12,930 star-ranked tourist hotels

[photopress:hotelsinchina.jpg,full,alignright]According to statistics released by the National Tourism Administration (NTA) China now has 12,930 star-ranked tourist hotels nation-wide.

There are 288 five-star hotels, 1,307 four-star hotels, 4,747 three-star hotels, and more than 6,500 one-and two-star hotels in China.

Officials with the NTA said that the star-ranked tourist hotels and A-class tourist destinations have helped elevate the level of China’s tourist service, as well as promote the protection, development, management and construction of tourist spots and destinations.

Well, yes, this is true. But with success comes problems. The main problem is one that any country faces when there is such a massive expansion — trained staff.

Take it each hotel needs 50 well-trained staff who are bilingual. Just keep it to three stars and above. That is 300,000 trained bilingual hotel staff. Of which there is a distinct shortage and this will become more and more apparent as the Olympics approaches and the new hotels open.

True, China’s tourist industry has developed rapidly since the implementation of reform and opening up policy in 1978. Last year, 2006, there were well over 100 million overseas visits. This according to Wang Jun, vice chairman with the China Tourism Association.

China is now ranked fourth in the world in terms of overseas tourist arrivals and the World Tourism Organization has predicted that China will become the No. 1 tourist destination and the fourth largest source of tourists by 2020.

All that is now needed is the experienced and trained staff to run all the hotels needed to deal with the massive influx of tourists.
Source: China Daily