High workloads drive top hotel managers back from Macau

2007-10-23 17:13 (New York)

Poor working conditions and heavy work pressure have encouraged senior Hong Kong hotel management personnel, who were lured to Macau with attractive pay packages at the start of the hotel and casino boom there, to return to the territory.

According to the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners, up to 40 percent of these executives - mostly from four- or five-star hotels who were hired to train hotel employees in the former Portuguese enclave - are now back here. The backflow has put a further strain on Macau's hunt for experienced hotel personnel as the casino boom continues. Most of the executives left Hong Kong hoping to cash in on the boom in Macau, which began shortly after casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun's empire lost its gaming monopoly in 2002 and triggered an invasion by world-renowned casino operators such as Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resort and Malaysia's Genting Group.

"When the exodus from Hong Kong began around 2004, it was estimated that about 1,000 senior management executives from leading local hotels had left. Now, between 30 and 40 percent of them have returned," federation deputy chairman Clarence Shun Wah said yesterday.

"Despite the attractive salaries offered, many of them found it hard to cope with the extremely heavy workload and some were forced to quit after being on the job for only a few months, while others resigned despite having signed long-term contracts with their employers," he said.

Shun Wah said Macau is now facing an acute shortage of qualified hotel workers to cope with the growing number of hotel rooms available. He said the main grievances of the Hong Kong professionals are that they have to put up with long working hours and extreme work pressure in Macau and, although their salaries are high - usually double that of what they earned in Hong Kong -they have to pay for their own accommodation.

Michael Li Hon-sing, executive director of the federation, said the rate of wastage of hotel workers in Hong Kong has doubled in the past year. According to Shun Wah, the cost of hotel operations has risen by more 5 percent since last year as they fight to retain workers with better pay and work conditions.

Hotel owners said they are highly aware of the threat from Macau, but Hong Kong's quality of services and infrastructure remain far superior to those of Macau.

"Macau hotels are hiring people from everywhere," Shun Wah said. "If you walk into a hotel, you don't know whether you should speak to the workers in Cantonese, English or Mandarin." He said guests were sometimes unable to check in at some of the top hotels after 4 pm because there are just not enough people to make up and clean a room which normally takes about 90 minutes.

Commenting on a proposal by Hong Kong Tourism Board chairman James Tien Pei-chunto conduct courses for hotel professionals in Guangdong for Hong Kong and Macau, the federation said this could be a problem as the demand for qualified hotel personnel in the mainland itself is high.

"Importing mainland talent is also not a simple task," Chan Shuk-fong, federation assistant executive director, said." Our hotels have a lot of quotas left for the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme,"he said. "The screening process is just too tight for them."

Some Hong Kong tertiary institutions, such as the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, offer programs in hotel management, but Chan said they need to be more practical rather than research intensive.

Shun Wah said hotel industry workers need to start with frontline duties and work their way up, but many graduates would prefer to work in the marketing or sales departments, or decline to enter the trade.

Two SARs plan closer cooperation on tourism

2007-10-22 17:14 (New York)

Hong Kong and Macau have agreed to negotiate with the mainland government on combining into one the current separate visas for mainland tourists visiting the two cities.The aim is for mainland tourists, under the Individual Visit Scheme, to travel to both places in one trip, according to Hong Kong Tourism Board chairman James Tien Pei-chun who revealed the plan yesterday.

Hong Kong and Macau are not competitors but partners in tourism promotion, Tien said after meeting with Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah and Macau tourism officials in the neighboring SAR. He said increasingly severe international competition has driven them to embrace their partnership.

The two cities are only separated by water, Tien said. Hong Kong, he said, should position itself as a sight-seeing, shopping and dining capital while Macau will continue to attract tourists with its World Heritage, gaming and entertainment facilities.

Tien added that the rapidly growing gaming industry in Macau and opening of foreign- owned casino resorts such as The Venetian with exhibition facilities will not harm Hong Kong's status.

"Hong Kong has limited convention space," Tien admitted. "We can't hold all exhibitions. There are a lot of facilities in Macau or Guangzhou."I believe it's still beneficial to us if they hold conventions somewhere nearby because they might visit Hong Kong."

