INTRODUCTION :

“I often see a customer in Tokyo on Monday, and then on Tuesday I go to Marriott's head office in Maryland, in the US.On Wednesday and Thursday I go to Amsterdam to booking.com's head office, and then I go back to Hong Kong or Shanghai." Yang Zhao loves his job! A Vatel Nimes 2008 graduate, he has been the Marriott International Group E-Commerce Manager since November 2013.

INTERVIEW :

“I work for Marriott International as the “Global E-Distribution Leader." In other words, that means that I'm in charge of E-Commerce, as the interface between Marriott and other travel booking agencies, such as booking.com, Ctrip, Rakuten, etc. I negotiate contracts, lead projects, identify opportunities, etc. I often go to see a customer in Tokyo on Monday, and then on Tuesday I go to Marriott's head office in Maryland, in the US. On Wednesdays and Thursday I go to Amsterdam to booking.com's head office, and then I return to Hong Kong or Shanghai. A job that requires a lot of mobility and I love it!

Marriott International is 85 years of history, 3,800 hotels, 72 destinations as well as legendary brands like the Ritz with however, an extraordinarily feeling of being at home in a family. I was lucky that throughout my whole career, I was able to work in large hotel chains such as IHG or Hilton Worldwide, but I do have to admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for Marriott's spirit and values.

For the past five years now I've been working in large Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai and Bangkok, and I really love this. I hope to stay here for the next several years to take advantage of the Asian economic situation and its opportunities. On a larger scale, I'd like to work in the United States as that is where most of the international hotel group headquarters are located. I'd like to acquire a global overview, or “meta vision" to learn how to manage remotely the different regions where hotels are located. And then, but this time in the very long term, but still in the hospitality and e-commerce fields, I'd like to go back to Europe.

Europe reminds me of Vatel, and I have very fond memories of my time I spent at school. I chose this curriculum because of the mixture of theoretical courses immediately followed by practical application work. You didn't have to wait for an internship to face real customers and learn the tricks of the hospitality trade. That puts Vatel one large step ahead of the others. When I started my first internship as an Accountant and Assistant Manager in the famous Byblos de Saint Tropez Hotel, I was already one step ahead of the other interns. And I kept this step ahead in my second internship in Revenue Management in the Italian Boscolo Group in Nice where I was trained in Yield Management and E-Commerce.

Although I was just a second year student, during this internship, I signed my first job contract. The InterContinental Hotel Group - IHG, noticed me and hired me as the Asia-Pacific Forecast Analyst. I had this job for four years before starting to work in Marriott in 2012.

Attending Vatel was the best choice I ever made!