With star-rated hotels mushrooming in China, the hunt is on to find the people who can ensure guests enjoy a comfortable stay.

According to statistics from China Business News, China has nearly 10,000 star-rated hotels but is lacking 10,000 senior managers.

"Luxury hotels have been expanding at a surprising rate in recent years," said Zhao Huanyan, a manager with the Shanghai Jinjiang International Group. "It is quite often the case that several hotels open in the same business area within a few months."

Zhao said the expansion has resulted in an acute shortage of manpower, especially middle and senior executives.

Tao Yue, public relations manager of InterContinental Hotels Group''s Greater China division, said abundance of opportunities has resulted in frequent job-hopping in the industry.

"A person with two or three years experience in hotels is hot property," Tao said. "It is not surprising that a luxury hotel in Shanghai will be unable to recruit a chief chef with an annual salary of 100,000 yuan (US$12,500)."

"The shortfall of trained manpower in the hotel industry is a result of a relatively backward professional education system in China," said Liu Dingjun, associate professor with Nankai University''s Department of Tourism.

"University students majoring in tourism management nowadays receive insufficient professional education," Liu said.
Liu said his department, for example, has cancelled some tourism-related courses due to the stiff curriculum required by the Ministry of Education.

"Courses offered to tourism majors are made too general and theoretical, without enough education and training on the fundamentals of the industry," Liu said.

Liu said China''s hotel industry faces opportunities and challenges, and he estimated that the number of star-rated hotels would double in five to 10 years'' time.

"China at present has more than 300,000 hotel management professionals, but less than 10 per cent are actually qualified."
"Good senior hotel managers should have the spirit of serving people," said the marketing manager of Beijing''s five-star Marriot Hotel West, surnamed Ning.

"They are expected to have high moral standards as well as professional skills."

Ning said successful senior hotel managers are all steady workers at entry level who accumulate rich experience before rising up the chain. -China Daily