Shanghai – Marriott Rewards, the highly acclaimed loyalty programme of Marriott International, and Ctrip.com International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) have joined forces to offer Chinese travellers a great variety of hotels and rewarding opportunities when they stay at 3,600 Marriott International hotels around the world.
Accor, the world's leading hotel operator and market leader in Asia-Pacific, announces the re-engineering of its Grand Mercure brand, tailored for the Chinese market. The brand was unveiled today at the inauguration of Grand Mercure Shanghai Zhongya, the first hotel adapted to this new positioning. Grand Mercure combines Accor's extensive hotel experience and significant distribution tools with products and services customized to the needs of the upscale Chinese traveler.
Interstate Hotels & Resorts today announced that Interstate China has signed an agreement to manage the 850-room DoubleTree by Hilton Shanghai-Pudong, the first Hilton Worldwide-franchised hotel in China. The hotel, owned by Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels (Group) Co. Ltd., converted to the DoubleTree by Hilton Shanghai-Pudong on February 28, 2012 and will immediately begin a multi-million dollar comprehensive renovation to be completed in 2013.
DoubleTree by Hilton today announced the opening of the DoubleTree by Hilton, Shanghai-Pudong – the tenth hotel to open in China as part of the fast-growing, upscale hotel brand within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of hotels. The 850-room, two-tower, iconic hotel complex soars majestically 47 storeys over the Shanghai’s Pudong New Area and offers convenient access to Shanghai New International Exposition Center (SNIEC), Shanghai Central Business District and the Shanghai High-Speed Maglev Train to Pudong International Airport.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts today announced the opening of Hilton Dalian, its third property in China's Northeastern region. Located in Dalian's rapidly emerging and vibrant East Harbor district, the 370-room Hilton Dalian is 13 kilometers from Dalian International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Northeastern China. The hotel is adjacent to the new 210-room Conrad Dalian, which also opens today.
Accor, the world"s leading hotel operator and market leader in Asia-Pacific, announces the re-engineering of its Grand Mercure brand, tailored for the Chinese market. The brand was unveiled today at the inauguration of Grand Mercure Shanghai Zhongya, the first hotel adapted to this new positioning. Grand Mercure combines Accor"s extensive hotel experience and significant distribution tools with products and services customized to the needs of the upscale Chinese traveler.
“China is no longer the ‘sleeping giant’ in the outbound travel and tourism business,” says Giovanni Angelini, former CEO of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and now head of Angelini Hospitality in Hong Kong and Vice Chairman of Dusit Overseas Company Ltd. It is fully awake, and in a very short period of time has become the fastest-growing travel market in the world. With his in-depth knowledge of the region, this seasoned executive gives the Hotel Yearbook a practical and useful overview.
A seasoned hotelier, Mr. Ariza-Giammaria brings with him a wealth of hotel management experience from various leading hotel groups. His hotel career has taken him around the world including the USA, Greece, China, Singapore and Indonesia. His journey with Starwood started in 1999 when he joined The St. Regis Houston and has since developed his career within the organization by taking up progressive executive management positions. Prior to this appointment, he was the Hotel Manager of The Westin Beijing Financial Street. Mr Ariza-Giammaria has gained a profound understanding of the hospitality industry in Asia from working in the region for the past six years. Originally from Latin America, he speaks fluent English and Spanish. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, golfing, traveling, Latin Music and fine cuisines.
The award-winning Langham Place, Beijing Capital Airport welcomes Mr. John Vouillamoz to the position of General Manager. The Swiss-born hospitality veteran has rich experience of the hospitality industry in China, having lived and worked here for more than 16 years. He was most recently opening General Manager of Holiday Inn Beijing Focus Square from 2009 to 2011 and General Manager of Crowne Plaza Beijing between 2007 and 2009. Previously, he was General Manager at Holiday Inn Riverside Wuhan, in central China.
Originally from The Netherlands, Hans has an impressive international career having worked in many high profile luxury hotels throughout Australia, Egypt, United Kingdom and the USA.
