Interview with Jan Jansen of Conrad Hotel Hong Kong

Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Conrad Hong Kong?

My name is Jan Jansen, and I am the General Manager of Conrad Hong Kong. I come from a hotel family—in fact, I am the seventh generation in this industry. To be honest, I didn't have much of a choice but to stay in the industry! While my dream was to become a pilot, my father steered me towards hospitality, which led me to study at the Hotel School in Leeuwarden, and partially in the United States. That was my first experience living abroad, which I really enjoyed.

Upon completing my masters in Rotterdam, I began my career in hospitality, first in Brussels and then with a move to Singapore. This role offered me a wonderful view of Asia and the opportunity to travel everywhere. After having done that for many years, I decided to go back to operations. Indeed, my family is in hotels, and we still run a few properties back home, so I always had this inclination to go back to hotel level. Hilton offered me that opportunity fourteen years ago, beginning a journey across Asia that took me to Shanghai, Sydney, and eventually to this very property in Hong Kong for the first time. My first General Manager role was in Hangzhou, China, where I had the privilege of opening a beautiful Conrad hotel. Following that, I was delighted to return to Hong Kong almost five years ago to assume my current role.

My responsibility is to ensure the smooth operation of this hotel. We have over 500 rooms, several restaurants, and on a busy day, we host over a thousand guests, almost making it a small city on its own.

How do you ensure that your hotel stands out in terms of guest experience and service quality in such a competitive market?

That's obviously the million dollar question on how to do that successfully, right? Our greatest asset is undoubtedly our team. Many team members have been here since the hotel opened 35 years ago; they know some guests from day one and are able to look after them in a very personalized way, which builds a lot of loyalty.

At the same time, we are adapting to a shifting market. Post-COVID, we welcome more mainland Chinese travelers and millenials or Gen Z who seek authentic local experiences. To cater to this, we launched the Conrad 1|3|5 program. It helps guests curate their exploration based on a simple question: how many hours of spare time do you have during your stay? For example, if you have one hour, we guide you through the Wan Chai neighbourhood. With three hours, you can join a tour of the city's vibrant street murals, and with five, you can hike the Dragon's Back.

So, while we deeply value our loyal, long-term guests, we are equally focused on welcoming and understanding this new generation of travelers

Next month, you’ll be hosting a guest chef – the Blend Brothers – from the Netherlands. What inspired this collaboration?

The F&B scene in Hong Kong remains challenging, and we felt the time was right to reinject excitement by bringing in international talent. We had successful collaborations with the Blend Brothers pre-COVID, and we are thrilled to welcome them back from 6-14 November 2024.

This collaboration is themed around the historic Silk Road. The brothers will work with our own Chef Gary to create an experience which is phrased around the Silk Road, which was obviously the connection between East Asia and Western Europe back in the days, and to create a menu that takes the best of both parts. Furthermore, they offer more than just cuisine; one brother is a master chef, while the other is an expert mixologist and DJ. This combination of food, drink, and music creates a truly immersive experience that tickles all the senses.

What initiatives have you implemented in your hotel to promote eco-friendly practices?

We are guided by Hilton’s global Travel with Purpose program, focusing on key local areas. Food waste is a big one, especially with Hong Kong's popular buffets. We use AI to track wastage in real-time, which helps us reduce it proactively, with any suitable leftovers donated to local NGOs.

We've also phased out single-use plastics entirely—replacing small plastic bottles with large bathroom dispensers and aluminium cans for water. Finally, we prioritize sourcing local ingredients from Hong Kong and Guangdong, which supports local communities and reduces our carbon footprint.

What emerging trends in the hospitality industry will shape the future of hotel management?

The biggest trend is undoubtedly technology and AI, which is transforming the entire guest journey—from how people plan and book their holiday to how they interact with us during their stay. For example, we use a system called Kipsu, a messaging platform where guests can engage with our team at any point in time. This integration of AI into the overall journey is becoming more and more important. For luxury hotels like ours, the personal touch remains paramount, and I think that will hold true for a bit longer. But looking ahead, this integration will only deepen. Personally, I'm very interested to see how robotics might take over some of the repetitive tasks done by humans, particularly in housekeeping or stewarding. I believe there's a real opportunity for robots to handle such roles.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our members?

I would encourage all Dutch Chambers’ members to bring more visitors from Western Europe to Hong Kong. After COVID, the city is still finding its footing and international travel hasn't bounced back to the same extent. I am a strong advocate for 'seeing is believing.' I would love to see more international travelers come to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to see for themselves what is happening here, which I think is phenomenal. With the speed of development and innovation in this part of the world, it is really something that people should get inspired by. So my humble request is that please, please bring over your family, your company, and your colleagues to see for yourself how exciting this city still is.