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THE WAR FOR talent in the hotel industry on the mainland is likely to get hotter this year as more players scramble for a bigger share of the ever-expanding market, according to a human resources director.

The forthcoming Beijing Olympics,  tourism and the burgeoning business travel trade have  attracted new hotel chains and  prompted existing ones to expand.

Budget multinational  hotel chain Home Inn  added 27 hotels to its Chinese franchise in the fourth quarter of last year,  while Wyndham Hotel Group   opened 50 branches of United States motel chain 'Super 8' in China in just two years.

At the upper end of the market, luxury Shenzhen-based golf resort Mission Hills opened a second clubhouse in Dongguan last year.

Asian multinational luxury hotel chain operator Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts,  already a large player on the mainland, has also been getting into the action, with plans to open 12 more hotels over the next three years.

The rapid growth is creating a massive shortage  of skilled staff, according to Tan Eng Leong,  group director for human resources at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. Many star performers have  been  inundated with enticing offers to work for other hotels   in the past few years.

The  average staff turnover in the industry last year was about 30 per cent as a result, and Mr Tan predicted the trend was likely to continue in the foreseeable future.

'There will be more job-hopping, and I think we're looking at a price war,' he said.

Shangri-La needs to fill 2,000 positions at its newly constructed and opened hotels all around the country over the next two years.

The hotel group plans to enter the market in Chengdu, Guangzhou, and inner Mongolia, and expand its presence in Shanghai and Beijing.

While the chain intends to fill most positions in the mainland, it is looking to international labour pools for candidates to fill   senior positions. Two per cent of the 2,000 people it recruits will be expatriates, with  some coming from Hong Kong.

Shangri-La  needs engineers, sales and marketing, finance and HR staff, in particular, and has focused on labour pools in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and other locations in Southeast Asia to fill the roles.

'Expatriates from Southeast Asia are more likely to know the culture, making it easier for them to make the transition. They are also more likely to know the language, making it easier for them to interact with staff and customers,' Mr Tan said.

Successful candidates  must have three to five years of experience in the hospitality industry,  but it was not essential to have overseas and mainland experience,  Mr Tan  said.

'The Hong Kong hotel industry  already has a world-class reputation, so recruits from here are likely to have qualities we are looking [for] to take to the mainland,' he said.

Ideally, recruits  must speak English and Putonghua, and be resourceful.  Successful candidates will receive training through internal and external courses.

There are excellent promotional opportunities  in the company, especially on the mainland.

'Things are developing  fast in China and we want to preserve our culture and transfer it to new locations, so the chances for professional development are huge, especially for those who are willing to move,' Mr Tan said.

He attributed training, promotional opportunities and the company's higher-than-market salaries as reasons for the company's turnover rate, which is 10 per cent lower than the industry average on the mainland.

While talent procurement might be tight over the next three to four years, Mr Tan was   optimistic about the outlook for the industry.

International tourism lobby group the World Travel and Tourism Council estimated last year that China's tourism would grow 10.4 per cent in the next 10 years.

Mr Tan said people travelled in times of strong and weak financial growth and, outside of a crisis such as  Sars, this made the hospitality industry more resilient than others.

On the horizon

Shangri-La to open 12 new hotels in the next three years

The hotel is recruiting 2,000 people over the next two years

Engineers, sales and marketing, finance and HR staff needed

People with three to five years of experience are needed



Skilled hotel staff in demand