hrs the hotel expert magazine- august 2013

7/27/2019 HRS the Hotel Expert Magazine- August 2013

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METROPOLIS PARIS.MICE LOCATION CHECK.

DESTINATION SINGAPORE.NEW OFFICE.

Issue 01

HRS MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL MANAGEMENT AND HOTEL PROCUREMENT

GLOBAL PRESENCE.CHALLENGE: INTERNATIONALIZATION.

THE BOOMTOWN OF SHANGHAI.

TRAVELLING IN CHINA.

The Hotel Expert.


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Dear readers,

as an expert and manager in the business travel segment,

you are the decision-maker when it comes to efcient or-

ganization and process optimization o travel management

and hotel procurement. You are thereore not only oer-

ing your employees and colleagues the best possible trav-

el conditions, but are also identiying huge savings poten-

tial or your company in terms o business travel costs.

The growing importance o this feld o activity was as

good a reason as any or us to create a new medium with

The Hotel Expert which is dedicated to the broad feld

o travel management and hotel procurement. Follow-

ing the magazines successul launch in German-speaking

countries, we are now also releasing an English version.

In an attempt to urther enhance a proessional ex-

change o ideas across all industries, in the uture we will

also address issues that have an impact on the market,

we will provide new sources o inspiration, we will take

a look behind the scenes at our customers and also in-

terview travel managers and hotel purchasers. By doing

this, our declared aim is always to provide you with val-

uable benefts or your day-to-day operations. Benefts

that HRS oers you with its expertise o over 40 years in

the hotel industry, its international portolio o hotels, its

proprietary technologies and its best possible conditions.

This frst edition is dedicated to looking at the conse-

quences o increasing globalization and internationaliza-

tion in the travel management sector. We discuss challeng-

es such as the practical implementation o proessional

welare in times where there are increasing security

threats and discuss the opportunities provided by consoli-

dating travel agency partners and inormation worldwide.

We also take you on a voyage o discovery to the growth

market that is China and take a closer look at the MICE

metropolis o Paris and its diverse possibilities or host-

ing events.

We hope you enjoy reading the frst edition o ourmagazine.

Yours sincerely

EDITORIAL.

Tobias Ragge,HRS Managing Director

COVERPHOTO: PLAINPICTURE/RAMESH AMRUTH

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IMPRINT

Publisher: HRS Hotel Reservation Service, Robert Ragge GmbH, Blaubach 32, 50676 Cologne, Germany

Contact: Kanika Sood, Tel. +65 6580 2828, [email protected]

Coordination, Editing and Implementation: publish! Medienkonzepte GmbH, Hanover, Germany

Authors: Gary Bowerman, Dominik Maaen, Anke Pedersen, Romy Schumann, Ingo Thiel, Frank Willig

Photographs: Robert Poorten, Jan Sieke and other image sources mentioned Copyright: HRS 2013

CONTENT.ISSUE 01.

CHECK-IN.

NEWS. NEWS FROM THE INDUSTRY. 4

COVER STORY.

GLOBAL PRESENCE. CHALLENGE: INTERNATIONALIZATION. 6The globalization o travel management in a company is a major internalproject. In order to achieve this objective, those responsible must not onlyshow many years o patience and powers o persuasion. However, i the

company succeeds, eort and patience usually pay o.

OPERATING GLOBALLY, BUT SECURELY!INTERVIEW WITH CARSTEN CZUB, GEA GROUP. 10

APPS MAKING EVERYTHING EASY.NEW POSSIBILITIES OFFERED BY MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES. 12

PRACTICE.

TRAVELLING IN CHINA.BUSINESS TRIP TO THE BOOMTOWN OF SHANGHAI. 18There has been a particularly huge transormation in Shanghai whichhas developed rom a sleeping colonial city to a modern businessmetropolis in a matter o just hal a century. The city which is hometo 16 million people represents a symbol o the boom in China.

NEW BOOMTOWNS. THE GREAT UNKNOWNS. 24

HOTEL PROCUREMENT OUTSOURCING. BEARINGPOINT & HRS. 26

SERVICE.

DESTINATION SINGAPORE. NEW ASIA PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS. 14

SEARCH & BOOK. TRANSPARENT. QUICK. MEETS REQUIREMENTS. 16

FRENCH FLAIR. MICE LOCATION CHECK: PARIS. 29Paris is one o the most popular cities or conerences and events in theworld. The metropolis on the river Seine really stands out with amazinglocations, one o the largest hotel selections in every category andsumptuous cuisine.

CHECK-OUT.

STATE OF THE ART. ART HOTELS DONT JUST INSPIRE CONNOISSEURS. 32

CONTENT

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BUSINESS

& LEISURE.HRS TEAMS UP WITHACCOR WORLDWIDE.

Success connects: Accor, Europes big-

gest hotel group, and HRS have im-

plemented a long-term global co-

operation across both the leisure and

corporate segments. All o Accors 3,500

properties, ranging rom luxury to bud-

get hotels in 92 countries, are bookable

worldwide on the HRS, hotel.ino and Tis-

cover websites, via a direct reservation

system interace that provides all rates,availability and inormation in real time.

Accor hotels oering corporate rates are

also bookable on the HRS and hotel.de

websites. Accor is one o the leading ho-

tel operators worldwide and with its di-

erent brands it oers a broad variety in

all price categories or private and busi-

ness travellers. Hence, we can oer a wi-

der range o hotels to our customers all

over the world, said Tobias Ragge, CEO

o HRS.

PARTNERSHIP.NEW HOTEL BOOKING AGREEMENT.

In April, HRS entered into a distribution agreement with GetThere,

a global technology company serving corporations and brands o

Sabre. HRS detailed, high-quality content and inormation about 250,000 hotels, approximately 1.5 times more than the

number o hotels available on most global distribution systems, is now available in 32 languages on GetTheres corporate

travel reservation system, along with HRS exible, and customer riendly booking terms. This partnership comes close on

the heels o the HRS- Amadeus (E-Travel) partnership announced last year, which is currently being rolled out globally.

SMART PLANNING.BOOM PREDICTED IN MOBILE TRAVEL BOOKING.

Smartphone usage is expanding across Asia Pacifc, and that may herald a trend towards

greater mobile travel booking. The Ericsson Mobility Report revealed that global smart-

phone subscriptions totalled 1.2 billion at the end o 2012, and are expected to reach

4.5 billion in 2018. The total amount o mobile data trafc worldwide doubled in the frst

quarter o 2013 compared to the same 2012 period. Between January and March, 130 mil-

lion new mobile subscribers were recorded across the planet, with China accounting or 30

million, 10 million in India and 27 million in the rest o Asia Pacifc. The report noted that in

Asia Pacifc new subscribers are driving this trend, whereas in North America, it is based on

increasing the number o subscriptions per individual. Ericssons research ollows the pub-

lication o The Consumer Travel Report 2012, produced by PhoCusWright, which predicted

greater smartphone usage or travel bookings in 2013.

RATES.SYDNEY COUNTS REGIONS HIGHEST ROOM RATE.

Manila, Auckland, Bangkok,

Sydney and Jakarta recor-

ded the strongest growth in

average hotel room rates in the frst

hal o 2013, compared to the same

2012 period. Data rom HRS shows

that average rates remained stable

in Hanoi and New Delhi, while small

decreases were recorded in Ho Chi

Minh City and Seoul. Signifcant ye-

ar-on-year price slowdowns were re-

corded in Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai

and Kuala Lumpur. Manilas average

room rate during the period was SGD

207 up rom SGD 174 in 2012, while

Aucklands average rate jumped rom

SGD 181 to SGD 204 The highest ave-

rage room rate in the Asia Pacifc re-

gion during the frst six months was

SGD 335 recorded by Sydney, ollo-

wed by Melbourne (SGD 263) and Sin-

gapore (SGD 243).

P

HOTO:ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

PHOTO:INGRAMP

UBLISHING/THINKST

OCK

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CHINA.HRS OPENS BEIJING OFFICE.

Chinas business travel market is

expanding ast, with an increase

o more than 20% last year, and

HRS is tracking the trends nationwi-

de. In July, the company opened its

second ofce in China, in the capital

city o Beijing. The Beijing ofce is lo-

cated in the central business district,

and comprises hotel, customer service

and sales teams. HRS also announced

the launch o its Smart Online Boo-

king Service, which helps customers

to identiy cost saving opportunities,

optimise hotel booking process and

control business travel costs. HRS frst

entered China 10 years ago, and esta-

blished its Greater China headquarters

in Shanghai, the nations east coast f-

nancial and commercial centre.