Synergy is the theme in the collaboration - the tourism bureaus in both cities will jointly promote tourism and recommend travelers to visit their neighbors. Tien admitted data in the past was not very striking.

Last year two million out of more than 10 million visitors to Hong Kong went toMacau while Hong Kong only attracted 300,000 out of more than 10 million Macau visitors. Tien is optimistic over joint efforts to turn the picture into a potential"win-win" situation.

On the one-visa for mainland tourists plan, Tien is hoping Guangdong would take part in the partnership.The Hong Kong Tourism Board had proposed a one-trip, multiple-stop itinerary for long distance travelers with attractions located in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong. He said China Travel Service has shown interest in offering such trips.

Macau's Government Tourist Office director Joo Manuel Costa Antunes said Macau needs manpower, particularly in the tourism and hotel industries.The current Macau population of 400,000 cannot provide enough manpower for its growing needs, and Hong Kong's unemployment rate is slowing down, Tien said. The two tourism chiefs agreed on importing talents from Guangdong to cope with demand.

Tien said he will meet with Guangdong officials to discuss the possibilities for the schemes. He also pointed out a need to speed up the immigration process at ferry piers. He said the boat ride to Macau takes about 45 minutes. But it takes 15 to 30 minutes to pass through immigration.

Tien said Hong Kong and Macau have been partners for more than a decade but his trip highlighted the determination of both governments. Tourism officials will meet quarterly from now to refine the program.

Marriott Expects China Tourism to Overtake U.S., Ming Pao Says

2007-10-21 21:47 (New York)

By Chia-Peck Wong

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Marriott International Inc., the world's biggest hotel operator, sees China overtaking the U.S. as the most-visited country by 2020, Ming Pao reported today, citing an interview with Managing Director Ed Fuller.

Fuller said he is ``very optimistic'' about the prospects of tourism growth in China even after the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Shanghai World Exposition, the Hong Kong-based, Chinese-language newspaper reported.

--Editor: Longid (jhf)

To contact the reporter on this story: Chia-Peck Wong in Hong Kong at +852-2977-6532 or cpwong@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Kohn at +852-2977-6610 or tkohn@bloomberg.net

Festival-Macau

2007-10-18 10:15 (New York)

Festival-Macau
MACAU AIMS TO ATTRACT 400,000 MALAYSIAN TOURISTS THIS YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Relatively unknown to most
Malaysians, Macau aims to double the arrival of Malaysian tourists to the
state to 400,000 this year through aggressive marketing and promotion.

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Representative in Malaysia,
Tunku Iskandar Tunku Abdullah, who is also Pacific Travel's group
president, said they aimed to attract more Malaysian Muslims to the state
too.

He said at present Macau was visited mostly by Malaysian Chinese due to
the belief that most tourism products offered by the state were not
attractive enough for non-Chinese.

To change the perception, a four-day festival was held by MGTO at The
Curve Piazza, Mutiara Damansara, here to provide Malaysians a glimpse of
the unique blend of Western and Oriental cultures of Macau, he said.

"As we all know, Chinese are the main visitors of Macau, but through
this festivals, we hope we can create greater awareness to the general
public, including to the non-Chinese that there are more places that you
can visit and enjoy yourselves, including the theme park and shopping
complexes," he told reporters after launching the festival, here today.

He pointed out that contrary to some beliefs, it was not difficult to
get halal food in Macau as there were Muslim restaurants as well as
mosques.

"The number of halal restaurants is expected to increase as the state
is currently promoting its products in the Middle East," he said.
He added that last year, Macau had received 202,821 tourists from
Malaysia while for the first nine months of this year, a total of 256,264
Malaysians had visited the state.

The festival which began today offers, among others, various cultural
performances such as Portuguese Dances, Chinese Acrobatics and Chinese
Opera performances, which are part of the Macau culture.

Apart from experiencing the uniqueness of the Macau culture, visitors
to the festival also have the opportunity to find the best deal to visit
Macau as six travel agents have set up booths offering attractive holiday
and travel packages.

