InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is opening the Hualuxe hotel brand in China with the distinct mission of becoming a Chinese-based brand. The focus of the brand image will be Chinese luxury, which coincides with the name Hua, which means majestic in Chinese. Timeshares will be sold at the Hualuxe locations.
Instead of lobbies there will be gardens; instead of bars the hotels will have tea shops; the bathrooms will look more like saunas, and there will be slippers and tea kettles in all rooms. This copies typical Chinese high-end hotels such as the Mandarin Oriental’s in Hong Kong and Macau and the Hangzhou Aman Fayun in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Though IHG is based in London, their numbers state that China is the world’s largest expanding economy. This means not only is Chinese domestic spending up, but their people are traveling at higher rates than ever before. As China opens up to the rest of the world, and becomes a leader in manufacture and defense spending, the Chinese middle class is traveling more than ever. IHG sees this as an opportunity to offer these consumers with new-found wealth the opportunity to enjoy world-class lodging with a more domestic feel. They will then bring that Asian feel to new Hualuxe locations around the world. In line with their idea of starting an organic brand in China and earning Chinese domestic business than overseas business, IHG will open up Hualuxe Hotels in tourist spots that are popular with Chinese tourists, including Taiwan, Los Angeles, California, and London, England.
IHG has seen incredible profit margins in China. They earned almost $2 billion in 2011, a 100% jump from just two years earlier.
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