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THE 530,000-square-meter China National Convention Center adjacent to Beijings National Stadium and National Aquatics Center (known respectively as the “Birds Nest” and the “Water Cube”) is another recent addition to the capitals already imposing skyline. The center will be the site of the Olympic main press center and international broadcasting center and also the venue for the fencing and pistol shooting (part of the modern pentathlon) events. The complex encompasses a 6,400-square-meter conference hall, a 24,000-square-meter exhibition section and a hotel of 443 guest rooms.

Liu Haiying, a name that carries considerable clout in the citys hotel and conference business, is the centers able helmsman. During his years, from the end of 2004 to June 2007, as general manager of both the Beijing Continental Grand Hotel and the Beijing International Convention Center, Liu was instrumental in increasing their annual profits by a record RMB 10 million. This placed him among the top ten leaders of Chinas exhibition and conference industry in 2006.

Liu Haiying was among Chinas first crop of hotel and conference management postgraduates after the nations opening-up and reforms. Studying in France forged his perspective on the conference hotel business, then still nascent in China, and his approach to the work.

The Beijing Northstar Industrial Group merged with the Continental Grand Hotel, which falls under the International Convention Center, in 2002. Despite being neighbors, the two companies operated independently after their foundation in the 1990s; both were also in the red for successive years. Successfully combining the two posed a formidable challenge to General Manager Liu Haiying.

“It seemed to me that promoting the concept of working as one family would help to unify the staff of these two concerns,” Liu recalls. He decided that the newly merged companies should publish a magazine of features comprising company news, staff activities and pieces of writing and photographic works contributed by staff members. Liu, in his capacity as editor-in-chief, named the magazine Big Family.

Liu constantly stresses that unless a company treats its staff with due consideration, it is incapable of offering its clients top-class service. Soon after taking office, he set up suggestion boxes and conducted quarterly anonymous polls in order to solicit constructive criticism from hotel staff. Liu also instituted a system of monthly-elected model employees, and regularly invited hotel workers and management to eat jiaozi together at Lunar New Year. His efforts both enlivened and united the new company.

Owing to the competitive nature of the hotel convention business, the bulk of which takes place during the narrow September-November time period, the hotel sales department was formerly a hotbed of rivalry. As the number of conferences the hotel accommodates over this period is limited by its capacity, the type of conference booked is a key factor in gross profit.

The hotel sales department operated for some years on the basis of an elimination mechanism; the staff member that sold the fewest bookings was simply sacked. This engendered a cut-throat environment of common distrust and ruthless competition detrimental to the interests of both the department and the hotel.

Liu introduced to the department in 2006 the system of collective performance assessment. He divided its members into groups, stipulating that unless each group achieved its respective target the department would not be deemed to have met its projected quota. This measure transformed sales department staff members from contenders into partners, tremendously enhancing the hotels overall competitiveness.

The Continental Grand Hotel-International Convention Center has since won a 75 percent share of Beijings large and mediumsized conference market. Its annual profits soared from RMB 10 million in 2003 and to RMB 40 million in 2006.

Conferences, along with seminars and discussions, also often involve banquets and accommodation. These functions increase a hotels income, but also test the mettle of its service administration. Just one slip-up within the complex arrangements necessary for one such function could ruin a hotels reputation, sending it to the bottom of the competitive heap.

Liu Haiying believes that attention to detail is what distinguishes a good hotel from one that is just average. He urges his staff to give 100 percent attention to every aspect, no matter how trifling, of service to convention clients. For instance, lighting should be precisely angled so as to avoid casting a shadow on the speakers face, and the rostrum equipped with two microphones on different circuits in order to avoid disruption in the event of a malfunction.

The Continental Grand Hotel has been the chosen accommodation for delegations to the annual NPC (National Peoples Congress) and CPPCC (Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference) sessions for more than a decade. The hotel ensures that its catering includes dishes from each of the native provinces of deputies and representatives attending these events, often hiring chefs specifically for the occasion.

In view of the specific needs of the broad scope – political, commercial and academic – of conventions held at the hotel, Liu has done his utmost to exact optimum flexibility from the hotels existing facilities, conditions and services. His resultant brainchild is the project manager system. Upon securing the contract to host a conference, the hotel sales manager oversees every aspect of arrangements for the event, and is available for help and consultation at all times. This system is highly commended by conference clients.

The number of international conferences held in China in 2006 ranked a world 14th, a level that is expected to zoom in the wake of the 2008 Olympic Games. But this rosy forecast is tempered by the intense competition that looms large within the countrys hotel industry.

Contracts for international events in 2009 that the China National Convention Center has already secured include the 9th International Symposium on Salt, the World Heart Disease Convention and the First World Mind Sports Games.

As captain of the flagship of Chinas convention hotels, Liu Haiying is aware of the need to maintain an open, innovative approach that takes into account international norms, and at the same time maintains the hotels individuality.

Liu, who is also a council member of the China Convention and Exhibition Society and chief of the Convention Hotel and Convention Center Committee, expects his endeavors to yield benefits that extend beyond his particular concern, contributing to the growth of the nations entire hotel convention sector.