Global trends in the managed travel industry, the importance o in-

novation, and opportunities or new business partnerships were

the key discussion topics o a CEO business breakast hosted on 27

June. Held to mark the entry o HRS into the Asia Pacifc market and the

ofcial opening o operations in

Singapore, the breakast event

gathered together leading na-

mes rom Singapores hotel and

travel industry. Later in the day,

a lunch was held enabling lo-

cal media to chat with Tobias

Ragge, CEO o HRS, Jason Long,

Head o Global Partnerships,

Ral Priemer, Board Member,

Sales, Internationalization & Hu-

man Resources, hotel.ino, and

Christian Lukey, Commercial Di-

rector o HRS Asia Pacifc.

MEETING.TOBIAS RAGGE HOSTS BUSINESS TRAVEL EVENTS.

PIPELINE.REGIONAL HOTEL DEVELOPMENT REMAINS STRONG.

Asia Pacifc continues to be a growth region or hotel development, ac-

cording to data rom STR Global. The hospitality research frm revealed

that 1,840 hotels, totalling 401,017 rooms, were either under construc-

tion or in the planning or fnal planning stages across the region at the end o

June. The Upscale hotel segment accounted or the largest portion o rooms in

the pipeline (25.5), ollowed by the Upper Upscale segment (22.8%). STRs re-

search also shows that rom January to May 2013, 188 hotels opened in the

Asia Pacifc region, with 451 urther hotels slated to open beore the end o the

year. Looking ahead to 2014, STR predicts that 534 hotels will open throughout

Asia Pacifc, totalling 116,416 new rooms.PHOTO:ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

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NEWS


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The globalization o travel management in a com-

pany is a major internal project. In order to achieve

this objective, those responsible must not only showmany years o patience and powers o persuasion,

but they also have to expect setbacks, as unpopular

changes may not be accepted immediately by every

employee. However, i the company succeeds in

standardizing inormation, booking tools, guidelines

and service providers throughout the countries,

eort and patience usually pay o.

GLOBAL PRESENCE.CHALLENGE: INTERNATIONALIZATION.TEXT: DOMINIK MAASSEN PHOTO: PLAINPICTURE/RAMESH AMRUTH

6

COVER STORY.


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The world is constantly com-

ing closer together and is devel-

oping into a global village. The

more the internationalization o mar-

kets progresses, the more challenges

also lie ahead or the travel manager.

As is the case with economic enterpris-

es being more and more globally active

and products, services and capital mov-

ing reely around the world, employees

are also travelling around the globe and

around the clock.

GROWING MARKET, RISING COSTS

With the fnancial crisis coming to an

end, the international market has start-

ed to recover again. Ater the Leh-

man insolvency and the negative con-

sequences thereo, also or the travel

market, business is picking up again

especially in emerging countries and pri-

marily in the BRIC states o Brazil, India

and China, explains Michael Simon, as

HRS Managing Director or the Corpo-

rate Solutions sector.

An international study o the market re-

search company 2hm confrms this as-

sessment. Last year, 1,701 travel man-

agers worldwide took part in a survey

relating to this. According to this study,

only 11 percent planned a reduction

in business travel, while 35 percent o

those surveyed in contrast anticipated

more travelling and 53 percent expect-

ed the amount o travelling involved to

remain the same.

At the same time however, many travel

managers are worried about an increase

in costs as a result o additional expens-

es, government levies, uel surchargesin the air trafc industry or higher cred-

it card ees. Every second travel man-

ager also anticipates an increase in ho-

tel costs.

It is thereore not surprising that most

travel managers mainly ocus on the

strategic aim o cutting costs. Just be-

hind this in terms o importance are op-

timum support and o course the saety

o travellers. Many o the travel manag-

ers use the introduction o global travel

management as an important tool. Ac-

cording to a study carried out by Amer-

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GLOBALIZATION


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ican Express in 2011, which also took

a look at major companies and their

travel programmes, the savings made

with global travel management canamount to up to 20 percent.

GLOBAL VISION,

LOCAL REALITY

It is an important aim to introduce

global travel management. The great-

est challenge or a travel manager is

frst o all to bridge the gap between

the global approach rom headquar-

ters and the local requirements as well

as the situation in that particular coun-

try, says Jrg Martin, Managing Direc-

tor o CTC Corporate Travel Consulting.The german company advises its cus-

tomers on this issue, and Jrg Martin

worked or many years as a Global

Travel Manager or the plant construc-

tion company SMS Siemag AG.

Numerous challenges await the travel

manager in his mission to establish a

set o rules worldwide and then in im-

plementing them as well. The process

takes quite some time and requires

a great deal o patience, says Mar-

tin. The best approach to take is to

analyse each country independently.

In every country, there are dierent

cultures, tax regulations or dierent

accounting systems within compa-

nies. The more inormation the trav-

el manager absorbs, the more com-plex the processes become. National

companies oten have the same local

contractual partners or many years

and rather eel aced with drawbacks.

And not every service provider o-

ers his services at any site worldwide.

There are oten problems especially

in emerging countries because it is not

possible to obtain the necessary ap-

proval or sotware or credit cards,

says Martin.

STANDARDIZED PROCESSESThe good news is that travel managers

have a number o dierent tools and

processes at their disposal with which

they can create their global vision. The

most important thing is to collect in-

ormation at a central location to aid

negotiations with service providers,

to provide clear and concise report-

ing and thereore travel control. Using

ERP company internal systems or ex-

ternal data warehouses, it is possible

to combine inormation about book-

ings (travel agent), turnover (credit

cards) and employees.

Transnational credit card providers

provide the necessary transparency

or expenses. However, many com-

panies also combine their contacts attheir travel agencies. Instead o nego-

tiating with 40 or 50 providers, these

negotiations only take place with 3

or 4 providers, as the travel agen-

cy acts as a data interace. By having

just a ew providers, it is possible to

cut analysis and communication ex-

penditure.

USING NUMBERS

CONSOLIDATING VOLUMES

I a company evaluates data in a uni-

orm manner, then it is practical tointroduce a joint online booking tool.

There are now also systems availa-

ble or evaluating costs worldwide in

which all ofces consolidate their in-

ormation. Cloud Computing now en-

ables employees to access these tools

worldwide via the web.

However, it is not just about simpliy-

ing processes and providing increased

transparency, it is also about utiliz-

ing standardized fgures. Booking vol-

umes can thus be consolidated when

entering negotiations with service

providers and this helps to achieve

cost efciency. In this way, HRS o-

ers discounts, or example, o up to

30 percent or large volumes.

The top priority when taking all these

steps is to think globally and act lo-

cally. People who live locally are be-

coming increasingly discontent with

the act that it is not just additional

expenditure but also that more costs

are being incurred than beore. Spe-

cifc requirements in a particular coun-

try must always be aorded enough

scope or development. They shouldnot be made into standardized solu-

tions.

HELP FROM SERVICE PROVIDERS

It is not always possible or a travel

manager to have the necessary knowl-

edge and oversight o what is going on

Jrg Martin, Managing Director ofCTC Corporate Travel Consulting

The top priority is tothink global, act local.

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COVER STORY.


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internationally, says Michael Simon,

member o the HRS Executive Board.

Beore, employees oten travelled to

a country where the options or trav-

elling were similar to those o their

home country, or example in terms

o security. Now, many people travel

to countries with a completely dier-

ent inrastructure.

As a result o globalization, service

providers such as HRS are transorm-ing rom a central organization into a

decentralized organization. We oer

a travel manager the expertise o our

local contacts or Asia or example

at our ofces in Singapore, Shanghai

and Beijing. This enables him to fnd

out more about the local providers,

the market situation and the charac-

teristics o a particular culture or peo-

ples booking behaviour. In the growth

market that is China, HRS now has

a portolio o around 20,000 hotels.

In Japan, the number o hotels has

increased signifcantly as well which

means that we are able to meet cus-

tomer ows there.

Due to the attitudes o people local-

ly, it is decisive to determine a sensi-

tive and equally clear communication

strategy or global travel manage-

ment. In this case, it is important to

show that there are more advantag-

es than drawbacks so that travellers

or instance can also beneft rom im-

proved saety measures. Global access

to inormation means that employees

can be ound quicker in an emergen-cy using tracking tools, or example.

In order to bring dierent national

companies which are part o dier-

ent cultures closer to these advan-

tages ideally in a direct discussion

aside rom using the decisive tools

the travel manager has no other op-

tion but to do what other colleagues

do and thats pack his suitcase and set

o on his travels.

Michael Simon,Member of the

HRS Executive Board

We oer the expertiseo local employees!

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FORGLOBAL TRAVEL MANAGEMENT.

Have you appointed a manager

or Strategy and Control?

Do you still have to generate en-

thusiasm and demonstrate the bene-

fts or individuals?

