GLOBAL hotel company InterContinental Hotels Group has collaborated with Shenzhen Polytechnic to establish an IHG Academy in Shenzhen to train professional hotel management staff to meet a growing demand in South China.

    According to an agreement signed Wednesday, students at the IHG Academy will have intership opportunities at InterContinental Hotels. “InterContinental Hotels Group attracts and trains local talent and in return, our staff will make InterContinental Hotels Group more competitive in China,” said Vinnie Ng, vice president of human resources of InterContinental Hotels Group China.

    “We commit to provide first-class training and internship plans and spare no effort to propel the development of the Chinese hotel industry,” Ng said.

    InterContinental Hotels Group launched its first IHG Academy in Shanghai in June 2006. There are now 25 academies in Chinese cities, with 5,000 graduates going to hotels in China.

    Every IHG Academy collaborates with local tourism institutes or polytechnics, teaching students not only hotel management theory, but also case studies and industry news.

    Founded in 1993, Shenzhen Polytechnic is a senior academy, offering full-time courses, mainly focusing on the cultivation of applied professional techniques with high standards and qualifications on the front line of production, construction, management and services.

    InterContinental Hotels Group is the largest hotel company in the world by room numbers, and has more than 150 hotels and 45,000 staff in China.

    Tourism is a pillar industry in China. By 2015, the country’s tourism revenue is expected to increase to 2.3 trillion yuan from 1.44 trillion yuan now. There is expected to be 200 million in-bound tourists by 2015, making China the world’s biggest tourist destination country.

    (Cao Zhen)