For many businesses in the MICE sector, service often ends the moment a guest leaves the hotel. Essentially the person is left to fend for themselves in a strange environment when greater value-added services could have been provided.
Rurik Nystrom, the founder of RedBang International, a Beijing-based supplier of corporate gifts and maps, said most hotels were good at improving their services in a property, but what they had not mapped out was how guests coped once they left the premises.
'Solving the guests' daily domestic needs once they walk out of a hotel is crucial,' said Mr Nystrom, a former Hong Kong resident who helped launch Ikea's Sha Tin store in the mid 1990s. 'They need to understand whether the person is a VIP or a businessman, you have your time when you work and you are in the hotel and you have your time when you are outside the hotel. Unless you proffer some kind of corporate tool or branded gift saying 'this is my brand giving you some service' then they really haven't got the message yet.'
RedBang has, since 2000, been helping its customers convey their branding message through tailored 3D maps that provide businesses with a low-cost business-to-business solution. Typically, each customised map costs about 2 to 4 yuan (HK$2.27 to HK$4.55), depending on the quantity ordered.
The company provides maps to about 200 companies, including the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Wynn Macau, the French Embassy to China, Raffles Beijing and the JW Marriott hotels. The maps, which are attractive and pocket-sized, open with an array of colours indicating interesting facts about a location, business or destination. They are also likely to be taken home by a traveller and passed on, unlike cheaper tourist guide maps that are discarded.
A Japanese and English bilingual map produced for the JW Marriott Hong Kong, features an eye-catching city scene, with a focus on Hong Kong Island and the main Tsim Sha Tsui shopping area. It is supplemented by smaller insert maps showing a Hong Kong overview, the MTR and lists of landmark shopping areas, key office buildings and dining and entertainment areas. Bordering the map are boxes featuring 23 attractions ranging from Disneyland to the Mong Kok night market to the 2.5km Bowen Road walk.
Mr Nystrom, who has lived in the mainland for 10 years, said the maps were purposely uncluttered to suit the typical traveller. 'Most people have limited time when visiting a city. They don't have to see 897 things. They need simplistic information. That's why we typically profile 20 places to go - manageable information. We choose five or six museums, top galleries, nightlife and theatre,' he said.