Do you include national compa-

nies and stakeholders in the imple-

mentation process at an early stage?

Have you created a communica-

tion platorm or all national com-

panies?

Do you explain changes directly

at the workplace in order to estab-

lish relations?

Do you take note o cultural di-

erences, regional mentalities and

relationship networks that have al-

ready been established?

Do you pay attention to national

dierences such as fscal law, legis-

lation, insurance and liabilities?

Are you developing a global min-

imum directive and a process or

adapting to local markets?

Have you made all data transpar-

ent or negotiations and issued it to

a service provider who then collates

the data?

Do you consolidate travel guide-

lines, online booking tools, compa-

ny credit cards, controlling/reporting

and service providers?

Do you take advantage o global

data access to also fnd colleagues in

times o crisis?

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Mr Czub, natural disasters, epidem-

ics, bombings and hostage-taking in

Algeria, Mali and Syria. Experts are

warning that the number o incidents

posing a security risk will urther in-

crease in uture. GEA Group is a glob-

al company. How and where do you

act? Our biggest asset is the employ-

ees. Thats why we are ocussing onprevention rather than cure. Avoid-

ing travel risks to and preserving the

health o our employees is absolute-

ly paramount, especially i they are in

countries aected by crisis. Our aim is

very much proactive care.

But how can you achieve this with

25,000 employees throughout the

world? As we always like to know ex-

actly where our employees are, my ap-

proach is as ollows: We need to have

inormation! However, by this, I dont

necessarily mean a big brother type

scenario. Thats why we dont track

peoples mobile telephones or create

motion profles either. It goes without

saying that we invest all our eorts

into data protection. Our works com-

mittee is also kept constantly up-to-

date. Instead, travel management has

pointed the way in terms o its systems.

What would this involve exactly? Until

2006, all o our subsidiaries throughout

the world operated with their own trav-

el agencies. However, on this basis, it

was impossible to consolidate our trav-

el data worldwide. Thats why we decid-

ed rom 2007 onwards to only work to-

gether with just a single travel agency

in every country where we are repre-

sented with our companies. The aim was

as ollows: 1 country = 1 travel agen-

cy. In other words, 1 country = 1 inter-

In this era o globalization,

global security risks occur-

ring simultaneously now

more than ever require the

active support oered by

travellers through their trav-el management. We talked to

the globally-operating travel

manager Carsten Czub about

the cleverly devised Travel

Risk Management at GEA, a

German company that builds

special-purpose machines.

OPERATING GLOBALLY,BUT SECURELY!AN INTERVIEW WITH EXPERT CARSTEN CZUB FROM GEA GROUP

INTERVIEW: ANKE PEDERSEN PHOTOS: ROBERT POORTEN

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COVER STORY.


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ace. However, as we are aware that em-ployees are reluctant to separate rom

long-term partners, we decided to opt

against an international chain o trav-

el agencies, especially as their quality

varies rom country to country. Fur-

thermore, local suppliers are oten sig-

nifcantly more amiliar with regional

conditions and circumstances. In short:

In every country, all our local compa-

nies now cooperate in each case with

a regional travel agency. In a manner

o speaking, we came to a basic com-

promise.

How long did this process of transfor-

mation last? Almost three years.

Lets go back to the act that you

pointed the way in terms o systems.

In tandem with the decision we took

back then, we established a partner-

ship with NP4, a travel data service

provider rom Germany. Since then,

NP4 has compiled all our travel data

based on our group structure. This

works successully as the company

has data interaces with all Global Dis-

tribution Systems (GDS)except with

Travel Sky in China. It is thereore pos-

sible or all bookings made in coun-

tries which operate with a travel agen-

cy and o course all changes too to

be orwarded directly to NP4, then

processed by them and fnally they

are reported to us.

Does this also apply to hotel bookings?

This sector without doubt still repre-

sents a huge challenge for travel man-

agement. HRS has been consolidat-ing our individual bookings or around

three and a hal years and in turn pro-

vides passive segments to NP4.

Having this type of information makes

it difcult to implement preventative

measures. Thats exactly what we are

going to change in the uture. Until

now, 90 percent o bookings or our

hotels have been made outside the

travel agent either by telephone or

by ax. However, our employees will

soon be obligated as part o the trav-

el guideline to make reservations us-ing HRS or at the travel agent. For this

purpose, HRS has specifcally created

an interace to NP4 and in doing so has

made a huge leap towards enhancing

the entire process.

The reservations enable you to fnd

out exactly where somebody is, how

long they are staying there and why

they are staying there. Do you oer

assistance worldwide so that your

employees get exactly the help they

need? Security escort, return trans-port etc. Control Risks is our partner in

this respect and is a provider with a 24

hour support hotline. Furthermore, this

is where all travel agency data is pro-

cessed and synchronized with a coun-

try database. I there is a bombing or a

similar event occurs somewhere in the

world, then Control Risks coordinates

the evacuation and i necessary the

return transport o our employees. It

goes without saying that all employees

are also insured throughout the world.

What does this country database en-

compass? It is a graphical colour rep-

resentation o risks in all countries, re-

gions and cities throughout the world.

I can use it at any time to fnd out what

the security situation may be like at a

destination where one o my employ-

ees needs to travel to up to seven days

in advance. Anything regarded as be-

ing above a medium risk is shown in

orange, above a high risk in red and

above an extreme risk in dark red.

And is it possible or every employeeto view this world map? They can do

even more: When making a booking, an

employee receives inormation about

potential security risks at the relevant

destination. I a high or extreme risk

is indicated, an employee is only al-

lowed to continue with his booking un-

der specifc conditions. As I mentioned,

to avoid travelling and preserving the

health o our employees is paramount

or us. I employees still decide to trav-

el however, then we require that they

call our headquarters on a daily basis.

Are there special safety requirements

that a hotel has to meet? It goes with-

out saying that traveller requirements

are dierent to those o the travelmanager. Depending on the desti-

nation and dangerous situation, we

check i a hotel is earthquake-proo

or whether it is 500 meters above

the waterline in the case o a Tsunami.

In politically-troubled regions such as

Pakistan or South Arica, we will check

to see i the local government oers

protection or i a certain area or re-

gion is guarded or monitored. Control

Risks submits hotel recommendations

to us on this basis. It would also be a

real added value i a hotels securi-ty inormation were to be displayed

when making a booking.

GEA Group AG. GEA Group AG, head

ofce based in Dsseldor/Germany,

is one o the worlds largest system

providers or the ood processing in-

dustry and a wide range o process

industries with group revenues o

more than 5.7 billion euros in 2012.

At the end o 2012, the company em-

ployed almost 25,000 employees

worldwide in around 300 subsidiar-

ies in about 50 countries. The com-

pany is listed on the German MDAX:

www.gea.com

The aim is: proactive care.

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12/36

PHOTO:MONK

EYBUSINESS/THINKSTOCK

APPS MAKINGEVERYTHING EASY.NEW POSSIBILITIES OFFERED BY MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES.

TEXT: DOMINIK MAASSEN

12

COVER STORY.


13/36

New digital technologies will also change the behaviour o business travellers in

uture. Today, business travellers can use their Smartphone throughout the world in

their hotel or at the airport to check in. Travel managers should take certain criteriainto account when choosing apps so that they can keep track o everything.

Experts predict that next year

more people around the globe

will sur the Internet using mo-

bile devices than using PCs and lap-

tops. According to orecasts, the num-

ber o apps downloaded will almost

double in 2013, compared to the pre-

vious year. And three quarters o all

major companies with more than 1500employees see many dierent ben-

efts in using these types o mobile

applications or their business trav-

ellers.

MAKING THINGS SIMPLER

FOR TRAVELLERS

The advantage o mobile apps is ob-

vious: They are easy to use, save time

and oer the person making a book-

ing a great deal o exibility anytime

and anywhere, as the person trav-

elling can respond immediately and

independently using mostly ree o

charge programmes. Have you missed

your ight? I so, you can soon fnd an

alternative using the right application

such as a train connection or a unoc-

cupied vehicle rom a car rental com-

pany. I there are no other options

or departing ater a business meet-

ing, then the apps can also help you

to fnd a hotel.

SMARTPHONE REPLACES

CREDIT CARD

The act that a traveller always hashis Smartphone at hand also oers

additional benefts. Nowadays, the

Smartphone oers a business trav-

eller the option o also having his

boarding documents, tickets or res-

ervations in electronic orm. In uture,

the Near-Field-Communication (NFC)

technology will also make it possible

to make payments using the Smart-

phone. An NFC transmitter is inte-

grated into the payment chip or the

Smartphone, which identifes the ter-

minal at the checkout counter. Ater

confrmation appears on the display,

the amounts due are debited direct-

ly without using a credit card. In

the uture, customers will be able to

save a great deal o time using this

technology also when checking out

rom a hotel.

