The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), the School of Tourism Management of the Sun Yet-Sen University (SYSU) in Guangzhou, and the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) in Macau, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today for establishing the Greater Bay Area Tourism Research Alliance (the Alliance).
With over three decades of experience at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong and other renowned hotels and restaurants in Greater China, Chef Tony helms the kitchens of the JW's eight F&B outlets and banquet venues, overseeing a team of 175 people.
Alister Leu recently joined InterContinental Hong Kong as Director of Housekeeping. Prior joining InterContinental Hong Kong, she spent the past six years as Director of Housekeeping at The Fairmont & Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore, a 5 star hotel complex with 2030 rooms. Prior to her assignment in Singapore, she spent three years as Executive Housekeeper at the Grand Hyatt Macau. Alister brings a wealth of experience to her role having worked in numerous 5-star luxury properties in her native Penang, Malaysia including Traders Hotel by Shangri-La, Evergreen Laurel Hotel and Eastern & Oriental, a landmark boutique hotel. In her role as Director of Housekeeping at InterContinental Hong Kong, Alister, who oversees a team of 180, is responsible for maintaining the hotel's Forbes Travel Guide 5-Star Levels of service and cleanliness not only for the 503 guest rooms, but also for all public areas, including restaurants and event space of the hotel, along with laundry operations.
Calvin Choi has recently been promoted to Executive Sous Chef of InterContinental Hong Kong. He first joined InterContinental Hong Kong in 2003 on the opening team at SPOON by Alain Ducasse. Prior to that, he worked for the Jockey Club. Under his leadership as chef since 2010, THE STEAK HOUSE winebar + grill received 1-Michelin Star for three consecutive years. In Fall 2014, Calvin became Harbourside Chef, overseeing the hotel's busy restaurant. After leaving the hotel in 2016 to work for the Royal Garden Hotel as Executive Sous Chef,Calvin returned in 2017 as Senior Sous Chef, Banquet Kitchen and was recently been promoted to Executive Sous Chef, working closely with Executive Chef Maxime Luvara to oversee the hotel's extensive culinary operations which include five celebrated restaurants, one of the city's largest hotel banqueting facilities, plus the Lobby Lounge, Pool Terrace and in-room dining. A member of the Hong Kong Chef Association competition team, Calvin won gold medals at the 2013 Oceanafest in Perth, 2012 International Food Fair and 2013 Asian "heat" of the World Global Chef Competition. In 2014 he represented Asia at the World Championship Finals of the World Association of Chefs Societies, winning the 2nd runner-up title. He also won a gold medal at the 2017 Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany. In 2018 Calvin is Coach of Hong Kong Chef Association competition team.
Executive Pastry Chef Christian Gonthier, a consummate pastry expert with over 30 years of experience, joined InterContinental Hong Kong in June 2018. He is originally from Brignoles, France where he trained and developed his passion for pastry. Christian has worked with world famous chefs including Alain Ducasse and Jacques Maximin at numerous internationally renowned hotels and celebrated restaurants including Spoon des Iles at the One & Only St Géran Resort in Mauritius, the 3-Michelin star Restaurant Alain Ducasse at 69 Avenue Raymond Poincarre in Paris, Hotel de Paris in Monaco, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap D'Antibe and La Mamounia Hotel in Morocco. Most recently, he served as Executive Pastry Chef at Ritz Carlton Doha in Qatar and the Four Seasons Hotel Tunis in Tunisia. During his time in his native France he worked with numerous gastronomic restaurants in boutique hotels including the 1-Michelin star Le Saint Esteve - at Le Tholonet in Aix en Provence, where he worked with Mathias Dandine and Hôtellerie de l'Abbaye de la Celle which is owned by Alain Ducasse.
Conrad Hong Kong announces Stephane Roubin as its Hotel Manager. A compassionate leader with far-reaching vision, he promises to help the hotel maintain its attention to detail that has impressed the guests, while injecting new elements to its services using his previous work experience as inspirations.
JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Charis Yim as Director of Market ing. With over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Charis will put in use her extensive background and expert ise to oversee and develop the Sales & Market ing division of the 602-room luxury hotel, Marriott Internat ional’s first flagship hotel in Asia. Before joining JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, Charis was most recently Director of Sales and Market ing at the Mandarin Oriental, Macau. Prior to her tenure in Macau, she has held senior management posit ions in mult iple luxury hotels in Hong Kong including the InterCont inental Hong Kong, as well as obtained over a decade of sales experience at The Peninsula Hong Kong.Charis started her hotel career within the Marriott family as a Sales Execut ive – Catering at the Renaissance Kowloon Hotel. She is married with two sons and one daughter, a graduate of Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management, and has studied at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administrat ion.
InterContinental Hong Kong is expected to close for a major renovation in the first quarter of 2019, with the entire renovation taking 12-16 months. The hotel will undergo a spectacular transformation that will position it as one of the top hotels not only in Asia, but also as one of the world"s most iconic hotels. The total transformation will span all guest rooms and suites including bathrooms, all public areas, restaurants and event venues, as well as a redesign of the building façade with a contemporary new look.
Originally from Yorkshire in the UK, Jeremy Brook recently joined InterContinental Hong Kong as Director of Sales & Marketing. He has over 26 years of global sales & marketing experience in the luxury hotel and travel industry, spanning Europe, the USA, China, Australia and Southeast Asia. Jeremy spent over a decade with Peninsula Hotels as Director of Marketing at the Peninsula Beijing and the Peninsula New York and almost a decade with Starwood Group – with postings in Sydney, Bali and Thailand in a variety of sales positions. His past positions also include being the Director of Marketing at the Shangri-la China World Hotel in Beijing; VP, Sales & Marketing for COMO Hotels & Resorts and Director of Sales, Europe for Sandals & Beaches Resorts. Early in his hospitality career, he spent two years in the cruise industry with Kloster Cruise Line as National Sales Manager in the UK. Jeremy first began interested in the hotel industry while travelling, as a teenager, with his father who was in the textile industry.
