Shangri-La launches initiative to better accommodate visitors from China, Yang Cheng reports.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is launching its Xiang Ju initiative, a new business strategy that focuses on guests from the Chinese mainland and their specific needs.

Called "get together at Shangri-La", the program features signature services and bespoke local experiences tailored for Chinese tourists. It will launch on Aug 1 at Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong and expand to all the brand's overseas hotels and resorts by the end of the year - 41 properties in 35 destinations, including London, Tokyo, Sydney and the Maldives.

"The major service upgrade campaign includes the adoption of popular Chinese social media tool WeChat; bespoke experiences that are complementary to current, customized Chinese amenities; Chinese-speaking staff; information guides in Mandarin; and special tea and food ... and beyond," said Sarah Chen, vice-president of group sales and marketing.

"The Asian gene inherited by the group and our depth of knowledge of Chinese tourists offer them meaningful experiences away from home," she said.

The move is part of a major strategy to compete for middle and higher-level tourists, the rising group from second to fourth-tier cities, as well as millennials, she said.

"We aim to feel their pulse and tap into their potential," she said.

The evolving demand for the combination of business and leisure among Chinese tourists is one of the new challenges the group is facing, with business travelers seeking leisure time at the end of tiring work trips.

Echoing Chen, Paul Brackley, general manager of Shangri-La London, said that the hotel is gearing up for the Xiang Ju program and anticipates significant growth in Chinese tourist numbers.

He said he was delighted to see the number of Chinese tourists double during the first five months of this year compared with 2016 at the hotel located in the highest building in London - The Shard.

Pascale Adoner, director of sales and marketing of Shangri-La Paris, said the hotel is making a Chinese version of its signature product, a brochure named "10 Parisian Walks". The guide was mapped by a renowned historian and is an acclaimed treasure that only visitors to the hotel can own.

Shangri-La Villingili Resort & Spa in the Maldives is proud to have 20 Chinese staff members and 20 Mandarin-speaking staff members from Asian regions including Malaysia and Hong Kong, said its general manager Allwyn Drego.

The hotel group's Xiang Ju initiative has launched in response to the current cut-throat competition to attract Chinese tourists amid the booming overseas travel tide. However, the hotel's executives are keenly aware of the challenges ahead.

Drego said that a stunning 37 percent of the hotel's guests are from China, but the luxury hotel is competing with lower-level brands in the country. "We don't expect major growth in the Chinese group, but we expect to secure the arrival of higher-level clients," he said.

Milan Drager, general manager of Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa in Oman, which boasts extraordinary Arabian scenery, expects the country will loosen visa restrictions for Chinese tourists and foresees significant growth in their visits.

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