Hilton Worldwide and Les Roches Jin Jiang International Hotel Management College (LRJJ), China’s top international hospitality management school[1], today signed an agreement to cultivate talent for China’s rapidly expanding hospitality industry. Under the Hilton Class program, Hilton Worldwide will offer students from LRJJ’s hospitality course rigorous workplace training and other curricula designed to equip them for successful careers in hospitality.

“Hilton Worldwide is excited to impart our expertise to nurture young talent for China’s growing hospitality industry. The Hilton Class program is part of our commitment to extend and deepen our presence in China. We believe it will not only benefit the industry, but also provide Hilton Worldwide access to best-in-class talent to support our ambitious goal of expanding from the current over 20 to more than 100 hotels over the next five years,” said Dave Osborne, senior vice president, HR Operations and Development, Hilton Worldwide.

The Hilton Class is a ground-breaking collaboration between a preeminent industry player and a leading higher education institution that offers students the best of theoretical learning and workplace training.  Under the partnership, 20 top first-year students will be carefully selected by both Hilton Worldwide and LRJJ every year. Each will be offered three full-time internships at Hilton Worldwide’s managed properties throughout their course, gaining 18 months of training at the leading hotel group in total.

In addition, Hilton Worldwide will organize guest lectures, on-site visits and e-learning programs specially designed to prepare the students for the workplace. Outstanding students could also potentially secure job offers with properties managed by Hilton Worldwide upon graduation.

“The Hilton Class offers our students an exciting opportunity to be trained by one of the biggest and most well-recognised names in the industry - Hilton Worldwide. Beyond that, the collaboration also keeps both our faculty and students up-to-date with the latest requirements and trends of the industry. We are confident the program will better prepare our students for the workplace and enhance the employment opportunities available to them upon graduation,” said Ms. Judy Hou, CEO of LRJJ.

With the rising demand for talent in China’s rapidly expanding hospitality industry, Hilton Worldwide is actively working to nurture a larger pool of industry talent for its expansion needs and to support the development of the industry.

Apart from exploring strategic partnerships with hospitality and tourism schools, the company also invests heavily in training initiatives for its close to 10,000 staff in China. Promising talent are offered international career development opportunities and access to professional training and development across functions. A structured succession planning program is also in place to groom talent into more senior roles faster. At the ground level, all team members receive comprehensive training to deliver excellent and consistent service.

Its investment in team member training and development has earned Hilton Worldwide a strong reputation as an employer of choice in the hospitality industry, being one of only two players in the industry to be named in the ‘2011 Best Employer for Chinese University Students’ survey conducted by ChinaHR.com on university students.

[1] Survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres PLC (TNS) conducted across on more than 50,000 hoteliers across 70 countries from Sep-Oct 2010

City.Mobi

Also in China today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Shanghai.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Shanghai.city.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.