Companies should take advantage o

these new possibilities, as the desireo bookers or apps with the advan-

tages mentioned above is unrelenting.

And the trend is on the rise.

Travel managers have to adopt a uni-

orm approach in an attempt to also

guarantee control over bookings and

ensure the best possible overview

thereo in uture. This means that the

use o apps corresponds to the com-

panys travel guidelines.

Everything that applied to travel agen-

cies in the past and that was later in-

corporated into online booking sys-

tems is now equally important or

using apps.

CUSTOMER ACCOUNT ALSO

AVAILABLE IN APPS

A undamental requirement or suc-

cessully integrating apps is that a

booking is always made using the

company account no matter wheth-

er you are using your computer or an

app on your mobile. In order to sign

up, a travel manager must always en-

ter his customer number and the data

is incorporated automatically into hisreporting and analyses.

I providers have good apps in their

product range, then travel managers

should consciously promote them.

There is also the option o making de-

vices available to which the IT depart-

ment has preinstalled applications and

to which employees cannot download

any more applications. At the same

time, it is laid down in the travel guide-

lines that employees are not allowed

to use their private Smartphone or

business trips.

THE FEWER APPS THE BETTER

Normally the motto is: the ewer apps

the better. Employees should process

all data that is relevant or statistical

purposes in a uniorm manner using

the same app. Otherwise data proli-

eration will soon occur, says Wolgang

Suchetzki, Director Key Account Man-

agement at HRS headquarter in Co-logne. Travel managers are no longer

able to control the travel habits o

their colleagues i they make bookings

erratically and in a disordered way.

It is recommended limiting yoursel

to just a ew apps and taking advan-

tage o the benefts they have to o-

er: A useul app or business travel-

lers or example improves the ow o

inormation. It represents all means

o transport in one itinerary and o-

ers push services. For this purpose,

there must be the option to integrate

apps into the existing IT network. Then

an app guarantees low roaming and

maintenance costs and enables a per-

sons location to be ound so that trav-

ellers can be oered inormation and

located.

HRS oers a solution that can be

completely integrated into the IT net-

work, says Suchetzki. In the HRS app,

it is thus possible, or example, to dis-

play special company discounts and

contract data.

HRS APPS.HRS App or iPhone

www.iphone.hrs.com

HRS App or BlackBerry

www.blackberry.hrs.com

13

GLOBAL MOBILE


14/36

HRS has expanded its

ootprint in Asia Pacifcs

rapidly growing business

and leisure travel markets

with the opening o a newregional operations hub in

Singapore.

Extending an impressive global

portolio o hotel booking ser-

vices to the young and savvy

Asian consumer is one o the key ac-

tors behind HRS decision to locate its

new Asia Pacifc headquarters in Sin-

gapore. Asian travellers are increas-ingly travelling across the Asia Paci-

ic region and to locations around the

world or both business and leisure.

Asia Pacifc is a high-growth area and

an important region to oer corpo-

rate travellers more choice and bet-

ter service. We want to help compa-

nies here maximise proftability by

cutting corporate travel costs through

an efcient travel management sys-

tem, said Tobias Ragge, CEO o HRS

at the launch event or the Singapore

ofce in June.

FIRST OFFICE OPENED

TEN YEARS AGO

HRS, Europes leading hotel portal

or business and private travellers,

opened its frst ofce in Asia ten years

ago, in Shanghai, China, and in July an-

nounced the opening o a second o-fce in the capital city, Beijing, as part

o its plan to expand market share in

China. With the new regional head-

quarters now opened in Singapore,

HRS aims to leverage expansion in

the ast-growing travel markets across

South-East Asia in tandem with the

rest o the dynamic Asia Pacifc region.

Asia Pacifc is widely recognised as

the powerhouse region or global trav-

el and tourism. Strong growth o 7%

was recorded in Asian outbound travel

last year, according to the 2012/2013

DESTINATION SINGAPORE.NEW ASIA PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS.TEXT: GARY BOWERMAN

14

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ITB World Travel Trends Report. This

trend is expected to continue: The

outlook or outbound tourism is over-

whelmingly positive thanks to contin-ued good prospects or the regions

economies as incomes rise and con-

sumers are able to travel more, the

report adds.

In the frst our months o 2013, 298

million international tourists travelled

worldwide, according to the UNW-

TO World Tourism Barometer. Asia

and the Pacifc registered a 6% in-

crease year on year, giving the high-

est relative growth o any global re-

gion during the period. This fgure

was boosted by burgeoning arrivalsin South East Asia (up 12%) and South

Asia (up 9%).

15 EMPLOYEES

The new HRS Asia Pacifc Singapore

headquarters is headed by Commer-

cial Director Christian Lukey, and

employs 15 people across three di-

erent divisions; Hotel Solutions, Cor-

porate Solutions and Marketing. The

companys team o dedicated man-

agers looks ater the key markets in

Asia Pacifc, including, Japan, Korea,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and

Thailand.

Asia is experiencing a strong econom-

ic growth and an unprecedented rise

in the consumption o travel servic-

es. With the worlds biggest, young-

est and most tech-riendly consumer

group working and living in this re-

gion, it is a promising market to be in,

says Christian Lukey. While there are

other players in the market, our global

customers have been asking us to ex-

pand our services here or some time

already as they appreciate the mod-ern and exible approach HRS brings

to corporate travel.

POPULAR DESTINATION

FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL

Singapore, known as the Lion City, was

the natural choice, as it is home to

numerous regional and global head-

quarters o multi-national organisa-

tions, plus many Asian companies. It

is also a popular destination or busi-

ness travel, and the Singapore Tour-

ism Board heavily promotes the ast-

paced business environment as a key

part o the collage o experiences that

sets the city abuzz.

Singapore is a coveted destination or

business conerences and meetings

as well. The International Conventions

Association ranked Singapore as the

joint sixth city globally (alongside Lon-

don) or total number o meetings in

2012. All o the cities placed above it

on the list are located in Europe, while

the second highest placed Asian city

was Beijing, in 13th place.

In addition, the diversifcation o ho-

tels, shopping, dining and entertain-

ment and new tourism attractions

in recent years has redefned Singa-

pores appeal as a leisure destination.

It also has a high number o outbound

travellers, serving as a hub in the re-

gion, and Changi International Airport

regularly tops polls as or the worlds

best airport.Singapores vibrant multicultural

mix makes it an appealing place rom

which to conduct our regional opera-

tions. A well-qualifed workorce, plus

easy access to reliable technology and

the strategic location o many multi-

national companies combine to cre-

ate a unique opportunity or HRS to

expand in the existing Asia Pacifc re-

gion, says Christian Lukey.

Our experienced team oers a unique

blend o expertise and integrated solu-

tions to large and medium-sized com-

panies, which have not previously

been able to ully assess the efcien-

cy o their hotel programmes, Mr Luk-

ey adds. Looking ahead, countries

across the Asia Pacifc region possess

all the economic and social attributes

to leaprog the developmental stag-

es that the rest o the world has tak-

en two or three decades to overcome.

We look orward to assisting our cli-

ents with their corporate travel strat-

egies, which will be essential to their

continued growth in the region.

The opening o the Singapore region-

al headquarters was marked by a CEO

business breakast or industry clients

and partners, hosted by HRS CEO Mr.

Tobias Ragge. During the event, the

HRS Intelligent Sourcing service was

introduced to the audience. Later the

same day, a media lunch was held to

introduce HRS to the local media com-

munity.As part o the launch activities, HRS

released its frst ever brand campaign

in the print media, which was target-

ed at Singapores business and trav-

el management community. A series

o brand and segment specifc ads

were launched in leading newspapers

and business dailies, reaching a po-

tential audience o over 1.5 million

people.

The new regional HRSoperations hub in Singapore.

15

DESTINATION SINGAPORE


16/36

SEARCH & BOOK.TRANSPARENT. QUICK. MEETS REQUIREMENTS.

TEXT: FRANK WILLIG

As a market leader and an in-

novator, HRS pays particu-

lar attention to developing

its products as efciently as possi-

ble and adapting them accordingly to

customer requirements. Last Febru-

ary, the third generation o the com-

pany booking portal went online,which HRS initially developed over

ten years ago. Companies stand to

gain rom the improved standard o

the new booking portal with numer-

ous alterations. The main ocus in en-

hancing the portal was on developing

an intuitive menu navigation system

to enable simpler and quicker navi-

gation, using new flter unctions to

make fnding relevant hotel oers a

closely linked and quicker process as

well as a customizable booking pro-

cess or easy booking.

