Four Seasons Hotel Dalian

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 1995
  
• First Four Seasons Assignment: GRO, Four Seasons Hotel Singapore
  

Employment History

• Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou; Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake; Four Seasons Hotel Macao; Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong; Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler; Four Seasons Hotel Boston; Four Seasons Hotel Singapore

Education

• Diploma, Hospitality Administration/Management, Ihmes Hotel School, Isle of Man

Birthplace

• Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Languages Spoken

• Chinese, English, Malay, Cantonese

For his first turn as General Manager, Wayne Tan is not only leading a new hotel but also introducing Four Seasons to a new region. “This is an uncharted sea for us with an opportunity to transform the hotel scene in the city and beyond,” he says, pinpointing Four Seasons Hotel Dalian as the first true luxury property in Northeast China. Moving into a new market brings opportunities as well as challenges, and Wayne jumped head first into both. “With more than two decades with the company, it is really an honour for me to take this on. There are a lot of people paying attention to us. I’m here to make sure we elevate hotel culture and show people what personalized service can be.”

Set along the Yellow Sea in Liaoning province, Dalian is a cosmopolitan destination with tree-lined streets, seaside beaches, amazing seafood, and family-friendly attractions including a rich calendar of festivals. Welcoming guests to several floors of a new downtown tower, the Hotel offers convenience for leisure and business travellers alike, with easy proximity to highlights including harbours and the city’s international conference centre. Inside, the Hotel has highlights of its own, with food and beverage experiences offering international cuisines and city’s best mixology, an indoor pool overlooking glorious city views, and a stylish spa and fitness centre with views of their own.

Travellers and locals exploring Dalian tend to be “relaxed and casual and looking for something different,” says Wayne, who is delighted when guests share their thoughts on hospitality, the better to help him and his managers shape the Hotel experience. The opening team he put together to deliver that experience arrived from across China, many with previous experience with other hotel companies. “Four Seasons hospitality is as new to them as it is to our guests. I see that as a great starting point for us to elevate and customize our service.”

As a manager, Wayne has always been inspired by Four Seasons guiding principle of the Golden Rule, and he believes that communication is essential to getting others to follow along. He has always loved talking with everyone, from managers to the rank and file on their way up, and he strives to be a role model, the better for the team to see how the positive qualities of Four Seasons hospitality relate to colleagues and vendors as well as guests.

Wayne’s hotel career has taken him far and wide. Hailing originally from Johor Bahru at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula, he grew up the son of a supermarket owner whose long hours convinced him and his four siblings that they should seek out other careers. “None of us wanted to go into the business, so we all found our own path,” he recalls with a laugh.

Always a “people person,” hospitality came naturally to Wayne, and he travelled to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea to study management before embarking on his career. His path to Four Seasons was blazed by coincidence. “I got to know the brand when I travelled with a friend to Singapore and the hotel where we’d planned to stay couldn’t accommodate us. When we saw Four Seasons, we checked it out instead.”

Good move: Wayne was taken with the personalized service from the moment he was escorted to his room. “I applied for a job on the spot.”

After getting his start at the Concierge desk, Wayne worked his way up in guest services through “eye-opening experiences” first in Boston and then high in the mountains of British Columbia at Whistler. Upon returning to Asia and landing in China, he rose in management on the rooms side of operations before becoming Hotel Manager in both Hangzhou and Guangzhou. Along the way, he gained beneficial exposure to food and beverage operations, notably through the multi-Michelin-starred offerings of Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, where he spent four years. “Looking back, that really benefited me in my work with the dining and drinking offerings here in Dalian.”

When not inspiring the Hotel team or relating warmly to guests, Wayne enjoys seeking out new experiences in the city, especially on the dining scene. He can be adventurous, but not always: “Sometimes, I just try to blend in with the locals and go where everyone else goes.” He is also quite keen on local architecture, with examples from previous occupations by Russians and Japanese well preserved even as the city has been remade as a tourist hotspot. “When you walk down the street here, you get a feeling of joy, with the mix of surroundings, the breeze from the sea and the nice climate. It’s almost like California at times.”