Category: Interview

  • 人工智能与大数据时代

    人工智能与大数据时代

    访北京格灵深瞳信息技术股份有限公司高端商业事业部副总裁王蕾女士

    人工智能和大数据技术悄无声息又翻天覆地的改变了我们的生活。格灵深瞳正是一家专注于人工智能算法技术和应用开发的科技公司,其客户遍布商业、金融、体育、城市生活等各行各业。格灵深瞳通过精准的算法进行大数据搜集和分析,帮助客户洞察消费者特征,了解自身的运营情况,优化产品组合和营销模式,预测市场动向,收获商业成功。SpaChina有幸采访了格灵深瞳高端商业事业部副总裁王蕾女士,听她为我们揭秘人工智能和大数据技术在健康和水疗行业的运用。

    请介绍下格灵深瞳,包括你们的团队、核心技术、业务领域、主要客户、产品与服务等。

    格灵深瞳是一家行业领先的人工智能科技公司,专注于人工智能算法技术和应用的开发,致力于把先进的人工智能、物联网和大数据技术转化为智能的产品和服务,针对客户不同的场景需求提供包含应用软件、智能硬件以及云服务在内的产品及解决方案。目前,格灵深瞳的客户已经覆盖智慧金融、智慧城市、智慧商业、智慧体育等多个领域。

    公司自主研发的深瞳技术在视觉感知、数据智能挖掘、高性能计算等领域居于世界领先地位,多次在国际/国内人工智能算法测试中斩获桂冠。

    公司总部位于北京,在上海、成都、合肥、广州等地设有分公司。公司团队汇集了国内外众多资深业内人士,拥有丰富的商业运营经验和强大的技术背景,为海内外行业领军企业的多层次需求提供有力支撑。

    以健康度假村、SPA、生活美容服务场景为例,你们如何帮助客户洞察消费者,提升产品、服务和体验?

    整体而言,在消费者洞察方面,我们致力于帮助客户全面描绘客群组合,认知核心消费者群体和变化趋势,了解不同特征客群的关注点和消费动机。通过观察,记录客群互动、偏好和习惯,帮助客户更加懂得消费者,从而快速为不同人群提供个性化的服务,精准推荐产品,优化场景体验,选择最佳营销组合。

    以健康度假村、SPA、生活美容服务场景为例,格灵深瞳智慧商业系统在入口即可准确描绘到场人员的年龄、性别、是否新老客户、是多店客户还是单店客户、单人还是有陪同、区分客户和员工以及到访频次等人员特征。再通过客人在观察区域的动线图和热力图分析,清晰快速的了解全场冷热区、员工服务质量、不同类型的客人是否到访了核心商业或者体验区域、停留和互动情况、对什么商品关注等等。由此结合相关区域的环境特征、产品特质、营销内容、消费情况等要素,来了解吸引、激活不同类型客户的机会点。

    在SPA和生活美容等一些细致化的服务场景里,我们还可以协助商家做精细化运营。 例如:评估橱窗和广宣的吸引力,门口客流入店转化率,对店内核心区域的互动、关注和情感观测,开放员工对客户画像和需求的系统录入补充,提醒店铺在客户到店前个性化准备和到店后的贴心服务⋯⋯这些多维度、高价值、高精度、更具个性化的宝贵数据,都可以有效帮助商家调整经营策略和管理。 

    除此之外,我们可以通过更多的科技方法,增加互动和时间投入,让客人在非在店时间与品牌产生有机链接。

    无论是健康度假村、SPA还是生活美容服务,都可以借助智慧商业系统的力量,优化和创新产品组合,提升服务,突破原有商业模式,与互联网思维相融合,放大行业经验和资源优势,创造新的商业利益。

    除了消费者洞察,你们还能够为店铺提供哪些数据和服务支持?

