Hyatt has sublime positioning

Perched on the 88-story Jinmao Tower, Grand Hyatt Shanghai is one of the world's highest hotels. Provided to China Daily

GM Foued el Mabrouk is confident about landmark property's future at the center of Shanghai, the nation's financial hub. Yang Yijun reports.

Sitting in the Cloud 9 Bar on the 85th floor of the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, the hotel's general manager Foued el Mabrouk recently recalled what he has experienced over the past 28 years in China - and told the story in fluent Mandarin.

He said the word "change" does not describe what happened in China. "It's a complete transformation," he noted.

El Mabrouk came to China from Tunisia at the age of 20 during the time of the planned economy. As the country transformed, so did El Mabrouk's life. He graduated from Tsinghua University, met his wife, started his career and his children were born in China.

He has also experienced milestones in China's development, including the start of the opening-up policy and the country's participation in the WTO, Olympics and World Expo.

After being the general manager of the Grand Hyatt Beijing, he was appointed to his current position in August.

"I spent 28 years being a Beijinger. And now I'm looking forward to spending my next 28 years learning to be a Shanghainese," he said, adding that he is very interested in cycling around the alleys of Shanghai, like he did in Beijing's hutong.

El Mabrouk says he and his team are very proud of the Grand Hyatt Shanghai located in the 88-story Jinmao Tower, in the center of the Lujiazui area of Pudong.

"The hotel and building symbolize China's development. Whenever there is a photo of Shanghai, the Jinmao Tower is there," he said.

"We are part of China's development. We are part of Shanghai, the commercial center of China. We continue to be positioned as the leading hotel not only in Shanghai but also in China," he said.

After working in the hospitality industry in China for more than two decades, El Mabrouk is optimistic about the future.

"There is a great business environment that has brought a lot of people into the country who come to look for business opportunities, to organize events, to be part of international conferences and so on. These all require hotel facilities," he said.

But the rapid expansion, especially by major international hotel chains, has caused concern about oversupply of hotel rooms in China.

El Mabrouk said the challenges will last only for a limited time.

"In the next couple of years, the challenge will be overcome because China is a big economic powerhouse. The demand will continue to grow, not only from the international market, but also in the domestic market too," he says.

He is also confident about the outlook for the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, noting the overall business environment in China is positive and Hyatt Hotels Corp has paid a lot of attention to the market as well as customer behavior.

In October, the company announced it has 32 Hyatt-branded hotels under development in China. The company launched a breakfast program in April that features regional specialty dishes in its properties.

"Chinese guests are becoming a very important component in the success of hotels," he said.