Why is the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. about to open more new hotels in China?
The easy answer is that domestic business and leisure travel will almost certainly rise on the country’s 4 trillion yuan or $586 stimulus package.
“We are definitely looking at opening more hotels in China,” Simon Cooper, president and chief operating officer at Ritz-Carlton, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. He added:
“The economy is growing and the stimulus has been efficient. Domestic business travel is still strong.”
Manufacturing in China, the world’s third-largest economy, expanded at the fastest pace in 16 months in August as record lending and stimulus spending boosted demand for steel and cement.
Ritz-Carlton’s hotel in Sanya on Hainan island in China’s south is more than 80 percent occupied at “very good” average rates, Cooper said.
Ritz-Carlton may also open hotels in Vietnam and Taiwan as more people in China travel abroad, Cooper said. It’s also looking at opportunities in India and Thailand, he added. The chain will open hotels in Shanghai and Hong Kong next year, he said.
By David Wilkening