-- BERNAMA

Malaysians sought after by big hotels

By Lee Siew Lian 11 October, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: A few months ago, Andrea Lee packed her bags, flew to Macau, and started work at the second-largest building in the world. She now works at the landmark Venetian Macao Resort Hotel at more than double the pay she used to get here.

The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel is so big that it takes Lee 15 minutes to walk from the shuttle drop off point to the employees' entrance.

The hotel, which can accommodate 90 Boeing 747 jumbo jets, drew more than 110,000 visitors in its first 24 hours of operation when it opened in August.

It cost US$2.4 billion (RM8.2 billion) to build, required three million sheets of gold leaf for its decor and is said to consume as much power as 300,000 homes.

It has 16,000 employees, and is always looking for more.

Last month, a team from its human resources department flew here on a recruitment drive, looking to fill positions from servers to captains and managers.

It's not the only one. The 600-room US$1.1 billion MGM Grand, slated to open in Macau later this year, is also expected to recruit staff from here.

Drawn by the hefty salaries offered, a steady stream of Malaysians have left the hotel industry here to work in the Chinese gambling enclave.

The ability to speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English is an advantage, putting Malaysian Chinese in particular demand.

Lee, who has more than 10 years' experience, declined to say how much she makes, but said those in managerial positions like her draw between 24,000 and 30,000 Macau pataca a month, or roughly between RM10,000 and RM13,000 a month.

"It's not uncommon for people to draw three to four times the salary they get in Malaysia," she said. The Venetian Macao did not respond to requests for an interview.

Recruiters are also snapping up those fresh out of hotel management schools.

Student affairs officer Dorothy Pang has been fielding calls from hotel chains around Asia wanting to hire students graduating from Genting Inti International College.

Among them were MGM Grand and the Venetian in Macau, and the Shangri-La on Sentosa Island, Singapore .

A former hotel staff herself, Pang also gets calls from ex-colleagues and former students working in the Middle East and China.

"I wish all this had happened when I was younger. I would have gone, too," she laughed.

These lucrative prospects are making jobs in the service and hospitality industry more acceptable.

"We are getting a few straight-As students, one with 11As, another with 13As. We never used to before," said Michael Chew, GIIC's principal and chief executive officer."

"The industry is increasingly losing the perception that there are only menial jobs. There's a career path and it pays well."

The reality was Malaysian hotels would just have to pay more to keep their staff, said industry veteran Ivo Nekvapil.

For instance, a demi-chef in Malaysia is paid an average of RM2,000.

With a RM4,000 salary in Macau, he could put away a tidy nest egg of at least RM100,000 after two years' work if he's careful, said the vice-president of the Malaysian Association of Hotels.

"Why wouldn't he go?" Nekvapil asked.

Demand is unlikely to abate in the near future, he said.By 2010, Macau's Cotai Strip will have some 30,000 rooms and about 1,000 gaming tables in 25 American-style resorts and casinos.

Macau is likely to need a further 80,000 workers by then, to cater to the 40 million visitors expected that year.

The industry has grown at such a sizzling pace that the average salary for hotel and restaurant workers grew almost 20 per cent over 2006.

Closer to home in Singapore, the 2,500-room Marina Bay Sands casino resort is slated to open in 2009, followed by the Genting group's 1,800-room Resorts World at Sentosa in 2010.

Add to that the expansion of the industry in the Klang Valley, and the wage bill for hoteliers and restaurateurs here looks set to spiral.

"There are eight hotels opening next year in the Klang Valley and seven more in 2009," said Nekvapil.

That means at least 3,000 workers will be needed next year, and 4,000 the year after.

"To keep their best staff, Malaysian hotels will just have to pay more. Otherwise, the quality of service will drop."

Those that offered attractive benefits and good prospects were less likely to lose their staff, Nekvapil said.

That's what the Shangri-La chain would be banking on, said Rosemary Wee, its communications director in Kuala Lumpur.

"It's a long-term strategy because at times like this, we have staff loyalty," she said.

With 54 hotels all over the world, the group can afford to send its staff overseas, and hence lose few workers to rival hotels.

"Our employees are well taken care of, and our turnover of staff is very low."
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