Hotel Chain Plans Major Expansion By 2008

Shanghai Daily:

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group, the largest hotel group in the world, will more than double its properties in China by 2008, the company revealed yesterday.

The company, which currently manages 57 hotels in China, plans to run 125 properties by that time. It said yesterday that 50 new hotels are currently in the pipeline, including 15 five-star Crowne Plaza hotels. The hotel group operates 41 Crowne Plaza hotels in the Asia Pacific region, among which 17 are located in China.

“We see huge opportunities in the Asia Pacific region especially in China - nowadays everyone is talking about doing business in China - currently and in the following years the demand in the hotel market will be very strong,” said Edmond Ye, the company’s Chief Operating Officer for North Asia.

The company said it will continue to expand beyond China’s biggest cities. In June, the company opened a Crowne Plaza hotel in Qingdao, Shandong Province in June and another in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, opened two weeks ago.

The hotel group will also consider franchising to help expand, but it hasn’t set up a schedule for offering franchise opportunities yet.