Alison Tai Wee-yee's ambition is to become one of the first women general managers of a five-star hotel. It is a dream that she set in motion on graduating from the Chinese University of Hong Kong's school of hotel and tourism management last year.
Emerging with a bachelor of business administration in hotel and tourism management, she went straight into a full-time position with the newly opened W Hotel.
Ms Tai is what's known in the hotel as a 'W Insider' and works to 'deliver the hotel's service philosophy to the guests, whatever service they want', she said.
'I make sure that my guests, especially the VIPs, are well taken care of, that they are impressed by our service and that they get whatever they want whenever they want it. The job involves very heavy guest interaction and most of the time I'm in the lobby area.'
The degree programme at the school focused on hotel management rather than the practicalities of operations, and included modules on finance, human resources, real estate and economics.
'I wanted to learn more about the theory and about how to manage people, which were the main reasons I chose this course,' Ms Tai said. She was one of several students who won sponsorships to spend one semester at Cornell University's hotel school as part of an exchange programme.
Exposure to different people in an international environment and the opportunity to network can be great for a career in the hotel and tourism industry.