A new hotel every two days — Chinese chain bids to be world’s biggest
China’s economic success has created a fast-growing middle class and an explosion in domestic travel. Cashing in on the travel boom is one hotel chain that’s expanding so fast, it’s opening a new property every two days.
Budget hotel chain Hanting Inns was founded by billionaire businessman Ji Qi seven years ago. Today it has 1,000 properties in China, across four brands, and Ji expects Hanting to be the world’s biggest hotel chain by 2020.
The company takes inspiration from Western low-cost hotel chains that cater for frequent business travelers on a budget, such as Accor, Ibis and Premier Inn.
Ji identifies three things that Chinese customers look for in a hotel room — all of which will chime with Western travelers: a soft bed, free internet access and a good hot shower after a long, tiring day.
He says his ultimate target is to open 10,000 hotels. His big draw is clean, no-frills rooms that start from as little as $15 a night. Such a low price is achieved by investing only in crucial parts of the hotels – guest rooms.
Ji says he welcomes international customers, but currently 90% of Hanting guests are Chinese business travelers. And with 1.3 billion Chinese people, whose average incomes have quadrupled in the last four years, it’s small wonder that for the time being, Hanting is concentrating on the local market.
Click here to read the full article.
Jenny Zhang, CFO of Hanting Inns is going to speak in the upcoming conference- the 4th Annual Economy Hotels World Asia on the China market. Economy Hotels World Asia is the ONLY hotel conference focusing on the economy and limited service segment which demonstrates high growth and great potential in Asia. Join Jenny at this industry gathering, learn best practices from industry leaders and network with over 130 senior decision makers.
