Interns flock to high-end hotels

More foreign students majoring in hotel and business management have chosen Beijing's hotels as their internship destination over the past year, said human resource professionals yesterday.

Beijing's four- and five-star hotels, including Holiday Inn and Ramada, have been among the recruiters who started demanding more foreign interns last year, said Hao Li, director of an agency specializing in internship services.

"In 2010 we had about five foreign interns whereas in 2011 we had 15," said Tang Yan, director of the HR department of the Pangu 7 Star Hotel.

"Apart from bringing advanced and systematic hotel services to China, foreign students come to Beijing also because they want to learn Eastern courtesy and manners in treating guests," said Wang Qiyan, director of Renmin University of China Research Center of Leisure Economy.

Larger hotels will often give a stipend of a few thousand yuan a month, but small leisure companies often pay less. Chiara, a 24-year-old Italian who interned with a Beijing-based hospitality company, said she was not paid for her one-month internship and only got free accommodation.

"The booming market has attracted more foreign employees and interns to flock to China," said Wei Xiang, director of the leisure economy research center under the Beijing International Studies University, according to a report in the Beijing Morning Post yesterday.

"Over the past two years, the occupancy rates of luxury hotels in Beijing and Shanghai are up to 90 percent," Wei said, "and for many international hotel chains, the Chinese market has become the major growth point of their business."

"For Beijing's hotels, foreign employees, which are advantaged in language and providing hotel services, would help raise their service standards," Wei added.

Meanwhile, an officer with the Beijing Tourism Bureau said the number of foreign staff and interns has increased also because some hotels now employ foreign hotel management teams, the report says.

Most of the interns agree that having worked in China will be a valuable boost to their resumes, as well as being able to gain an insight into Asian management styles.

Shana, a 24-year-old Mexican woman who majors in HR management, said she would like to "know more about Asian culture in communication and management."