Foreign investors have confidence in the development of economic hotels in China

With the continuous booming economy in China and coming worldly events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, hotel industry in China is driving into the fast lane that met seldom before, leading more and more domestic and foreign companies to pay their attentions to this medium-low-end market. And the word of “economic hotel” has been the most popular noun in hotel industry. Up to now, hotels under economic hotel brands account for less than 10% of the total market. Great potential has already led to increasingly severe competition with many foreign economic hotel brands entering China one after another, including “Ibis”、“Holiday Inn Express”、“Super 8”、“Amersino”.

Some domestic hotel groups in China are also impressed by the market potential of economic hotel industry. “Jingjiang Star” of Shanghai Jingjiang International Group is one of the largest Chinese domestic economic hotel chains. By the end of 2005, “Jingjiang Star” had been operating 65 hotels with more than 8500 guest rooms.

But it is still uncertain that whether the foreign hotel giants will dominate this low-end hotel market or they will have to compete with Chinese domestic hotels for market share.

(Source: China Securities, Editor: Susan)