OPTIMIZED SEARCH AND

FILTER FUNCTIONS

Companies can beneft rom dis-

counts o between 5 and 30 percent,

which around 30,000 contract hotels

o HRS oer when making a booking

using the new portal. It goes without

saying that rates negotiated by thecompany themselves are still on fle.

This means that the cheapest price

will always be displayed to the user.

I there are not many rooms availa-

ble, the user will be inormed o this

in the hotel list and he can thereore

make up his mind at an early stage.

The HRS price limit unction also en-

ables employees to make a booking

within the ramework o the compa-

ny travel guideline. The price limit can

be fxed both on a global scale and or

individual locations.

FAST BOOKING AND

TRANSPARENT REPORTING

The booking process itsel was also

enhanced and it oers a number o

customized and confgurable unc-

tions. These include saving company

credit card details and using alterna-

tive payment methods including theoption o up to two cost absorption

declarations.

The AConto payment method there-

ore enables bookings to be made

on account, while payment with

a saved credit card makes it easi-

er when paying a bill at a hotel us-

ing a credit card. Following this, all

bookings made will be summarized

in a report system which the trav-

el manager can use to view and as-

sess numerous reports and statistics

at any time.

Since February, the HRS booking portal for companies has had a new look. During the

last ew months, product and online specialists have enhanced the platorm makingthe hotel booking process even easier and more efcient or corporate customers.

16

SERVICE.


17/36

SPECIFIC LOOK

IN CORPORATE DESIGN

The design o the portal can

be adapted to the image o

the relevant corporate cus-

tomer. It is possible to in-

clude the individual compa-

ny colours and the company

logo is also simple to inte-

grate.

Besides developing the de-

sign and unctions o the

booking portal, companies

also give security or data

encryption top priority. Us-

ers personal data is unda-

mentally transerred in en-

crypted orm according to

the 128 Bit SSL standard.

COMPREHENSIVE ADVICE

FROM HRS

Implementing the book-

ing portal is very simple

and is perormed in justa ew steps. In a ace-to-

ace meeting, HRS special-

ists show everything the

booking portal has to o-

er and together with the

travel manager develop the

available unctions. Employ-

ees can gain a better un-

derstanding o these unc-

tions with the aid o training

courses both online and in

person. I any issue arises

rom using the portal at a

later date, a telephone hot-

line is available to provide

expert advice at all times.

DISCOUNTS AND TOP

QUALITY HOTELS

It is also possible to track

down hotels with excellent

customer orientation which

can be easily identifed us-

ing the new HRS award Top

Quality Hotel. A hotel must

meet strictly defned quality

criteria in the ollowing cat-

egories to receive the HRS

seal o approval: custom-

er satisaction, quality ho-

tel acilities, price reliabili-

ty and good service. The

Top Quality Hotel award

makes it possible to recog-

nize immediately which ho-

tels in the hit list stand out

through excellent custom-

er service. The new bookingportal thereore oers all

companies a whole host o

enhancements, which can be

described vividly with three

key words: More transpar-

ent. Quicker. Meets require-

ments better.

The booking tool

The list of hotels

17

CORPORATE CUSTOMER PORTAL


18/36

The Middle Kingdom is becoming an increasingly important trading partner or

South-east Asian companies. There has been a particularly huge transormation

in Shanghai which has developed rom a sleeping colonial city to a modern

business metropolis in a matter o just hal a century. The city which is home

to 16 million people represents a symbol o the boom in China.

TRAVELLING IN CHINA.BUSINESS TRIP TO THE BOOMTOWN OF SHANGHAI.TEXT: INGO THIEL PHOTOS: JAN SIEFKE

The ascent upwards happens at a

spectacular pace. The elevators

at the World Financial Center in

Shanghai race upwards at eight meters

per second. It takes just one minute or

a visitor to get rom the ground oor

to the top oor o the most promi-

nent building in the Chinese fnancial

metropolis with what is currently the

highest observation deck in the world

at 474 meters above ground. The New

York architecture ofce Kohn Peder-

sen Fox Associates was tasked with

constructing a building that would

symbolize the fnancial power o the

Peoples Republic.

RAPID RISE

Similar to the trip in the elevator, the

Chinese economy has also enjoyed a

rapid rise: The gross domestic prod-

uct (GDP) amounted to around SGD

1.5 trillion back in 2003 and has been

orecasted at around SGD 11.18 tril-

lion or this year. In comparison, es-

tablished European economies like

Germany have a gross domestic prod-

uct o SGD 4.36 trillion and Singa-

pore has SGD 349.8 billion. China has

thus risen up into the leading group

o countries and the Peoples Repub-

lic o China has been the leading ex-

porter since 2009. And i everything

goes according to what chie govern-

ment planners have in store, then the

Chinese GDP is likely to be at SGD 20

PRACTICE.

18


19/36

trillion by 2020 at the latest and Chi-

na will overtake the pacesetter that

is the USA.

BEING MOBILE IN THE CITY

You can also experience incredible

numbers and an amazing tempo imme-

diately ater arriving into Shanghai at

the ultra-modern Pudong airport: This

is where the magnetic monorail Trans-

rapid, which is known as the Shang-

hai Maglev Train (SMT) in China, trav-

els at a speed o up to 431 km/h into

the city centre. We recommend using

the subway when attending business

meetings, as the streets are regular-

ly congested especially when there is

rush-hour trafc. The Jiaotong Card is

practical or this purpose. You can pur-

chase this card rom stations and top

it up with credit. As well as using this

smartcard or the metro, it is also pos-

sible to use it or taxis or as a method

o payment at McDonalds.

When travelling with a taxi, passen-

gers should be aware that, unlike in

Singapore, Chinese drivers will not al-

ways know where to go i you give

them the name o a hotel. Instead,

they get their bearings by reerring

to road intersections and road names.

As many drivers dont speak English

either, it is benefcial to have the ad-

dress o your destination written

down in Chinese. Corporate clients o

HRS can print out their hotel booking

The Shanghai skyline is imposingand constantly going through change.

TRAVELLING IN CHINA

19


20/36

confrmation with the address printedin Chinese or save it on their Smart-

phone a service that is always worth

having close to hand.

GAINING AN UNDERSTANDING

In high-class restaurants, the waiters

oten speak English. I this is not the

case, another option is to view the pic-

tures o the dishes on the menu as a

guide. It is also recommended that you

always keep a city map close to hand,

as otherwise it is difcult to ask some-

body walking along the street or di-rections. Both in this situation and at

business meetings, a visitor to Shang-

hai can quickly win somebody over

by learning a ew Chinese words. The

most common expressions like Ni hao

(Hello), Baituo (Please), XieXie (Thank

you), Manmanchi (Enjoy your meal) or

Gan bai (Cheers) quickly help to make

the atmosphere more relaxed and can

also open doors or you.

In Shanghai, the doors or compa-

nies are very much open: More than

50,000 oreigners are already work-

ing here. The city is well on its way

to taking over rom Hong Kong and

Singapore as the fnancial metropo-

lis. Every eort was made in an at-

tempt to make it to the top. For the

Expo 2010 alone, the government al-

lowed more than fve square kilo-

metres o land on the banks o the

Huangpu river to be demolished and

redesigned and with 70 million visi-

tors, more people attended than ever

beore.

WIDE SELECTION OF HOTELSThe local hotels correspond to the

needs o a modern metropolis and

their services and acilities are de-

signed with international business

customers in mind. However, you

should avoid drinking tap water even

in 5-star establishments. In many ho-

tels, there is an express service or

checking in and out, and the employ-

ees speak English. However, i you

experience difculties with your ac-

commodation, HRS 24-hour hotline

is there to help you.

IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.The Singapore Consulate General

in Shanghai is located at No.89

Wanshan Road, Shanghai 200336,

Tel.: (0086 21) 6278 5566.

It is possible to fnd pharmacies

everywhere and most o them sell

joint-venture medicines that are con-

siderably less expensive than west-

ern medicines. The Shanghai No.1

Pharmacy at 616 Nanjing Road (East)

is the largest pharmacy with a wide

range o western medicines.

I you need a doctor, you should

consult your provider in the pri-

vate sector ParkwayHealth, which

has a number o medical centres in

Shanghai and an international med-

ical team that speaks English Den-

tal practices are integrated into the

Hongqiao and Jinqiao medical cen-

tres (www.parkwayhealth.cn).

In emergency situations, please con-

tact the hotel personnel. I you call

the emergency number 120, the sta

on the telephone are only able to

understandMandarin. Foreigners are

admitted to the nearest hospital with

an international department subject

to a charge (please take your pass-

port and cash with you, as the med-

ical centres do not accept any orm

o credit card payment).

City of contrasts

Tradition meets modernity!