    消费者洞察固然重要,但也只是商业大数据分析中的一部分,任何单项数据一定要和其他不同类型的数据交互分析才能取得更好的效果。

    我们的智慧商业系统专注核心价值链,帮助客户充分发挥自身优势,通过五大智能板块(客户管理、品牌管理、商品管理、营销管理和员工管理)助力商业用户完成信息数字化、资产化和货币化,保持销售增长、库存周转高效、大幅提升利润率,敏锐发现商机和挑战,护航企业可持续发展。

    为提高效能,格灵深瞳有很多产品是多效组合的,例如商业产品经常会和安防产品相融合,和无感测温产品相结合,以及和人工智能体育产品相结合。

    我们也可以通过连通公安系统以及客户自行设置,对一些高风险访客做黑名单标注,帮助健康酒店或者度假村营造一个更安全、轻松的环境。对于一些特别注重隐私身份保护的特殊客人,可以提供周边选定直径范围人群的行为预警分析和观测等服务来提高客户体验。同时针对一些只对住宿客人才开放的区域,建议采用刷脸+测温快速通过的方式做预筛选,也可在区域内观测,当发现可疑人士时系统会第一时间提醒相关安保人员关注,这样客人将感受到更好的尊享服务。

    健康度假村也是智能户外健康步道非常适宜的应用场景,我们的系统通过高帧率的运动捕捉与实时处理技术,可以进行跑姿重现与损伤风险计算,解决跑步人群极易因跑姿问题导致的运动损伤问题。客人可通过微信扫码等方式,及时获取运动反馈报告与调整建议。速度、步频、步幅、身体重心、左右晃动等相关参数准确率≥97%。

    对于健康管理,我们的智能虚拟评价与康复师,实现了视觉算法与硬件结合,提供运动过程中实时的运动反馈和指导,可以根据运动状态个性化定制处方,有效发现目标用户的问题和兴趣,帮助度假村细致服务到每一位体验运动的客人。通过为不同客人画像,根据训练特点和训练阶段自动推荐个性化训练方案,为客人选择场景的智能升级奠定有趣、高效的基础。

    针对健康度假村、SPA、生活美容服务这些内外兼修提升客户美好生活体验的场景,我们还有专业的线下体育锻炼和评估软件,客人可以用手机在更多场景进行体能测试,系统会根据评估结果,定制训练动作,根据动作执行情况调整推荐,并按照品牌特征定制不同场景,搭建互动和社交关系,将固定场景的美好体验延续到更多的时空,增加客户粘性。 

    整体而言,我们的智慧商业是一个系统方案,通过洞察企业优势并预警风险,提升客户体验和留存,优化品牌和商品组合,分析销售趋势和推动力,量化评估营销反馈和影响,加强企业内部透明度并实现资源效能最大化⋯⋯助力客户全面提升自动化运营,根据大数据智能分析,定期出具高质量报告帮助客户理性分析、高效决策、优化财务和运营指标。

    你们是如何建议/协助SPA(或者其他客人)将获得的数据转换成具体的商业解决方案,进而提升业绩的?请举例阐述。能否与我们分享一些与酒店、健康领域客户合作的成功案例?

    格灵深瞳非常看重产品的商业价值,我们希望帮助客户丰富数据采集维度,发掘数据价值,通过算法和数据模型的不断优化,定期自动化分析并提供高可视化的报告以及定制化咨询服务来帮助客户更全面的了解企业状况,理性分析、高效决策。

    先举一个品牌产品定价的例子,疫情让很多国际品牌将更多的关注重心和期待倾斜到了中国市场,2020年有不少品牌连番做了涨价以弥补其他市场的损失,我们做的是帮助客户结合品牌定位,应用智慧商业系统内外大数据分析,从品牌、品类筛选逐步细化到SKU,推荐价格调整清单,建议涨幅范围,并根据客户最终选定的产品,设计定价模型,模拟销售预测,综合实践结果,客户对效果非常满意。

