Brands raise their game
Upscale accommodation transitions from business travellers to mass market, writes David Powell
The unprecedented proliferation of top-flight hotels in Zhengzhou is transforming the local market and offering an array of upscale options.
"In the 20 years preceding 2011, no new international hotels were built," says Catherine Han, general manager of the Sheraton Zhengzhou. "In the past three years, six new hotels have opened, and another six are planned."
Hotel occupancy has not risen at the same speed, with occupancy rates for five-star hotels at about 65 per cent, although that is expected to change as Zhengzhou solidifies its role at the crossroads of transport and logistics on the mainland.
Established hotels such as the Yuda Palace Hotel are seeing a transition in the market from a heavy reliance on high-end travellers to the mass market as more mainlanders indulge in leisure travel, says general manager Daisy Duan. However, business travellers dominate the market.
Raymond Tang, general manager of the Hilton Zhengzhou, estimates that more than 80 per cent of the hotel's guests are business travellers from surrounding cities, typically middle-management executives working in IT or consumer goods.
"Foreign visitors may increase slightly," Han says, on the strength of "higher rates of overseas investment activity and more general interest in the region as Zhengzhou's profile sharpens" on the international stage.
