China Will Add 1,000 Hotels By 2000

<I>Shanghai</I> - Like other parts of Asia a decade or so ago, China has begun a massive hotel-building boom that has spread across the country. Chinese officials have said that the nation intends to build another 1,000 properties, increasing China's inbound travel count to more than 4,500 by the year 2000.

To distribute the economic benefits more broadly and according to government plan, most of the new hotels will be built in poorer central and western China. But while many major chains intend to expand into those areas, they also plan to continue to build in China's major cities as well to accommodate the growing number of corporate arrivals.

Sheraton in the next two years is opening six new hotels in Shenyang, Haikou, Wuxi, Dongguan, Suzhou and Guangzhou. The Sheraton Shenyang, which opens in June, will be located in the heart of the Nanhu Scientific and Technology Development Zone, just south of Shenyang City in the country's far northeast. The hotel is part of the new Huayang International Mansion Complex, a multi-use development that will include offices, shops and an exhibition center. Facilities at the 562-room, 105-apartment hotel will include nine F&B outlets, a business center, a ballroom and meeting rooms.

The 400-room Sheraton Haikou is scheduled to open in September in the capital of the island province of Hainan. In Wuxi, central China, a 350-room Sheraton property will open as part of the Wuxi Commercial Complex in the city's central business district next January. Both properties will have a business center.

The 300-room Sheraton Gongguan will be the first major hotel in the city of Dongguan, Gungzhou province, when it opens in June 1998. The hotel, to be located in the city's industrial zone, will include a business center, meeting facilities and recreational amenities.

The 400-room Sheraton Suzhou International Hotel, which will begin accepting guests in July 1998, will include a business center, a ballroom and meeting rooms. Sheraton will open the Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel in the capital of Guangdong province in June 1999, with 500 rooms and a business center, ballroom and meeting room.

Another company making its presence known on the mainland is Holiday Inn, which also is adding six hotels in China, all in 1997. The company will open the Holiday Inn Anrong Chengdu in the capital of Sichuan province in late spring. The 280-room property will be built in two phases. The 265-room Holiday Inn Tianjin will begin receiving guests at its downtown location in Tianjin, a major shipping and international port not far from Beijing, this summer.

Another Holiday Inn ready this summer, the Holiday Inn Hefei, will be the first international hotel in east central China's Anhui province. Hefei is capital of Anhui, as well as a rapidly growing light industrial center with 920 joint ventures, including Coca-Cola, Hitachi and Sanyo. The 320-room property sits within walking distance of the city's largest park. In the fall, the hotel chain plans to open a 370-room Holiday Inn Pudong in Shanghai's central business district. And In November, Holiday Inn Nanjing, a four-star 285-room hotel, will be ready in the capital of Jiangsu province, the country's second- fastest-growing province economically.

The company will manage its second property in Wuhan, central China's financial and commercial center, with the opening of the 390-room Holiday Inn Riverside Wuhan at the end of the year.

Another company that is rapidly expanding in the People's Republic, Shangri-La, will increase its hotels there by six in the next two years. In June, it will open the 502-room Shangri-La Hotel in Qingdao, the eastern Chinese seaport known as a food processing center and famous for Qingdao Beer. Shangri-La also is developing a property in Dalian, a major port and center for heavy industry and the country's largest ship-building center. The hotel will be part of a multi-use complex that includes a 30-story apartment block called Century Tower. The 563-room property will open in August.

The company also will manage a hotel in Shanghai, opening this year, and properties in Harbin and Wuhan, both set to open in 1998.

Joining the frenzy of hotel development is Accor Asia Pacific, which opened a resort property in Zhejiang province early this year. The 247-room hotel is targeting the meetings and incentive market. The company also will pursue that market with its 138-room Sofitel Qiandaohu Resort when it opens on Thousand Island Lake, one of the country's most scenic attractions, in 1999.

Meanwhile, the 555-room Grand Hyatt Shanghai will open August 8, 1998. The hotel's position on the top 36 floors of the 88-story Jin Mao Tower makes it the highest hotel in the world. According to hotel officials, the rooms will be large, averaging more than 131 square feet, and will be equipped with computer dataports and a communication system that displays guest messages on a television monitor. A communications center with more than 10 rooftop satellite dishes will ensure the hotel has state-of-the-art telecommunications capabilities.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong-headquartered Century International Hotels made its first foray into China with the soft opening of the Century Run Hua in Jinan, Shandong province. The 162-room property is situated in the center of the business district of this city, a light industrial center in eastern China.