    再例如,我们有SPA客户反馈近两个月客人忠诚度比较低,购买产品随机性比较强,缺乏系统规划。我们通过智慧商业系统分析以及与该SPA客户管理层深入了解后发现由于新的竞争品牌进入市场,企业原先的薪资系统不够有竞争力,导致部分老员工流失,新招募的员工对客户、产品和服务的了解过程有个适应期,对系统的应用缺乏持续性,前台服务接待和销售与客户互动和陪同时间明显减少,邀约频次也有降低。在客户调整员工福利的同时,我们帮助客户根据该SPA连锁在智慧商业系统中累计的消费者和潜在消费者画像特征、互动信息、购买情况、库存情况、利润率等综合数据评估,精准推荐适合不同客群的个性化的产品和核心客户唤醒、追回、纳新计划,用“懂得”的情感链接和为不同客户定制的长期精准护理方案和精美礼盒,加上客户高力度精准的市场推广,成功帮助品牌度过危机。品牌在店庆期间不仅销售比去年同期实现大幅增长, 而且新招募会员也比去年同期有了成倍提升。

    对于和我们有战略合作的客户,我们除了帮助他们洞察自己现况外,还定期提供相关市场环境、消费者口碑和竞争者洞察等相关数据报告,帮助客户时刻保持先机。

    现在应用格灵深瞳智慧商业产品和解决方案的客户,短期而言,核心指标或销售额都可以普遍达到两位数、三位数甚至更高的明显增幅。但实际上我们也在帮助客户做布局更加长远的事情,通过智能物联网系统,格灵深瞳帮助客户收集、累计并搭建完善的大数据体系,这个体系除了有利于客户理解现况并预见未来的风险和机遇,还在快速帮助客户积累大数据的无形资产,逐步实现从量变到质变的飞跃。

    在对与健康度假村、SPA、生活美容服务相关客人的数据采集、数据建模和管理,以及向SPA进行信息推送的过程中,你们主要运用了哪些设备和技术?决定数据精准度的要素有哪些?您们是如何保证数据精准度的?

    数据精准度受多方面因素影响。首先是数据采集的准确度,这是对硬件和经验的综合考验,硬件方面,格灵深瞳除了优选行业顶尖合作伙伴以外,我们成功研发了全球首款三维行为分析仪、世界首款远距离人脸识别相机、全目标抓拍摄像机等智能硬件。除了硬件产品出色,我们还有资深的产品和工程师团队,会根据客户不同场景的特征和需求,因地制宜,设计和调试最适合客户的配置方案,并兼顾美观和精准。 

    精准度的核心是算法引擎,我们的创始人、CEO赵勇博士毕业于美国布朗大学计算机工程系,专攻计算机视觉和运算影像学,是前谷歌研究院资深研究员、谷歌眼镜发明者之一。在他的带领下,格灵深瞳的算法无论是对人、车、物的特征识别,还是3D姿态、动作识别和分析均处于行业领先地位。

    除了准确的原始数据、国际领先的研发技术,我们还秉持虚心学习和科学求真的态度,在所有的合作中,我们都非常注重客户的反馈、体验和行业经验,这些都为我们不断迭代、优化、创新产品的同时保证高精准度奠定了坚实基础。

    您怎么看大数据技术在酒店和健康行业的未来发展前景,我们都知道这将是一个不可避免的趋势,那么它的发展到底会有多么快以及多么深入?您们在这一块的发展规划是怎么样的?

    得益于人工智能和大数据等前沿技术的快速发展,现在大量的数据采集和预分析过程可以实现从人工到人工智能的转变,让管理层有更丰富的数据和相关分析做支持,用更充沛的时间和精力去做决策。人工智能、大数据、云服务的实现和应用,可以帮助企业快速处理基础数据,增加信息流动和透明度,找到不同数据的关联性和趋势预测,从而帮助决策者寻求优化路径。

