Emergencies Test Hotels' Coordinating Ability

This month's China Hospitality News reader Ivy Han comes from Wuhan Digital China Limited. She is mainly responsible for the company's administrative affairs, and MICE and meeting planning.

What are your criteria for choosing a hotel or meeting destination?
I value a hotel's environment and the coordinating ability of their sales staff. Usually I will choose a place that is comfortable and has sufficient reception capacities for meeting events.

Which domestic hotels do you often choose for your events?
For a Wuhan regional meeting, I will choose Wuhan East Lake Hotel and New World Hotel Wuhan. For Beijing, I will choose hotels like Royal King Hotel Beijing and Empark Grand Hotel Beijing, and for Shanghai I will choose Jinjiang Hotel Shanghai and Sofitel Shanghai Jin Jiang Oriental Pudong.

Which hotels have impressed you most and why?
New World Hotel Wuhan, Beijing Hot Spring Leisure City, Jiangxi Galactic Peace International Hotel, Lijiang Wangfu Hotel, Changsha Huatian Hotel have all left deep impression on me.

New World Hotel Wuhan is not too bad a choice. The hotel features a convenient location. Its large meeting room directly faces the entrance hall of the hotel so it is very easy for the guests to find the meeting room. For business hotels, I will consider whether they are conveniently located. Hotels with plenty of facilities and hotels in garden styles are also my favorite.

What problems have you encountered in using hotel products and service? What suggestions do you have for hotels?
Personally I regard the coordinating ability of a hotel's sales staff as important. My suggestion to the hotels is that when a client has a need, they should work hard to see what they can do to help the client instead of simply turning their requests down.

What kinds of regular events does your company hold each year? Where do you hold these events?
Our regular events include the annual meeting, the Kick-off meeting and outdoor team development training. We usually choose Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and some other tourism cities for these events.

Through which channels do you select hotels or venues for your company events?
We have signed agreements with hotels in different parts of the country. Besides, I think highly of hotels recommended by the travel magazines.

How do you think of the relation between travel and fashion? Which domestic hotels have impressed you as "fashionable" hotels?
In my opinion, travel is a kind of fashion. So far, none of the hotels in China has impressed me with a "fashionable" image.

China Hospitality News is committed to offering the most comprehensive report on China's tourism industry in the hope of providing the latest industry news to buyers both home and abroad. What do you think of our products? Which columns are you interested in most and why?
I'm mostly concerned with Travel and Hotel, because these two columns offer me direct information on the status quo of the destinations.

Can you please recommend some domestic and foreign destinations for our readers?
Houhe in Yichang is a not too bad a choice. It is suitable for self-drive travel, but regretfully there is not a good hotel nearby.

What are you hobbies and what type of travel do you like?
I like FIT, with hotel rooms booked in advance so I can go visiting local spots to my heart's content.

Do you have any plan for traveling in the near future?
I plan to go to travel and take a holiday in Hong Kong.