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HOTELS Interview: IHG aims to bring China to the Americas

IHG’s COO of the Americas Jolyon Bulley may have arrived at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia just five months ago, but his plan to capitalize on China’s rapidly growing abroad travel market is already underway. 

After serving as COO of Greater China for several years, Bulley is bringing his knowledge of launching IHG’s HUALAXE brand, the industry’s first-ever brand designed specifically for Chinese domestic travelers. Currently, he is spearheading IHG’s China Ready program, which provides amenities such as green tea, slippers and Mandarin-translated menus to Chinese travelers staying at IHG hotels in the Americas region.

Bulley recently spoke to HOTELS about the China Ready program, in addition to his goals and challenges that he faces as IHG’s new COO of the Americas.

HOTELS: What challenges have you faced in your role in the Americas over the past few months?

Jolyon Bulley: IHG’s business model in the Americas is slightly different than in Asia where we manage almost all of our hotels. In the Americas, we have a managed portfolio as well as a big franchise. The challenge for me is to fully understand the role we have as an organization with franchisees and owners. Also, there is so much geography that we cover and there are a lot of markets to grasp.

HOTELS: Why is China the main focus right now for IHG Americas?

Bulley: It’s an opportunity that we believe is great for our owners and great for our brands. The outbound travel flow from China is increasingly growing more than any other market in the world. For example, the number of outbound Chinese travelers is expected to surpass 100 million by 2020. The approximate global total in 2010 was 58 million.

The Chinese also haven’t had the opportunity to travel internationally for many years so as these restrictions are being opened up and as the economy is improving, travel is very high on the Chinese wish list and they want to get out and explore. The real aspiration now is to go to see the American way of life.

HOTELS: IHG has repeatedly stated that it knows Chinese travelers better than most hotel groups. Why is that the case?

Bulley: IHG has been in China for 30 years so we have a long history and heritage in the region. As a result, we know the Chinese hospitality market better than anyone else. In fact, we currently have about 227 open and operating hotels in China and have a pipeline of 186 hotels. Since they have high awareness and appreciation of our brands, they will choose us internationally which is important as we welcome Chinese travelers to the Americas.

"IHG has been in China for 30 years so we have a long history and heritage in region. As a result, we know the Chinese hospitality market better than anyone else." --Jolyon Bulley
“IHG has been in China for 30 years so we have a long history and heritage in region. As a result, we know the Chinese hospitality market better than anyone else.” –Jolyon Bulley

HOTELS: How do you avoid stereotyping pitfalls with your Chinese amenities?

Bulley: The China Ready program was created with insight and thoughtfulness. We were very careful about identifying what to focus on and how we would do it in order to demonstrate our understanding of the Chinese traveler.

It’s also not tokenism. This is meant to be a program that Chinese customers recognize and appreciate. The goal is to make them feel that the hotel is taking their needs into consideration. In order to achieve this, we are there to support hotels that adopt the China Ready program. We have Chinese employees that help the hotels implement what they need to do and we are spending a lot of time working on training, cultural and behavioral programs for our hotels.

HOTELS: How is the China Ready program implementation going among hotels in the Americas thus far?

Bulley: This time last year, we were only introducing it to owners. This year, we have 13 hotels across the U.S. and Canada who are China Ready accredited. They are serving as proof points to owners that this does indeed have value. 

HOTELS: How is IHG marketing and spreading awareness about the China Ready program to traveler?

Bulley: The best distribution platform is our online branded websites. IHG has the most comprehensive Chinese user-friendly websites available. We also have a lot loyalty among our domestic Chinese traveler which gives us the confidence to say our China Ready hotels understand the culture. Customers know they be looked after, recognized and assimilated in the hotel environment without it being overkill.

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