Shanghai is the main nancialcentre in China.

The dense subway networkrepresents the heartand soul of the metropolis.

20

PRACTICE.


21/36

The HRS ofce in Shanghai is able to

provide assistance in the event o lan-

guage problems when unexpected di-

fculties occur and ensure that cus-tomers get alternative accommodation

o the same type i not better and

without paying any additional charg-

es. HRS has had a presence in China

since 2002, employs just under 100

people and has an excellent knowl-

edge o the hotel market with a hotel

portolio to match.

CULINARY TREATS

Going or a meal together is also an

important part o business lie and

thats why a company representativeshould know a ew good restaurants.

I you are going or a business lunch,

we recommend that you visit Lost

Heaven which, along with specialities

rom Yunnan, also oers an open air

bar (YanAn Dong Rd.). You can also

get a really great view rom one o

the tallest restaurants in the world,

the three stories high 100 Century Av-

enue which extends rom the 91st to

the 93rd oor o the World Financial

Center and has more than 500 wines

on the menu. The numerous local res-

taurants are signifcantly less expen-

sive. Shanghais speciality Xiao Long

Mantou o pastry flled with meatballs

and broth, which are put into bam-

boo baskets and then steamed, canbe tried at Jia Jia Tang Bao (Huang-

he Road 90).

AFTER WORK

The entertainment district o Xin Tian

Di new paradise that is mainly vis-

ited only by rich locals, tourists and

expatriates is jam packed with bars.

We would particularly recommend the

cocktail bars El Coctel (2/F, 47 Yongu

Rd.) in the style o the Golden Twenties

and the Barbarossa (231 Nanjing Xi

Road), a lounge with three oors in the

middle o a lake in the peoples park,

where you can go frst o all or ater

work drinks, then stay or dinner and

where you can end the night perect-

ly with cocktails and a disco. Pleasevisit the website www.smartshang-

hai.com or a antastic overview o

all the trendy bars, cas and restau-

rants and or more inormation about

the latest establishments that have re-

cently opened or closed in ast-paced

Shanghai.

A CITY OF SUPERLATIVES

Shanghai is a city o superlatives

which, like China itsel, has continued

to develop at a rapid rate. The Chi-

nese government is doing everything

within its power to turn the city into

the leading fnancial centre o Asia

TOP 3. BUSINESS HOTELS RECOMMENDED BY ADAM QIAN, HRS OFFICE IN SHANGHAI.

Adam Qian,Hotel Market Manager,HRS Shanghai

View from the World Financial Centerin Shanghai at the Bund from 474 metres above ground.

SWISSOTEL GRAND

SHANGHAI

The Swissotel

Grand Shanghai is

an elegant design

hotel situated right at the

heart o the business quarter.

Food connoisseurs can get

the best steak money can

buy at the afliated Moons

Steakhouse. The fve star hotel

was the proud recipient o the

Chinas Leading Business Ho-

tel award and has 467 rooms.

It oers 4 restaurants and

bars, a spa and wellness area,

multiunctional conerence

rooms, Internet/WLAN servi-

ces and a daily newspaper ree

o charge.

Price starts at SGD 220.

THE ETON

The Eton is a modern design

hotel with luxuriously ur-

nished rooms and spacious

suites. The hotel has a large

wellness area with a swim-

ming pool and a number o

dierent restaurants with

spectacular views. It is situa-

ted in the centre o the busi-

ness and commercial quarter

o Lujiazu.

The hotel is only 10 minutes

drive rom the Shanghai New

International Expo Centre.

A car park and garage are

available right next to the

hotel.


BODI BOUTIQUE SHANGHAI

PUDONG

The Bodi Boutique Shanghai

Pudong is an exquisite bou-

tique hotel with an art deco

design. The hotel is a real

insider tip among travellers

to Shanghai. It is a 4 star ho-

tel with 90 rooms measuring

between 46 and 110 square

metres. The hotel acilities in-

clude a restaurant and bar as

well as a gym. It also oers

Internet/WLAN services and a

daily newspaper ree o char-

ge and conerence rooms. The

Bodi Boutique is situated right

at the heart o Pudong, which

is the business and fnancial

district o the city.


21

TRAVELLING IN CHINA


22/36

TRAVEL ETIQUETTE. HRS TOP TEN TIPSWhen making decisions, the eelings you have towards a person play

a crucial role. Thats why it is vital to behave in the right way during

negotiations.

01Punctuality: It is not acceptable to be any more than fve

minutes late.

02Hierarchy: Greet the most senior individuals frst. Older peo-

ple beore the younger ones and men beore women. The hi-

erarchy is clear or all to see, as the most senior person always en-

ters the room frst.

03Greeting: Do not make physical contact and do not nod your

head. Simply bow slightly and lower your gaze. I someone

shakes your hand, oer just a sot handshake.

04Address: Always use the surname o a Chinese person frst

and then their frst name.

05Business card:It is best to have a dual language business

card and to hand over the card with both hands and with

the writing acing the person you are talking to. I you are oered

a business card, always accept it with both hands and take a look at

it. Do not put the business card away immediately that shows dis-

respect!

06Eye contact: Never look at somebody directly; that is consid-

ered intrusive. When holding a conversation always look to the

side. When making a toast with somebody, you look them in the eye.

07Discussion: You must be patient. Do not directly say what

you want. You should avoid conrontation at all costs and do

not disagree with what your conversational partner says. It is best to

use sentences like That may be difcult or I will try.

08Etiquette: Avoid blowing your nose during a conversation or

even during dinner. I you need to do it, it is best to go to the

toilet. Do not show the sole o your shoe to the people around you.

Do not move anything with your eet and avoid crossing your legs.

I you are oered a cigarette, it is best to accept it even i you are a

non-smoker and put it in your shirt pocket.

09Gifts: You should wrap gits in red or yellow paper, as thesecolours represent a zest or lie. Do not wrap gits in white

paper and do not give our o the same git, as like owers and

watches, this also symbolizes death. Do not unwrap gits you receive

straight away; put them to one side instead.

10Food: The host orders or everybody. You should at least try

the dishes on oer. I you do not want to eat something, you

should give a reason (e.g. that you are allergic or you are vegetari-

an). I you are ull up, leave a little ood remaining in your bowl, oth-

erwise it will be flled up again. I you able to eat with chopsticks, it

will defnitely go down well. Do not cross your chopsticks, separate

them, cross them over or put them upright in your rice bowl. Do not

stab or skewer your ood or play around with it.

APPS.Icoon (iOS) I you are not able

to make yoursel under-

stood verbally, then you can

use the ree dictionary with

almost 500 symbols to indi-

cate exactly what you want to say.

CamDictionary (iOS/ Android)

Simply hold your camera upto the Chinese characters and

you will be provided with an

English translation. The basic

version can be acquired ree o charge.

Explore Metro Guide (iOS)

Subway maps and routes o

the major Chinese cities. The

guide interacts with Goog-

le Maps and station names

are written in English and Chinese and also

spoken in Chinese. This service is subject to

a charge.

Istaverse (iOS)Free portal

that consolidates a number

o dierent news channels

including Shanghaiist. You

will also receive news that the countrys

press doesnt consider newsworthy.

China Air Pollution Index (iOS)

You can use this ree app in

real time to check wheth-

er it is currently advisable to

wear a breathing mask.

The narrow streets of the old cityare jam-packed with tourists and locals

22

PRACTICE.


23/36

and to turn the country into the most

important economy. For South-east

Asian companies, this enormous mar-

ket with its 1.3 billion inhabitants is

extremely important. And due to the

act that more and more small and me-

dium-sized companies rom all around

the world want to play their part in the

boom, the number o people taking

business trips to China in the next ew

years will increase signifcantly.

NETWORKED.Encryption technology on compa-

ny laptops is subject to authorization

and must be registered. There is a

standard Chinese

customs orm or this purpose which

can be flled out beore

arriving in China. I hardware is used

or encrypting sensitive data, this

hardware must come rom China. Iyou do not comply with these regu-

lations, the equipment you are using

will likely be confscated.

BlackBerrys are compatible in Chi-

na, however, roaming is expensive.

It is advisable to purchase a Chi-

nese SIM card especially i you are

staying in China or a long time and

these are available in kiosks and

small shops. You can buy credit and

use your own mobile telephone with

your Chinese telephone number.

WLAN or Internet connection comes

as standard in hotels and coner-

ence centres and it is not unusual to

fnd Internet cas. I possible, al-

ways establish a data connection by

using VPN Tunnel and use one-time

passwords or internet access. It is

not possible to access Internet pages

such as Facebook, Twitter and You-

Tube and this may also apply to or-

eign media websites.

