CHINA’S MICE market is booming, presenting both opportunities and challenges to the rapidly changing hospitality industry. Shanghai showcased its facilities at the inaugural China International Import Expo this month and is well-placed to cash in on the boom.

How would you assess China’s MICE market? What about the performance of your property?

Juergen Sterkau: Entering China’s MICE market on all levels is needed to gain enough market share to fill our facilities in all areas: rooms, meeting spaces, restaurants and bars.

Only when all areas of our complex are considered during a MICE group stay, I would consider it as a perfect sale.

Recent years have been rather on the higher site in the MICE segment for our complex. However it is time to align with other MICE destinations around the world or particular Asia. Visa on arrival could be a solid step in the right direction for the future of MICE business in Shanghai.

Nabin Gurung: Sitting directly on the Huangpu riverfront, Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund assures not only spectacular views of both the historic Bund and dramatic Pudong skylines, but an upscale boutique hotel experience where our guests can enjoy the comfortable environment with abundant nature and sunshine. Although we do not have large function spaces compared to other large hotels, our MICE products are of high quality and is very much recognized in the market.

The proximity of the river and dock has been subtly woven into the fabric of the design, and great attention has been given to creating varied spaces to suit guests’ every mood.

The end result is an inviting and intimate hotel that is a highly individualized and provides a fresh representation of the local neighborhood and energy of the city, providing guests with an authentic taste of today’s Shanghai, where old and new converge. This is quite popular among overseas markets as well as auto, IT, fashion and luxury brands customers.

Daniel Pauwaert: We see a steady growth of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions in both first and second-tier cities in China.

Shanghai has been lagging other cities but with the opening of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), offering an additional 330,000 square meters of exhibition and convention space, the MICE segment now dominates the upscale hotel market.

For instance, the inaugural China International Import Expo this month, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai government, welcomed around 3,000 firms from over 130 countries and regions occupied around 270,000 square meters and attracted over 150,000 domestic and foreign buyers.

The NECC adds to the other exhibition centers in various Shanghai districts and a steady occupancy will secure positive revenue growth for the ever increasing number of hotels in Shanghai.

Regal International East Asia Hotel is ideally located on Hengshan Road in Xuhui District, close to many historical architectural buildings and accessible by several Metro lines.

The complex also features the Shanghai International Tennis Center Club with one of the largest sports facilities in Shanghai. Our 1,296-square-meter indoor sports facility together with the 600-square-meter pillar-less Emerald Ballroom recently hosted the 2018 World Snooker Shanghai Masters that was broadcast live locally and internationally.

The ballroom is ideally suited for meetings, conferences, annual dinners, weddings, art exhibitions and auctions.

The adjacent Meeting and Conference Center features 10 venues of different sizes equipped for training meetings.

Team building may also be held in our 12-lane bowling alley or with a yoga or dance session in our dance theater. The indoor sports facility may also be transformed for art exhibitions and auctions, product launches and fashion shows.

Regal International East Asia Hotel will continue to take advantage of its strengths of the fully equipped sports facilities complemented by its long service experience in participating in high-level sports events thus helping the city of Shanghai achieve its objective of becoming the world most famous tourism and sports city.

Lisa Wang: The MICE market, which is inseparable from the development of the real economy, is closely linked to local transportation and logistics management, as well as the reception capacity of the hospitality industry.

These factors are in full swing in China, so China’s MICE industry is growing every year as you can see. A number of large international exhibitions have now moved to China.

Hangzhou has greatly improved its international status after the G20 Summit 2016, and it has introduced several large-scale exhibitions since 2016.

Although the West Lake State Hotel is a resort hotel, it is also very suitable for serving high-end exhibition and conference teams. We have more than 230 guest rooms and 10 large and small conference rooms in good condition. We also offer good pricing policies and service support for conference teams.

Troy Fu: MICE business is the most important segment for the hotel, and it is a very competitive market. China has a huge MICE market, and it comes from different sections of industry and business.

It brings large numbers of travelers, exposure and revenue to the hotel as well. We value MICE business very well in terms of driving total revenue, and we have a big percentage of MICE business within our hotel.

More and more hotels are trying to provide exceptional service and create a memorable brand experience to pamper their guests and distinguish themselves from the competition. What’s the strength of your brand? How do you differentiate yourself?

Juergen Sterkau: We are surely Sheraton Grand-aligned, with all we do. Our core values are welcoming, assured and community. It is a wide spectrum; However it has deep meaning within the long Sheraton culture.