    从应用层面而言,除了一些以科技化体验为卖点的酒店、健康业以外,其实大家都能看到疫情对所有酒店、健康业的线下数字化推进起到了快速推动作用,从机器人服务生到人脸入户门禁、机器人管家、环保智能家居⋯⋯其实整个行业对大数据和AI应用的广泛程度、接受程度是非常快的,这个变化又甚至是“润物细无声”的。举个例子,有朋友分享他作为某国际顶尖连锁酒店的VVIP,在入住该酒店他之前从未到访的连锁分支时,从前台开始所有的服务人员都能准确称呼他的姓氏并按照他的喜好做好相应的准备和服务,这让这位非常挑剔的客户很满意,感觉和该品牌有了更深的情感链接也将该酒店集团始终放在出行首选清单上。这其实就是一个很好的大数据应用例子,之前这样的服务需要通过个体培训达成,现在可以用科技工具快速普及,更低成本且高效的为更多的客户提升体验,加深客户忠诚度。 格灵深瞳是一家人工智能公司,希望应用科技让这个世界变得更加美好。我们会首选和我们同样富有社会责任感和价值感、注重品牌价值、有长期发展计划的客户合作。针对酒店和健康行业,口碑和体验是品牌的生命线,线上可以起到有效的品宣、引流和市场教育的作用,但最终还是线下体验决定胜负。我们会和客户一起做好线下场景的深耕,帮助客户深入洞察顾客,切实解决顾客的需求,不断优化线下设计和运营,同时结合我们在智慧安防和智慧体育上的优势,帮助酒店和健康行业高性价比打造更轻松安全的环境,从店内到店外,在更多元的环境里营造更丰富的互动体验。消费者即使离开客户的线下场景,也会花更多的时间,有规律的和品牌在一起,这也方便消费者做高效的分享和口碑传播。

  • Born naked Live naked

    Born naked Live naked

    An interview with Mr. Manoj Mehta, CEO of naked Group

    “Born naked Live naked”, to return to the purity of nature and simplicity of oneself is a lifestyle embraced by naked Group. Established in 2007, naked Group has now created a diverse lifestyle brand that covers travel – naked Retreats, work – naked Hub, now under the wework brand, and wellness etc. The two resorts in Moganshan have been especially popular among Chinese guests. In a pure natural environment, guests are invited to embark on a fresh and green experience. Many guests are particularly impressed by their spa and family programs. SpaChina interviewed Manoj Mehta, CEO of naked Group to tell us more about naked Retreats. 

    Manoj Mehta has served as CEO of naked Group since 2012. Since joining, Manoj has led several innovative change initiatives and instituted numerous programs to strengthen & optimize naked operations, such as setting up the strategic direction, recruiting seasoned executive management team, and incorporating technology to both enhance guest experiences and improve business processes. Prior to naked Group, Manoj worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd and Ford Motor Co., Ltd in the USA & China. Manoj held a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The State University of New York, and an MBA in Strategy & Finance from the Chicago Booth Business School.

    Please introduce the naked Group, with a description of what properties you have and what the philosophy is. There appears particularly to be a stress on families.

    How important is the family concept in this market?

    naked Group is very much born in China, for China, and run with global standards, global services, global design, etc. naked Group was established in 2007 with very humble beginnings, with a few farm houses that were converted into facilities, a getaway retreat for foreigners and Chinese people alike. And as we have grown over the years, this emphasis on family has been naturally very strong because I myself and my friend, who is the founder of naked, both have families and it is sort of a personal need to get away from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. I want to go somewhere where I can find quality hardware, good service and good food to eat and things to do with my children. That’s why our product seems to embody that philosophy where family becomes quite important. Our product design is predominantly led by it. We do very few single rooms. And even when we do it, we still try to incorporate a little more public space.

    Our philosophy is based on something we say: born naked, live naked. And what that means is we try to emphasize simplicity and sustainability. Luxury is defined by what’s not available, not necessarily what’s expensive. So something that doesn’t become available to you becomes a luxury. And COVID-19 is a great example of that. Prior to that, people took for granted, and all of a sudden, it became a luxury, because people thought that health and safety would be taken away. So we provide simple things like silence, or simplicity actually in China. We call it let’s “un-mafan” people’s life. I love the word “mafan” (bother), and when we un-mafan people’s life, that to us, is luxury. And we work that in many different ways, with activities in F&B, and the simple principle of a service centered on simplicity and sustainability.

    What’s the role of Spa in naked? What is it that the spa provides that is essential that you keep it going?

