HOTEL CORNER 酒店專才

MEET THE Chairman of HKHA

Peter Wong, the newly elected Chairman of the Hong Kong Hotels Association, shares his thoughts on his new role as chairman of HKHA and on the challenges and opportunities facing Hong Kong’s hotel industry. 新當選香港酒店業協會主席的黃澤峰，與我們分享他對 擔任香港酒店業協會主席的看法，以及香港酒店業面臨的 機遇和挑戰。

I studied hotel management in Switzerland and Austria, and have since spent over 35 years in the hotel and hospitality industry in various operational and management roles. Time does fly!

I was fortunate to start my career with several prestigious international

hotels, where I learned all the basics of hotel operations. I then worked for various local hotel groups, including stints with Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hutchison Whampoa, Henderson Land and Sino Land, as well as at Hotel Nikko, where I learned about the Japanese emphasis on quality with its Zero Defects approach. I also gained valuable experience working in Mainland China.

I returned to Sun Hung Kai in 2005, initially as general manager of Royal

Plaza and then as VP for the hotel division.. I now serve as the Senior Vice President and oversee our four Royal Hotels: Royal Park, Royal Plaza, Royal View and ALVA Hotel by royal. I also serve as the owner’s representative of our branded partner hotels and as a member of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners.

I started my affiliation with the HKHA as early as 1996 and joined the Executive Committee in 2008, working with other committee members on various industry issues. I was greatly honoured to be elected Chairman at HKHA 60th Annual General Meeting held in August last month. I feel privileged to take up this challenge, with the support of Executive Committee and members to continue to strengthen the representation and development of hotel industry in Hong Kong.

This year, the hotel industry everywhere is facing unprecedented

challenges as travel came to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hong Kong’s tourism sector, including hotels, has clearly been the hardest hit. Occupancy levels crashed and hotels are suffering severe financial hardship. Of necessity, hotels are having to be vigilant, creative and do all they can to stay in business.

From the beginning of the crisis, HKHA has worked closely with Health

Department and its Centre for Health Protection to put in place stringent protection measures that all our hotels follow strictly to ensure the health and safety of guests and employees.

From a business standpoint, hotels had to scramble. Many were prompt to offer staycation promotional packages to attract locals. But as long as the city’s borders remain closed, our hotels will struggle to survive. To date, the Government has offered various financial assistance schemes to help keep us afloat, which we appreciate. But obviously, what we really need is hotel guests and visitors coming back to Hong Kong as soon as practicable.

Peter C F Wong 黃澤峰 Chairman, Hong Kong Hotels Association 香港酒店業協會主席

我曾在瑞士和奧地利學習酒店管理， 此後在酒店和酒店業工作 了超過 35載年，擔任過各種營運和管理職務。不由得感嘆時間 飛逝！

很幸運！我的職業生涯從幾家享譽國際的酒店開始， 在那裡我學 習到全面的酒店營運和基礎知識。此後，我在本地多家酒店工作 過，包括新鴻基地產、和記黃埔、恆基兆業地產和信和置業，以 及在日航酒店任職的經驗，讓我了解到日本人對質量的嚴格要 求，以及學會如何讓服務達到零瑕疵的方法。而且，我還有幸在 中國大陸工作的寶貴體驗。

2005年我返回新鴻基，最初擔任帝京酒店的總經理， 後來擔任集 團旗下酒店部門的副總裁，。我現任新鴻基酒店部門的高級副總 裁，負責管理集團的四家酒店：帝都酒店、帝京酒店、帝景酒店 和帝逸酒店。我還擔任我們品牌合作酒店的業主代表，以及香港 酒店業主聯會的成員。

早在 1996年我就加入香港酒店業協會， 並於2008年加入執行委員 會，與委員會其他成員一起處理行業問題，並於今年八月舉行的 香港酒店業協會六十周年大會上，正式當選為主席。在這個充滿 挑戰的時刻，我期待與委員會及會員共同努力，速進酒店業發展 及代表性。

今年， Covid-19冠狀病毒大流行使旅遊業陷入停滯， 各地的酒店 業都面臨着前所未有的挑戰。香港的旅遊業，包括酒店，顯然受 到的打擊最大。酒店的入住率大幅下降，酒店正面臨嚴重的財務 困難，我們必須竭盡所能，提高創意及靈活面對，才可以繼續經 營下去。

Our near-term hope is that the borders open soon and allow in visitors from China and neighbouring Asian countries. Until then, continued financial support from the Government is crucial for our survival. Once the borders are open again, the hotels will collaborate with Hong Kong Tourism Board to launch recovery promotion packages to entice visitors back to Hong Kong.