Another word is “family” when it comes to delivering a MICE culture within our hotel complex.

One of our key strengths is the extreme creativity of our food and beverage, and culinary team. Their meeting breaks, luncheons and dinners are remarkable. They will surely give you a physical and mental break from the meeting. As this is often needed between one presenter and the next in a seminar or during classroom trainings. From terrace BBQs to coffee breaks in the chef’s office, our event and culinary team is very flexible.

Nabin Gurung: We are trying to put an end to stale, predictable conferences with our one-of-a-kind creative spaces that help you dream big.

Our dedicated meeting services guarantee hitch-free events, while our panoramic view of the Huangpu River allows attendees to unwind. Inspired by the neighborhood story, we know how to combine work with fun and create unique spaces for everything from vision to taste, service experience and other aspects.

We incorporate finely crafted designer furniture into our creative spaces. It stands for a renaissance of refined culture and Asian aesthetics.

Our rich, creative setup will help you deliver stimulating meeting experiences, inspire your delegates and redefine your meeting experience at the Hotel Indigo Shanghai On the Bund.

Daniel Pauwaert: With a rich heritage dating back to 1979, Regal Hotels International offers travelers extraordinary services and amenities and is one of the largest hotel operators in Hong Kong that manages a fine collection of hotels both in Hong Kong and mainland.

With world-class conference facilities and impeccable service, our hotel is the ideal venue for organizations and corporate clients to hold their meetings, conferences and other MICE events. A multi-function meeting and conference app has been introduced to reward guests with an array of additional benefits as part of the “Unique Meeting at Regal” package at participating hotels in Hong Kong and mainland.

Thanks to artificial technology, Regal has developed its first AI Guest Service Officer — Chatbot “Riva,” powered by IBM Watson — which opens a new era of hotel intelligence. An advanced 270-degree 3D projection mapping technology was launched in one of the Regal Hotels in Hong Kong and which enables an unprecedented banquet experience for guests.

As professional hoteliers, we believe that only the brand which consistently provides exceptional service and adapts to changing technological development to engage with its customers can outperform the market and become an outstanding brand of tomorrow.

Lisa Wang: West Lake Guest House is a luxurious independent hotel brand with distinctive characteristics. First of all, it is closely connected to the city of Hangzhou and the West Lake. Known as “the first garden of the West Lake,” it can be regarded as a symbol of the West Lake.

Secondly, the hotel has a long history of more than 100 years, where many major historical events have happened, providing it with a historical background different from other hotels.

Thirdly, our hotel is positioned as a luxury hotel with unique service philosophy, business philosophy and product technology. The national ceremony banquet, the West Lake State Etiquette School, Ruyi Membership Club and so on are all our original products and services. West Lake Guest House scored 4.8 on Ctrip.com and 9.2 on Booking.Com, and is also one of the best hotels in Hangzhou favored by Shanghai Daily. Our hotel has so many distinguishing features which can only be known through firsthand experiences.

Troy Fu: The Holiday Inn brand provides “the joy of the travel moment.” We always do our best to offer our customers an enjoyable trip. We anticipate the customer’s needs, let customers benefit from our location, facilities and friendly service. We make them feel welcomed from check-in and provide a relaxed and enjoyable dining experience and give them a comfortable night’s rest.

Someone said the next hospitality revolution is the digital age. What do you think the Internet-plus economy will bring to the industry? How do you use social media?

Juergen Sterkau: There is a huge shift in consumer spending and shopping for the right MICE venue online. Pricing is always an indicator, however it is also extremely important how well your storefront looks, and how accessible and work-friendly the Storefront of your hotel is.

We have to be present on all storefronts to keep driving business. If you miss out, you may lose out.

Nabin Gurung: Internet technology allows for a greater diversity of human interaction, as well as more possibilities for conferences and hotel experiences.

With the application of social media, such as WeChat and Weibo, hotel products can be presented in a more comprehensive and timely manner, and the communications between guests and hotels become more efficient and convenient.

The remote live–action experiences realized by virtual reality technology contribute to saving time dramatically while communicating.

Besides the creative space, Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund provides efficient solutions for conferences with wireless conference support, VR experience, smartphone services and other effective products.

Daniel Pauwaert: Travelers are now spending as much time researching, planning and sharing their trips as when relaxing in a hotel or exploring new destinations.

The majority are unable to peel themselves away from their devices while traveling. The social media landscape keeps changing from Facebook to Youtube to Instagram to WhatsApp, and we are surprised to see that WeChat has knocked Sina Weibo which we are both using off the top spot in China’s mainland, and is becoming the most acknowledged multiple daily used platform. In Hong Kong the app also climbed into the top three.

