Service Gives A Competitive Edge In Ramada Parkside Beijing

Hunter Wang is the general manager of the first Ramada hotel in Beijing, Ramada Parkside Beijing. With more than 20 years experience in the hospitality industry, he has worked in major international groups including Shangri-La Hotels, Kempinski Hotels, and Marco Polo Hotels.

Ramada Parkside Beijing has an excellent location. What is the percentage composition, and what are the source markets of your guests?
Over the past year or more, the hotel has hosted an increasing number of Chinese and foreign guests. In the coming year, we will adjust the ratio of our source markets by focusing on attracting more guests from regions such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. We expect the future ratio of guests source markets composition to be more representative of an international brand hotel management style and strategy.

Can you tell us about a recent trip that made a big impression on you?
There were two things that impressed to me when I stayed in the Ramada hotel in Tai An Shandong to participate in a general manager training trainning session with Wyndham World wide in April 2009. Wan Wei, the general manager of this hotel, was very passionate and hospitable — fully representinng the character of Shandong people and local culture. But, on the other hand, in a Taishan temple, which was run by individual contractor, I was cheated by people who were wearing shaman clothes and I lost several hundred Chinese yuan. Comparing these two things we can see that the tourism industry is shown not just in the economy, but more importantly it embodies the characteristics of the local culture and it is important to look to the details to avoid this type of problem.

In your opinion what is the biggest challenge Ramada Parkside Beijing faces in the Beijing market? Compared with other business hotels in the same area, how do you position your product and service advantages?
Our hotel has just 130 rooms. We do not compete on price with our competitors, instead we focus on providing the highest level of service. Most of our rooms are decorated with simple elegance and are 50 square meters in area — they make our guests very comfortable. Also, the hotel is located in the only Class A Catering Street in Beijing, and it is in the area of Beijing with the best air quality since it is in the neighborhood of the Olympic Park.

As the first Ramada brand hotel in Beijing, how do you evaluate Ramada Parkside Beijing's overall performance in 2009? What is your market forecast for the Beijing hotel market in 2010? And what are your plans?
For nine of the last 11 months in 2009, our hotel led the competition for occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR. So, as Beijing's Ramada brand hotel, I think that the hotel's overall performance in 2009 was a great success — in a year that suffered from economic crisis and H1N1. In the coming year, 2010, these factors will be reduced and gradually disappear, so the Beijing hotel market of year 2010 should be better than year 2009. I will review the experience of operating the hotel in 2009 and enhance the meeting and banquet business volume and we will try our best to get better performance.

As a senior professional manager in the hospitality industry, what is your management philosophy?
Regarding my management philosophy, I think the unity of all hotel associates is the important factor. Unity is the foundation and guaranty in achieving hotel revenue goals.

When "China Hospitality News" talks to our readers, we get many comments from professional bookers about the details that are promised in the contract but are not fulfilled by the actual service provided. What are your thoughts on this? What plans do you have in terms of improving the standards of hotel service and employee training?
The hotel brand itself means a commitment that must be put into practice. So I think that it is inexcusable for a hotel to fail to deliver details promised in the contract. This can seriously affect the hotel's image and its survival. With regard to enhancing the quality of hotel, I plan to implement the hotel's "mystery guest program", that is to invite a friend pretend to be guest in the hotel, to make a survey in secret about the hotel's service processes and service quality. According to the results we will plan organize and participate in Wyndham group training.

With business becoming increasingly competitive, what value-added services will you supply, throughout the sales cycle, to professional bookers?
In response to the fierce market competition, our hotel plans to launch a VIP card with more than 40 Ramada Hotels in the country, which is to ensure customers could take advantage of the lowest price priority in all Ramada hotels in China, thus to providing customers with value-added services.