At HKHA, in the short term, our priorities are to work with the

government to extend the financial support and to help with tourism recovery. In the longer term, we want to resume focus on our core mission, to encourage more young people to enter our industry by various routes – high school, vocational institutions and hotel management schools. We need young people to know that working at a hotel can be an interesting and rewarding career.

This pandemic will have lasting impact on both tourism and the

general economy. First, we are seeing the increasing growth of the home economy, especially among the younger generation. In addition to shopping online, the pandemic has seen people increasingly working from home and eating at home. For many, a take-out is now more attractive than dining out. That is really forcing us to think about how our F&B outlets can cater creatively to the take-out segment. While there will always be leisure travel, I think the MICE sector will take much longer to recover and will even reconfigure as people get used to online meetings, and in ever larger groups. Hotels must adapt accordingly. It also means that to draw tourists back, Hong Kong must create new points of interest. There’s a lot to think about as we move forward.

I love Hong Kong, it’s my home. What I like best about Hong Kong is the sheer diversity of its food culture. You can enjoy regional and international cuisines of any kind here, not to mention the different Cantonese cuisines and local Hong Kong food, More than that, you can experience excellent food at different levels, from street eating to dai pai dongs to world-famous Michelin-starred restaurants. Our food culture stacks up with any city’s in the world. The shopping is great too. Hong Kong remains a paradise for both food and shopping.

自危機爆發以來，香港酒店業協會一直與衛生署及衛生防護中心緊密 合作， 所有酒店必須實施嚴格的防護措施，以確保客人及員工安全。

從商業角度來看，酒店不得不拼力爭取生意。 雖然酒店應變迅速，推廣 本地度假住宿促銷方案以吸引當地人。但只要是城市關口一直封閉，我們 的酒店就將難以生存。迄今為止，政府提供了各種財政援助計劃，以幫助 酒店業維持生計，我們對此表示讚賞。但顯然，酒店真正需要的是客人， 期望遊客在切實可行的情況下重臨香港觀光。

我們最希望的是盡快開放口岸， 允許中國內地和周邊亞洲國家的遊客 入境。在此之前，持續的政府財政支持仍然對酒店業的生存至關重要。一 旦口岸重新開放，酒店將全面配合香港旅遊發展局推出促銷活動，以吸引 遊客回到香港。

短期內，香港酒店業協會的首要任務是與政府合作， 擴大財政支持，幫助 旅遊業復甦。從長遠來看，我們希望繼續強化我們的核心使命，以鼓勵更 多的年輕人通過各種途徑進入我們的行業— 不論是高中，職業院校和酒店 管理學校。我們都需要讓年輕人知道，在酒店工作是一項有趣，有意義及 理想回報的職業。

這個冠狀病毒大流行將對旅遊業和整個經濟產生持久影響。 首先，我們 顯然易見宅經濟正在增長 (即在家消費)，特別是年輕一代，除了網上購物 外，越來越多人也在家工作、在家吃飯。對於許多人來說，外賣比外出就 餐更具吸引力。這確實迫使我們考慮餐飲店如何創造性地迎合外賣市場。 儘管總是會有休閒旅行，但我認為会 展 產業需要更長的時間才能恢復， 甚至隨着人們以及越來越多人習慣網上會議，酒店必須做出相應的調整。 這也意味着要吸引遊客回來，香港一定要創造新的興趣點。在酒店業前進 的過程中，我們還有很多事情需要考慮。

我愛香港，這是我的家。 我最喜歡香港的多元飲食文化。您可以在這裡品 嚐到任何一種地區和國際美食，更不用說不同的粵菜和香港本地美味。 不僅如此，您還可以體驗不同層次的餐飲體驗，從街頭小吃到大排擋，再 到舉世聞名的米其林星級餐館。我們的飲食文化可以與世界上任何一個 城市相媲美。購物也很棒，香港永遠是美食和購物的天堂。