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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (3723)	11/22/2004 1:42:56 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

China's hotel market expands 3 new premium hotels in Shanghai The Associated Press SHANGHAI, CHINA -- The elevator shafts at The Regent are still empty. The concrete floors of the half-built hotel are bare. Windows haven't been installed. But general manager Martyn Standen looks at the building and sees a strong contender in Shanghai's competitive market for luxury hotels. Premium hotels are opening all over Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities, as Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt, Starwood and other companies pour billions of dollars into expansion. Others are opening motels to serve a market that didn't exist five years ago -- Chinese travelers with their own cars. With growth slowing in Europe and North America, hotel chains are targeting Asia and China in particular for new growth. They point to occupancy rates as high as 90 percent in Shanghai as proof there's plenty of room to expand. DESTINATION: CHINA Over the past decade, China has had a sharp increase in its number of international visitors. That trend is expected to continue. International tourists in millions, 2002 and percentage change since 2001 Arrivals % change FRANCE 77.0 2.4 SPAIN 51.7 3.3 U.S. 41.9 -6.7 ITALY 39.8 0.6 U.K. 24.2 5.9 CANADA 20.1 1.9 MEXICO 19.7 -0.7 AUSTRIA 18.6 2.4 GERMANY 18.0 0.6 (WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION) "Many cities have become overbuilt. Shanghai will be the only city in Asia where there is a high level of established business and a level that will continue to grow," said Standen. "The outlook over the next several years is remarkable." Between 1998 and 2002, the number of visitors to China jumped by 54 percent to 97.9 million. Growth stalled in 2003 during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome but has rebounded. The number of Chinese travelers hit 878 million in 2002 This year that figure is expected to be bigger. "There's going to be a need to take care of these people in the different market segments where they want to be served," said Mark DeCocinis, general manager of the Portman Ritz Carlton Shanghai. Three premium hotels of more than 50 stories each have recently opened in Shanghai. They are Marriott International's JWMarriott; a Four Seasons Hotels hotel and a Westin, owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Carlson Companies' Regent -- Standen's hotel -- is due to open next June, and 25 more are under construction or still in the design stage. All qualify for a five-star rating, the highest given out by China's government, meaning they meet international standards for room sizes and offer swimming pools, business centers and other amenities. In Beijing, Ritz-Carlton plans a 320-room luxury hotel for the new business district and another for the financial district on the Chinese capital's west side. Six Marriott hotels are planned. Hyatt International is taking a one-third stake in a boutique Park Hyatt in the Beijing business district. Starwood plans to open a Westin hotel on the capital's finance street, four Sheratons in midsize cities, and a designer W hotel across from Shanghai's famous Bund district within the next five years. Meanwhile, Carlso is opening a 300-room Regent in Beijing this year. Carlson owns the Regent and Radisson brands, among others. The hotels will come in quite handy when Beijing hosts the summer Olympics in 2008, but the country's economic growth is the real driver behind the construction. In major Chinese cities, a stay at a foreign-managed luxury hotel nowadays is comparable to that in a Western city. Free broadband Internet and executive lounges are standard. It's a far cry from the spartan "guest houses" of earlier eras, when even clean hot water for showers was a luxury not to be taken for granted. Back then, dinner menus offered a handful of choices -- Chinese only -- and independent travelers often fought long and hard to persuade clerks to open rooms held in reserve for Communist Party cadres. Although Chinese-run hotels have progressed far beyond those days, they are still struggling to catch up. ... newsobserver.com