Issue 55

Accor’s vice-president of Talent & Culture shares how its dynamic workforce in ASEAN is making the region an even more attractive travel destination.

The ASEAN region is receiving a larger number of visitors each year. According to the ASEAN Secretariat’s preliminary figures, in 2015, approximately 98 million international travellers visited ASEAN countries, up 7.3% on the previous year. CLMVT (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) members saw 44.42 million tourists, or about 42% of the total visitors to ASEAN.

To accommodate the rising number of tourists, hotels are opening at an increasing rate across the region, with the consequent need for quality workforce. Accor Hotels’ Christophe Lejeune, vice-president of Talent & Culture, Upper SEA and NEA Region, has witnessed the changes in the ASEAN tourism and hospitality sector for over two decades, and he is confident that the region’s strong workforce will be an advantage for the industry.

“In the 1980s, I came to Thailand and discovered a very strong hotel industry and I was very impressed with the quality of tourism products,” says Lejeune. “I joined Novotel Rayong in 1995, and since then I have been working for Accor in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.”

Lejeune says that the number one strength of Thailand is its people. “A large number of tourists are making repeated trips to Thailand as Thailand is a unique destination: Thai people have genuine hospitality and make tourists feel welcome spontaneously. They know how to make guests feel special.”

“In the ASEAN region, people have a very strong, genuine interest in the service industry,” adds Lejeune. “The workforces in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are also very young and dynamic. I find that Southeast Asians are very entrepreneurial: they’re very mobile and willing to take risks. They’re also eager to try different things quickly.”
Lejeune believes there has been a recent shift in the recruitment of staff.

“We have to be competitive both in terms of salary and career path,” says Lejeune. “With the ‘digital generation’, employee branding is very important. The younger generation is very concerned about the business model and issues like corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability of a company.”

He shares that due to the changing nature of the workforce, the delivery of employee training now follows the 70:20:10 model: 70% peer-to-peer training, including workshops and conferences; 20% online learning activities from digital platforms such as webinars; and only 10% face-to-face training.

“As companies get bigger, we cannot just rely on face-to-face training, which is time-consuming,” says Lejeune.

He believes that the connectivity of the ASEAN region makes it more convenient for travellers to combine visits to multiple countries, as each one has its own unique culture. In 2017, Accor plans to open a total of 19 new hotels in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, in addition to the 92 hotels existing in these countries.

“The way business evolves [in Southeast Asia] is very dynamic. Thailand is a window to the rest of Asia and it’s important that we have flagships hotels here – SO Sofitel, Hotel Muse Bangkok by M Gallery and Pullman. Currently we’re opening about one hotel a week in Asia.”

Words by Pimsirinuch Borsub