    For naked, spa is a critical piece of our running. The chance of outsourcing doesn’t exist because we actually have it branded — naked Leaf. So we believe just like several other essential services, spa is that critical component. And as a result of that, the majority of our rooms come with a free spa. So when you are there, spa is included. The guests who are buying our rooms, they can freely go and get a massage. And then they do more when they’re already there. They’re half naked and they say it’s okay, let me just go for more. So spa is a critical piece of our overall experience. It’s certainly not only a thing of revenue, but a profit generating sector of our business. In our approaches, spa is just like breakfast. That’s a basic thing we will give you. You can’t say: if I don’t want the spa, can I get 100 RMB off? No, it’s there for you. You take it, or you don’t take it, it’s up to you. In fact, people actually enjoy it. And they come back for more. They become fans and promoters of the spa. They say to their friends: Hey, if you go to naked, make sure you go to naked Leaf Spa. 

    To talk about it from a commercial perspective, once this trial is included in your room rate, there is an allocation that’s coming straight from room rate to the spa, which essentially covers the cost of the latter. And once the cost is covered, every single massage or treatment they are giving is adding to their profitability and that gets them motivated. Nobody wants to be in a loser team. So if you’re in a winning team where your foundational costs are covered, since the company has taken care of that, and then you can keep the staff busy. The worst thing you can do to an employee is they get nothing to do. They’re busy and they’re unhappy, but that’s a lot better than being there and doing nothing.

    I’m interested in the perception you have of Chinese guests versus guests in other parts of the world. What are the special characteristics or the special requirements that you would see from Chinese guests, versus guests from elsewhere?

    Regarding the Chinese customers we are seeing, I can say they’re very well-traveled and they understand the service that they deserve. The price that they are paying shows this. The people who are coming to us are driving very fancy cars and wearing very fancy clothes and carrying very fancy bags. They have been to very fancy places around the world. There is no difference between Chinese guests and guests from elsewhere concerning their expectations of service quality and how you treat them. We are located outside the big cities, so we know where our markets are. And that’s where our marketing and sales efforts are. Especially from those cities we can comment that these people have no difference versus any other international location. Things have changed in the past 10 or 15 years. Fifteen years ago in Shanghai, you could sell anything that has an Italian sounding name. You could start a brand new name which sounds foreign. But that doesn’t work anymore because the customers are very much educated. They know very well the established global brands and they seek brand history. 

    I’m interested in your sense of the overall trend going forward. Will there be development of an extra numbers and faster development of other top resorts across China?

    In terms of the growth, if you look at Moganshan for example, within a 3 hour radius around the town, there are about 30 to 45 million people, depending on where you are.  That’s bigger than the population of Australia. So on one side, it seems like everybody’s going to Moganshan and Anji, but if you count the number of resorts, that’s going to be 20% of the number of resorts that are in Australia. It seems like explosive growth, because it happened all in short time. But in terms of the demand that exists, it’s not enough. As incomes are rising, most of the people are middle class. Middle class is an aspiring class. They are saving money before they come, and they are saving money to buy good hotel services. So this creates opportunities for hundreds, if not more, five-star hotels. And in China, the next five to 10 years, you will see a lot more than what there is now.

  • 返璞归真

    返璞归真

    访裸心集团首席执行官马偌杰先生

    “快活裸心,返璞归真”,回归纯净自然与最初的自己,这是裸心所倡导的生活方式。成立于2007年的裸心集团已陆续开出好几家度假村,并同时涉足到联合办公与生活探索领域,其中位于莫干山的裸心堡、裸心谷尤其吸引着众多国人前往,在漫山竹海的自然之境,静享清新、乐活、绿色、精彩的度假体验。去过裸心度假村的客人们常常对他们的水疗体验和亲子项目赞不绝口,SpaChina就此采访了裸心集团首席执行官马偌杰(Manoj Mehta)先生,听他给我们讲讲裸心的故事。

    马偌杰于2012年加入裸心集团任职首席执行官。凭借多年的高层管理经验和深厚的学术研究背景,他为集团的发展设立了战略方向,创建规范了运营体系,打造了裸心的企业文化。马偌杰拥有纽约州立大学化学工程博士学位,芝加哥大学商学院战略与金融学工商管理硕士学位。他也是上海美国商会会员,身兼数家上市公司及非营利组织的独立董事。

    能否为我们介绍一下裸心集团。我去过位于莫干山的裸心堡,看得出你们非常重视亲子体验,这一点很吸引我。您认为亲子度假体验在中国市场有多重要?

