Hong Kong Dangles Incentives To Lure Corporate Market
<B> Hong Kong Dangles Incentives To Lure Corporate Market</B>
By Judy Jacobs
Not only are Hong Kong hotel rates lower these days than they have been in many years, but hotels are instituting a variety of value-added extras to lure more business travelers in what has become a fiercely competitive corporate market.
"Prices now are 50 percent lower than they were in 1997," said Peter Lowe, general manager of The Excelsior in Hong Kong. Low prices, however, don't seem to be enough.
"Business travelers to Hong Kong are demanding more at a lower price," said Liam Lambert, general manager of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.
Jim Scullion, director of marketing of the Great Eagle Hotel agreed: "The corporate travel market in Hong Kong is extremely competitive, and it's an absolute necessity to offer value-added components to remain competitive," he said. And a large number of Hong Kong's hotels are doing just that.
The Excelsior Hong Kong, for example, started a new Corporate Advantage program early this year. "We wanted to increase our corporate business and knew that in order to do so we had to provide more than just a good room," Lowe said. The hotel looked at some of the key items it was charging customers for, and decided to incorporate those items into its rate. In addition, it increased the number of small meeting rooms available for the use of corporate guests
The result is the Corporate Advantage program, which offers 20 percent off all hotel restaurant charges and laundry services, a free mobile phone from HK Telecom, complimentary ironing of one suit, free local calls and the use of one of eight workstations in the business center. Any corporate guest booking a superior room or better can take advantage of this program.
The hotel also is converting kitchen space into four boardrooms, which will accommodate 24 people and are scheduled for completion by Aug. 1. "At that time, we will have two floors dedicated to meeting and conference facilities," Lowe said. "We're also creating a mini-business center outside of the new boardrooms, which will be self-service and include computer hookups and a fax machine."
The Great Eagle Hotel, which registers 60 percent of its guests as business travelers, offers a variety of extras to those who stay on the hotel's club floors, including complimentary airport transfers, breakfast and laundry service, private in-room fax, free local telephone calls and complimentary use of the business center boardroom for two hours.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, a pioneer in value-added amenities, has extended its range of amenities to guests who pay the full room rate at all Shangri-La and Traders city hotels, which in Hong Kong are the Island Shangri-La and Hong Kong Shangri-La. The extras include complimentary roundtrip limousine airport transfers, American breakfast, dry cleaning and laundry service, phone calls and 6:00 p.m. late checkout.
J.W. Marriott Hotel last year also jumped on the service-upgrade bandwagon, with the creation of its Executive Package, designed specifically for business travelers. The package includes a deluxe room, roundtrip airport limousine transfers, daily breakfast buffet, and complimentary local calls, laundry and dry cleaning. "We have been selling this package for about a year and it is very popular with business travelers," said Norma Tomkinson, the hotel's director of marketing.
Meanwhile, The Harbour Plaza in Hung Hom has created a summer meeting package, priced between $142 and $193 per person, depending on the type of room. The package includes accommodations, meeting venue during business hours, two coffee breaks, luncheon and audiovisual equipment such as overhead projectors and laser pointers. In addition, guests receive complimentary breakfast and local phone calls, a 20 percent discount on laundry, pressing and dry cleaning, complimentary use of the fitness center and a free shuttle service to Tsimshatsui and other points. The package requires a minimum of 10 persons and is valid through Aug. 31.
Although the Harbour Plaza is located in and currently serves the industrial area of Hung Hom, it will be more accessible to the rest of the Kowloon Peninsula very soon. By summer, a new road system, the Hung Hom bypass, will reduce travel time from Harbour Plaza to Tsim Sha Tsui East from 15 to five minutes, and to the Airport Highway Route from 20 to 10 minutes, said Sean Murray, the hotel's general manager. "This will put the Harbour Plaza Hong Kong in a stronger position, allowing us to provide additional convenience to all of our guests and increasing our competitive strength in Hong Kong's hotel industry.