Vincent Zhou, director of business development of the DoubleTree Hilton Beijing, is focused on innovation. Photo: Courtesy of the DoubleTree Hilton Beijing

 

 

Company schedules are rife with meetings, but the DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing is striving to ensure they're not always dry and boring ones. Their team has turned the annual meeting on its head by inviting business executives to experience the nostalgia of the 1970s and 1980s in Beijing for their yearly conferences.

Titled "We Are Young," the DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing's event facilities for annual meetings and conferences incorporates great food, entertainment, and friendship with the retro symbols of a turning point in the capital. Waiters wear blue and white sailor shirts and red scarves, while portable radios decorate the meeting room's interior.

"Many company leaders grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. Our aim is to take them back to their youth and help them more easily settle in with their team, making the entire conference more relaxed and pleasant," Vincent Zhou, director of business development at the DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing, said. "We've had good sales because of this, and we have received positive feedback from our clients."

In order to coordinate these annual meetings, the DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing specially establishes an innovative, creative executive team who provides enterprises with ideas and tailors their annual conferences. Managing this team is Zhou, who has been working for more than a decade in hospitality. His unique management philosophy has aided him in his ranking of "Best Hotel Manager," on this year's New Vision Peak Forum of China Hotel Fashion List.

Zhou said he thinks times are changing for business leaders and managers should be adapting to a new era of thought.

"The most important aspect of being a team leader is caring about your staff members," Zhou said. "Most of our team members are part of the post-90s generation, a group who doesn't lack personality or passion, but lacks patience. When managing this team, we should not only help them improve their professional knowledge and accomplishments, but take care of their hearts. Only by providing sincere love and care to employees, will they be motivated to work hard."

Despite facing severe competition in the relatively fragile hotel industry, Zhou said he still believes the future is bright. Pressure, he said, can accelerate the motivation for the continuous innovation and self-improvement that enables hotels to stand out from one another. 

"I believe that in the next decade, the hotel industry will face a reshuffling," he said. "Through these changes, the industry will march toward a more prosperous and favorable direction."