    可以说裸心是生于中国、也为中国人而生,我们的服务、设计都是国际标准。裸心集团成立于2007年,刚开始时我们只是把几间农舍改造成了酒店设施,希望为中国和国际客人们提供一处静心修养的目的地。

    随着这些年的发展,我们的确越来越重视亲子度假体验。我本人以及裸心集团的创始人,都是有家庭的人,我们就非常想逃离上海的喧嚣,和家人们去到一个安静的地方度过一段惬意的时光,那里最好能有着优质的设施,贴心的服务,美味健康的食物,以及一系列我们能够和孩子们一起参与的活动项目。而这样的愿景就促成了裸心对于亲子体验的重视。我们对于产品和服务的设计都是围绕家庭这一主题展开的。所以你会发现裸心很少有单人房,而在为数不多的单人房里,我们也会设置一些公共空间。

    “快活裸心、返璞归真”是我们的品牌哲学,我们十分强调质朴与可持续概念。我认为,“奢侈品”是那些难以获得的东西,而非一定是昂贵的。难以获得的对于你来说才是一种奢侈品。新冠疫情就是一个很好的机会让我们认识到什么才是真正的奢侈品。疫情爆发后,许多人们曾经认为理所当然的东西突然间成为了奢侈品,因为人们开始担心自己的健康和安全可能随时被剥夺。在中国市场,我们就为客人提供一些返璞归真的体验,我们把它称为“去除麻烦”。我觉得“麻烦”是个很有意思的词,而去除生活中的麻烦事就是一件很奢侈的事情。为了达到这一目标,我们会从不同方面入手。

    在裸心,水疗所扮演的角色是怎么样的?是什么原因让你们一直坚持自主运营水疗?

    对于裸心来说,水疗是运营中极为关键的一部分。我们不可能把它外包出去,我们是以品牌冠名的水疗中心——裸叶水疗(naked Leaf)。入住绝大多数客房的客人都享有一次免费水疗体验。也就是说,当你来到酒店,水疗项目已经包含在你的酒店体验中了。而来到水疗中心后,他们往往会体验更多内容。毕竟,已经躺在了理疗床上,这时他们会说:好的,我想再尝试下另一个项目。所以说,在裸心,水疗是整体入住体验中的关键一环。对于我们来说,水疗中心绝对不仅仅是一个普通的盈利部门,它就像早餐一样,是一项基本的服务。你不能说:我不想去做SPA,你能退给我100块吗。你可以选择去或者不去,但它已经在那里了。不过,客人们都很喜欢,很乐意反复来体验,并且会向周围的朋友推荐:如果去裸心,一定要去裸叶水疗。

    另外我想从商业角度来谈一谈。当水疗疗程被包括在房费中,就意味着,水疗中心会有一部分收益直接从客房收益里获得,而这部分收益通常就可以覆盖水疗中心的成本。当成本被覆盖了,即意味着理疗师所进行的每一次额外的按摩和疗程都会为他们带来额外的利润,这将给水疗员工很大的动力。即使你让他们变得很忙碌,他们也会接受。也许在忙碌的过程里,不会很开心,但远远好过无事可做,毕竟,最糟糕的情况就是,你把他们雇了来,而他们却没有事情做。

    据您观察,中国客人和世界其他地方的客人有什么不同吗?他们有什么特别的需求与喜好吗?

    根据我的观察和经验,如今的中国客人会到全世界各个地方旅游,体验国际化的东西,他们很明白自己想要什么样的服务,也愿意为此买单。这一点从他们在度假村的消费账单就可以看出来。来到裸心的客人们都是开着豪车,穿着名牌衣服,拎着昂贵的包包,他们去过很多高级的地方,对于优质服务和体验的要求丝毫不亚于其它发达国家的客人。

    莫干山比邻着几个大城市,我们十分清楚市场在哪里,市场宣传该怎么做。而这几座城市的客人在品味和见识上尤为出众,和世界最出名的国际大都市的客人没有任何差别。在过去的10-15年里,中国市场发生了很大的变化。十五年前,在上海,当你推出一个自己的产品,给它起一个听起来很意大利的名字,也许就能吸引到不少人。但是现在已经不可能了。如今的客人见多识广,他们很了解各种国际大牌,并且对于品牌历史和故事很感兴趣。

    您认为酒店业的未来发展趋势是怎么样的?中国在近期会出现更多的高级度假村吗?

