Face-to-Face: Jonathan L. Hasson, Director, Luxury Concierge China
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1) What are the main types of services sought by your highly individualistic clients?
We at Luxury Concierge China set out in 2006 to provide the very best of what Shanghai has to offer, based on our client’s specific requirements. My business partner, Spencer Dodington, and I have been living in the city for a combined 24 years. Our local knowledge and passion for the city has enabled us to provide unique experiences to our visiting guests. This is why they come to us. Our bespoke private guided experiences are the most popular of our services. What makes our private guided experiences special is that they are all fully tailored to meet our client’s most specific requests. Additionally, the city expert who conducts the experience will have at least one field of expertise, such as history, architecture, contemporary Chinese art, interior design, and shopping, trends. The expert is passionate, and wanting to share their knowledge, so that makes the experience even more so interesting for the group.
We also throw in concierge services in the package; recommendations, bookings, transportation, and the lot. This usually makes the stay of our guests more pleasant and convenient. It is essential that they spend the best possible time in the city, leave with a smile, and wanting to return. They usually do.
2) What specific experiences and connections within Shanghai and China do you and your partner Spencer Dodington bring to making your business different?
Both Spencer and I have strong links to the city, and know our way around the place. Spencer, who speaks both Mandarin and Shanghainese fluently (reads & writes too), is passionate about Shanghai’s history and architecture. He’s one of the city’s most senior architecture experts, which makes him the most popular of our city experts. The fact that he speaks Shanghainese makes him even more so unique. You should see the reactions of the Shanghainese people when he speaks!
We are somewhat of a breathing insider’s guide to the city. The experiences we create are local, authentic and entertaining – it’s really about providing a deep insight and understanding of Shanghai. For example, one of our clients wished to go shopping for Art Deco Ceramics for a full day. We delivered.
3) What sort of an impact has the global economic slowdown had on the sophisticated high-end sector of the in-bound market in which you trade?
The impact has generally been catastrophic on the industry, and the city. This being said, we at Luxury Concierge China have so far been able to sail through the storm, and keep growing. Our company is still relatively new, having been set up in 2006, and we therefore still have plenty of room to grow. More to that, there isn’t really another company in the city that offers such bespoke services, and affluent traveller appreciates what it is that we have to provide.
4) What impact do you foresee the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai having on your business?
We have high hopes for the 2010 World Expo. The event is looking to be spectacular, and what we have seen so far from the pavilions is truly impressive. The city is currently chaotic, with construction and renovations going on everywhere. Once done, by next April, Shanghai will look fantastic, with places like the Bund having been entirely redone and the French Concession having received a complete face-lift. Though most of the visitors shall be from the Mainland, we are expecting a considerably higher influx of international travellers in the city.
5) With a primary focus on Shanghai at present, do you have future plans for expansion into other parts of the country?
Definitely, in due time. We would like to establish ourselves in the capital, as well as in Hong Kong. Second-tier cities are also of interest, such as Hangzhou & Suzhou, as a lot of our guests visit these places before or after coming to Shanghai. We will be looking into these expansion plans after the Shanghai Expo 2010. In the meantime, don’t miss out on the Expo and come visit us in Shanghai.
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