In the magnificent year of 2023, China's hotel industry has ushered in a turning point in the gradual dissipation of the shadow of the epidemic. Despite the pressure on the global economy, China's hotel market has shown strong resilience and growth potential. According to statistics, in the first three quarters, most hotel groups achieved significant growth in revenue and profit, and the market is indeed picking up. This is the overall situation in the hotel market. When we look at the hotel market in a single region, and even look at the performance of some specific hotels, we find an interesting and somewhat helpless phenomenon, that is, this year's consumption side is really difficult;As a supply-side hotel, it is more often chasing hard and passively adapting.
Overall situation: the market is picking up
With the arrival of 2023, China's hotel industry has shown a significant recovery in the market after the pandemic. This recovery is not only reflected in the recovery of hotel operating indicators, but also in the recovery of hotel investment enthusiasm.
Business is picking up
According to the financial reports of hotel management groups such as Jin Jiang, the revenue in the first three quarters of 2023 has approached or even exceeded that of the whole year of 2022 (taking Jin Jiang Hotel as an example, the total revenue in the first three quarters of 2023 was 109.).6.2 billion yuan, only 0500 million yuan);Although this revenue is still a little short of the same period in 2019, many management companies (such as Huazhu) have surpassed the same period in 2019 in terms of comprehensive Rev-PAR and ADR indicators.
Jin Jiang Hotel Performance Report Source: Oriental Fortune Network.
Investment picks up
The signing and opening of hotel projects is a mirror of the enthusiasm of hotel investment. Horwath data shows that in the first half of 2023, the number of mid-range and above brand hotels in Chinese mainland will be 378, a year-on-year increase of 37%, and more than the same period in 2019According to incomplete statistics from Maidian.com, from January to November, there were 1,670 newly opened brand hotels and 1,465 newly signed brand hotels in Chinese mainland. It can be seen that this year's hotel investment enthusiasm has a clear trend of recovery.
The number of brand hotel contracts increased by 37% year-on-year Source: Horwath.
The changing demand side
The overall retaliation** or recovery in 2023 is predictable, but as the first full year after the epidemic is released, it is no exaggeration to describe some specific consumption behaviors in this year. Although various analyses and explanations have been made by scholars and experts afterwards, the author believes that it is still somewhat unsatisfactory.
Let's take a closer look
The blowout of business travel demand has not brought much room for growth to hotels
According to industry reports, from January to July 2023, the overall amount of travel consumption increased by 220 year-on-year11%, the number of transactions increased by 160 year-on-year40%, the data is encouraging. But after digging deeper, I found two other data:
The first is that the national average in the first half of the year year-on-year air tickets, transportation rental fees, hotel accommodation and tourism ** respectively6% and 71%, which was revealed by Wang Youdon, director of the Urban Social and Economic Survey Department of the National Bureau of Statistics
The second is that in the travel market from January to July, the proportion of spending on three-star hotels and below in the overall consumption of accommodation business is as high as 9776%, the year-on-year growth rate is significantly higher than that of higher-end hotels.
TOP20 City Hotels and ** Changes Source: Tongcheng Research Institute.
These two sets of data illustrate several problems: first, the blowout of the business travel market, mainly the sales of air tickets, and the growth rate of hotels is very limited;Secondly, in this limited increase, mid-range and below hotels account for almost all of the country, and have little to do with other grade hotels.
The reason for this situation is very simple, enterprises have no money, they want to reduce costs and increase efficiency, the travel budget is limited, and the cost control space of air tickets and high-speed rail tickets is limited, and hotel accommodation is an almost completely competitive market, so you can only choose to reduce the level of hotel consumption.
The demand for tourism is "Wangding is not prosperous".
Several holidays this year, New Year's Day, Spring Festival, and Friday.
1. Dragon Boat Festival, even summer vacation, the tourism market has a significant feature, that is, the per capita consumption level is low. For example, during the Dragon Boat Festival, the number of tourist trips recovered to 112 before the epidemic8%, while domestic tourism revenue was 37.3 billion yuan, only recovering to 94 before the epidemic9%, which means that the per capita consumption level does not rise but falls. As a result, there is a typical phenomenon of "Wangding is not prosperous".
The China Tourism Academy (data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) recently said that in 2023, the number of domestic tourists will reach 540.7 billion, domestic tourism revenue will reach 52 trillion yuan, recovering to 90% and 91% of 2019 respectively;That is to say, in the second half of the year, the characteristics of tourism demand of "Wangding is not prosperous" have been relatively weakened.
In this context, the phenomenon of special forces tourism and city walk has emerged and become a trend pursued by young people. Special forces tourism, a new word in 2023, is also an emerging tourism phenomenon, which refers to young people spending as little money as possible, visiting as many places as possible in the shortest possible time, and having a feeling of "special forces". Moreover, the "place" here may be a scenic spot in the traditional sense, or it may be a city or a neighborhood. This has given rise to another buzzword, and another tourism phenomenon, which is city walk.
Citywalk is getting hot Source: Market Analysis Report.
