This was such a prestigious opportunities for 19 of us who were a group of representative from Thailand to attend 5th Asian Congress in Seoul, Korean during 25-28 August 2007. It took approximately 6 hours to get there but as we were together in the same flight which could create a memorable warmth and happiness along this long trip.
Even we left Bangkok quite early at 2.00 hrs in the morning but arrived in Seoul at 9.20 hrs because delaying of the flight for 1 hour. Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by concierge representatives and arrived at JW Marriott Hotel at 11.00 hrs by car. After that, we decided to go have a big lunch together before the board director meeting at 15:00 hrs.
After finished the meeting, JW Marriott welcomed all of us with extraordinary welcome cocktail. It was also such a marvelous chance for each representative to wear and represent traditional costume of their country. Participants are from Australia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand and Korea. Furthermore, we were very proud that we are the biggest group of concierge.
In the next day, there was a very important workshop and topic to test concierges' skills and measure standards of concierges' services. Ms.Junko Yamada who is a Director of Service Culture Starwood Asia-Pacific Hotels &Resorts has organized the workshop. We spent all day working hard on that workshop and test. However, one of the best dinners from Gildeolyeojiki Restaurant where it took only 15-20 minutes to get there, was retreat all of us from tiring. Chongdong Theater was our next plan to go see a nice performance, which was very exciting, and acknowledge us about Korean's cultures.
Came to the last day in Seoul, there was a General Assembly for half day and they invited General Manager, Rooms Division, Front Office Manager from other hotels in Korea to join us on parts of questions and answers. For lunch, we moved to have lunch at Insadong "Min Ga Da Hun" which was a very present restaurant. We also had a couple hours to do some shopping in that area, waiting for a Gala Dinner tonight. In the evening, after Gala Dinner, they took us to Circle Club and it was very entertaining and pleasurable.
This 5th Asian Congress in Seoul, Korea helped in building great relationships between concierges from different countries and cultures. It also allowed us to gain deeper knowledge and understanding that Les Clefs d'Or is all about "Service through Friendship".
Additionally, we look forward to having a chance to attend the next Asian Congress in Hong Kong during the year 2009.
