SOFITEL LUXURY HOTELS LAUNCHES ITS AMBASSADORS PROGRAM

Hong Kong, July 19, 2011 – As part of its global brand strategy, on June 16, Sofitel Luxury Hotels has launched its Ambassador program for its 25,000 employees around the world.

On that day, all of the hotels in the network, as well as the Sofitel corporate offices, were united by the launch of a program designed to help each employee become an Ambassador of the brand. Employees were given their own personal passport, which will stay with them throughout their entire "professional journey" with Sofitel.

"This was conceived as a long-term project with the goal of making each of our employees into an ambassador of the brand. It is Sofitel's way of supporting its staff, both personally and professionally," explains Magali Laurent, VP Human Resources Sofitel Worldwide.

The program was created with three steps to attract talented employees, retain them with special training courses and offer them career advancement opportunities:

“Be Yourself”
A new selection approach has been developed for the recruiting process, based on personal characteristics and the relational skills that are the brand's values.
Certain lucky students at fifteen selected hotel schools around the world will enjoy between 12 and 18 months of guidance from Sofitel managers. This management training School of Excellence program is intended to be a career accelerator, offering special conditions and personal support from a manager acting as the student's patron to promote successful integration from an internship into a hired position at supervisor level minimum. This program is also available for internal staff.

“Be Ready”
This module encompasses required training courses on the three key Sofitel values:
• Spirit of openness: after an orientation program, each new employee will explore the brand's universe, its standards and the concepts of appearance and attitude.
• Passion for excellence: the keys of a luxury experience are covered in this course, and basic education on management practices is provided.
• Essence of "plaisir": this third component is entirely devoted to "tailored service," which means giving employees the freedom to anticipate, surprise the customer and even guess his or her expectations to make each stay into a unique, personalized experience.

At the end of the full module, a ceremony is held to officially welcome the new employees as certified ambassadors.



“Be Magnifique”
This third step was created to offer "à la carte" training courses for career development. Employees receive personal attention to their long-term prospects for advancement, whether they involve becoming a manager, an internal trainer or a recognized expert in their field.

Having successfully repositioned itself, Sofitel Luxury Hotels is now focusing its efforts on improving the brand's luxury cachet and expanding its international network in targeted cities. The Ambassador Program is part of Be Magnifique, the Sofitel brand strategy defined by 6 key aspects: French Elegance, “Cousu-main” Tailor-made Service, Collection of Addresses, Levers of Performance, General Manager: an “Entrepreneur”, and Sofitel Ambassadors for all employees.

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Sofitel, World Class Hotels & French Elegance

Sofitel is the only french luxury hotel brand with a presence on five continents with 120 addresses, in almost 40 countries (more than 30 000 rooms). Sofitel offers contemporary hotels and resorts adapted to today’s more demanding and more versatile consumers who expect and appreciate beauty, quality and excellence. Whether situated in the heart of a major city like Paris, London, New York, Shanghai or Beijing, or nestled away in a country landscape in Morocco, Egypt, French Polynesia or Thailand, each Sofitel property offers a genuine experience of the French “ art de vivre”.

Discover Sofitel on www.sofitel.com

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