A seasoned hotelier who brings with him over 28 years of experience spanning Brunei, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, China and Taiwan, Ong boasts extensive knowledge in opening and rebranding hotels. In his new role, he helms the pre-opening team and will oversee the launch of the 415-room Pan Pacific Ningbo and 195-room Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Ningbo, which are due to open in June.
Mr. Paul M Cunningham is a UK citizen, and started his hotel career at Claridges Hotel in London in 1990. He brings vast experience in hospitality management more than two decades with several leading hotel chains in the UK, China and South Korea. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Cunningham was the General Manager for The Westin Hefei Baohe Hotel since 2010, where he oversaw the entire pre-opening process and gained the leading position in that new market within 7 months of hotel opening. Before that, Mr. Cunningham was the Hotel Manager for The Westin Beijing Financial Street Hotel. During his ten-year tenure in Starwood, he also made other great contribution at The St. Regis Beijing and The W Seoul Walkerhil before. As a savvy hotelier of rich experience with luxury hotel brands in Starwood, Mr. Cunningham is leading The St. Regis Tianjin to deliver the brand promise of offering its elite clientele an experience beyond expectation.
Michael is an experienced hotel operator and has held several senior management positions at Kempinski Hotel Group. He joined Marco Polo Hotels in 2010 as Hotel Manager of the Gateway Hotel, Hong Kong and in his newlypromoted post as General Manager of the Marco Polo Changzhou; he will oversee the preopening activities of the group’s 7th hotel in China. Prior to joining Marco Polo Hotels, he was the Hotel Manager of Kempinski Hotel Baltschug Moscow in Russia. Michael Gnaegi is an alumni of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne.
Marco Polo Hotels is pleased to announce the appointments of a number of senior executives at the soon-to-open Marco Polo Changzhou, effective immediately. Andy Zheng has been appointed Director of Human Resources. Andy has almost 16 years of working experience with various luxury international hotels, mainly involved in the pre-opening projects and Human Resources management. Prior to joining the Marco Polo Changzhou, he held the same position with the Marco Polo Jinjiang, the group’s 5th hotel in China.
Kerzner International Holdings Limited, which through its subsidiaries is a leading international developer and operator of destination resorts, casinos and luxury hotels, has entered into an agreement with Hainan Gezhouba Industrial Company Limited with the assistance of Greentown Hotel Management Co., Ltd., to develop and operate a new One&Only resort on Tufu Bay in Sanya, Hainan, China. With approximately 180 luxurious guest rooms and villas, One&Only Sanya will be nestled amidst 40-acres of coconut palms and ancient rosewood trees, commanding enviable views from over a half-kilometre of private coastline. This will be One&Only's first resort in China. It is anticipated to begin welcoming guests in early 2014.
What a sensation has Apple created to China? There is a “3rd apple” theory on the Internet explaining the craziness in a funny way – “The 1st apple had tempted Eve into Serpent’s conspiracy and opened up human’s eyes to good and bad; the 2nd apple had inspired Isaac Newton to discover the law of universal gravitation; and the 3rd apple, brought Chinese worship of face, pretentiousness, and machiavellianism to full play.”
The Lexington Shenyang Rich Gate Hotel in Shenyang, China has been consistently recognized with some of the highest hospitality accolades, including "Most Popular Guest Rooms in China" in late 2010 and, most recently, in December 2011, as the "Best Business Hotel in China." The five-star, deluxe, full-service hotel received the award during the "2011 Most Favored Hotels in China" event hosted by the Beijing Review and Expo Weekly.
A hotel veteran with over 30 years of international hotel experience, Mr. Gerd Knaust has extensive hotel management experience in Asia and Europe, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Germany.
Swiss International Hotels today announced it has signed an agreement with HuaYuan Group of Xiamen, China to develop Swiss International Hotels in Greater China. The transaction, assisted by Rockwood Associates LLC, Portland, USA (http://www.rockwd.com/), is part of both companies’ shared strategy to capture the tremendous growth opportunities within China, the fastest growing hotel market in the world.
The Chinese construction company Broad Group is known for putting up buildings with record speed. How fast? Most recently, the company owned by Xian Min Zhang constructed a 30 story, 183,000-square-foot hotel in 15 days — 360 hours, according to Gizmodo.