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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Post-G20, Hangzhou brands itself as MICE capital

By Xu Wenwen | November 28, 2016, Monday | Print Edition

SHU Tao was involved in handling some of the affairs of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. One of his responsibilities included arranging cars for the spouses of the leaders for a tour of the city.

Sounds a very simple job, isn’t it? Hardly. In fact, it involved dealing with the security agencies, interpreters and attendants of the spouses — basically, a group of over 100 — forcing Shu and his colleagues to rehearse the entire operation four times to ensure that nothing went wrong during the summit.

Shu and his colleagues also had to set the route of the tour. The first ladies went to the China Academy of Art, visited Zhejiang University and had lunch at Louwailou Restaurant. After dozens of screenings, and around 100 different spots, they settled for the three prominent sites of Hangzhou.

It was a “365-day preparation and seven-day test,” he said.

Political leaders stayed in the scenic city for a week during the summit.

Shu is the chief of the MICE department of Hangzhou’s Tourism Commission, and one of the thousands of local MICE professionals who guaranteed the success of the G20 Summit.

“The summit pushed the industry to improve,” said Shu, adding that every five-star hotel that accommodated political leaders did a facelift, updated facilities, recruited and trained staff.

“So many departments, hotels and people worked in such high accordance for one project, which I have never seen before,” he said.

Earlier this month Hangzhou issued its MICE destination brand, Summit Hangzhou, with a slogan “Inspiring new connections.”

Summit Hangzhou’s connotation includes four aspects: avant-garde horizon, top quality, extreme experience, and fruitful results.

The avant-garde horizon refers to high-tech exhibitions and conventions held in the city, such as Computing Conference, the Global Conference of Chinese Genetics Refrigerator.

The top quality is proved by the high-end Hangzhou International Convention Center, star hotels and services they provide during the summit. More international brands are opening hotels here, including MGM Grand, Conrad, Park Hyatt, Jumeirah, Fairmont and Le Meridian.

Extreme experience comes from Hangzhou’s “paradise-like” scenery and tailor-made service. Magnificent First Ladies’ High Tea was an example, which were served to first ladies during G20 and was a combined Western afternoon tea, Chinese desserts and Hangzhou green tea.

The summit also reshaped the city’s tourism structure. Previously, almost all travel groups would only spent time at the West Lake and head back. Now, they have added Hangzhou International Convention Center to their itineraries.

Xiaoshan District that houses the center used to be an industrial area in the city’s suburbs. Today, it is a new tourist destination.

Xiaoshan’s largest scenic area, Xiang Lake, now has parks, resorts, hotels, aquarium as well as office buildings. After G20, “the number of visitors who come in the night is equal to those who come in the day.”

Shu said in the future the main task will be to make Hangzhou an international MICE destination, even setting up the MICE department on LinkedIn to promote itself abroad, and recruit experienced staff.

Zhou Qi, sales director of
The Dragon Hotel, Hangzhou

Q: Which leaders stayed in your hotel during the summit?

Michel Temer, president of Brazil, Idriss Déby, president of Chad, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We also had many events taking place in the hotel, such as the release of G20 Leaders’ Communique Hangzhou Summit.

Q: Did you do any creative work for your distinguished guests?

We embroidered the leaders’ names on things we offered. We prepared flowers and snacks in their rooms and updated the smart GPS system and smart TV.

Q: Any interesting stories that you can recollect from the G20 week?

Ban Ki-moon read Chinese newspaper everyday. His hotel steward taught him some Chinese sentences including “I wish G20 Summit in Hangzhou a great success” and “I am glad that I visited China again.”

 

Mark Foxwell, general manager of Hyatt Regency Hangzhou

Q: How would you describe your work during the summit?

You can imagine the training, rehearsal, repair and maintenance, taste testing and other visible aspects like the hotel operation. However there was much more to it. Safety and emergency response, hygiene, coordination of supplies and logistics, communications, scheduling and planning of resources … All the things that may not be so obvious but if anything, were of greater importance than ever!

Q: How did you prepare for the G20?

We enlarged and revitalized Presidential Suite, gave a fresh lease of life to Regency Club lounge and The Residence. The Residence features interactive show kitchens and overlooks the West Lake.

 

Frankson Lee, general manager of InterContinental Hangzhou

Q: Who did you accept during the summit? Any specific work the hotel did for them?

Our hotel was the main venue for the B20 event. We hosted top VIPs such as President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Preparation work was done as far back as six months. We also worked with CCTV to ensure the lighting was perfect for TV coverage.

Q: Were you nervous, or excited?

In fact, the adrenaline within was driving us forward. I stayed up for nearly 72 hours with just little naps.

Q: Any interesting stories?

After the G20, there were thousands of people who had gathered in front of our hotel entrance to have a peek into the hotel. The feeling was just overwhelming.

Hangzhou


 

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