IHG Academy

IHG Academy is aimed at responding to the opportunities and challenges in the hotel talents market to secure stable and quality individuals as powerful supplements for IHG hotels now and in the future. This cooperative project with Shanghai Second Polytechnic University will become the 35th IHG Academy in Greater China, which will better meet the need for professional talents in the rapidly growing hospitality industry in Shanghai. This also reflects IHG’s strong long-term commitment to develop local Chinese talents.

According to the agreement, students who participate in the programme will receive lectures and career development coaching from IHG’s senior management team. Additionally, students of Shanghai Second Polytechnic University will be offered a six-month internship opportunity at one of the four InterContinental hotels in Shanghai. And the hotels have set up a special scholarship for outstanding interns and students from low income families.

'Attracting, developing and retaining talents are IHG’s top priority for our development. It is our great employees that make IHG’s development in China more competitive; and it is our great employees that have been persistently providing the best service to guests to deliver our brand commitment.' Said Raymond Co, VP Human Resources, Greater China, IHG, 'As a leader in China market, we have been focusing on providing world-class talent development and practice programs to not only help IHG to establish a stable and high quality talent pool, but also enrich the talent reserve for China’s hotel industry, making our efforts for the development of the whole industry.'

IHG was the first international hotel group in the China market, having entered the China market back in 1984. And this year marks IHG's 30th anniversary since it first came to China. Over the past 30 years, IHG has enjoyed an impressive performance in the China market; with over 200 hotels and almost 60,000 employees, IHG has become the largest employer in hotel industry.

In order to meet the great need for human resources by the rapidly developing and thriving hotel industry in China, IHG set up the first IHG Academy as early as June, 2006 in Shanghai. After that, this cooperation model developed rapidly across China; so far 35 IHG Academy schools have been established in more than 20 cities in China. Every IHG Academy cooperated with a local tourism school or vocational technical institute. Based on the schools original theory courses and specialized courses, IHG will provide industry practical experience and latest industry information given by senior management staff from IHG; meanwhile, IHG will also provide students at school with internship opportunity. Every year, IHG Academy schools from all over China provide thousands of outstanding graduates with practical working experience for IHG hotels and the entire China hotel industry. At the same time, IHG Academy is also going out of China to cooperate actively with local community organizations and educational institutions around the world to provide local people with skills training and job opportunities in hotel industry.

Over the next five years, IHG will keep growing fast in China. Its incremental number of rooms in China will account for a quarter of the incremental number of rooms in the world. To continue the strong growth in China, IHG will definitely deliver its commitment for long term development in the China market and provide local Chinese talents with broader career development opportunities.