Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland

InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a deal with China’s Shimao Group to open six new hotels (totaling 2,100 rooms) in four Chinese cities by 2013.

Hui Wing Mau, Chairman of Shimao Group, said, ‘This is the biggest multi-brand, multi-property partnership we have signed with a single hotel management company.’

The new hotels will include InterContinental hotels in Beijing and Fuzhou, a Crowne Plaza in Shaoxing, and Holiday Inns in Shaoxing and Mudanjiang.

The signature project will be the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland.

Set to open in Shanghai’s western Songjiang suburb in 2013, the 380-room hotel will form part of the Shanghai Shimao Wonderland theme park, and will be built on the cliff of a quarry. The hotel will feature only one floor above ground, with 17 floors situated below ground level.
Source: BizChina

Mainland visitors to Taiwan

The number of sightseeing trips to Taiwan by mainland citizens has been far lower than expected since the two sides of the Taiwan Strait reached an agreement in mid-June on opening Taiwan up to more  tourists, from the mainland.

According to the Workers’ Daily, just over 21,000 tourists from the mainland have visited Taiwan since the agreement, signed by the heads of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation, formally took effect on July 18.

The figure represents only 28% of the maximum number of Chinese tourists allowed to visit Taiwan under the agreement — which the paper said established a quota of 1,000 tourists per day in its initial stages.

In fact, however, the deal allowed up to 3,000 tourists per day,and it was unclear if the newspaper simply made a mistake or was reflecting an official decision by Beijing.
Source: Taiwan News

Logemeont Shanghai Hotel looking over Shanghai

Summit Property Development, one of the largest privately-owned development companies in the Yangtze River Delta, has created The Longemont Hotel Group. The Summit Property Group currently operates properties including offices, apartments, and hotels. The company moves into the hotel market ith the rebranding of the Regent Shanghai to The Longemont Shanghai.

As a new name in hospitality, the 53-storey Longemont Shanghai is a five star hotel with 511 deluxe rooms and suites from 42 to 115 sqm including 419 deluxe and premium rooms measuring from 42 to 45 sqm (that is the size of a smallish house) and 6 executive suites at 115 sqm which is very large indeed.

All rooms and suites feature 42-inch screen plasma TVs and iPod docking stations.  And there are great city views from all these rooms.

There is to- be-expected array of superb restaurants lus the largest ballroom in Shanghai’s Puxi District which caters for events up to 1,200 people. There are an additional nine function rooms and a  boardroom that caters for up to 20 people.  This, then, is definitely a MICE — meetings, incientives, conferences, entertainment — hotel.

Take it for granted there is a health centre with a 30-meter indoor heated swimming pool, gym, two outdoor tennis courts and this will shortly be joined by a spa.

Typical Hainan seaside scenery. Another day in Paradise.

The Outrigger Enterprises Group will develop and manage the Outrigger Qingshui Bay Resort, Sanya a new 500 plus room, five-star, full service luxury hotel to be built as part of Qingshui Bay Resort. This is a new, multi-billion dollar mixed use development being built on the island of Hainan.

Set in 7.5 miles of prime beachfront property within Hainan Island’s Sanya Administrative Prefecture on the South China Sea, the Qingshui Bay Resort will feature six luxury hotels, a range of residential apartments and villas, championship golf courses and a comprehensive mix of commercial, retail and entertainment offerings.

The Outrigger Qingshui Bay Resort, which should be completed 2013, will be one of six luxurious accommodation choices within the Qingshui Bay Resort.
Source: Asia Travel Tips

Shanghai Shimao International Square

Shimao Property Holdings has entered into an agreement with InterContinental for cooperation in the hotels business. (Note that Shimao constructus a far wider range of buildings than just hotels.

Shimao said it plans to open 6 hotels in four Chinese cities by 2013 and that Intercontinental will manage the properties under the partnership deal.

The hotels, in Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou and Shaoxing, will provide a total of 2,100 guest rooms.

