Project Archive
The business press was recently reporting that another Chinese hotel group is buying another international hotel group. The French based Louvre group own a range of budget and luxury hotel brands numbering 1,100 properties across 47 countries. This is just a month after the world famous Waldorf Astoria was acquired.
The assumption is that this strategy is based on serving the global hotel needs of the Chinese business and tourist market.
What makes it interesting to me is that it demonstrates a very intelligent and uniquely Chinese approach to business. Shanghai Jin Jiang will clearly look to market their new assets in the domestic market in a very Chinese way but give a brand experience that is distinctly French. Clearly on the ground staff will be largely responsible for this to a defined strategy.
In my experience, British and American owned hotel and leisure groups have often struggled with a connected offering that works domestically and internationally. Trying to replicate a taste of home whilst you are away is a stretch.
The Shanghai Jin Jiang strategy would appear to be similar to other Chinese models where the Chinese parent brings the consumer and the Chinese owned, but foreign managed business, services them.
Another example of how quickly Chinese corporates are embracing international brand management and increasingly doing it better. The intelligence and simplicity of this approach continues to impress me on almost a daily basis.