We work hard on rich media in order to boost more traffic to our website as well as our social medial platforms. Through interactive content on these social media platforms such as Facebook, WeChat and Weibo we continuously generate business and customer return visits.

We have established our own online community while humanizing our brand through soft selling content, creative games with prizes to lure our followers and customers into trying our services and products.

Lisa Wang: Undoubtedly, the Internet-plus is the main theme of this era. From a macro perspective, it affects the entire industrial structure and the relationship between supply and demand.

From a micro perspective, it changes the way that the business operates. The Internet has subverted many traditional economic theories, such as economies of scale and information symmetry. The hospitality industry has also gained more development opportunities, especially independent hotels.

Their survival space has improved a lot. The Internet will make the hospitality industry flourish and diversified. For our brand, we have already benefited a lot from the “interconnected benefits,” and we put a lot of efforts into developing and utilizing social software to interact with social media.

There are tens of thousands of fans on our official WeChat and Weibo accounts. The annual output of micro members and Micro Mart has reached millions of yuan. The popular social media has also introduced a lot of sources to us.

Troy Fu: It is undeniable that the revolution has happened. It brings both opportunities and threats. Now we leverage the resources of new media and social apps to promote our products, we have various MICE platforms to pick up information and leads. It’s convenient for the hotel, but it also increases competition in the industry.

The general manager is the person who is in charge of providing strategic direction for the hotel and overseeing daily operations. What do you think is the most important trait or skill for a qualified GM? Could you give us an example of the most cheerful or stressful situation you have ever experienced?

Juergen Sterkau: Being a general manager is surely a skillful job that fills all my colleges’ daily calendar with plenty of appointments, meetings and answering mails and looking at reports. All of this should lead to strategic direction. But the key is to be a people-person, keep yourself approachable to all your associates. Talk to them and challenge them to further enhance their skills. Make use of all learning opportunities. But don’t forget the key objective: Being a GM is not looking at countless reports and statements, but being a gracious host!

Nabin Gurung: It is a very rewarding job, but at the same time very demanding.

One has to be able to wear different “hats” in different situations. One has to be leader, coach, businessman, people-person, soft, strict, nurturing, demanding all at the same time, depending on the situation. We are the people business, therefore there is no one formula that works for all situations and with everyone. Most of all, one needs to be a people’s person; both toward the team member and the client. We do not just sell a product, we sell experience.

Convincing clients to buy experience before they experience is the most challengeing aspect of our industry, and one has to be able to do that very well to succeed.

Daniel Pauwaert: For me the most important trait of a general manager is putting people first — caring for the guests and the colleagues, be a team player, communicate, take responsibility, be honest and have integrity, strive for excellence, be passionate and create enjoyment in the things we do since when our enjoyment touches our guests it will result in a memorable experience for all.

We are proud to see the career growth of many employees within the hotel, creating the ability to handle complex and challenging business opportunities.

A stressful situation occurred when a few weeks prior to the 2018 World Snooker Shanghai Masters, we were required to provide a structural load factor calculation of the venue for safety reasons. Team emergency meetings with the original design and contracting company were held daily.

Due to the complexity of the setup this was achieved just days prior to the start of the event and proved to be satisfactory.

Whilst managing a hotel in Manila, we were caught in the midst of a military coup and in the firing line, isolating our 450 guests and 500 staff for one week without city power and only a 650KVA diesel generator that could not be re-supplied.

We were very lucky to have highly professional hotel team working around the clock to look after the well-being of the guests. Thankfully no one got hurt and a few hours of ceasefire allowed us to safely evacuate all the guests.

Lisa Wang: I believe that, in this era, a general manager needs to have a more open and inclusive mindset and innovative thought than ever before. For the century-old West Lake State Guest House, we are always exploring how to combine “tradition and classics” with “fashion and technology.” Therefore, I am constantly learning new skills, such as big data statistical analysis.

As for me, there is no specific experience considered as the most enjoyable or stressful. The most enjoyable thing for me is to linger in the beautiful hotel garden and to communicate with our guests face-to-face.

Troy Fu: I will say communications skills are the most important. The general manager is connection between owner, management company, customer and hotel team. The success of the hotel relies on lining up all these parties and resources.

My hotel transformed from pre-opening to opening within 13 days — all communication had to be efficient and correct and supported by all so that we could make that happen.