For more than a decade, James Condon built a career delivering luxury hospitality experiences in one of the world’s busiest international business hubs. Working across multiple luxury properties in southern China, including with global brands like InterContinental Hotels Group and Rosewood Hotel Group, Condon helped create memorable experiences for guests from around the world, contributing to the level of service and reputation luxury hotels depend on to attract global travelers and business leaders.
Condon’s journey to an international hospitality career began long before those moments in China. While pursuing his associate’s degree in Minnesota, Professor and UW-Stout alumnus Barney Klecker (’73, ’76) asked him what he planned to do after graduation. “I told him I wasn’t very interested in working in Minnesota,” Condon said. “To be completely honest, I didn’t really want to work in the United States at all. I wanted to go international.”
Klecker connected him with an alumnus working in China and Condon was invited to join a hospitality team in Guangzhou, one of southern China’s busiest commercial and manufacturing regions. When he arrived, Condon quickly realized the scale of the opportunity. Instead of working under a single hotel manager, he found himself supporting a regional general manager overseeing dozens of properties across South China for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).
After his first year overseas, a change in Chinese employment regulations required international hospitality professionals to hold a bachelor’s degree in the field. That requirement brought Condon back to Wisconsin. Determined to return to his career abroad as quickly as possible, Condon transferred to UW-Stout to complete his hospitality management degree. What normally would take two years, he finished in just 15 months. He credits Stout’s faculty with supporting his goal and understanding the urgency behind it.
“Every professor along the way was 100 percent supportive of my goal,” he said. “When they saw what I had going on, they understood how important it was for me to finish and get back to my career.”
After graduating, he returned to China and spent nearly a decade working across multiple luxury properties in Guangzhou. Over time he worked in six different hotels, often stepping in where teams needed additional leadership or operational support to maintain the level of service expected at international luxury properties. The city itself offered a unique environment for hospitality professionals. With more than 20 million residents and a reputation as a global business center, Guangzhou attracts visitors and professionals from around the world. For hospitality teams, that environment requires anticipating the needs of international travelers and delivering consistently exceptional service.
Later in his career, Condon joined the luxury brand Rosewood, known for its premier service. The company’s philosophy emphasized providing guests with whatever they needed to create an extraordinary experience. Condon saw that philosophy play out firsthand one evening when a neighboring hotel asked if his team could host one of their most loyal guests, a prominent international businessman whose usual bar was closed for the night. Condon met the guest at the door, coordinated with the bar staff and musicians and ensured he had a table near the stage. What began as a quick drink turned into an evening of live music, conversation and a dinner invitation for the following night with the performers and culinary team. The guest became a regular visitor, even bringing colleagues and industry leaders along, turning a single evening into a lasting relationship with the hotel. For Condon, the moment was a shining example of one of hospitality’s biggest lessons: a single thoughtful interaction can create a ripple effect, creating relationships that last far beyond one night.
After more than a decade overseas, Condon returned to the United States to be closer to family. Today he stays connected to UW-Stout as a program advisory board member, bringing the same guidance and support he once received from faculty to the next generation of hospitality professionals. By sharing lessons from his global career, he helps students navigate challenges, seize opportunities and develop the skills needed to thrive in the industry.
Condon encourages students take initiative and embrace every chance to learn. “Don’t wait for someone to tell you what to do,” he said. “Jump in and help. The faster people see what you can do, the faster you’ll grow.” In mentoring students, Condon continues the impact Stout had on him by shaping careers, raising industry standards and inspiring the leaders of tomorrow.