This partnership sees the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms and one of China’s leading real estate developers add a total of 2,100 guest rooms to the IHG list. (Note that Shimao already has other hotel deals operating.)

The hotels will carry the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts brands.
Source: Trading Markets and Focus on Travel News Gazette

Tainjin Property Rights Exchange

China Network Communications Group Corporation (China Netcom Group), one of the nation’s state-owned fixed-line telecoms carriers, has put its five star-ranking hotels for sale on the Tianjin Property Rights Exchange. Part of its efforts to concentrate on its major business.

This seems such an intelligent and logical move one wonders why it has not happened before.

The auction is in line with the development strategy laid out by China United Telecommunications Corporation, a mobile telecoms service provider that was suggested take over China Netcom Group in the nation’s telecoms industry reshuffle.

According to an unnamed source the planned merger between Unicom Group and China Netcom Group is proceeding smoothly.

The fixed-line telecoms operator is the parent company of China Netcom Group Corporation . The publicly-traded company, which will merge with China Unicom has alrady been delisted from the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges.
Source: Trading Markets

Hakka round houses

China is waking up to the attraction is has within each state. Most unlikely but, honestly, Guangdong has abundant and unique tourism resources in each of its 21 cities.

They include natural attractions such as hot springs and mountains, and man-made travel spots, including the Hakka Round Houses and golf courses.

In the northern part of the capital city Guangzhou, Baiyun Mountain attracts a large number of international and local tourists very day.

Only 6 kilometers from Guangzhou’s center, the mountain’s summit, 380 meter Moxing Peak, can be reached by cable car.

The site also includes the newly built Bird Paradise, the largest aviary facility in China. A park at the summit is home to Baiyun Wanwang Pavilion.

The mountain is among the eight-most popular travel sites in Guangzhou.

Eastern Guangdong is home to most Hakka people in the nation. Their unique round houses have been built for several centuries, with those in Shizhai county of Shanwei city are the most famous.
Source: China.org.cn

National Park

Tangwanghe National Park, in northeastern China’s Lesser Hinggan Mountains, will serve as a pilot park for a national park system.

While there are hundreds of nominal national parks in China, they function more like national historic and scenic spots.

Tangwanghe National Park will also focus on scientific research and environmental protection education. The area is notable for its extensive virgin forests of Korean broadleafed pines and ‘geological relics’ unique to China. Vegetation covers approximately 99.8% of the park.

Let us hope and pray that those monstrous mobile holiday homes called Winnebagos which so bedevil American national parks are never seen in China.
Source: Backpacker

The lights of Macau

Sino Express Travel will manage a 160-room hotel in Macau for 10 years. Construction and furnishing installations of the Macau hotel are at the final stages with a target completion by the end of this year.

Macau’s economy is largely based on tourism and casino gambling; the gambling revenues from Macau’s casinos made news in 2006 by surpassing those of Las Vegas strip.

Sino believes the hotel in the vibrant market of Macau will add great value to its growing portfolio of hotels and attractions.

The potential problem is that the Chinese government may not totally agree with Sino Express Travel and Macau.

It has already started slowing down the visas issued and there is a strong change that it may go further if the financial situation worsens. 50% of the gambling money lost in Macau comes from China.
Source: MarketWatch

Crowds at Golden Week

Retails sales and the number of tourists throughout the Golden Week holiday broke records in China’s tourism industry.

This year’s National Day holiday, which marks the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic of China, ran from September 29 through October 5.

Figures released by the National Tourism Administration (NTA) showed the country’s 119 major tourist destinations received more than 18.29 million visitors. That’s an increase of 13.2% from a year earlier. The NTA also said ticket sales rose by 16.4% from last year which means there has been some easing upwards of prices.

The country’s retail sales during the Golden Week exceeded RM420 billion (about $61.3 billion), jumping 21% from the same holiday last year.
More HERE.
Source: Window of China