It's always a significant event when a major hotel group introduces a new brand into China. The Doubletree by Hilton Beijing is the first Doubletree hotel to open in China, and Justin Guo is its general manager.

How does Doubletree by Hilton Beijing differentiate itself from the other hotels and different brands around China, especially in the MICE sector?
"CARE": one of the main building blocks of the Doubletree culture — for our customers, team members and the community.

We aim to provide our customers with a casual and fun environment, so that we can "put back a little of what life takes out". In addition to ensuring convenience and comfort for business travelers, we will ensure families, leisure travelers - and not to forget - the kids, are well looked after.

For the MICE market, we offer first class meeting facilities and a fantastic roof garden adjacent to the conference center. This is unique in Beijing and gives us a lot of flexibility to do all sorts of fun/theme meeting arrangements. With the increasing global awareness of the care for our environment, we believe our "Green Meeting" and "Healthy Meeting" will differentiate us from our competitors.

Many hotels are opening in Beijing, especially new hotels in the rapidly developing CBD and Financial Street areas. As Doubletree by Hilton Beijing is located near the downtown shopping district and close to many government offices what do you view as your hotel's target sources of customers?
Savvy customers who know they will receive value for money in our room rates and spend less time in traffic so having more money in their pockets for personal spending!

When compared with hotels situated on the east side of Beijing or within the CBD our hotel is located at a similar distance from the center of Beijing as well as major sightseeing attractions. However due to the traffic in Beijing, traveling time is significantly reduced from this side of the city. My advice: Stay away from the traffic!

You are the first general manager in the Hilton Group to have been recruited locally in China. What is your unique viewpoint and experience in the operation and management of hotels?
It is very important for hotel operator to understand the depth of the local customs, culture and practice which are keys to the success in building relationships and communicating with hotel's owner, local customers, team members, and suppliers as well as various government bodies.

What have been some of the challenges you have encountered since you were appointed general manager of the hotel and how do you deal with them?
Human Resource is the number one challenge — putting the right person with the right attitude in the right job. There are so many hotels opening in Beijing as well as throughout China creating a huge demand for labor but with insufficient supply. Sadly due to the influence of Chinese culture, employment in the service/hospitality industry is not the most sought after job, making it much harder to find qualified personnel.

However slowly things are changing and over the past five years, we have seen more and more talent joining our industry.

What plans does your hotel have for the MICE sector for 2008 and beyond?
We have special meeting concepts such as "Green Meeting" and "Healthy Meeting". Most important we tailor meetings to the customers' needs, from theme nights to a Gala dinner to company training. We are there to meet our clients' requirements.

What corporate social responsibility programs do you have and how do you plan implement them?
Doubletree places strong commitment on social responsibility, which is the basis of our "CARE" culture.

We are working with various partners for activities like "Teaching Kids to CARE" and "Saving the Species".

What changes do you think will appear in Beijing's hotel industry during the Olympic year both before and after the Games in August?
The first apparent change is the labor market. Salary and wages are escalating due to the increase in demand of the work force.

Second, the Olympic Games will help to put a spin on the negative impact felt by the overseas market due to the continuing appreciation of the Chinese Yuan

Post Olympics, due to the number of the new hotels which came into operation in Beijing, there will be an over supply of hotel rooms right after the game is over, say from November 2008. However with the rapid economic growth in China, I hope that the situation will improve from 2009 onwards.