Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa is capitalising on the growing outbound of the  Chinese tourism market.

To meet the needs of Chinese guests, there’s improvement in its in-room Chinese amenities, expanding its Chinese breakfast and dinner meal offerings and importantly, increasing its number of Chinese speaking staff.

Since pro-actively recruiting for Chinese speaking employees, Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa is pleased to have appointed its first Chinese Guest Relations Officer, Lynn Tian who commenced at the resort in March.

Lynn was born in China and educated in her homeland as well as in France, before taking up roles with the AccorHotels group in China.

Upon joining the Sofitel at Denarau, Nadi. Lynn said “I am very excited to be part of the team at Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa and helping deliver exceptional, 5-star service particularly for our Chinese guests.

As part of my role I will undertake all pre-planning for Chinese guest arrivals to ensure all of their requirements are met, as well as making reservations and organising room allocations”.

Lynn will also be responsible for meeting and greeting Chinese guests on arrival, assisting Chinese guests with tour and restaurant bookings, developing and maintaining relationships with Chinese tour operators and assisting guests with using the resort’s facilities.

A second Chinese Guest Relations Officer is due to start at the resort in July 2017. With the Chinese outbound tourism market increasing by 4.3% in 2016 to 122 million and flights from Hong Kong and China on the rise, Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa General Manager, Alan Burrows, said: “It is impossible to ignore the Chinese outbound tourism figures and it is essential we do as much as we can to encourage these travellers to our shores.

“By having Chinese speaking guest-facing employees to ensure a 5-star level of service and comfort for Sofitel Fiji Resort  & Spa our Chinese speaking guests, we are able to give them peace of mind that language will not be a barrier.”

Not only is the resort making headway in recruiting Chinese speaking staff, Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa has expanded its Chinese breakfast offering to include fried rice, stir fried noodle dishes, congee and condiments and chicken stir fry.

Seafood platters and ‘wok sharing meals’ have also been added to the restaurant’s dinner service.

The resort is also soon to be part of China Ready & Accredited certification organisation, where the hotel’s teams will receive vital training and greater cultural understanding of Chinese travellers’ service expectations, preferences and sensitivities.