A group of 11 secondary school students from St. Stephen's College visited the back of house of the Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel on 24th April 2014. This event provided the students with an understanding of the history and background of the Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel and the hotel operation.


Students were fascinated by the lively tour around the hotel and gained a better understanding of the hotel operation.

Interesting questions were raised by the students, such as how the hotel can differentiate itself from other five stars hotels and what is the biggest challenge the hotel industry is facing in Hong Kong. Students were particularly concerned about the entry requirement into the hotel industry. Our speaker, Ms. Mandy Tai, Training Manager of Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel shared her personal career path in the hotel industry and compared hospitality management programmes in local and overseas education institutions. She stressed that apart from academic qualification, youngsters who would like to join the hotel industry must have a positive can-do attitude, customer service mindset, good communication and language skills, and willing to learn and grow.

Mr. Peter Pollmeier, the General Manager of  the Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hotel shared his international hospitality experiences.

Mr. Alex Lui, Executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings Limited shared his career advice with students after the hotel tour. Mr. Lui recommended that students should widen their horizons and try to explore job opportunities in different sectors. Many manual labour jobs, such as structural steel work are socially constructed as 'dirty work'. While many individuals have been pursuing professional training, the society ignores the need to create sufficient technical education programmes. It is important to note that such work is essential for the effective functioning of society. Manual labour jobs can also be professional, stable and highly attractive with high wages and good fringe benefits. It is time to change the social perception of occupational class and break the confines of blue-collar and white-collar jobs.


Students enjoyed the hotel tour and had a rewarding time with the organisers.