GENEVA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- As people around the world have ushered in the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Tiger, the staff at a luxury hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, are eagerly awaiting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics while putting China on top of their bucket list of countries to visit once borders reopen.
Nestled between forests and a golf course perched on a hill overlooking Lake Zurich, the Dolder Grand, founded in 1899 and one of Switzerland's top high-end hotels, is getting ready to welcome guests back to its five-star fairytale-like castle premises, especially the visitors from China.
On Wednesday, the Swiss government relaxed several COVID-19 measures, including the obligation to work from home and the five-day contact quarantine requirement.
"We have a very strong relationship with the Chinese community here in Switzerland," Markus Granelli, the hotel's general manager, told Xinhua during a tour.
"We're extremely happy and proud that we can welcome many Chinese guests at the Dolder Grand," he said. "I hope we can continue this relationship with the Chinese community and welcome many more Chinese guests in the future.
The hotel, which has 175 rooms and suites and operates a spa covering 4,000 square meters, has hosted many Spring Festival galas in the past.
"It's about celebrating spring, welcoming spring and welcoming the new year. The part of welcoming spring I like very much because for me it's the most beautiful time of the year," Anna Siroka, director of sales and marketing, said.
Siroka said she would love to visit China to experience the culture, the people and the food. "I would really love to experience the country, traveling to see different cities, so it would be a huge honor for me to travel there."
Ildiko Gluck, head of human resources, said: "I've never been to China before so I would really like to travel there sometime after COVID. I would love to see Shanghai. I heard about the beautiful landscapes and I'm very interested in history."
Granelli said he was optimistic that the Lunar New Year would be a healthier and more prosperous one than the previous Moon cycle, as tigers symbolize courage and strength in the Chinese Zodiac signs.
Last year, hotels across Switzerland registered a rather sharp drop in the number of overnight stays by guests from Asia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, the country's tourism sector may need as much as a decade to recover.
"We are all in the same boat," Therese Martirena, Dolder Grand's director of the spa, said. "I hope this situation is getting better and better and hopefully we can really enjoy this year."
HOSPITALITY HERITAGE
Switzerland is one of the world's leading destinations for hospitality students and is home to several leading hotel management institutes.
In the late 19th century, palace-style hotels were built across the Montreux Riviera on the shores of Lake Geneva, heralding the dawn of a golden era of luxury tourism and attracting royalty, aristocrats and millionaires from near and far.
According to the QS World University Rankings, the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne, the Glion Institute of Higher Education and the Les Roches Switzerland are among the world's top hospitality schools.
Many of Switzerland's high-end hotels offer not only accommodation but also an abundance of art, cultural, culinary and sports activities.
Since the reopening of the Dolder Grand in 2008, over 100 works of art by prestigious artists have been exhibited at the hotel.
Randy Hitti, assistant director of the hotel's rooms division, commented: "There are artworks all over the hotel ... They are changed from time to time so there's always something new to explore."
"I have met a lot of Chinese guests who are very much interested in our artworks. It's kind of a museum within the hotel itself," he described
Li Yifei, who is the hotel's only Chinese full-time employee, told Xinhua she was very happy to witness China's development from afar and that she hoped to contribute to people's understanding of China and bring Chinese culture closer to them.
"I would like to share my lovely culture with all my colleagues who are from Switzerland, from Germany or from France," Li, who studied hotel management in Lausanne, said.
OLYMPIC SPIRIT
Just as the hotel is a melting pot of different cultures and a place to meet people of various nationalities and backgrounds, the hotel's manager Granelli said he hoped the Beijing Winter Olympics would be an opportunity for the world to come together, too.
"We Swiss people are very, very excited about the Winter Games in Beijing," he said. "As you know, the headquarters of the Olympic Games is in Switzerland, in Lausanne. So, we are very close, and we wish all the Chinese people great success. We are very sure it's going to be a great success."
Fabian Drescher, assistant food and beverage director, said he was confident that the Swiss athletes participating in the Games would perform well and bring home a few medals.
"I think that the Swiss people are very competitive ... and I'm convinced that the Swiss athletes will give their best there."
Switzerland will be represented at the Beijing Winter Olympics by 168 athletes. Of them, 26 have already won an Olympic medal, and for 93 this will be their first Games.
"It's a huge event for every country that participates and it's fantastic to have China as a host," Hitti commented.
"It's definitely a big thing and I can feel the Olympic spirit already taking place especially when we welcome Chinese guests here. It's a big subject which everyone talks about." ■