With the city's gradual return to normal, Hong Kong's tourism and hotel industries are getting back on track. SHKP and the School of Hotel & Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently organized the SHKP Hotels X SHTM Hackathon, with some 40 students coming up with many innovative ideas for hotels to ride on the post-COVID recovery and growth. 

Devising innovative business proposals for hotels

Over 40 students formed 15 teams to conduct in-depth research and devise innovative proposals for one of the five participating SHKP hotels: The Royal Garden, the Alva Hotel by Royal, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong and the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong. 

During the contest, the students closely interacted with the hotel team and acquired a lot of practical knowledge about how a hotel is managed. Champion team members Vicky and Danny who created a solution for The Royal Garden said they were very impressed by the great lengths the hotel has taken to provide premium service to customers and this is something they should learn about.  

Passing on the hotel culture through experience sharing

On the event day, Tasos Kousloglou, CEO (Hotel Division) of SHKP, and senior management of the five SHKP hotels shared their experience in hotel management. Mr. Kousloglou praised PolyU for nurturing talent for the hotel and tourism industry, and said he was delighted that the students had developed innovative ideas for the industry. Christian Poda, Regional Vice President and General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, and Pierre Perusset, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, shared the rich history and corporate culture of the hotels and taught the students how to enjoy their work in the industry, as they still do. Leo Lai, Hotel Manager of the Alva Hotel by Royal, and Patrick Sin, General Manager of the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, encouraged the students to keep abreast of the latest trends and to constantly look for ways to incorporate innovative technologies into the hotel business. Jenny Chan, General Manager of The Royal Garden, shared the secret of keeping her premium hotel of more than 40 years evergreen.

Joining SHKP to build a career

Many participating students learned a lot from the fruitful sharing and saw a promising future in developing a career in the hotel industry. After the award-presentation ceremony, the students met with the SHKP hotels representatives in groups to gain a deeper understanding of each hotel.