Hustle and bustle in the peoples park of Shanghai

far away in the background is the building site of the soonto be largest building in the city, the Shanghai Tower.

Traditional Chinese food can be found

in old Shanghai around every corner.

If you like to cook yourself,you can nd many different ingredientsat the citys traditional street markets.

23

TRAVELLING IN CHINA


24/36

NEW BOOM TOWNS.THE GREAT UNKNOWNS.

China is growing rapidly. This growth is evident in four cities that not everybody will

have necessarily heard o. The cities will be important or business travellers in uture.

In China, there are 35 major cities including metropolises that have our to fve times

as many inhabitants as Singapore. Shanghai may be the leading economic centre, but

these cities that are still relatively un-known in parts o South-east Asia and Asia, arebecoming more and more important or business travellers.

NANJING

Nanjing is the second largest city in the

east o the country ater Shanghai with

a population o 7.5 million inhabitants.

The industrial landscape o the ormer

capital o China is characterized by fve

key industries electronics, vehicle con-

struction, petrochemistry, iron/steel

and energy. A number o internation-

al companies are already represented

in Nanjing or have entered into a joint

venture with Chinese partners includ-

ing Volkswagen, BASF, Bosch and Sie-

mens. On average, two new interna-

tional companies establish themselves

here every day. Heres a tip: take a boat

ride at night along the Qinhuai river

past the city wall o Nanjing!

HRS hotel recommendation:

InterContinental Nanjing

5 star luxury hotel. Landmark and the

highest building in the city at 450 me-

ters. It oers spectacular views o the

skyline and the Zijin Mountain. Hori-

zon Cae on the 45th oor with a view

o the sky. Exquisite restaurants with

international, Indian, Italian, Chinese

and Japanese cuisine, relaxation at a

ull-service spa as well as an indoor

and outdoor pool.

HANGZHOU

The megacity that is largely unknown

throughout Europe is the capital o the

Chinese province o Zhejiang and has a

population o more than seven million

inhabitants. The largest textile actory

in China is located in the silk city. Thestrongest industries in Hangzhou are

mechanical, apparatus and plant engi-

neering, car part manuacturing and

domestic electrical appliances, pro-

duction o electronic and telecommu-

nications systems, synthetic fbres as

well as ood processing. The devel-

opment o cutting-edge technologies

is o great importance especially in

the areas o inormation service, on-

line games, modern media, leisure ac-

tivities and tourism, exhibitions and

conerences, etc. Hangzhou is situat-

ed around 190 kilometres rom Shang-

hai and is thereore an ideal place to

go or a day trip. The citys highlight is

the West Lake (around 500 hectares in

size) located close to the city centre.

Its beauty makes it one o the most a-

mous sites in China or Chinese peo-

ple and it was named a UNESCO world

heritage site in 2011.


Hangzhou Tower

5 star business hotel which oers ex-

cellent service. The largest shopping

mall in Zhejiang is located in the same

building. The hotel oers ree WLAN

and parking and provides a dry clean-

ing service and beauty salon.

TEXT: INGO THIEL

24

PRACTICE.


25/36

TERMINE

CHENGDU

Chengdu is the capital o the Chi-

nese province o Sichuan with more

than ten million inhabitants. This main

transport hub in West China is devel-

oping into both a manuacturing in-

dustry or mechanical engineering and

aircrat construction, chemicals, phar-

maceuticals and ood and a fnancial

centre. The West China Internation-

al Economy and Trade Fair (WCIETF)

has been held in Chengdu in May o

each year since 2006. At the same

time, the German Pavilion provides

local companies with a orum to meet

with potential partners rom the Chi-

nese market. People coming over to

visit Chengdu rom Germany shouldnot miss out on the opportunity to

visit one o the many tea houses. The

local population congregates here or

the Majiang games as well as or par-

ties or even business meetings.


Kempinski Chengdu

5 star hotel with numer-

ous restaurants that serve speciali-

ties rom all over the world. Kempinski

Chengdu also encompasses the Paulan-

er restaurant, a Cantonese restaurant

and a traditional tea house. It also o-

ers ree WLAN and a daily newspaper,

a garage at the hotel and conerence

and meeting room acilities.

KANTON (GUANGZHOU)

The capital o the Guangdong provinceis the third largest city in China. Kan-

ton is the main industrial and trade

location known as the worlds acto-

ry and its main industry sectors are

chemicals, telecommunications, elec-

tronic devices, machinery, shipbuild-

ing, textiles, plastics, rubber as well

as iron and steel production. Its lead-

ing service sectors are transport, stor-

age, banking and insurance. More than

10,000 international companies have

establishments in the economic me-

tropolis. In spring and in autumn, the

most distinguished import and export

trade air in China Canton Fair is held

with several hundred thousands o

purchasers and traders attending.

The Canton Tower is around 600 me-

ters tall and is an extraordinary archi-

tectural highlight. Since 2010, visitors

have been able to use the observation

deck to admire the amazing view o the

megacity on the Pearl River.


Grand International

A luxurious 5 star hotel in

the business quarter o Tianhe oer-

ing all types o amenities or business

travellers such as ree WLAN, a daily

newspaper, dry cleaning services, agym and an outdoor pool.

ChengduNanjing

Hangzhou

Guangzhou

25

TRAVELLING IN CHINA


26/36

PHOTO:ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

HOTEL PROCUREMENTOUTSOURCING.BEARINGPOINT & HRS.

TEXT: ROMY SCHUMANN

PRACTICE.

26


27/36

The German Company Bearing-

Point with ofces worldwide

oers consultancy services to

companies and organizations in thecommercial service, fnancial service

and public service sectors in resolv-

ing their pressing and important issues.

BearingPoint advisors work in close co-

operation with their clients and togeth-

er defne ambitious objectives and de-

velop solutions, processes and systems

along the entire value added chain. This

orms the basis or a signifcant contri-

bution to business success and excep-

tional customer satisaction. Since the

takeover by its partners as part o a

management buy-out, BearingPoint hasbecome an independent business con-

sultancy frm which combines entrepre-

neurship and management and techno-

logical expertise in a unique manner.

Strategies are linked with new technol-

ogies and BearingPoint thus success-

ully advises companies and organiza-

tions rom the economic, fnancial and

public service sectors. BearingPoint has

around 3,500 employees in 15 coun-

tries. The company has European roots,

yet it supports its customers around

the world with a global network.

The consulting business involves in-

tensive travel requirements. Over

2,900 BearingPoint advisors are out

and about on average our times a

week. This means that the majority

o advisors spend weeks on end with

customers at their place o business.

In addition, meetings and events are

also held. As a result, the demand or

hotel accommodation is high. Due to

the increase in travel expenses, Bear-

ingPoint decided or the frst time two

years ago to optimize hotel procure-

ment or hotels worldwide.

STRATEGIC HOTEL PROCUREMENT

As a corporate customer, Bearing-

Point addressed its concerns to HRS

in 2010. Following this, the hotel ex-

perts developed an innovative service

or analysing costs worldwide and op-

timizing hotel procurement. This re-

sulted in savings o around 10 per-cent being generated. The consultancy

has been using the Intelligent Sourc-

ing solution or the third year in a row

now. Ater the successul cooperation

and positive results, it was an easy

decision or us to keep aith with HRS

in 2012 as well. I was surprised how

ast the product was developed com-

pared to the last couple o years, ex-

plains Richard Sebald, Manager Meet-

ing & Travel Services at BearingPoint.

HRS Intelligent Sourcing is a holistic

approach consisting o fve phases:analysis, developing a sourcing strat-

egy, negotiating rates, rate loading and

auditing and reporting. This means

that the entire hotel procurement pro-

cess chain will be oered rom a sin-

gle source or the frst time with the

aim o reducing the burden placed

on travel management operations as

well cutting process and travel costs.

In the case o product development,

we ocussed in particular on oering

our customers an end-to-end solution

and on using or this purpose our own

unique database o over 250,000 ho-

tels and bookings o more than 35,000

corporate customers, which none o

our competitors has says Michael Si-

mon, Member o the HRS Executive

Board and Head o Corporate Solu-

tions at the HRS head ofce, in pre-

senting the concept.

CHALLENGES

Initially, all the travel expenses rom

the previous ew months were ana-

lysed. For this reason, BearingPoint

provided HRS with a number o dier-ent data sources including credit card

data and hotel and TMC statistics. This

enabled HRS to gain a clear overview

o the booking volume or individual

destinations and hotels.