Sebastian Gassen, originally from Germany, recently joined InterContinental Hong Kong from the Mandarin Oriental Jakarta, where he headed food & beverage operations for two years. Sebastian brings over 16 years of experience in a variety of luxury hotels in Europe and Asia. A veteran of Ritz Carlton Hotels, he spent two years as Director of F&B at The Ritz-Carlton in Vienna, Austria, where he was on the pre-opening team. He has also worked at The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing Financial Street; The Ritz-Carlton Berlin and The Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg, Germany. During this time he also participated on the Task Force for the opening of The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow; The Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai Pudong; The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong and the Istanbul Edition. His experience also includes postings at The Charles Hotel, Munich (a Rocco Forte Collection property) and the Madinat, Jumeirah, Mina A’Salam Hotel in Dubai where he gained experience in all aspects of F&B operations. He is joined in Hong Kong by his wife and his two young children.
Philip Yu, the current general manager of the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, will be promoted to regional vice president operations – China, effective 1 March 2017. He is replaced by Richard Greaves who is taking on as general manager, effective 1 March 2017. Situated on waterfront on Hong Kong Island, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong commands the views of Victoria Harbour and the Tsim Sha Tsui skyline.
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong has appointed Richard Greaves as general manager, effective 1 March. Greaves is a Hyatt veteran, having started his career as a management trainee at Hyatt Carlton Tower in 1984. He is currently general manager of Grand Hyatt Shanghai and area VP for the Shanghai region. His first encounter with Grand Hyatt Hong Kong was in 1996 when he was executive assistant manager – food and beverage.
Returning to InterContinental Hong Kong as the hotel’s new General Manager will be Claus Pedersen, who is currently Vice President, Hotel Operations for MGM Macau. Claus Pedersen served as Executive Assistant Manager, F&B and Resident Manager at InterContinental Hong Kong for six years from 2005-2011. His past experience with the hotel will be invaluable in ensuring a smooth transition. Claus will start the handover process with Jean-Jacques on 15th February 2016 and will assume the position of General Manager effective 1st March 2016.
Alice Mafaity is appointed resident manager of the InterContinental Hong Kong.
Markets in the region are experiencing some headwind amid an economic slowdown, changes in demand patterns and increases in supply. Hong Kong received 16.1 million visitors in the third quarter of 2014, reflecting an 11.2% yearon-year (YOY) growth. Despite the Occupy Central Campaign, growth was mainly driven by Mainland Chinese visitors. Looking forward, it is difficult to estimate the effect of the Occupy Central Campaign. There were a total of 12.8 million mainland Chinese visitor arrivals (79.6% of the market share) during the period. According to CAPA Centre for Aviation, the fast growth in the South Korean market was mainly attributable to the expansion of low cost carriers connecting Seoul and Hong Kong, dominated by HK Express with two daily flights
Jean-Jacques Reibel, Managing Director of InterContinental Hong Kong, is pleased to announce the promotion of Danny Tse, currently Executive Assistant Manager – Rooms, to Executive Assistant Manager at InterContinental Hong Kong.
Jean-Jacques Reibel, Managing Director, InterContinental Hong Kong is pleased to announce that Bryan Chiu, currently Executive Assistant Manager, will replace Charis Yim as of April 20, 2015 as the new Executive Director of Events.
CapitaLand's wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has secured contracts to manage three more properties with over 300 apartment units in Beijing and Hong Kong. The new properties will further reinforce Ascott's leadership position as the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in China, with over 12,900 apartment units in 72 properties across 23 cities.
Executive Housekeeper Ryo Miura joined InterContinental Hong Kong earlier this fall after serving as Executive Housekeeper at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong for the past three years. Prior to that, Ryo spent four and a half years as Assistant Executive Housekeeper at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. He was on the pre-opening team of the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo in 2005-2006 and has also worked at the Mandarin Oriental Miami. Ryo is a graduate of the International College of Hospitality Management “Cesar Ritz” in Connecticut in the USA. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and an Associate Degree in Information Technology from Obirin University in his native Tokyo, Japan. As Executive Housekeeper, Ryo overseas a team of 112 persons in the Housekeeping Department, which includes room butlers, supervisors, quality leaders and public area cleaners, as well as the hotel’s in-house laundry team of 28 persons. As per Ryo, “My role is to make our department and the hotel operation run smoothly and to recognise and develop our colleagues. Our Housekeeping job is not just cleaning; but also to make our guests feel happy.”
An IHG veteran with 14 years with the company, Michaël Bélanger joined InterContinental Hong Kong in the fall as Director of Revenue, following three and a half years at InterContinental Singapore as Director of Rooms and previously Director of Revenue. Prior to that, he spent four years at InterContinental Dubai Festival City, working in Revenue Management. His career with IHG began back in 2001 at InterContinental Montreal where he worked in various departments from Sales & E-Commerce to Front Office and Food & Beverage. Originally from Quebec City, Michaël was a guest speaker at Cornell University-NTU (Hospitality Management School) in 2011 & 2012. An avid sportsman, he was Team Manager & Captain of the Singapore ScotiaBank Ice Hockey Team from 2012-2014 and has already joined a Hong Kong Ice Hockey Team. While living in Singapore, he was also a member of the Canadian Dragons Singapore Dragon Boat Team from 2011 – 2014 and plans to join InterContinental Hong Kong’s Dragon Boat team in 2015.