As mentioned in a previous post on March 20, Swissôtel Grand, Shanghai will open to the public later this month. It is offering a special rate on its ‘Classic Rooms’. If you book between May and August 2008, a one-night stay is RMB 1,295 (about US$178) inc. breakfast + tax and service charge.

Other deals include 20% discounts on food, bevs and spa treatments for members of the “Miles and More” program of Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines. And there are also benefits for those who belong to Asia Miles, Air China, Jet Airways and JAL. 
Source: Swissôtel Grand, Shanghai

Swissôtel Grand, Shanghai will open on March 30, 2008 which will probably be a soft opening which means the hotel has a little time to shake any minor problems out.

It is less than five minutes’ walk away form Nanjing West Road, the city’s busiest shopping, entertainment and commercial center which has Jiu Guang City Plaza, Plaza 66 and Citic Square. It is about 50 minutes from Pudong International Airport and 20 minutes from Hongqiao Airport, and is close to popular attractions such as the Jing’an Temple, Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai Museum.

It has 467 and 15 suites. Smoking and non-smoking rooms as well as rooms for the disabled are available.

Located on 5th floor of the hotel is the Spa & Fitness, featuring four individual treatment rooms and two luxurious VIP treatment rooms. There is also a comprehensive fitness center and an indoor heated swimming pool along with a childrens’ wading pool which seems an excellent and thoughtful addition.

This is a MICE hotel in that the hotel has over 1,190 square meters of meeting and conference area including multi-purpose function rooms equipped with the latest technologies, suitable for meetings, VIP business functions, social events or weddings.

Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts is owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International which has over 80 hotels in 25 countries worldwide under the Raffles, Fairmont and Swissôtel brands.
Source: eTravelBlanckboard

A pointer to how large outbound China travel is becoming is provided by a credit card. China Union Pay, China’s own credit card, set up in 2002, is one of the fastest growing credits cards brands across the world, without any marketing campaigns about its buying power.

One reason for its massive increase is that the 34 million Chinese that traveled overseas last year all acted as unofficial brand ambassadors. In Australia, National Australia Bank has teamed with China Union Pay so that Chinese tourists can make EFTPOS purchases and ATM withdrawals with their credit and debit cards. Banks in the United States, Germany and Egypt are among the others following suit.

The travel industry worldwide sees China as the single most important development in world tourism. The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates there will be 60 million tourists from mainland China by 2010 and 100 million by 2015. On the other hand the WTO believes the 100 million figure will be reached later, in 2020. Either way it is an immense change in world tourism.

Last year, 15 countries and regions opened their doors to Chinese tourists. To date, Chinese travelers can visit 132 destinations. Among the newest to be approved are Oman, Morocco and Syria.

In a sense, everyone is trying to get into the act. Now Turkey is trying to attract tourists from China. Turkey only receives between 40,000 and 50,000 of the 132 million Chinese traveling the world each year. Even if two per cent of them went to Turkey each year they would represent half the tourist trade.

The United Arabs Emirate and China are close to signing the Approved Destination Status agreement. Under ADS, Chinese nationals will be able to obtain a single-entry visa to the UAE.

Once in full effect, it will significantly increase the opportunity, for example, for Dubai to push it’s attractiveness for tourism and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) markets. This, of course, could be a two way traffic.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud’s Kingdom Hotel Investments earlier this year bought the Swissotel Kunshan for $58 million. This 387 rooms is new in that it only began operating two years ago. Now Kingdom Holdings has reportedly earmarked $1 billion for investment in China’s booming hotel industry.
Source: TTN

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal has become the new owner of Traders Hotel Kunshan through his affiliate company Kingdom Hotel Investments, and he has renamed the hotel Swissôtel Kunshan.

(The prince is a most interesting person being a member of the Saudi Royal Family and being an investor in properties and stocks. Forbes magazine places his forthune at around $20.3 billion and lists him as the 13th richest person in the world. Note that in his investments he is not representing the Saudi royal family and is, indeed, outside of the political and ruling core of the kingdom. Instead he concentrates on making money at which he is very good. He is a large shareholder in Citigroup and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. He has investments in many hotels as well as Euro Disney. In January 2005 Prince Al-Waleed purchased the Savoy Hotel in London for an estimated £250 million, to be managed by Fairmont Hotels, in which Prince Al-Waleed owns an estimated 16% stake. In January 2006, in partnership with the U.S. real estate firm Colony Capital, Kingdom Holdings acquired the Toronto based Fairmont Hotels for an estimated $3.9 billion. There is a rumor he is trying to buy Everton Football club in England. Thus his purchase in Kunshan should be observed with interest.)

Swissôtel Kunshan is ideally located in the city centre of Kunshan and only 30 minutes from the ancient city of Suzhou and a 50-minute drive from Shanghai.

There are 387 rooms and suites which are fully equipped.

This is also already a MICE hotel to a degree. The pillarless (important) ballroom caters to a maximum of 500 guests or can be divided into two smaller rooms. There are also six function rooms equipped with the latest technology.
Source: World Technorati