Kew Green Hotels Ltd hosted senior managers from its Chinese parent company in an industry first training programme, following Kew Green’s purchase last year by HK CTS Metropark Hotels Co Ltd. The training was a joint venture with the University of West London, who hosted the training at its campus; this executive development programme was spearheaded by Dr Lorna Wang (Associate Professor & Course Leader – MA Luxury Hospitality Management).
This initiative is part of an ongoing strategy to exchange ideas and best practice. In November 2016, HK CTS Hotels Co Metroparks Ltd launched the first Kew Green branded hotel in Wanchai, Hong Kong, marking the group’s expansion into the Chinese market place.
The business culture exchange programme saw attendance by General Managers of hotels operated by HK CTS together with some of its head office managers. The overall objective of the programme was to give attendees an insight into hotel operations on an international scale, as well as give them a view of UK Kew Green hotel operations and British culture in general.
Speakers from the University of West London included Dr Angela Roper (Professor and Director of the International Centre for Hotel and Resort Management) and Dr Lorna Wang; covering subjects including a strategic approach to internationalisation of hotel groups, brand reputation management and improving project management skills at a senior level.
The nine day course encompassed sessions with Alex Pritchard (CEO), Jamie Lamb (Executive Chairman) and Ros Hardiman (Director of Human Resources). The programme involved visits to a number of Holiday Inn and other branded hotels in the Kew Green portfolio. The group visited iconic British locations such as London, Richmond, Brighton and Windsor.
Ros Hardiman, Director of Human Resources for Kew Green says of the scheme “This industry-first training programme was the ideal opportunity for us to showcase our hotels to the team at HK CTS, and for them to see first-hand what UK hospitality stands for, as well as best-practice for driving footfall. The relationship we have with HK CTS has allowed us to implement a range of knowledge sharing initiatives, and we look forward to working with the team closely over the coming months to maximise the potential of our partnership.”
Dr Lorna Wang said, “It is a credit to HK CTS that they are proactively taking steps to learn about international business culture and seeking to improve their understanding by taking this course. We hope this is just the first of many courses we provide for worldwide hospitality executives.”