Biz Unusual

Golden weeks ahead for hotels

By Liu Yi-ling (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-28 10:58

Five-star hotels are developing rapidly in second- and third- tier cities. [Wu Dongjun / for China Daily]

The hotelier said the principal reason behind this move is the city's infrastructure development and investment plans to create a business friendly destination.

Ritter said the city was a business center because of its agriculture, natural resources and sustainable energy sources.

"With the investment and economic policies of the central government and the rapid expansion of the economy in Ningxia and other cities in northwest China there is substantial potential for an increase in the volume of traffic in the market," Ritter said.

A holiday mood

The growing leisure market has also boosted the hotel industry, Ritter said.

"While the leisure market is relatively small (compared to the business market), we expect more domestic and international tourists. Yinchuan offers many exciting destinations, such as Helan Mountain, rock paintings and pyramid tombs."

Elsewhere, tourist locations, such as Sanya, Hainan Island, are booming, primarily because of domestic tourism. During the Chinese New Year, room prices at high-end hotels can rise from 200 yuan ($29.50) to 2,000 yuan.

"Everyone wants to go there now," said Liu Erh-fei, who regularly travels to Sanya on vacation. "It is the warmest place to go in winter."

"The aspiration of places such as Sanya is to become like Phuket or Bali," Liu said, "Why do people always want to go to Phuket? Because it has developed the cachet of being a tropical paradise to relax and sunbathe."

Liu Kaiqiang, director of the Sanya Tourism Association, said the city's aim is to become "one of the first-choice worldwide coastal destinations in the near future".

Looking beyond luxury

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Growth in the tourism industry is not exclusive to luxury hotels. Budget hotels have also been rapidly expanding in secondary cities, providing economical and reliable accommodation, mainly for the domestic traveler.

"More Chinese are able to afford to travel around," said David Sun, chief executive officer of Home Inn, a leading budget hotel group.

He said Home Inn would open another 200 hotels this year, to add to its portfolio of 600-odd properties.

"It is a lot easier for people to get around and travel in these cities, due to the government subsidized development of transportation," said Vivian Chen, investor relations manager of 7 Days Inn.

She said that while guests at luxury hotels are an approximately 50-50 mix of international and domestic travelers, budget hotels are 90 percent domestic and generally younger.

"We not only have business people and families, we also have many students coming to our hotels," Chen said.

"A lot of my peers are traveling to China for internships and to study," said Liu Yi-wei, a Hong Kong student interning in Beijing. "We need somewhere cheap to stay."

"We have already seen the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, now we're looking for more," Liu said.