Poland Hotels Booking

Starwood has opened its latest hotel in China, the 550-room Westin Beijing Chaoyang. The hotel is Westin’s second in Beijing.

The Westin Beijing Chaoyang is in the Liang Ma He area, part of Beijing’s Central Business District.

The 550-room hotel offers some of the largest guestrooms in the Chaoyang District with a minimum guestroom size of 40 square meters and up to 320 square meters for suites.

The top four floors of the hotel are reserved for the Westin Executive Club rooms.

This is a MICE hotel in that it has a 720 square meter Jinmao Ballroom which has a capacity of up to 600 seats plus smaller meeting rooms including the Chaoyang Ballroom.

The entire 4th floor of the Westin Beijing Chaoyang spreads over 2,000 square meters and has a spa, a gym and a 25-meter swimming pool with natural daylight.
Source: Asia Travel Tips

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

The Beijing Olympic Games are sparking fierce competition among hotel groups.

The US-based Hilton Hotels, which has five properties in China, hopes to have two more open by the end of July.
Marriott International has opened three hotels in the capital under the JW Marriott, Courtyard and Ritz-Carlton brands and increased its Beijing portfolio to seven. It is preparing to open two more, a Renaissance and a Marriott, in July.
InterContinental Hotels Group says eight more of its hotels will open this year in Beijing. The group already has nine hotels in Beijing.

Besides the new openings, many existing upscale hotels in Beijing, including New World Jing Guang Hotel, China World Hotel Beijing and Shangri-La Hotel Beijing, have redecorating and or expansion work scheduled for completion before the Games begin on August 8.

Lin Yuan, director of sales and marketing with Novotel Beijing Sanyuan said, ‘The Olympics is absolutely a golden opportunity, nobody would like to miss promoting themselves.’

There will be about 50,200 athletes, international workers, journalists, sponsors and their business clients who will be accommodated by 112 local hotels.

However, no hotel group is banking on just the Olympics. Sustainable economic growth is their goal.

The Beijing Tourism Bureau believes the number of overseas guests will grow at around 30 to 60% annually, rising to a peak in 2010, and the average occupancy rate will increase to more than 72% in 2009. A lot of hoteliers are praying that the Bureau’s projections come to fruition.
Source: China Daily

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

Exhibitors at the Beijing International Tourism Expo were promoting their products and competing for tourists, betting on a continuously booming tourism market after the 2008 Olympic Games.

The three-day opened to coincide with the 50-day countdown for the 2008 Games. It has attracted more than 700 tourism industry players from home and abroad, the most popular since the annual expo started in 2004.

Some industry experts have repeated that the 2008 Games would be a great opportunity for China’s tourism industry. Every player in the sector wants to share a piece of the Olympic cake and no one could afford to skip it.

However, others worried about an industry slump after the Games, as had happened to some previous Olympics hosts.

Yu Hong, an official with China Youth Travel Service, said, ‘A short-term industry lull right after the Games is expected, as tourists tried to avoid the travel peak from the Games. We are optimistic about the country’s tourism industry in the post-Olympic era.’

He expected the downturn to end after September when people started to spend their saved holidays.

The country is expected to become the world’s largest tourism destination by 2015. Its tourism earnings hit RMB1.09 trillion (RMB155.7 billion) in 2007, up 22.6% year on year.
Source: China View

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

The Shangri-La Hotel, Beijing has achieved a four-star rating in Mobil Travel Guide’s first-ever guide to an international destination.

This is the highest category awarded in the city.

A Mobil four-star rating ‘signifies that the hotel is one of the finest establishments in the world, offering guests a truly exceptional level of luxury and service.’

China World Hotel, awarded three-and-a-half stars, ‘…brings old-school Chinese glamour to a modern setting….’

Of Shangri-La’s Kerry Centre Hotel (three stars), the guide says, ‘With its prime location in the Chaoyang district, this hotel is a great choice for business travelers.’

Of Traders Hotel, Beijing (two stars), it noted: ‘Shangri-La manages this business-targeted hotel, so service is attentive and efficient.’

