hotel brands they know from home, and with Starwood’s leading footprint in China, this gives us a great advantage,” said Frits van Paasschen, Starwood’s president and CEO.

Not to be outdone, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has launched Hilton Huanying, its own tailored experience for Chinese travelers. Thirty hotels are already enrolled in the Hilton Huanying program, which debuted Aug. 16 in San Francisco.

Hilton’s program includes a front-desk team member fluent in Chinese, a selection of Chinese tea, a dedicated TV channel broadcasting Chinese programming and a welcome letter written in Chinese. Hilton has 17 hotels in China—a number it plans to boost to more than 100 in the next five years.

“Every experience we share with our guests begins with a welcome. Hilton Huanying is an extension of our brand promise to ensure every guest feels cared for, valued and respected,” said Dave Horton, global head of Hilton Hotels & Resorts. “As the world prepares to welcome the growing number of Chinese travelers, we continue to lead and give guests compelling reasons to choose Hilton.”

There has been a huge surge in Chinese travelers visiting other countries in recent years, and there are no signs it will slow down; the World Tourism Organization has estimated that the total number of outbound tourists from China will reach 100 million by 2020.

Timothy Lam, executive director at The International School of Hospitality and a native of China who resides in Las Vegas, said he believes such initiatives will prove effective in enticing Chinese customers to properties in the first place and then helping convert them into loyal visitors in the long term.

“Guest relations are more and more about personalized attention and care,” he said. “You can see this more evident in the advent of boutique properties. For the large chain properties, this is a key step to take in recognition that one size does not fit all.

“These endeavors of Starwood and Hilton are going to be popular and valued by Chinese travelers. Guests pick their properties in large part due to their comfort with them and that comes from personal service and warmth. These programs go a long way to making Chinese travelers feel at home. As a Chinese person myself, I often get a craving for Chinese comfort foods when I travel. Having congee and such available can make a difference.”

While not sufficient in themselves, personalized touches can go some way to fostering loyalty in travelers, Lam said.

“Loyalty is the key word,” he said. “Travelers seek peace of mind. In and of itself, it is not enough to generate loyalty but together with the other key tools, such as innovative reward programs, can help create a perception of care that endears [them] to travelers.”