    拿莫干山来说,围绕小镇行驶三个小时大概会遇到三千万到四千五百万人,这比澳大利亚的总人口还多。一方面,似乎所有人都涌向了莫干山和安吉,但当你数数这里度假村的数量,就会发现还不到澳大利亚的20%。很多人感觉这里的度假村发展很快,这是因为大多数度假村都是在同一时间一起开出来的,但如果和实际的需求相比较,其数量是远远不够的。随着收入的增加,入住度假村的多数是中产阶级的客人。他们是很有意思的一群人,他们渴望享受更优质的旅行和入住体验,因此会为未来的某一次旅行或入住五星酒店而提前存钱,这群人为中国五星酒店带来了很多机会。所以,我预计在未来五到十年,中国会出现大批新的酒店和度假村。

  • Build the Trust and Capture the Market

    Build the Trust and Capture the Market

    An interview with Mr. Patrick Weder, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Xi’an

    An obvious luxury benchmark in the city, The Ritz-Carlton, Xi’an integrates the high quality bespoke services of the brand into the rich cultural heritage of this time-honored city. The hotel’s General Manager is a Swiss with over two decades of hospitality industry experience in different countries. Mr. Patrick Weder has held various key management roles in different Ritz-Carlton properties across the world, including Dubai, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mainland China. During his post as the General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Xi’an, he continues to lead his team to greater heights of excellence, elevating standards of service and luxury hospitality in Xi’an.

    During the pandemic outburst, the hotel suspended services as all other hotels did. After reopening, it has witnessed even more people coming than before. Meanwhile, when the entire hotel spa industry is challenged by outsourcing, the Ritz-Carlton Spa Xi’an continues to see an endless stream of customers. So what are the operation concepts and business strategies behind the success? SpaChina invited Patrick to share with us how he manages to lead the hotel and the hotel spa to continually move forward, particularly during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. 

    Ritz-Carlton in Xi’an is probably the top city hotel in the city. What do you think are the advantages that the Ritz-Carlton has in the market?

    I’ll put it in perspective of the past year after the outburst of Covid-19. What is the perception of luxury hotel? Especially in the time right after the outbreak I think it was a combination of quality and trust. After the pandemic, people want to have a brand they can trust. We have really gained part of the market due to their trust, as we focused on delivering our customer’s needs. We invested in the things that guests care about most during this post-pandemic period, such as hygiene, cleaning procedures and food safety. We rebuilt upon that key focus areas and we have gained the market’s trust. So I think this is really what we say, “the trust in the brand”. It is “word of mouth” that actually drives the business.

    Why is spa essential to five star hotels and resorts? What is the value, particularly because they are not necessarily very profitable, in terms of the overall running of the operations?

    You touched on a interesting point. As I said, we just reopened and the question is very notable when you operate. You open up a large space. The owners invest in it and they want to make return on their investment. The SPA is part of the customer experience that stay in the hotel, but given we have a large portion of business traveler that might be more limited in time, we actually drive more business from the local community. Ultimately we are here to manange the SPA and therefore is a source of revenue as well must be run profitable.

    Related to the local community we do feature a series of activites for our members ranging from kids days to new product launches as well as other activites to engage with our customer and building a strong relationship. These activites, that sometimes are more for marketing purposes to help us to capture more market awareness and are not for an immediate commercial purpose but eventually build loyalty and therefore delivery eventually our business goals.

    You have a lot of international experience and I’m interested in the perception that you have about Chinese guests versus guests in other parts of the world. What are the special characteristics and requirements that, from a general perspective, you would see from Chinese guests?

