Hilton Hotels Corporation has signed a cooperation agreement with a local company to open in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province as well as an economic hub in China’s western region.

The new property in southern Chengdu is Hilton’s sixth hotel in mainland China. It will have 515 rooms with mixed international and Chinese features. The hotel is expected to start hosting guests in 2010.

The market in China’s western region has been growing rapidly in recent years, especially Chengdu.

Atkins Co, which is the designer of the famous sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, will design the luxury property. After the opening of this hotel, the number of five-star hotels in Chengdu will rise to 12, making it first in luxury hotels in western China.

Our illustration is a somewhat idealized view of part of Chengdu. It really is not all like that.
Source: Alibaba.com

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has opened a new hotel — the Shangri-La Hotel, Chengdu the group’s first hotel in Southwest China.

The hotel is a 25-minute drive from Chengdu International Airport and a 15-minute walk to the Chunxi Road Pedestrian Precinct shopping area.

It is on the historic site of the Swell Fun, the oldest wine lane in the world according to Guinness World Records.

The hotel overlooks the Jinjiang River and is next to Hejiang Pavilion — built during the Tang Dynasty and now considered a lucky site for local residents.

The 593-room hotel also has 26 serviced apartments.

CHI, The Spa at Shangri-La — Shangri-La’s signature spa brand — offers treatments and therapies based on Chinese and Himalayan well-being rituals and traditions. With 11 treatment rooms set in an area of approximately 900 square metres, the Shangri-La Hotel, Chengdu features one of the largest spas among the city’s five-star hotels.

In addition, the hotel’s health club facilities include a gym, indoor swimming pool, outdoor tennis

This is a MICE hotel with a floor space of 2,100 square meters and a nine-meter-high ceiling. Plus a selection of 16 additional function rooms and an auditorium.
Source: Asia Travel Tips

Tourism Malaysia will open new offices in Xian and Xiamen in China within this third quarter. This is in addition to the existing offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general, Razali Mohd Daud, said promotional materials in China would also be developed to specially cater to that particular market segment.

Hello Holidays director, Tai Poh Kim, said: ‘Tourism Malaysia should also look at promoting new destinations to China, other than the traditional favorites of this market segment, that is, Malacca, Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur.’

For the first quarter this year, Malaysia received 174,842 visitors from China. This is an increase of 56.1% over the first quarter of 2006. China is the fifth largest market for Malaysia.
Source: TTG TravelHub

Eleven Chinese cities have come together to form a national travel alliance through their tourism departments. The cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Kunming, Chengdu, Harbin and Guilin.

According to the Chengdu Municipal Tourism Department, alliance members will promote popular destinations across China ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which will attract an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 international visitors.

The agreement will also cover issues such as joint tourism marketing strategies, integrating tourism resources, and creating national travel standards.
Source: THG Travel Hub

Jeffrey Flowers, President of the Hong Kong-based hotel group, Marco Polo, said, ‘Like Marco Polo did a long time ago, we are setting out on a new journey of discovery this year. We are digging deep into our roots, which are firmly in Asia, to offer travelers a unique experience — a blend of contemporary Chinese meets modern Italian.’

Marco Polo Hotels, owned by the Hong Kong Wharf Group, last year added a new hotel in China, the Marco Polo Shenzhen in the Futian District of Shenzhen in China. It also added a new sales and development office in Shanghai, complementing existing sales offices in Beijing. It has also announced new projects in Wuhan and Chengdu. In April, it will open the Marco Polo Parkside in Beijing, located only 800 meters from the entrance to the 2008 Olympic Games.

A December opening is planned for the Marco Polo Wuhan which will be the centerpiece of Wharf China’s new development, Wuhan Times Square. Marco Polo Hotels now has a portfolio of 13 properties in Asia including: Marco Polo Parkside, Beijing (2007); Marco Polo Xidan, Beijing; Marco Polo, Chengdu (2009); Marco Polo, Shenzhen; Marco Polo, Wuhan (2007); Marco Polo, Xiamen; Marco Polo, Wuxi (2011).
Source: Press release

MICE is an acronym which is, unfortunately, with us. Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions. (One should be grateful that there is no similar category for Receptions, Arts, Trade-shows, Seminars. The initials would not appeal.) And MICE business is being attracted to Chengdu.

The meetings and conferencing sector in Chengdu is becoming important, and nobody knows this better than Andrew Guo, Area Director of Sales and Marketing of InterContinental Hotels Group Century City Chengdu and Jiuzhai Paradise Hotels.

How big is the potential for MICE in Chengdu?

In MICE business circles Chengdu is ranked fourth in mainland China, right behind Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Andrew Guo said, ‘In Chengdu, there is the new RMB5 billion (US$620 million) New Century City International Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is incorporating shopping, entertainment, offices, and residences. The project is much more than just a world class exhibition and convention area, it is actually a complete destination offering great number of leisure options, over 300 shops with some of the world’s leading brands, a wonderful range of restaurants, a traditional Sichuan water village, an art gallery and an opera house. It truly makes for a great venue for business or pleasure.’