They chose to enter the Chinese market from the bottom up, but now the Wyndham Hotel Group is aiming for the top. Xu Lin talks to the main motivators about the latest strategies.
Planet Hollywood Hotels will land in China soon, and they will be part of the master plan by the Wyndham Hotel Group to bring added value to the luxury hospitality sector.
Already known for its predominance in the budget hotels strata with its Super 8 chain, the group plans to use a different approach with two of its global brands - TRYP by Wyndham and Planet Hollywood Hotels.
"We are here to bring innovative brands to the hotel business. This is going to be our milestone. China is always our priority market and the key is how to invest and focus on our presence in the country," says Bob Loewen, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Wyndham Hotel Group, who was in Shanghai recently.
The US-based group boasts the most hotels in the world, with the widest range spanning the spectrum from economy, midscale, upscale, resorts to extended stay hotels. Most hotels are independently owned and operated.
At the end of 2013, it had about 7,490 hotels and more than 645,400 rooms in 70 countries.
Of its 695 hotels in the Chinese mainland then, about 76 percent were Super 8. The others were midscale and upscale hotels. In 2005, the group only had 57 hotels in Asia Pacific. The number rose to 777 in 2013.
In March, the group won Best International Hotel Management Group of China at the 9th China Hotel Starlight Awards.
Five of the Wyndham Group's 15 brands are in China now, including Ramada, Days Inn, Howard Johnson and Wyndham.
Loewen says Planet Hollywood Hotels is a lifestyle hotel brand catering to both business and leisure travelers alike.
TRYP by Wyndham is positioned slightly lower than urban center hotels. There are about 90 around the world in cities, including New York and Berlin.
"Young Chinese like stylish hotels. We are going to create something very different," says Liu Chenjun, managing director of Wyndham Hotel Group.
"Planet Hollywood Hotels are unique and offer an entertainment lifestyle. As for TRYP by Wyndham, we are asking guests to tell us what they are expecting in a hotel. It will help us define brand positioning components such as room facilities."
According to Loewen, TRYP by Wyndham is targeting the emerging middle class who take frequent vacations. While the Ramada brand attracts mainly business travelers, Wyndham and Planet Hollywood Hotels would be aiming at both international and more affluent Chinese travelers.
"What we try to do is to have a brand for every guest. All these guests want different hotels, so we want to have a brand that satisfies individual needs. Our brands can satisfy that."
While the group will continue to bring more upscale brands to China, it does not mean they will shift focus.
"Proportionately, we will always focus on economy and mid-scale hotels in China. We certainly have brands for the upscale, but not for the grassroots," Loewen says.
Instead of creating new brands just for China, the group has many global brands which it can and will modify for Chinese customers, such as TRYP by Wyndham.
"We are very flexible in that. We love that our brands can be changed to the right level for customers because they vary in different markets. I think that is exciting," he says.
Loewen believes Chinese hotel guests are the same as guests in the United States. They all want a clean and reliable stay every time they visit.
"A traveler is a traveler. They want the same things such as good breakfast and WiFi in the rooms," he says.
According to him, Super 8 is doing so well in China because it fills a need for local travelers and there is demand for such convenient hotels in any city, large or small.
"China has dozens of cities with more than 3 million people, and that opens doors to us for the second- and third-tier cities. With our well-established brands, we are in a leading position to deploy our brand in those cities," Liu says.
Loewen notices that in both Europe and North America, hoteliers are preparing for Chinese travelers at all levels.
"I see the trend of having Chinese-speaking staff in hotels to cater for Chinese tourists. The focus is to accommodate customers and make them come back."
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