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SHANGHAI: InterContinental Hotels Group, the world's largest hotel chain by number of rooms, plans to launch a China-specific brand to drive its ambitious expansion in the world's fastest-growing market.
The upscale brand that will be on par with the Crowne Plaza brand, also owned by the British hotelier, will feature Chinese restaurants, teahouses and grand lobbies to cater for local travellers amid rising affluence on the mainland.
Details of the brand would be unveiled by the end of this year as InterContinental looks to double its portfolio in the Greater China region — comprising the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong — over the next five years.
"China is the fastest-growing travel and tourism economy in the world and we aim to build on our leadership position by developing this new upscale brand while continuing the fast growth of our existing brands," said David Webster, the chairman of InterContinental.
InterContinental has the largest China presence among international hotel groups, running 150 hotels under the brands of InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hotel Indigo.
The plan for a China-centric hotel brand reflects its ambition to rev up expansion in the region, which it expects to grow bigger than its business in the US by 2025.
Demand for hotels in China was now mainly driven by business tours rather than travel and leisure, Webster said. He predicted 50% of hotel occupancy in China in future would be generated by travellers for leisure. "If we can persuade Chinese to love our brand, it will be a huge success."
InterContinental now has about 500,000 rooms in Greater China and expects the number to top 360,000 by 2030.
China's rising economic might has caused global brands to adjust their strategies to sharpen their focus on the country. Brokerage CSLA said in a report the Greater China region would become the world's largest market for luxury goods over the next decade with an annual growth of 23%.
The median age of China's affluent middle class is lower than their Western counterparts, and InterContinental hoped to build up a distinct hotel brand to appeal to them, said Keith Barr, InterContinental's chief executive for Greater China.
"It's very easy to launch a new brand," he said. "It's hard to launch a nice brand."
The company is now soliciting consumers' opinions to make the brand more specific to the Chinese market. Webster said the company would hold its board and executive committee meetings in China this week, with a focus on developing the market.
International hotel chains have been shifting their focus from the Western market to China. US hotel group Marriott International has said it will double the number of hotels on the mainland to 90 by 2015.
Guoman Hotels, another British hotelier, aims to open 40 to 50 hotels in Asia over the next five years, most of which will be in China. — SCMP
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