Growth in Chinese tourism fuelling hotel expansion plans

In response to the rapidly expanding Chinese middle class, international hotel chains are now pursuing aggressive expansion in China. The ever-growing Chinese middle class is motivating international hotel operators to primarily increase the number of midscale brand hotels they offer in the Chinese mainland. Kenneth Macpherson, chief executive for Greater China at the world’s largest international hotel operator InterContinental Hotels Group, says that he expects the Chinese hotel market to surpass the U.S. in 2025, with 40 percent of global tourism growth coming from China and India.

“A rise in middle class numbers is translating into more consumption,” Macpherson says to South China Morning Post, continuing, “It is consistent with the government’s policy and particularly focused on tourism development and leisure spending”.

InterContinental Hotels Group expects to increase its number of hotels by a hundred percent during the coming five years, with a total of 205 hotels currently underway. A majority of these hotels will operate under midscale brands, targeting the middle class, while only 18 of the hotels will be marketed under InterContinental’s luxury brand.

Other hotel chains, such as Carlson Rezidor with its Park Inn midscale brand, also plan to rapidly expand in the midscale hotel market in an attempt to attract the growing tourism demand from the growing Chinese middle class. Attempting to cater to the more urbanized, trendier Chinese customers, Hilton Worldwide is launching its Canopy lifestyle hotel brand in China.

COTRI provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of different regions. Important Chinese visitor activities are analysed, and detailed insights are presented.

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