Visa-free travel, rising foreign visitors boost luxury hotel growth in China

China’s luxury hotel sector has unlocked new avenues for business growth, fuelled by a boom in inbound tourism and a growing number of foreign business travellers and holidaymakers who favour high-end accommodation.

Even spending at their usual levels, they would generate considerable revenue for Chinese businesses, according to Yong Chen, an associate professor at EHL Hospitality Business School in Switzerland.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, owner and operator of The Peninsula Hotels with operations in Beijing and Shanghai, has seen a significant increase in overseas guests supported by China’s visa-free policies.

At the Peninsula Shanghai, for example, cancellations by guests from Gulf states due to limited flight capacity had been offset by an increase in luxury travellers from other countries visiting China under the visa-free policies, the group said.

“Shanghai has shown significant growth in international visitors, and Beijing is seeing a strong trend in diplomatic, business and returning leisure travellers,” said Benjamin Vuchot, CEO of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels.

At The Peninsula Beijing, the guest mix is now evenly split between domestic and international travellers. The group said it was seeing a healthy combination of high-level business delegations and returning leisure visitors from the US, the United Kingdom, Australia and Mexico.

South China Morning Post