Hotels Should Have Flexible Plans For MICE Events

Teresa Shen is the senior sourcing buyer in the procurement department of Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. She is charge of the sourcing of hotels, travel agencies, and TMCs for the company.

China Hospitality News is committed to offering the most comprehensive reports on China's tourism industry with the object of providing the latest industry news to buyers both at home and abroad. What do you think of our products? Which columns interest you most and why?
China Hospitality New has abundant and comprehensive information and is very helpful in my work. I am most interested in Airline News and Hotel News.

We have launched a China MICE and hotel meetings facilities search website, 51mice.com, for meeting organizers. What do you think of this website? Do you have any suggestion to make? Would you consider using this product when choosing a meeting venue for your company?
I have used this website several times. I think there should be more pictures to provide more information about hotels so users can get a visual impression.

What are your criteria for choosing a hotel or meeting venue? Which elements do you think are the most important?
Compliance, attraction, safety, hardware facilities, service, and urban landscape. In my opinion, service and urban landscape are the most important.

Which domestic hotels do you most often choose for your events?
I prefer international chain hotels, such as Starwood, Hilton, and Marriott.

Which hotels have most impressed you by their personalized service and hardware facilities? And why?
Hilton Beijing Capital Airport, InterContinental Beijing Beichen, Sofitel Wanda Beijing, and JW Marriott Hotel Beijing.

Hilton Beijing Capital Airport provides good pre-meeting communication, has complete hardware facilities and beautiful lobby and meeting venues. Its sales people are easy to communicate with.

InterContinental Beijing Beichen features a perfect location overlooking the Bird's Nest.

Sofitel Wanda Beijing has special magic bathroom windows that frost-over at the flick of a switch.

JW Marriott Hotel Beijing has very professional sales people, fine hardware facilities, and a good location.

Has your company ever held any team building activities? In which hotel? How do you rate the hotel's service? Can you please share some details with us?
The company held a team building activity in Xianghe Grand Epoch City. There were 1,200 people, and they were divided into five groups to conduct a contest. The activity was a little restricted by the facilities of the hotel, and the service was satisfactory.

Which hotels' banquet and catering services have impressed you most? Could you please recommend several restaurants in hotels to our readers?
Suzhou New City Garden Hotel is quite impressive in this respect. As a local hotel, its daily buffet in the hotel's cafeteria has gained praise from all people attending the event.

What problems have you encountered in using hotel products and services? What suggestions do you have for hotels?
I hope the hotel could provide flexible plans to cope with occasional changes such as adjustment of meeting venues and the number of guest rooms.

Have you had any unpleasant experiences in the course of your cooperation and communication with hotels? Why?
A hotel once rented a meeting venue/guest room to two different clients at the same time, which has caused great problems for both conference organizers. I believe this was caused by insufficient internal communication of the hotel.

Through which channels do you select hotels or venues for your company events?
Comments from other buyers and information from professional magazines.

What do you think of the relationship between travel and fashion? Which domestic hotels have impressed you for being fashionable?
There is something same about travel and fashion, as they both both give spiritual enjoyment to people. I remember Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa places the bathroom in the middle of a room, which is quite unique and fashionable.

Please could you recommend some travel destinations to our readers?
For MICE venues I would like to recommend Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel and The First World Hotel in Hangzhou. For a personal vacation, I would recommend Melbourne, Sydney and Cairns in Australia, Madrid in Spain, Frankfurt and Munich in Germany, and Chambord and Paris in France.

What are your hobbies and which types of travel do you like?
I like independent travel very much.

Do you have any plans for traveling in the coming months?
Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon in the States.