Hospitality sector checks out talent pool

High-end hotels in China are vying for talented people with the skills and passion to meet the increasing demand of the hospitality market, which is being driven by the expansion of international hotels in the nation and the rise in Chinese international travelers.

Some students majoring in hotel management are unsure about their career goals before they start work, managers from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, FRHI Hotels & Resorts and Hyatt Greater China said at the Fourth Young Hoteliers Summit Asia in Beijing.

"The hotel schools can't produce graduates as fast as hotels are opening. We lack the people who are interested in working and developing their careers in the hospitality industry," said Foued El Mabrouk, vice-president of operations at FRHI Hotels & Resorts China, a continuous donor who donates 100,000 yuan ($16,339) this year to the summit.

The event aims to create a platform for students to communicate with high-ranking executives, pick up skills and win program trainee opportunities.

"Some may see hotels as temporary work places or springboards to practice their English and communication skills, and then shift to other sectors. We are looking for talented people from hotel schools who are committed to the industry with the attitude to learn and grow," Mabrouk said.

Foreign hotel brands are seeing great opportunities in the Chinese market. Fairmont, a brand under FRHI Hotels & Resorts, plans to have 22 hotels by 2018 with many new units in second-tier cities, doubling its current size.

The summit attracted students majoring in hotel management from various universities, such as the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Beijing Hospitality Institute of Beijing International Studies University, and La Sagesse University in Lebanon.

Luxury hotels expanded rapidly in China in recent years to meet the growing demand of global business and tourism. The hotels require their staff to have a certain level of education and social skills, and the demand has far outpaced the supply of qualified applicants.

Another problem for employers is high staff turnover, mostly over money.

Officials at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, whose brands include Westin and Sheraton, said that younger staff are less committed and more demanding. They expect quick promotions or raises and leave after one or two years.

Zhang Huailin, vice-president of the Beijing Hospitality Institute, said those who excel at the hospitality sector are mostly foreigner staff members hotels invite from abroad, or Chinese who have been in the industry for decades. "Hotels in China scarcely had any employees who had majored in hospitality in earlier years. Now, universities are aware of the need to offer hospitality majors and produce highly professional talent with practical skills," Zhang said.

"As a consumer-based sector, hospitality requires staff to start from entry-level service jobs to master operating skills. Many students expect quick promotion to mid-level management positions, and they don't want to keep doing the basic work so they quit," he said.

More than 130 universities in China offer a hospitality major, and they admit about 10,000 students annually for undergraduate studies. On average, about half of students enter the industry after graduation, according to the Beijing Hospitality Institute.

Li Jianxin, general manager of the hospitality management department at the institute, said that high-end hotels in China are seeing sales decline amid the government's austerity drive and anti-graft campaign.

"As a hotel school, we have to provide professional education that is in line with practical work," he said.

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