ICON, a Hong Kong Tourism success story

“Our research showed that 95 per cent of all hotel guests never use a minibar,” says Chon.

Many of the innovative ideas at the hotel have been pioneered by general manager Richard Hatter, an experienced troubleshooter from the Shangri-La group, recruited in 2009 to run the hotel.

“I looked at all the superfluous stuff we did at Shangri-La, like chocolates on the pillow, and thought about what guests really wanted,” he says.

Hotel Icon was also the first to introduce complimentary smartphones for guests, offering unlimited Wi-fi access and international calls to 27 countries. It launched a Tesla limousine hire service, and a special lounge where guests can shower and relax if they arrive before their room is available.

Check-in and check-out is paperless. If guests need to print a boarding card for their flight, they simply email the document from their phone to an in-room printer for an instant hard copy.

It was Hatter who convinced the university’s board not to aim for the safe, mid-range bracket but to create something more ambitious and exclusive. The private sector was not so easily won over, and unhelpful media reports about the new luxury university hotel made others in the industry panic at the prospect of a subsidised competitor using students as cheap labour.

“We were greeted with a lot of cynicism and criticism from the industry and some bad press coverage,” Hatter admits. Even now staff are reluctant to use the term “luxury”, preferring to refer to the hotel as “unique and upscale”.

Whatever the semantics, Hotel Icon is undoubtedly cool and stylish. The building was designed by prominent Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim’s firm, the interiors by Britain’s Terence Conran, and the ground floor Green restaurant boasts a vertical hanging garden designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc.

“I had a clear idea of our clientele. They were looking for something sophisticated, authentic and local – it was a trend,” says Hatter. He had to be careful, though, that the hotel’s teaching status would not deter customers who might fear soup being poured over them by overeager students still learning the ropes.

The potential negatives were turned into positives by using a subtle ploy. The teaching and research aspect is not emphasised in marketing materials, but revealed once guests are settled in the hotel. As Hatter points out, no one complains if the pilot of their aircraft is a training captain or if they must undergo surgery at a top teaching hospital.

Elite management trainee Scarlett Chan Shuk-yee, a Hongkonger, says she considers it part of her role to introduce what she calls “the real Hong Kong” to visitors, and Yeung is also on board.

“Since the introduction of Airbnb, everything has changed. Now it’s about living with locals and sampling local culture,” says Yeung. So many guests have asked about local markets and temples that the hotel has produced a booklet called “Kowloon’s Hidden Gems” to help them explore, he adds.

“This is now the big trend in Hong Kong and visitors have high expectations of a personal and individual experience and being listened to, not treated like not robots,” he says.

It’s a theme much of the Hong Kong tourism industry has been slow to embrace. Last month, Hong Kong Tourism Board executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon said 60.6 million people were expected to visit Hong Kong in 2018, 46.2 million of them from China. But per capita spending by tourists in the city last year fell by 2.3 per cent year on year to HK$6,447 (US$824), and a decline of another 1.5 per cent is predicted this year.

Many tourism professionals fear quality is being sacrificed for quantity and trends are being missed because of city tourism operators’ high reliance on low-value mass tourism from China (about 20 per cent of Hotel Icon’s guests are from China but are typically professionals and independent travellers, Hatter says).

“This trend for authentic cultural tourism is growing like wildfire,” he says. “Hong Kong has a wonderful and unique offering that is not being fully explored. It’s not all about Ocean Park and Disney.”

Hatter thinks the Tourism Board recognised this global trend – which he identified in 2009 – about 18 months ago. Since then there have been initiatives such as the Old Town Central campaign, and similar schemes are planned in Sham Shui Po and other districts.

“Most of our customers are what we call Western explorers – they tell us Hong Kong is still dynamic, exciting and very safe. The safe city aspect should really be played up more,” says Hatter. He points out that the hotel supports local artists, culture and business. That the fruit juice in the free minibar is from Hong Kong supplier Vita is not an accident: it’s policy.

The success of Hotel Icon would appear to offer some important clues as to how the city could refresh its offering to tourists and respond better to current global trends, but for now few are taking much notice.

“If this hotel was in Singapore, everyone would be making a huge fuss about it,” Hatter says.

Special thanks to Mr. Stuart Heaver, who published this article in the South China Morning Post online edition as well as print edition 15th March, 2018: "What guests really want".