FRHI Hotels & Resorts has unveiled its new hotel brand for the China market.
The first Neqta Hotel has opened in Shanghai’s Xuhui District and will be shortly followed soon with a second property in Nanjing.
The brand is a joint venture between FRHI and China’s Jiangsu Golden Land Group.
"With domestic business travel on the rise and market research indicating Chinese consumer spending will more than double over the next five years, we see this as a remarkable opportunity to further grow our footprint in China," said Wayne Buckingham, FRHI senior vice president of operations, Asia Pacific.
Buckingham is also the chairman of the new joint venture.
"Guided by extensive research and our own customer insights, we have designed a contemporary hotel brand that will be highly attractive to both property developers and the Chinese consumer," Buckingham added.
Neqta is aimed at tech-savvy travellers with a social hub concept in lobbies, and Bluetooth-enabled LED televisions and free high speed Wi-Fi in rooms.
"The travel market in China has matured greatly over the last decade and there is now significant demand for this type of hotel product," said Joseph Soh, the recently appointed managing director of the new joint venture.
Soh is an experienced hotel industry executive, holding previous positions at Starwood Hotels, Hilton, Millennium & Copthorne, IHG and Accor.
The company said the Neqta brand will be marketed separately from FRHI’s existing portfolio of Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel brands.
French hotel group Accor last month agreed to buy the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel chains in a deal worth $2.9 billion.
