27 June 2003 |  Print |  Email

The Shanghai International Hotels are celebrating the WHO (World Health Organization) lifting of the SARS travel advisory to Beijing by literally following the well know song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon round the Old Oak Tree” and tying yellow ribbons round their hotels to welcome back guests who have been absent for many months.

This Yellow Welcome mat in the form of banners, ribbons, flags and welcome back badges have been in place since Friday 27 June 2003 across all of the 32 international hotels of Shanghai.

Said Mr. Robert Lohrmann, Vice Chairman IBHS and General Manager, Shanghai Marriott Hotel Hong Qiao “Our members have banded together to “tie a yellow ribbon around their hotels to welcome back the domestic and international guests who are already steadily returning to Shanghai following the recent SARS scare. We want to express our genuine hospitality and heartfelt appreciation toward guests returning to our Shanghai hotels.

Fortunately our local Government Control Bureaus have done an outstanding job to prevent any major outbreak of SARS in Shanghai with only 8 reported cases here, this situation pales into insignificance considering our population of 16 million people. We are pleased to report that our business is quickly returning to pre SARS levels at a much faster pace than we expected. This could only be achieved by the safe and healthy image that Shanghai enjoys throughout the worldwide business community. Our current occupancies clearly reflect that consumer confidence is strong and I can safely say we are already back in business in Shanghai.”

Other than a strong welcoming message, the Yellow Ribbon campaign will allow guests to enjoy certain discounts at select hotels and participate in several lucky draws. Each hotel guest will receive a welcome back lapel pin and be encouraged to fully participate in the celebration.