Source: Korea Times
SKAL World Congress in 2012 will be a good opportunity to show Korea to high-profile tourism professionals from all around the world, and the Skal Seoul Club will make efforts to have every preparation done perfectly, said the club’s head.
Eric Swanson, general manager of the Millennium Seoul Hilton and also president of Skal Seoul Club, said the world congress to be held in Korea next year will be the biggest challenge the 42-year-old club has ever had.
Swanson was named the chief of the tourism leaders’ organization on Jan. 24 for a one-year term. Skal, a Scandinavian word meaning happiness, long life, good health and friendship, unites all branches of the industry from hoteliers and travel agents to airline executives and tourism media, with 22,000 members in 500 clubs throughout the world.
The new president said the congress will increase exposure of Korea. “If we are able to bring 1,000-1,500 travel professionals, bring them into Seoul during that period of time, you’ll never have an event that brings these types of people together under one roof at one time,” he said, adding Korea is not yet top of the list in the European market.
“The other advantage is revenue. All the hotels participating will gain revenue from the event. Duty free shops, tour bus companies, and the entire industry will benefit from it,” Swanson said.
He remembered that the 2009 Skal Asia Congress in Incheon gave a good first impression to senior executives from Europe and Asian clubs. “That gave us credibility, so when we went to bid for the 2012 World Congress, that landed us credibility. That’s what we gained from hosting the Asia congress.”
But he pointed out that the preparation and promotion was insufficient at that time. After learning lessons from the previous event, the new club head aims to make next year’s event perfect.
“We’ve been planning the event for two years. We’ve already secured our partnership. We have strong liaison with the Incheon Tourism Organization, the Seoul Tourism Organization, the Korea Tourism Organization, and Korean Air to provide special fares to our attendees,” the 52-year-old general manager said.
The preparation team has also been booking event venues and making a logo. “My goal is to get everything done by the end of this year. So in 2012 we will just go out and actively promote to make sure many people come and make this the biggest world congress in history. That’s my goal,” he said.
As the president of the club, Swanson also aims to develop Young Skal, the group’s program for young professionals in the industry in their 20s, because the club, comprised of executive-level members, is aging.
“Young Skal members get access to top tourism people. They can learn, we can mentor, we help them develop in their career, so we can give back,” he said, adding he also had seniors who supported him to become general manager by giving opportunities and new positions.
Millennium Seoul Hilton
His leadership has already been recognized as he has been leading the Millennium Seoul Hotel for five years.
The hotel enjoyed a good performance last year with G20 Seoul Summit and other events, exceeding its revenue goal and profitability. It has also started renovation on 252 executive rooms, lounges, corridors, elevators and grand ballroom, to be completed by May.
His forecast for this year and next year was also optimistic. “We don’t have the G20 this year, but there still is a lot of room for growth. Last year, we didn’t have the corporate market which had yet to come back 100 percent from the financial crisis. So now you see the market coming back to the 2007 level. The year 2012 will be great, with the Skal World Congress. Corporate businesses globally will also continue to do well.”
The general manager also showed expectations for Japanese and Chinese tourists. “During the peak of Japanese influx in 2009 and 2010 when the Korean won was weak against the yen, Japanese travelers contributed to 49 percent of total room’s business. In 2010, we had 14 billion won in Japanese business,” he said, adding that the trend will continue.
For the Chinese market, the hotelier said the majority of Chinese travelers stay at low-rated two- to three-star hotels because they are very cost-conscious. “We need to aggressively attract more affluent Chinese travelers and corporate travelers. You will begin to see much more Chinese corporate travelers in the future, and part of our strategy this and next year is to develop that channel,” Swanson said.
The strategy includes preparing welcome letters and restaurant menus in Chinese, a Chinese section in breakfast and CCTV channel and giving Chinese lessons to staff on basic phrases and courtesy, as the hotel did for Japanese travelers. “This is the new version of dealing with the emerging market that Hilton has developed right now,” he said.
The hotel provides its employees with three education programs, which are designed to develop “blue energy,” Hilton’s energy that delivers guest service from the heart; makes employees reflect on their work and come up with more efficient ways to do it; and develops mid-level managers unbound to the traditional Korean organizational hierarchy.
“With animated culture, with blue energy, with revived leadership with mid-level managers, we’ll see more records in terms of revenue and profit in the future,” he said.
Before coming to the Millennium Seoul Hilton, Swanson managed various hotels including the Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove in Miami, the Leela Palace Kempinski Hotel in Bangalore, India, and the Marco Polo Parkside in Beijing.
Since moving to the Millennium Seoul Hilton, he has been involved in social welfare work and helping several charity organizations. Swanson received a special commendation from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in 2007 for his contribution to the local community, and was named an honorary Seoul citizen in 2009.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
Ton know more about Skal Seoul: http://skalseoul.org/
