Several new brands are poised to enter China's hotel market. Major players including Jinjiang Hotels (China Region), Huazhu Group, and Atour Lifestyle Holdings Limited have recently introduced or launched new brands such as Liqi, Hanting Express, and Jianye, focusing respectively on the existing property market and the vacation segment. Additionally, InterContinental Hotels Group's Garner brand is set to officially open its first Greater China location in Beijing in early 2026. This property is a rebranding project targeting the existing asset market.
According to Wang Huiyang, CEO of Huamei Consulting Group, post-pandemic business travel demand has recovered slowly while leisure vacation demand continues to grow. However, with hotel supply having seen a compound annual growth rate of nearly 6% over the past five years, China's existing property renewal market and vacation hotel segment are showing growth momentum. Against this backdrop, domestic hotel groups are shifting from large-scale expansion to cash-flow-oriented refined management and full-industry-chain empowerment, placing greater emphasis on rebranding, light renovations, content richness, flexible space utilization, and boosting non-room revenue. Meanwhile, China's vacation market is transitioning from homogenized sightseeing demand to a stage of diversified experiences targeting specific segments. This process requires attention to revenue fluctuations due to seasonal variations and precise product positioning with investment control, Wang noted.
A wave of new brands is entering the Chinese market. Information provided by Huazhu indicates that Hanting Express targets a long-overlooked yet massive area: the existing property renovation market. Utilizing a strategy described as "light, fast, economical, and profitable," the brand aims to integrate numerous independent hotels, chain hotels, existing properties, and underutilized commercial spaces. Almost simultaneously, Atour announced its new three-year strategy "Chinese Experience, Brand Navigation." The company's Atour 4.0 product line has been formally established as an independent brand named "Atour Jianye." Atour stated that the first Atour 4.0 property opened in 2024, with plans to exceed 40 locations by 2025. The newly independent "Jianye" brand focuses on tranquil relaxation for the "mind's wilderness," targeting the mid-to-high-end business and leisure travel segment.
Similarly, in early February, Jinjiang Radisson introduced its upscale brand "Liqi" to the Chinese market for the first time, further expanding into the eco-vacation sector. Furthermore, in early January, multiple social media platforms reported that the first Greater China location of IHG's Garner brand would open in Beijing's 798 Art District, rebranded from the former CitiGo hotel in Jiuxianqiao. IHG stated that official information would be disclosed by the group subsequently. It is evident that these newly introduced or launched brands are concentrated on the existing asset and vacation markets.
Xia Zifan, Chief Advisor for Asia-Pacific at Lausanne Hotel Institutions, stated that companies like Huazhu, Jinjiang, Atour, and BTG Homeinns are advancing multi-brand, multi-price, and multi-format product strategies. The previous "land-grab" development model is no longer viable, as hotel supply saturation in first and second-tier cities has slowed new development. The shift from expansion to focusing on existing assets represents a fundamental change, involving deep excavation of market share and seizing high-quality older assets within the existing market. New brands help shorten the distance between same-brand properties within a group's portfolio, forming a synergistic brand family to cover the market comprehensively.
Why the focus on existing assets and the vacation market? Prior to this, Huazhu had already deployed multiple brands for the existing asset market. Its "Meihao Family" brands, including Mei Lun Mei Huan, Mei Lun International, and Mei Lun Hotel, target China's mid-to-high-end and upscale existing property segments, while the Starway brand focuses on the mid-scale market. With the launch of Hanting Express, Huazhu has completed its portfolio for economy-class existing property renovations. Multiple industry insiders indicated that leading domestic hotel groups, including Huazhu, are implementing a brand matrix strategy for the existing property renovation market. Incomplete statistics show that nearly all major domestic hotel groups have brands specifically developed for the existing asset market. Examples include Jinjiang Hotels' Golden Tulip brand, BTG Hotels' Wanxin Zhige brand, and Yilong Hotel Technology's Meilihao, Yizhi, and Yixuan hotel brands.
Industry experts state that the increased focus on existing asset renovation by major hotel groups stems from China's hotel industry entering an era dominated by existing properties. A report on the development status and future trends of China's existing hotel market shows that as of 2024, hotels operating for over five years account for approximately 60% of the national total, representing about 10.57 million rooms. Among these older properties, economy hotels comprise 77.80%. Zhao Huanyan, a senior economist in the tourism and hotel industry, noted that as oversupply becomes increasingly apparent, overall industry operational levels are trending downward. The profitability of many international brands in China has declined, making competition in the existing asset market the new primary battleground.