The essential reason for the emergence of these tourism phenomena is mainly that after three years of the epidemic, everyone's expectations for the economy are insufficient, and the impact of expectations on consumption power is no less than or even higher than the actual ability to pay. In other words, people lack enough confidence in the future of the economy, so they are afraid to spend money and are more inclined to save than to spend immediately.
Such tourism demand has a limited effect on the consumption of hotel accommodation units. Especially for special forces tourism, you may directly bring a tent or choose night transportation, which saves time and accommodation costs.
The distribution between regions is unpredictable
With the popularity of digital lifestyles, consumers are more reliant on reviews and social recommendations when choosing hotels, and social media such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu are becoming more and more influential. This feature is especially prominent in 2023.
Go into Zi to catch up with the roast
At the beginning of March, "college students organized a group to take the high-speed train to Zibo to play strings" rushed to the hot search, and then Zibo became popular out of the circle, and "entering Zibo to catch up with the barbecue" became fashionable. At the same time, due to a series of actions in Zibo, such as the "May Day" week, hotels are not allowed to increase prices, etc., the Internet celebrity phenomenon of "entering Zibo to catch up with the roast" has maintained a certain temperature so far. In this story, the occupancy rate of local hotels has benefited, but it has not been able to enjoy the normal rate dividend.
Go to a windy place
The hit drama "Going to a Windy Place" at the beginning of the year brought fire to Dali, and also brought fire to the natural travel method of mountains, seas, lakes and islands. Many niche destinations have seized the opportunity to spread the word through social media platforms and become the hearts and minds of the majority of travelers. The resulting travel mode is usually a lifestyle-oriented leisure vacation, which has contributed to the popularity of the destination hotel market this year to a certain extent.
Dali Erhai Shuanglang Town.
Run to a city for a show
In 2023, the performance market represented by the Old Wolf Beijing concert will be extremely hot, according to statistics, in the first three quarters, the number of audience members in the performance market will exceed 1100 million, exceeding the level of the whole year of 2019, and concert tickets are basically grabbed. More importantly, during the large-scale performance, the premium rate of hotels in the core area of the city is up to more than 40%, and more and more audiences are going to a city for a performance, Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Suzhou, Changsha and other places are all popular cities where young people "go" more, and they are also important cities for this consumption factor.
The comprehensive pull of large-scale sporting events
This year, the 31st Universiade, the 19th Asian Games, and the first Youth Games were held in Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Guangxi, all of which brought more prominent comprehensive effects. Taking the Hangzhou Asian Games as an example, according to statistics, the Asian Games boosted Hangzhou's GDP by about 414.1 billion yuan, and at the same time drove the city's overnight economy. According to data from life service e-commerce platforms such as Meituan and Dianping, during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday in 2023, compared with the same period in 2019, the number of consumer orders for scenic spot tickets, accommodation and other services in Zhejiang increased by more than 195%.
Source: The 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The above analyses are all summaries made after the emergence of the phenomenon, some of which can be directed but cannot predict the degree of impact, and many of which are unexpected.
Hotel sentient beings: In addition to cultivating internal strength, they are eager to pour wealth and wealth
In the face of the ups and downs of the demand side, as an important part of the supply side, the hotel has the mentality of "making things happen in people, and achieving things in the sky", and do what they can do, such as basic operation management, improving service quality, such as the construction of social marketing system, and more importantly, improving their ability to cope with market changes.
In the face of changing needs, no matter how many post-event opinions are a little weak, I can only say that I would like to put forward a few suggestions for your reference:
The Power of Digitalization – Creating Intelligent Journeys
In an increasingly digital world, the hospitality industry is also riding this trend. Imagine being able to go from booking to check-out with just one phone. It's not just convenience, it's a new-age experience. Hotels use big data analytics to understand guest preferences and provide personalized service to differentiate themselves from the competition. At the same time, digital transformation has led to efficiency gains, such as reduced queue times through self-check-in and check-out systems, making the guest journey smoother.
Innovative services – more than just accommodation
Modern hotels are no longer just a place to spend the night, but a way of life. They engage guests with innovative services, such as offering themed rooms or hosting unique cultural events. Some hotels have introduced art exhibitions or performances to enrich the stay. Especially for younger travelers, these innovative experiments can become a hot topic on their social networks, which in turn can attract more guests' attention.
Source: Shanghai Urban Art Fair.
Through the new ** platform, establish a friendly personality
In this colorful world, hotels may need to be a social influencer and show their unique charm through platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat. They share not only the gorgeous lobby and comfortable rooms, but also the anecdotes behind the scenes and the daily lives of the employees. These heartwarming stories are like a bridge that shortens the distance between the hotel and its guests, transforming cold business services into warm interpersonal interactions. Such a strategy is not only expected to enhance the hotel's affinity, but also make guests feel a sense of home, and enhance their loyalty and goodwill towards the brand.
On the dazzling stage in 2023, the hospitality industry is like an elegant dancer, dancing in the music of demand. They have been resilient to the pandemic, but now they are trying to capture the pulse of the market with agility and embrace the digital future with innovation. All these efforts, like brilliant fireworks, have lit up the night sky of the industry and depicted a hopeful tomorrow.
May in 2024, the wealth of the sky can come to every diligent, lovely and fickle hotelier.