Chinese Hotels — You Gotta Love ‘Em!
November 29th, 2006
Rarely will your day and travel plans unfold in China as you originally had planned. This includes never quite knowing what will happen with your hotel and the quality of service …
I have been in some 4 Star hotels in China that were amazingly good and others that were not so good. I would say the same thing about 5 Star hotels in China. Some are excellent, some are not anything close to what you would think of as a 5 Star hotel. We will stay in 4 Star hotels on this trip. (See your FAQ document to see how a 4 and 5 Star hotels in China are defined.)
The following two Wall Street Journal articles, “Best Western Shifts China Tactic To Triple Number of Upscale Hotels” and “China Budget Hotels Fill Up” are worthwhile reads. So is this one from the International Herald Tribune, “In China Paradise Found“.
I am often amazed at the incredible business consulting opportunities that await the young MBA and entreprenuer in China and other parts of Asia with respect to improving hotel service, check in, laundry, room service, check out, etc. I have seen a number of Western travelers in China embarrass themselves by throwing a conniption (sp?) fit about poor hotel or restaurant service, yet little do they realize that at the end of the day such bitching won’t matter and they are a mere insignificant number of one (1) in a country of over 1.3 billion who view time and self-importance differently than we do; other folks, the group I call the ”smart ones”, go with the flow and try to see such defects in service as a potential business opportunity. I have killed a lot of time in Chinese service establishments while I stand in line thinking to myself “if I were to improve this and charge for it, what would I recommend and what would I charge and how would I get paid?” (this also ties into Lean Thinking principals you will study in your Operations course).
Which type of a world traveler and student of life are you?
After reading the above and these articles, what business opportunities do you see or will you be looking for re: hotels and that burgeoning service industry in China?
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, China, Misc.
1 Comment Add your own
1. Victoria Whelan | December 4th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Working as an assistant manager for a bed and breakfast for more than a year I found these articles very interesting. I have always kept the idea of managing or being in the executive office of a big hotel chain. Knowing about busines growth and the hotel industry, I could bring many insights to China about running the hotels in a more appealing way.
From reading these articles, I see a great opportunity in China for hotels like Best Western or Days Inn to grow. Business is growing in China, meaning more travelers from other countries who are used to more luxury hotels. These hotels can seize the opportunityty and target travelers, like U.S. business people. China’s income is also rising due to business expansion. What we call middle price hotels, or China calls upper class hotels, will be on the rise and should begin to increase marketing or gain entry into the market. Those that produce more luxurious goods will be increasing market share at a faster rate.
Since the currently Chinese travelers are looking for less luxurious hotels Super 8 has made the right move to expand rapidly. Super 8 is a name known to America too, which would attract visitors from America. They are able to target Chinese and American travelers. Home Inns might be increasing the number of hotels too rapidly, going from 10 to 107 in 2 years. True the population is rising and there are more visitors, but most visitors travel to a name they know and trust. Their building plan does sound effective, targeting areas of new business, so hopefully they can prove me wrong and continue to grow.
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