Training is the name of hotel game

A strikingly modern 28-storey building adjacent to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) campus in Hung Hom is home to two sites important to the hotel industry: the eponymous university's School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM), and Hotel ICON, a five-star hotel managed by a team of hospitality 'professionals' - most of them students. The HK$1.3 billion initiative serves as the university's teaching and research hotel.

What do hospitality students gain from working at a training hotel? The school's dean, Professor Kaye Chon, says that hotel management is a practical field and so it's important that students get the chance to apply concepts in the real world. By studying in such an environment, students can learn - and then apply what they have learned - in real-life situations.

This helps students understand all aspects of hotel management, such as marketing, finance and human resources management.

The SHTM runs a formal 'Work-Integrated Education' internship programme, or WIE. This offers students the opportunity to benefit from Hotel ICON's transparent operations and gain a holistic understanding of the industry by participating in the day-to-day running of various departments in a real-world hotel environment. The programme includes a rotation scheme, with student interns placed in different departments over a period of time. They are guided by the department heads to further expand their skill sets through first-hand experience of the industry. Students work, pick up ideas and later apply them in the classroom.