London 2012 blog

Well, I'm now back from the madness and excitement of the Beijing Games and thought I'd share some of my fantastic learning's and highlights!

The first week started with a week's induction from the Australian television channel Network Seven and their hospitality company. This even included team building exercises from racing around Beijing, a Chinese cookery lesson which was great fun and even experiencing pre-runs of the guest hospitality tours of the Great Wall and hutong tour to ensure we got it right for our guests!

After a fun and informative induction it was on to the pre-event planning. We only had three weeks to prepare before Network Seven guests arrived for one of the best experiences of their life! Procedures had to be written, guest allocation of bedrooms for 184 guests over 3 waves, weekly meetings with the hotel team, staff training with our teams, setting up of hospitality desk where by the hotel hosts would deal with anything: day-to-day issues, arrivals and departures, booking tours, room drops, issuing Games tickets, booking cars from the transport team and ensuring all guest were having a great time in the hospitality lounge.

Read more of “Learning about accommodation in Beijing”

70 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing...

I'm off out to Beijing on 10th July (42 days and counting), I'll be heading up a team looking after Network Seven, the Australian Broadcaster during the Games. Network Seven will be taking 184 clients in three waves out to Beijing and it’ll be my responsibility to look after their every need. My responsibilities will include pre-event planning and preparations of all hotel systems, hotel room and guest handling procedures, as well as being the key contact for any operational matter and trouble shooting.

This is a fantastic opportunity for me to gain a real insight into how a hotel operates during the Olympic & Paralympic Games. From the experience I hope to be able to input my learnings into the first draft of the London 2012 Accommodation operating plan.

I look forward to sharing my learnings soon!