Losang Gyamchu: A Hotel in My Heart
Losang Gyamchu, a native of Shangri-La, joined Songtsam’s branding team in 2013. Losang Gyamchu doesn’t talk too much. But if asked a question, he has a surprising amount to say. The mysterious, time-honored Tibetan culture turns out to be easy to understand with his illustrations. Losang is a native of Shangri-La. Eleven years ago, he went to study at the Communication University of China, majoring in media management. His college days brought great changes to his life. “I learned how to conduct myself in society and about attitudes towards life,” he explains. “The atmosphere at the university was comparatively free, and I studied with open-ended teaching. I could take any subject I was interested in and got many chances for practice. As a freshman, I went to a TV station as an audience member. Later, I worked for the student union, organizing parties and performances, thus earning useful experiences.”
After graduation, Losang began his career with an automobile exhibition. He soon quit his job and chose to work as a freelancer. He took tailor-made travel in his hometown as a business opportunity: “Shangri-La is bestowed with advantageous tourism resources,” he asserts, “but the market operation is yet to be regulated.”
“I established my own company five years ago, naming it Riyue (Sun & Moon) Linka. It has gone smoothly, with a good number of customers. However, we have come across a bottleneck.” Initially, he wanted to offer experiential travel with a combination of “the best vehicle+most experienced driver+best hotel,” which he later found far from enough.
The plan sounded perfect, yet it didn’t work well when put into practice. There was still room for improvement in his driver’s appearance, room service, and the way his employees talked.
How did he work things out as expected? He talked to Baima, with whom he had got acquainted during his business development phase. “We often chatted because we had both had the experience of ‘drift-ing’ in Beijing,” Losang recalls. “At that time, Songtsam Hotel was going smoothly, with its franchised outlets opening one after another. The only things they needed were personnel training and marketing.”
Discovering Songtsam’s weakness, which was his own strength, Losang joined the hotel, along with his two partners, to make a perfect match at the end of 2013.
“I’m coming back to Songtsam” was how Losang described his collaboration. He was committed to making the hotel’s travel products more innovative, transforming the original, traditional boutique hotel into “a way of travel.” In early 2014, he started to operate a membership system and brand Songtsam’s media image. “This is the change I’ve brought to Songtsam, branding.” He is in charge of combing the product’s framework, planning various campaigns, transport, and housekeeping.
The splendor of a boutique hotel lies in its uniqueness. Every Songtsam hotel enjoys tranquility: the only sound one can hear is one’s breath. Every hotel has employees from local villages, who are always happy to share their lifestyle if you are interested. All the paths around the hotel afford views of the stunning local scenery. “I’ve been cooperating with Baima for over 10 years in Songtsam,” he explains. “All the employees are committed to serving their guests from the bottom of their hearts. They are so proud of and happy about their service.”
According to Losang, all the employees in the hotel are fully aware that they can do their jobs well as long as they work hard enough, regardless of how much they know about how to operate a hotel in a professional way.