From cashiers and food servers to valets and managers, Starwood hotel employees won't be pointing their index fingers, whistling or snapping their fingers around their guests from China — an important visitor market that is expected to triple in the next three years.

So far, some 1,000 front-line employees have been through a two-hour Chinese culture and language introduction course taught through Kapi'olani Community College.

"Make them feel at home" is the mantra for workers, said Jesse Herrera, human resources director for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Waikiki.

Beyond warm Island hospitality, the hotel chain is focusing early on specific etiquette and protocol issues to steer clear of the cultural gaffes that marked some early experiences with visitors from Japan.

Starwood and Kyo-Ya Hotels & Resorts (which owns four Waikiki properties) began the training this month "to make sure that we were prepared," Herrera said.

While the market remains small compared with the Mainland and Japanese visitor business, tourism industry officials are expecting growth as China prospers.

State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said Chinese tourism is expected to take off because travel restrictions from China to the United States were eased in June of last year.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism statistics on visitor arrivals show a bump from that milestone but some ups and downs in the months since then.

"Economic challenges started hitting China late in the year," Wienert said, noting the decline toward year's end. The numbers shot up in January of this year. She said that rise appears tied to the Chinese New Year celebration. The numbers dropped over the next two months, rose in April and dropped again in May.

Arrivals have been primarily on the rise. In the early 1990s, there were about 10,000 visitors a year from China. That jumped to almost 30,000 by 1998 and closed in on 60,000 last year.

Wienert still predicts steady increases over time, but sees this year and next tempered by the global economic downturn and fears of the H1N1 flu.

"It concerns me moving forward," she said, explaining Asian cultures historically react more cautiously to reports of illness.

But Wienert said Starwood is likely to benefit from the early commitment to culturally sensitive training in preparation for the growing Chinese market.

"It will really set them apart as being at the top of the game when this market does open," she said. "Everyone believes that there is great potential in that market."

"China Airlines has increased the number of flights. Other airlines are talking about it," Wienert said.

The first training sessions, which cost $45,000 to put on, focused on those employees most likely to be in daily contact with guests "whether they're checking in, eating at a restaurant or having a cocktail," Herrera said.

Wei Li, business development manager for the China Market, assisted with the training. Li noted that there were more than 50,000 Hawai'i visitors from China in 2007 and 2008 and that's expected to triple within the next three years to about 150,000.

Teacher Hui Mei Chang works for Kapi'olani Community College and Punahou School. Her training style is lively, engages students often and relies on Mandarin, China's national language, even while acknowledging the importance of Cantonese and other dialects.

She encouraged the hotel workers to open their mouths to speak expressively. Even a few words in Mandarin will offer a big welcome, Chang said.

"You are going to warm the Chinese guests' heart," she said. "It is the important key to break the ice."

While it's preferable to use Chinese to greet a Chinese visitor, Chang reminded them that the tourists have traveled to Hawai'i to experience another culture, and will understand and appreciate, a smile, an apology. "You forget Chinese? Say Aloha," Chang urged with a smile, nod and lots of expressive encouragement.

Zan Coburn works in telecommunications and has been at the switchboard for 19 years helping guests, workers and business associates of the Sheraton and the Royal Hawaiian hotels. (The other Waikiki properties are the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort; and the Sheraton Princess Ka'iulani Hotel)

She immediately found something useful: tips to call people by their family name, then their title; ask if you're not sure which is the surname.

"We do see that one come up," Coburn said. "I learned a lot in two hours."

Coburn said she knows she can use what she learned right away. "We deal with a lot of people from China," she said. "It helps us to do the right things and say the right thing."

Chang warned the workers that there can easily be mix ups with names. She said many times that Chinese travel agents will list the last name in capital letters: Chen LI or LI Chen. Therefore, even if it's not obvious which is the family name, the capitalization helps. And allows the worker to ask, "Is Li your family name?"

James Kahue works as a messenger for the Sheraton Waikiki. He came away with practical tips such as "not to wave your finger at them," including not using the index finger to call someone.

"It's like prepping us; the do's and don'ts," Kahue said.

Starwood officials also last week scored another advantage as the first Hawai'i hotel company to accept China's Union Pay Credit Card — that's the largest credit card, debit card and only national payment network in China. The company said it has 1.5 billion card holders, which is significant in a country that did not begin to embrace credit card use until the past decade.

"For our hotels, it means the Chinese guests don't need to leave cash as deposit and payment any more. It means the addition of the most China-friendly payment method enabled at our hotels," said Cheryl Williams, regional vice president of sales & marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawai'i and French Polynesia.

"Even if Hawai'i only targets 1 million millionaires in China, it's still a substantial new and promising market to expand the 'pie' for Hawai'i," Williams said.

Wei Li, business development manager for the China Market, assisted with the training. Li reminded her hotel colleagues to apologize freely without waiting to establish a specific chain of blame. "Whether it's our fault or not — like in Japanese culture — you apologize first."

And Li cautioned against assuming that the wife of a man named Li would share his name: "We don't take the husband's name."

And she said Chinese culture usually dictates that you keeps a distance of about one person's width in personal space, and are not prone to hugging strangers or slapping them on the back.

But Li said the Chinese also have traveled thousands of miles to experience "aloha" and the Hawaiian culture. So, yes, the greeter should offer a brief hug with a lei but not be offended if the guest stiffens at first.

"It's not that they're cold or rude," she advised.

Herrera said the training will be reinforced with a video refresher that employees can watch on the Internet. And more brush-up and reinforcement is planned.

"It's so worth it," Herrera said. "That's going to allow us to be upfront and maintain that competitive edge."