On December 28th, the Huazhu Partner Conference, which had been separated for three years, was held in Changsha, Hunan, attracting nearly 3000 ecosystem partners to attend.
Zhang Rungang, Vice President of China Tourism Association, Li Feng, President of China Tourism Hotel Industry Association, and Li Chao, Founder of Global Travel News, were invited to attend the meeting and delivered speeches. The attending experts and Huazhu partners jointly discussed the high-quality development path of the hotel industry in the future.
The reporter learned that the ticket revenue of this conference, along with the donations from Huazhu one-on-one matching, totaling 4.52 million yuan, has been donated to the earthquake stricken areas of Gansu through the Shanghai Charity Foundation.
"A happy journey is the main need at present"
Ji Qi, the founder of Huazhu Group, shared his thoughts on hotel investment in the era of resilience at the conference. Jin Hui, the CEO of Huazhu Group, introduced Huazhu's excellent practices in exploring high-quality development paths and released the latest hotel products for iterative upgrades.
Ji Qi believes that the hotel industry is currently in a "resilient era", and another golden period for hotel investment has emerged. Among them, the advantages of brands and chains are becoming increasingly prominent, and third - and fourth tier cities in China are ushering in greater growth space.
Ji Qi gave a key sharing on the changes in the current way people travel. In his view, Chinese consumers are undergoing significant changes in their way of traveling, including from perhaps to necessity, from luxury to daily necessities, from low frequency to high frequency, from single to multi-level, from planning to casualness, etc. "A happy journey is the most important demand at present."
"Staying in hotels will become increasingly popular, and high frequency and diversification are becoming important trends." Ji Qi pointed out that actively adjusting the structure and products of economy, mid-range, select, and high-end hotels will be a practical issue facing the hotel industry.
This year, an average of 4 Huazhu hotels open every day
The consumer market in China's hotel industry is undergoing significant changes, while social media is giving rise to more niche tourist destinations.
Experts attending the meeting believe that while destination hotels are booming, the development of lifestyle products has become a consensus in the hotel industry. To support the high-quality development of the hotel industry, it is necessary to strengthen research and innovation, and continuously provide more diversified and high-quality tourism and accommodation products and services.
A reporter from Yangcheng Evening News learned that since the beginning of this year, Huazhu has received over 250 million visitors. From an intuitive perspective, one out of every 12 travelers chooses Huazhu Hotel. Huazhu currently covers 96% of prefecture level cities and 42% of county-level cities in China, with an average of 4 Huazhu hotels opening every day in 2023.
Speaking of this, Jin Hui bluntly stated at the meeting that in the future, hotels in Huazhu will be opened in every county in China.
At the meeting, Huazhu announced the launch of a 1 billion yuan "Huazhu High Quality Development Fund" for talent incentives, product improvement, and marketing empowerment in operating backward stores.
In addition, the conference also released a full season 5.0 new product, which has a "ceiling" level aesthetic, superior experience, and a new spatial business model, sparking heated discussions among attendees.
It is reported that the entire season has just welcomed the opening of its 2000th store, becoming the fastest-growing mid-range hotel brand in history.
The first "Blue Dot Award" was released: Leading China's Hotel Upgrade with the Best Model
The Blue Dot Award, announced during the conference, serves as the essence of Huazhu's hotel management experience. Its selection is based on four dimensions: hotel management behavior, business performance, customer experience, and employee satisfaction, aiming to set a model for hotels of different levels and help China's overall hotel management level reach world-class level.
The first Blue Dot Awards selected 5 hotels from nearly 10000 hotels around the world, and 4 of the 5 hotels that ultimately won were located in China.
Specifically, as follows:
Best National Hotel: Hanting Chengdu Kuanzhai Alley New Store
Best Midrange Hotel: Orange Beijing Wukesong Sports Center Hotel
Best Selected Service Hotels: Beijing Qianmen Siheyuan Manxin Mansion, Shanghai Jinqiao Jiayou Meiju Hotel
Best Full Service and Luxury Hotel: Berlin Chancellor's Palace Schberger Hotel
The first Blue Dot Award will become a new starting point for Huazhu to move towards the 2024 Year of Excellent Service.
Reporter Liu Xingtong