For many years the Best Western brand has guaranteed travelers a consistent level of quality and service in independent hotels. Now the Best Western brand is expanding rapidly into China. Spearheading the operation in China is Canadian Dong Wei Min, CEO of Best Western China.

Before taking up his current post, Dong was chief representative and managing director for Best Western International. He has also held senior posts in global brand name properties such as Radisson, Accor, and Furama.

How is working at Best Western different from working for other hotel management companies in Asia?
We are only licensing our brand and providing sales and marketing support, we do not manage the hotels.

Member hotels monitor room rates, room type and room status through the Best Western member's website which carries real-time information and has a user friendly interface to make operation easily. As well, we have the famous Best Western frequent guest scheme, Gold Crown Club International, which has over 4 million members worldwide and provides rich rewards with our business partners including airline companies and retailers.

What qualities do you seek in the people you hire?
Organizational ability, creativity and service consciousness.

Unlike other international hotel groups, Best Western organizes various marketing promotions, training, and sales programs for our member hotels. All of these programs require that our staff have organizational ability, creativity, and service consciousness to achieve this.

How do you see domestic Chinese travelers shaping Best Western's brands over the next 5 years?
Persistent volume growth of Chinese local visitors, strengthening of brand identity, and the popularity of the Internet which provides better opportunity and space for Best Western to develop and expand in China. With the constant development of the tourism industry, domestic travelers have already broken through the traditional idea of relying mainly on economy, to look for leisure travel. Thus the self-service trip and business market has become an important choice to the hotel industry. Domestic corporations pay attention to one's image, and not just the cost, so more and more domestic corporations begin to cooperate with international brands.

What are some of the challenges to operating a hospitality business in China?
Human resources.

As everyone knows, to develop a professional hotelier one needs to invest a great deal of time and energy. No matter what the theoretical knowledge, actual operations experience or language ability is needed to master the trade. And compared with other industries, the professional hotelier's income is lower: this poses problems for HR.

If you could offer a rookie some advice about how to succeed in the global hospitality sector, what advice would you give?
Establish an electronic marketing system as soon as possible.

In the last few years, many domestic hotel management companies have emerged in the trade which brought much life to the Chinese hotel industry. Lack of international marketing is the result in failing to compete with global hotel chains. With the revolution in global marketing, an electronic marketing system not only helps them to perfect their own competitive ability, but also brings more opportunities.

What sort of process do you take when deciding where and when to open new Best Western hotels around China?
Fully understand the region's marketing environment and economic development situation.

With regard to the western part of China, Best Western has not developed business due to low average rates and lack of management ability, so most member hotels are located in eastern China. Best Western had its own minimum standards for member hotels on software and hardware, such as an experienced management group, steady market environment, and other things. With today's rapid development, Best Western is looking around the potential market of western China.

What are some of the changes you have implemented since taking the reins at Best Western?
I strengthened the management of property daily operations, focused on the support of sales and marketing, and systematized working practices.

First of all, I divided the company into different departments according to different functions; staff follows the instruction of department heads to implement processes.

Then I implemented management objectives, marking and setting times for every project in the company, to achieve goals on schedule.

To meet the requirements of working in China we have expanded the marketing group, and set up separate regional sales offices for Beijing and Shanghai. In the future we will set up a sales office in Guangzhou.

We have changed the format of the annual meeting for our members in Greater China. It used to be focused on networking and entertainment. Now the focus is on reporting progress and setting goals and targets for the next year.

What kind of support does Best Western offer to its hotel members in China?
First sales and marketing promotion: including worldwide sales offices, regional sales offices, the marketing system, regional general sales agents of the Best Western network, worldwide to give market growth, media promotion, and sales.

Second, a quality assurance control stem. We conduct annual routine inspections for all our members in Greater China. We plan to add selective examinations in the future. Hotels receive reports of quality problems; hotels are required to propose improvement plans for review at the next spot test.

Third, our customer service system. Best Western will pay more attention to customer satisfaction in 2007. This department handles customer feedback, complaints, suggestions, and requests in a timely manner. They lie with the hotels on enquiries for improving hardware and software quality. We set up a hot line to answer questions on system operation.

Fourth, a specialized training service for every member hotel.

How does a hotel ascend to be part of the Best Western system in China and what are your selection criteria?
The hotel must have a suitable location and a beneficial market environment. The hotel owner must have a rational agreement for future development with an experienced management group.

Best Western business models overseas are very mature. How do you plan to use your successes overseas to help penetrate the China market?
Best Western in China combines rich experience overseas with the domestic hotel industry environment.

The Best Western Master License already has 56 years experience abroad; we will keep this operational mode in China, and continue developing rapidly.

When you wake in the morning, what gets you excited about going to work at Best Western?
Plenty of creative opportunities and challenges in my work!