Reporter | Shi Chunlei
Edit | Yan Zhijun
Recently, IHG announced the opening of its new generation of Holiday Inn Hotels in China. In line with the domestic cycle of urban tourism and suburban holiday business opportunities, the holiday brand has opened three hotels in Shanghai this year, located in the Nanjing East Road business circle, Lingang Dishui Lake and Chongming Dongtan. It is reported that in the next three years, Holiday Inn will also open in more popular destinations such as Chongqing, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian, Chengdu, Ningbo and Sanya.
The new generation of Holiday Inn has been completely renewed from hotel design to service experience.
In terms of hotel design, the lobby adopts an open design that integrates work, social and leisure activity spaces; the new "Hi Bowl" all-day dining restaurant introduces interesting food truck elements; the room design is adjusted from many aspects such as color matching, moving line organization, to furniture placement, etc., such as the room adopts a warm and bright design style, with a series of different green elements, and the furniture chooses a corner sofa, double round table, etc., which can be easily transformed into two independent spaces.
In terms of service experience, the new generation of Holiday Inn uses British fashion home furnishing brand The White Company toiletries, and the White House Flower series toiletries have zero skin irritation and emit the fragrance of jasmine, rose and orange blossom. In addition, the uniforms of hotel staff have also been upgraded at the same time.
As one of the first international hotel brands to enter China, Holiday Inn has witnessed the development and change of China's hotel industry. Lu Haiqing, Chief Corporate Affairs and Strategic Relations Officer, IHG Greater China, said: "The new generation of Holiday Inn brings not only changes in design and service, but also represents the brand's belief and determination to always adhere to innovation. We are confident that the holiday inn in the future will create more authentic and joyful memories for guests in the journey of brand rejuvenation. ”
Looking back at holiday inn china's development, the franchise model has played a pivotal role in its brand expansion. It is understood that IHG first opened the franchise rights of its mid-range select service brand Holiday Inn Express to Chinese owners as early as May 2016, and promoted to mid-to-high-end full-service brand Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza in November 2017.
In fact, IHG's franchise model is very mature in the United States, but it has only come to the Chinese market in recent years, and when it comes to why, Daniel Aylmer, Chief Operating Officer of IHG Greater China, said: "We want to ensure that the Chinese market, including whether Chinese owners are ready to do the franchise model." After years of operating in China, we feel that the Chinese market is ready. ”
Although the franchise model has certain advantages in hotel expansion, there is also a risk that hotel brand management and services will be inconsistent or even discounted. In this regard, Daniel Aylmer introduced that InterContinental has set up a team dedicated to the franchise model in Greater China to ensure that Holidays Express, including Holidays, can retain the original IHG service quality and management experience to the greatest extent in the franchise expansion, so as to provide consumers with no difference in the service experience, which is also a goal of IHG for the franchise model.
Image source: Provided by the brand