Hilton Dalian Golden Pebble Beach Resort - staff are now better equipped to use alternative digital channels to host MICE events. Credit: Hilton Dalian Golden Pebble Beach Resort.
DALIAN - When frontline medical teams arrived at Hilton Dalian Golden Pebble Beach and were confined to their rooms, the hotel management wanted their guests to experience the beauty of the Golden Pebble Beach in a creative and interactive way.
Staff organised a one-day photography competition, not expecting a whopping social media response from 70,000 viewers. Ms Anne Wang, GM, Hilton Dalian Golden Pebble Beach Resort, said that it all started with a message that was shared via an event e-poster to 11 WeChat groups which the staff used to contact the medics.
She said: "The rules were simple: participants had to capture the most engaging photo of the Golden Pebble Beach, or any objects within their hotel room, and share it in their respective WeChat groups.
"At the end of the competition, we received close to 100 images and shortlisted 30 of the most iconic pictures. These were then uploaded to WeChat, where members of the public were invited to vote for their favourite (picture)."
The public's response was overwhelming, as there were more than 70,000 viewers judging and contributing over 500 comments - a majority of which were directed at showing appreciation for the medical professionals."
First prize photo by Zheng Fei Fei.
A total of six photos were selected as the winning shots, and the respective photographers won prizes from the hotel.
"In all, we were heartened by the success of this initiative - it wouldn't have been made possible without the enthusiastic participation from our guests, and positive response from the public. We were able to leverage technology and social media as an avenue to not only engage our frontline heroes, but also display our utmost appreciation for their efforts," added Ms Wang.
The resort has a conference area of 7,000 sqm, with a 2,000 sqm lawn, for indoor and outdoor events. The experience of hosting the medical teams has taught Ms Wang's staff new skills such as livestreaming cooking dinners and interacting with guests and chefs.
"In doing so, they were able to help our guests better understand how their high-quality meals are prepared, and how the hotel's F&B team enforces strict hygiene standards.
"At the same time, we leveraged our outdoor square to engage guests who could watch us through windows - like doing morning exercises and organising birthday celebrations - and received positive feedback. The team is now better equipped with the skills to use alternative digital channels to engage guests, and we could potentially explore this to host MICE events and guests from all over the world," said Ms Wang.