    Our spectrum of customers is very broad, ranging from very young people at the age of 25, going up to above 50. I would say, right now, our customers are extremely knowledge-able. They have been staying in the world top hotels and destination, hence I would not specially say there are special charateristcs besides that they are consistenly looking for new experiences and the highest levels of service. I truly enjoy engaging with our customers and we do believe the luxury markets is here to continue to grow and especially in China I do believe the demografics are getting younger and younger. When I engage with them they will be very knowledgeable and it is very refreshing since you feel that appreciation from their side when you give them quality offerings. We can see that the luxury customer in China has such a broad spectrum of offerings and defintely continues to become more and more sofisticated.

  • 建立信任 赢得市场

    建立信任 赢得市场

    访西安丽思卡尔顿酒店总经理文睿珂先生

    西安丽思卡尔顿酒店将品牌的高品质个性化服务融入到拥有丰富文化遗产的中国古都。酒店的总经理是一位来自瑞士的经验丰富的酒店人——文睿珂(Patrick Weder)先生。他拥有超过22年在不同国家的从业经历,2001年加入丽思卡尔顿酒店集团以来,在集团旗下位于全球不同地点的酒店担任管理要职,包括迪拜、印度尼西亚、马来西亚和中国等。任职西安丽思卡尔顿酒店总经理期间,他带领团队寻求突破点,为西安奢华酒店及服务标准树立新典范。

    之前受疫情影响,酒店也歇业过一段时间,在重新开业后,迎来了比以往更高的入住率。当整个酒店水疗业不断面临外包挑战的时候,西安丽思卡尔顿酒店自主运营的品牌水疗却生意火热,不断吸引着客人前来。成功的背后是怎么样的经营理念和商业举措?SpaChina就此采访了文睿珂先生,他将着重为我们谈谈疫情前后的酒店应对。

    西安丽思卡尔顿酒店毫无疑问是当地最顶尖的酒店之一。您们在当地市场有哪些优势?

    我想就疫情爆发后的这一年来谈谈。“奢华酒店”的定义是什么?我认为是品质与信任的结合。如今,在疫情后,人们更希望能够找到一个绝对可以信任的品牌。疫情爆发以来,我们致力于提供满足客人需求的服务,他们对我们的信任也进一步加深,因此,我们确实在这段时间成功赢得了市场。我们也会继续在后疫情期着手于客人们所关心的方面下功夫,比如清洁卫生、食物安全。我一直认为“品牌信任”非常重要,好的口碑是助力生意增长的关键因素。

    水疗中心往往并不是一个主要的盈利部门,那么它对于五星级酒店和度假村的存在价值在哪里?是什么原因使你们依然选择自主运营水疗?

    这个问题很有趣。就像我刚刚提到的,我们的酒店不久前重新开业,在实际运营中,这确实是我们一个需要去面对的问题。业主投资了你的水疗,很自然的,他想要能赚到钱。水疗是住店客人整个入住体验的一部分。然而,由于我们接待的许多都是商旅客人,他们大多时间有限,因此我们会想要去吸引到更多城市非住店客人前来水疗中心消费。结果非常成功,酒店的水疗中心能够持续盈利。

    从儿童活动日到新产品发布,我们为当地城市客人设计了丰富多彩的活动,旨在吸引更多客人前来,并建立更加坚固的客情关系。推出这些活动的主要目的是捕获更多的市场关注,而非获得即时的经济收益。当然在这个过程里,进一步加深了客人对我们的信任和忠诚度,最终帮助我们实现商业目标。

    您拥有非常丰富的国际酒店运营经验,足迹遍布多国。在您看来,中国客人和世界其它地方的客人有什么不同?他们有哪些特点?

    我们酒店的客户群非常广,从25岁的年轻人到50岁的中老年人都有。我看到的是,现在的中国客人很有见识。他们去过不同国家的顶级酒店,在这方面,我觉得他们和其它发达国家的客人并没有什么区别。 而且他们会更倾向于持续寻找新体验和高水准的服务。随着中国消费者越来越年轻化,我相信这里的奢侈市场将持续发展。我很喜欢和中国客人们交流,当我们提供给他们高品质的服务,他们会表现出由衷的欣赏和认可,这一点让我觉得很幸福。毫无疑问,中国的奢侈行业将在未来提供给到消费者更加全面、深入、高品质的产品与服务,以迎合新一代消费者的需求。