Wanxin Zhige, a brand under BTG Hotels targeting the existing asset market, has seen a qualitative change in the value proposition of renovation projects by 2025, according to a brand representative. The industry is undergoing a reshuffle that eliminates泡沫 and emphasizes practical results. Renovation is no longer a trend-following concept of "change for change's sake" but has evolved into a survival imperative for hoteliers. From the demand side, the growing number of leisure vacationers, including families, seniors, and long-stay travelers, is driving the expansion of the domestic vacation hotel market. Wang Huiyang mentioned that China's tourism market experienced strong recovery in 2023, steady repair in 2024, and growth of 8.6% in 2025 compared to 2019, indicating a trend towards normalized high growth, with tourism becoming a semi-essential activity.
A white paper released by Horwath HTL titled "2025 White Paper on Product Competitiveness and New Investment Opportunities in the Lifestyle Accommodation Market" shows that consumer expectations for lifestyle travel products have become more diversified, including pursuits for varied, rich, and interesting products, holiday-combination travel, self-indulgent experiences, niche individuality, and pet-friendly travel. These changing demands are promoting segmentation and development within the lifestyle travel market. Industry insiders noted that for many years, Chinese hotels have focused more on urban business travel, creating a supply imbalance for domestic vacation hotel products. This gap is forcing supply-side adjustments and optimizations.
Xia Zifan categorized the vacation segment by distance into urban resorts, suburban resorts, and remote scenic resorts. By form, they can be divided into scenic destination resorts; theme-based resorts for families, camping, study tours, amusement parks, and intangible cultural heritage; coastal and hot spring wellness resorts; and the recently popular Atour Jianye, which represents a blended business-leisure model, also known as micro-vacations. Wang Huiyang added that the success of some phenomenal destination resorts confirms the existence of this supply gap. However, the shortage of high-quality vacation products is阶段性 and cannot be generalized. The existing supply is largely homogenized and struggles to meet the demands of specific market segments and personalized experience needs.
Where is the hotel industry's competition headed? Faced with profound changes on both supply and demand sides, the development dynamics of China's hotel industry are also adjusting. Industry sources indicate that as the sector enters the existing asset era, brandization and chainization will accelerate further. This is because the previous advantage of rental yields is gradually giving way to brand and operational benefits. Many independent hotels within the existing stock are choosing to join chain affiliations to achieve better investment returns. Simultaneously, hotel brands and investors are paying greater attention to operational capabilities, which in turn pressures hotel groups to continuously enhance their brand strength.
It was learned that at a recent Yilong Hotel Technology ecosystem summit, key executives highlighted the group's approach to addressing pain points in existing asset renovation. This includes using light and fast renovations, prefabricated改造, and smart technology integration at the product and engineering level to reduce renovation investment and shorten the payback period. On the brand side, the group is building a梯队 of brands for renovation, while leveraging financial services, membership systems, corporate travel resources, and digital operational tools to unlock the intrinsic value of the existing market.
The representative from Wanxin Zhige stated that from an investment perspective,加盟 existing hotels has shifted from seeking speculative appreciation to meticulously calculating costs and seeking value preservation. In terms of renovation plans, there is a preference for durable, easy-to-maintain, and highly functional cost-effective solutions. During加盟 negotiations, investors' reliance on operational guarantees has increased significantly, with strong demands for brand involvement in a "trustee-like" manner, even accepting risk-sharing agreements, which has become commonplace. For hotel brands, the role is profoundly transforming from "space designer" to professional "asset doctor," with the strategic focus shifting entirely from "light-asset output" to "deep operational empowerment." For the Wanxin brand, the company is deepening its expertise in the precise adaptation of independent hotel rebranding and innovating with modular light-renovation products.
In response to the surge in demand from vacationers, China's vacation hotel products are competing at a higher level. In Wang Huiyang's view, the vacation hotel market is moving from homogenized sightseeing demand towards a stage of diversified experiences for segmented markets. It was noted that Jinjiang Hotels launched the "Travel China with Jinjiang" program as early as 2024, integrating its transportation, tour, and service products, and has launched over 20 travel routes. Additionally, vacation hotels are gradually upgrading into comprehensive vacation experience complexes. Multiple industry analysts pointed out that accommodation, as the most basic function of a vacation hotel, is no longer sufficient to attract widespread consumer enthusiasm. The core factors attracting people to choose vacation hotels are those that offer distinctive new experiences and activities providing greater emotional value.
In fact, the concept of "the hotel as the destination" gained acceptance within the industry two or three years ago. Many consumers now choose to "stay in the hotel," using it as a base for their vacation experiences. Compared to urban business hotels, which focus on functionality, efficiency, and convenience, vacation hotels should pay more attention to richer, deeper vacation experiences, including scenery, themes, Instagrammable highlights, social media appeal, local cultural experiences, and emotional value provision; more extensive vacation facilities like pools, hot springs, wellness spas, and outdoor activity facilities; and better, more comprehensive services, such as relaxed, personalized all-day service, excellent culinary experiences (especially breakfast), and a sense of ceremony, Wang Huiyang concluded.
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