National Tide 1980

In 1978, the number of inbound tourists in my country reached more than 1.8 million.

This exceeds the total number of foreign tourists our country received in the previous two decades.

In 1979, the number of foreign guests surged to more than 4.2 million.

This year, there were only seven foreign-related hotels in Beijing, with only 1,000 beds meeting reception standards.

It is precisely for this reason that the country's top leaders quickly introduced three pilot projects with foreign investment in 1979 to relieve the emergency.

No. 001 is Air China Food Company.

No. 002 and 003 are the Jianguo Hotel and the Great Wall Hotel.

Of course, in the era of political dominance, the high growth of mainland tourists caused by various political demands and system changes obviously appeared earlier and the growth rate was more rapid.

Especially as the capital is the political and cultural center of our country, the number of tourists it receives must surely rank first in the country.

Therefore, since the 1970s, it was much earlier than the top leaders of the country realized the need to build luxury hotels that meet international standards.

Chongwen District, which is strategically located next to the Beijing Railway Station, has begun to vigorously promote the development of the hotel industry in the district to meet the needs of tourists visiting Beijing.

Chongwenmen Hotel is a hotel project funded and built by the district government to provide high-standard reception conditions for domestic tourists.

It should be said that this hotel was quite successful.

Since it opened for business, it has been packed with guests and the occupancy rate has remained above 80%.

It's a pity that I lacked understanding of the outside world at that time.

Almost no one knows what truly high standards should look like.

It was difficult for such a high-end hotel to be built behind closed doors after leaders made decisions, brainstormed ideas, and focused on hardware facilities.

Therefore, although the Chongwenmen Hotel has sofas, soft beds, fans, TVs, and elevators, it has already reached the "modern" standards agreed by people of this era.

However, in Ning Weimin's eyes, it is still difficult to conceal the common problem that its business strategy is backward and there is no management experience to speak of.

It's just a larger guest house at best.

There was no way he could look up to him at all.

To put it bluntly, the current prosperous business of Chongwenmen Hotel only relies on its superior geographical location and the first-mover advantage of foresight.

Once the time for large-scale construction comes.

Or the surrounding Qianmen Hotel, Dongfang Hotel, and Minzu Hotel, whose internal facilities have been upgraded.

The attractiveness of this place to mainland tourists will inevitably plummet.

The most interesting thing is that at this time, the training staff of the Foreign Affairs Hotel in Beijing were focusing on teaching foreign customs, life characteristics and taboos.

Why do British and Indian foreign guests like to drink quilt tea?

Indian and Indonesian foreign guests wash their hands with their left hand after defecation. Do not use your left hand to bring food to them.

What kind of motherfucker teaches foreign guests not to eat pork?

Why don't foreign guests who believe in Buddhism shake hands with them? They must put their palms together.

There is also a taboo on the number “13” among Christian foreign guests.

Albanian foreign guests nodded to express negative, shook their heads to express affirmative, etc...

All of this surprised young people who had been isolated from the outside world for a long time and lacked knowledge.

However, compared with this, Ning Weimin's personal feelings are similar.

Because he was a newbie here, and even he himself wouldn't dare to believe it if he didn't experience it for himself.

There are countless features of state-owned hotels in this era, how incredible they are.

For example, every floor of the Chongwenmen Hotel looks the same.

Apart from the room number, there is no obvious distinguishing mark at all.

Countless rooms are lined up evenly in each corridor, like a middle school teaching building or an orderly barracks.

As long as the customer forgets or misremembers the room number, it will cause an "accident".

Although it is not as exaggerated as the scene in the movie "Escape from the Tiger's Mouth".

It will inevitably lead to squeaking panic and embarrassment of apologising.

But no one is willing to pay attention to or change such a problem, and no one has even mentioned it.

Not only do they allow it to exist for a long time, but they are happy to talk about it as a joke.

For another example, Chongwenmen Hotel will forcibly regulate the daily life of all guests based on the sleeping habits of most Chinese people.

As soon as 9pm hits, it's default time to get ready for bed.

The restaurant was closed and the boiler room stopped supplying hot water for the thermos.

Employees will also turn off unnecessary lights one by one.

The corridors on each floor were dark and desolate.

Even the hardware boasted here has design issues.

It is said to be a fully furnished single room, but there is no independent toilet planned at all.

The public toilet is located at the end of the corridor, and the shower is at the other end.

The room, bathroom and bathroom are completely separated, which is extremely inconvenient in life.

As for the service attitude, they say one thing and do another.

Although employees in various departments often spend time participating in various conferences and meetings, organizing studies, and listening to leaders' speeches.

But in fact, the slogan of "quality service" has never been implemented in practice, and it has remained just words.

Take the reception work at the front desk as an example.

Mi Xiaoran took Ning Weimin to check in customers.

There is no need for attentiveness or service with a smile.

All you need to do is keep your head down and write out tickets and collect money from the guests without saying a word.

It fully shows that they are a generation that is strong, proud and full of ownership spirit.

Also, before check-out, the hotel must conduct a room inspection before releasing the guest.

Speaking of how the waiters during ward rounds treat guests, it's even worse, just like how police officers treat criminal suspects.

No matter if you are eager to catch the train or if you have something important to do, you still have to wait patiently.

The waiter has to order all the utensils and even turn on the TV and lights before allowing the guest to leave.

Don't rush your guests. If you push them, it will make you appear to be ulterior.

The waiter has to drag your feet and take you ten more minutes to finish.

What's more, many employees even quarrel unscrupulously and don't care about affecting the guests' rest.

As a result, it often happens that a customer is woken up by a waiter in his sleep, and when he opens the door, he has to talk to the two waiters to make peace.

Of course, having said that, this is nothing to blame, it was all determined by the limited travel conditions at that time.

The key is that in this era, it is too difficult for people to go out.

Not only is it difficult to buy train tickets, but trains are also seriously overcrowded.

It is often difficult for travelers to find a hotel with suitable conditions when they arrive at their destination because they are not familiar with the place.

Sometimes the "outside tourist reception" is too busy to introduce the hotel in time.

No matter what your status is, I'm afraid I have to arrange for you to sleep in Datong Shop for a day first.

So for most travelers who are tired all the way.

I am extremely happy to be able to find such a comfortable place to rest without wasting time or taking unnecessary steps. I am so grateful to God.

If anyone really dares to find fault?

That's too unsatisfactory.