Mobil Travel Guide, originator of the Mobil Star ratings and certifications, has provided comprehensive ratings and reviews of hotels, restaurants and spas in the US and Canada since 1958.
Source: Asia Travel Tips

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

There are still plenty of hotel rooms available for the Beijing Olympics. Director of Beijing’s Tourism Bureau Zhang Huiguang (seen in our illustration) says the crunch that was predicted doesn’t seem to be happening.

She said that about 500,000 foreigners were expected for the games which is in line with earlier predications.

She said only 77% of capacity at Beijing’s five-star hotels have been booked during the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games and the four-star hotel rate is only 44%. And it’s even lower for three-and two-stars.

There seems to be a logical contradiction here. If the numbers of visitors expected comes up to expectations how can the hotels be so under-utilized? Has someone made a miscalculation?

One reason for the low books could, perhaps, be China’s crack down on visa procedures.

This makes it more difficult to plan travel to the Olympics and, essentially, makes it a one stop journey. Another reason, perhaps, is the immense amount of negative publicity caused by the Tibetan demonstrations. Added to which was worldwide continuing reporting on air pollution problems.

Finally, the sheer total cost of seeing the Olympics may have deterred many potential tourists.
Source: The Canadian Press

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

Jing Guang New World Hotel is going to change its name to New World Hotel Beijing and will then be managed by New World Hotel Management. This will happen this summer when the new hotel resulting from this rebranding will be launched with a promotional campaign which is neatly called ‘A New World of Difference’ and groups the hotel together with the New World Hotel Mayfair Hotel Shanghai, New World Hotel Shenyang, and New World Hotel Xian.

To tie in with this the hotel is undergoing extensive renovation and it will all be completed before the Olympic Games so plainly there is quite a tight timetable.
The new hotel will very much have the business traveler in mind so, yes, wireless internet services will be available in rooms and all public areas.

If a hotel wants to get the business traffic it has to cater for the guests at the highest level with business firmly in mind. This is what is happening to what will be the New World Hotel Beijing.
Source: Jing Guang New World Hotel

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

The Grand Millennium Hotel, part of the Fortune plaza Complex, Beijing, (seen here) has opened in the center of the city’s financial and business district.

The hotel is owned and managed by Millennium & Copthorne International.

Mr Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of M&C Hotels, said: ‘Securing the Grand Millennium Beijing anchors our presence in China and is a key development in our stated aim to grow in Asia.’

Mr. Tan Kim Seng, senior vice president of Millenium & Copthorne International, added: ‘The addition of Grand Millennium Beijing to our presence in China, which includes Millennium Wuxi Hotel, Millennium Hongqiao Shanghai and Millennium Hotel Xiamen, will augment our brand awareness in a country with a substantial outbound market that is growing at a vigorous pace.’

The five star hotel has 521 guest rooms and has a business center, an indoor swimming pool, a spa and fitness centre, five restaurants and bars and an Executive Club lounge.

But note confusion can arise because this is not the first Millenium Hotel in Beijing.

There was the Millennium Hotel, Beijing in Guanganmen Nei Street, Xuanwu District. It is now called the Grand Metropark.
Source: eTravelBlackboard

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

Four Points by Sheraton will open four new hotels in China this year.

These will be Four Points by Sheraton Changshu; Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang; Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian and Four Points by Sheraton Guangzhou, Dongpu.

Miguel Ko, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific, said, ‘Four Points by Sheraton is an ideal product for many markets in Asia Pacific because the brand caters to both mid-scale business and leisure travelers, while meeting the demands of meeting and event planners.’

Business and MICE is a good combination.

He said, ‘The strong demand for moderately priced lodging coupled with the increase in domestic travel in many Asian markets is helping to propel the brand’s growth to a level that is expected to rival that of Starwood’s luxury and upper upscale brands.’

Frits Van Paasschen, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, is alleged to have said — but it is London to a brick it is from a flack’s fertile imagination — ‘The uncomplicated positioning is unique and assures the Simple Pleasures programming is right on target for Four Points. It also complements the aloft brand’s bold platform, driving solid brand differentiation for Starwood in the select serve market.’
Source: ETBMICE.com

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com