BEST PRACTICE

We ocused on oeringour customers an

end-to-end solution. 27


28/36

The situation is as ollows: While con-

tract hotels constituted a high amount

o accommodation in numerous desti-

nations in 2010, this amount has im-

proved signifcantly over the last ew

years resulting in a positive impact

on hotel rates. HRS was able to derive

specifc recommendations based on

these substantiated results: Reducing

hotel costs by consolidating accom-

modation into a ew contract hotels

taking into account good value alter-

native hotels. However, as fnding ho-

tel accommodation is a very sensitive

topic due to the act that employees

are oten emotionally attached to a

particular hotel as it makes them eel

comortable and gives them a eeling

o amiliarity, it was plausible to con-

solidate the hotels gradually.

IMPLEMENTATION

The concept developed by Bearing-

Point travel management along with

HRS was designed to establish how thehotel portolio rom the previous year

was used by employees and where

changes need to be made. In addi-

tion, HRS would propose suitable al-

ternatives rom its wide range o over250,000 hotels worldwide.

BearingPoint once again let the se-

lection and negotiation phase entire-

ly to the sourcing experts at HRS,

which operated as a single point o

contact. The oers o around 400

hotels were listed online via the HRS

eRFP platorm based on a transpar-

ent tendering process. Every hotel

taking part was thereore able to

view the oers o their ellow com-

petitors right until the end and im-

prove their own i they believed itnecessary. This resulted in a mar-

ket process being launched that

ensured the best value rates rom

which BearingPoint was able to ben-

eft. HRS experts used specialist HRS

benchmark data to check dierent

rates. I the rates were too high, as

many as three rounds o negotia-

tions were conducted or each hotel.

In an attempt to also generate good

prices and a high response rate in

oreign markets, HRS oreign ofc-

es were also included in the negoti-

ation process.

Following the conclusion o rate ne-

gotiations, BearingPoint travel man-

agement made the fnal decision on

which hotels were ultimately to be

included in the portolio. The team

headed by Richard Sebald was also

able to rely on the support and ad-

vice oered by HRS experts in mak-

ing this decision. Within 24 hours, the

rates were loaded into the HRS sys-

tem enabling employees at Bearing-

Point to gain access to the new hotel

list o their exclusive booking channelas quickly as possible.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

Ater the successul implementation,

reports on bookable hotels and an im-

mediate tracking process conductedby HRS on unavailable contract hotels

ensured that a high rate o bookable

hotels o over 97 percent o Bearing-

Points hotel portolio was achieved.

Since then, HRS communicates de-

tailed evaluations every quarter which

are discussed with BearingPoint trav-

el management at review meetings.

PERFORMANCE FIGURES

Within two months, BearingPoints

global hotel business was revised com-

pletely. In 2013, negotiations were heldregarding a total o 61,200 room nights

with 160 hotel partners in 20 coun-

tries and 62 destinations. This was car-

ried out by the HRS team o sourcing

experts made up o several members

both at home and abroad. Due to their

market expertise and local presence, it

was possible to attain a hotel response

rate o 94 percent. The re-negotiated

rates and an optimized list o hotels

resulted in accommodation costs once

again being reduced considerably. Pro-

cess costs also dropped signifcantly as

a result o the burden on travel man-

agement operations being relieved.

HRS has done an excellent job or us.

Without their support and expertise,

this type o prolonged analysis and ne-

gotiations would never have been pos-

sible. And ultimately we save on travel

expenses despite the increase in busi-

ness travel activities, explains Richard

Sebald, Manager Meeting & Travel Ser-

vices at BearingPoint. We are delight-

ed with these results and in uture we

will also continue to enlist the help o

HRS with hotel procurement, a servicewhich HRS oers us ree o charge.

Richard Sebald,

Manager Meeting & Travel Servicesat BearingPoint

Ultimately we save ontravel expenses despite the increasein business travel activities!

28

PRACTICE.


29/36

According to a study conducted by the Interna-

tional Congress and Convention Association (ICCA),

the French capital Paris is one o the most popular

cities for conferences and events in the world. The

metropolis on the river Seine really stands out withamazing locations, one o the largest selections o

hotels in every category and sumptuous cuisine.

FRENCH FLAIR.MICE LOCATION CHECK: PARIS.TEXT: INGO THIEL

PHOTO:IS

TOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

The reason why Paris is so im-

portant as a MICE location is

down to its enormous reper-

toire. Few cities have so many op-tions and at the same time oer such

a special atmosphere and frst-class

acilities as Paris. Events planners

can draw on practically unlimited

resources: Meeting and conerence

rooms which hold between 10 and

10,000 people, more than 130,000

square metres o exhibition space,

around 1,500 hotels with more than

80,000 rooms as well as over 70

top-quality restaurants. The French

capital also oers unique locations

such as magnifcent palaces and cas-

tles as well as a varied programme o

events. With almost 14,000 ights in

and out o Paris each week and theexpress train TGV, the French capital

oers the best possible connectivi-

ty to cities worldwide.

HOTEL INDUSTRY

Event planners are spoilt or choice

in Paris. However, given the large

amount o dierent hotels in all cat-

egories, you can easily lose track.

This is not a problem or the HRS

MICE specialist Vronique Beaud-

ron, as the French woman has had

her sight frmly set on the local ho-

tel market or many years. Together

with her colleagues at the company

headquarters in Cologne, Beaudronhas oered support to HRS corpo-

rate customers with their plans di-

rectly rom the heart o the French

capital. Since 2006, HRS has been

based there and since then has not

only gained an understanding o the

market, but has also gained valuable

experience and good contacts to the

local hotel industry.

Vronique Beaudrons avourite es-

tablishment is the fve star ho-

tel Le Collectionneur (51-57 rue de

29

MICE LOCATION CHECKSERVICE.


30/36

Courcelles), which has its very own

business centre o 1,700 square me-

tres. Furthermore, as a result o its

close proximity to the Arc de Tri-

omphe, popular congress venues such

as the Palais des Congrs or the Parc

des Expositions de Villepinte are easily

accessible. One o the most requently

booked conerence hotels at HRS is the

our star hotel Marriott Rive Gauche

(17 Boulevard Saint Jacques), which

has its own conerence centre with

40 rooms and a total area o 4,800

square metres on our oors, which

is equipped to hold events or up to

2,000 people. I you are a planner o

small meetings looking or the ide-

al accommodation, then HRS would

recommend the Boutique Hotel Sezz

(Avenue Fremiet): The our star ho-

tel located near the Eiel Tower has

26 rooms, well-equipped conerence

rooms and a stylish bar. HRS custom-

ers can make use o the applications

Tagung Online (Conerence Online) or

Gruppe Online (Group Online) provid-

ed by the companys very own book-

ing portal to gain a brie overview o

the current range o hotels and their

range o services.

LOCATIONS

Planners also have a great selection

o venues to choose rom: In Paris,

there are hundreds o amazing loca-

tions, explains Jrme Poulalier, MICE

expert rom Atout France, the French

tourist ofce. This makes it possible

to identiy solutions that are tailored

to customer needs and requirements.

Aside rom the traditional conerence

centres like the Carroussel de Louvre

(conerences with up to 1,600 people

attending) or the Grand Palais or the

Universal Exposition o 1900 (events

with up to 6,000 attendees), the Cit

de la Mode et du Design is a venue or

events and exhibitions that is current-

ly gaining in popularity. It is a trendy

location with an enormous roo ter-

race. According to Poulalier, La Mai-

son de la Mutualit is also very much

in ashion. It is an art deco building

that is located in the heart o the his-

torical city centre with an amazingview overlooking the rootops o Par-

is. The building has been completely

modernised and has been equipped

with state-o-the-art technology (15

to 2,000 attendees) and the Studio

Harcourt, a photo studio where the

The ve star hotel Le Collectionneurhas its very own business centre

Taking a ride in the Ballon de Paris, a hugehot air balloon, gives you the opportunity tosee the city from a birds eye view.

PHOT

O:LECOLLECTIONNEUR

P

HOTO:ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK

30

SERVICE.


31/36

stars have been going to get photo-

graphed since 1934. Portraits o more

than 2,000 celebrities rom all over

the world are hanging on the walls oconsecutive lounges. Thats why its

an ideal location or a unique event.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

AND ENTERTAINMENT

Paris has a long list o historical sights

and cultural attractions. The city

thereore oers a whole host o op-

tions or rounding o your stay. You

could take a look behind the scenes at

the amous opera Palais Garnier, go to

the legendary Lido cabaret or take a

guided tour o the machine room atthe Eiel Tower. However, you dont

have to climb the citys landmark to

see the French metropolis rom a

great height. You can also take a ride

in the Ballon de Paris, a huge hot air

balloon which holds up to 30 people

and oats at up to 150 metres above

the city houses and streets. You are

guaranteed to come away with lasting

memories youll never orget.

FOOD AND CLUBBING

The Touch In is currently an extreme-

ly popular e

hrs the hotel expert magazine- august 2013

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