In the first year, China's hotel industry ushered in a rebound in brand expansion. According to LE's "China Hotel Construction Trend Report for the Third Quarter of 2023", at the end of the third quarter, the total number of hotel construction projects in China hit a record high of 3,720 projects, with a total of 6860,000 rooms.
In the closing month, the major hotel groups are still struggling to make the final sprint for the "signing and opening" of the hotel brand, and the successes are frequent. A few days ago, InterContinental Hotels Group officially announced that its mid-to-high-end select-service brand Holiday Inn Express ushered in the development milestone of more than 500 hotels opened and under construction in Greater China.
However, behind the growth of scale, there is the change and evolution of the localization development of an international brand.
Ahead of the curve
As a brand born in the 90s, Holiday Inn Express has not only witnessed the development and prosperity of the global hotel industry, but also demonstrated its infinite vitality and development potential as a young brand. Since this post-90s pioneer brand entered the Chinese market, it has not only reached 500 companies, but also set a lot of leads.
From the perspective of brand expansion, as of the third quarter of 2023, Holiday Inn Express has maintained a leading position in the global mid-to-high-end select-service hotel segment, with 3,131 hotels in operation and 643 hotels under construction, of which 209 hotels under construction in Greater China account for one-third of the total number of hotels under construction in the world, continuing to drive the long-term vision of industry expansion.
Actively expand the local business travel market, covering large, medium and small local markets. In the past 20 years, Holiday Inn Express has covered 34 provincial-level administrative regions in China. At the same time, to celebrate the milestone of 500 hotels opening and under construction in Greater China, Holiday Inn Express has recently opened iconic hotels in several cities and destinations, such as Holiday Inn Express Beijing Lishi, Holiday Inn Express Wenchang Nanyang Meihui, Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Holiday Inn Express Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, Holiday Inn Express Jiangmen East Railway Station, Holiday Inn Express Shantou Chenghai, among others, these new openings not only further enrich its hotel network in Greater China, but also bring a strong vitality and new accommodation experience to the communities where they are located. In the future, more than 27 cities will have 5 or more Holiday Inn Express hotels.
In the author's opinion,Compared with the rapid development of signing contracts and opening stores, the pioneering significance of Express Holiday in the Chinese market is more reflected in the exploration and attempt of the road of Chinese-style innovation.
Product localization - new and upgraded. In the transformation period of China's hotel industry into "renewal and upgrading", Holiday Inn Express has launched 30 version of the new products, including Smart Breakfast, Comfortable Sleep, and Unlimited Smart Connection. Milestone research found that Holiday Inn Express 30's product upgrade is rich in connotation, not only the re-sorting of the brand concept and the detailed adjustment of hotel products, but also the in-depth understanding and link of consumer demand and investment demand, which is in line with the product iteration law of internal and external extension, and is also more suitable for the Chinese market. For example, in the breakfast upgrade, in order to meet the needs of business travelers to explore the flavors of the city, in addition to the core experience of "Zhixuan Youwan Noodles", the breakfast upgrade menu of Holiday Inn Express also includes more colorful local delicacies, such as pancakes and fruits, tofu brain, preserved eggs and lean pork porridge and other flavor characteristics from all over China.
Marketing localization - no trend, no play. New Internet technologies have been driving the evolution of China's hotel marketing channels and forms, the integration of public and private domains, and the cross-border co-branding. As a pioneer hotel brand deeply engaged in the Chinese market, among similar international brands, the brand marketing of Holiday Express is in line with the trend. For example, he has made a dream linkage between his own products and popular IPs - Smart Holiday x Luckin Coffee to attract more new generation consumer groups.
Localized operations – tailor-made. In May 2016, IHG launched the "Franchising +" model for the Holiday Inn Express brand in the Chinese marketIn March 2017, IHG's first franchised hotel in China, Holiday Inn Express Shanghai Pujiang, opened. Today, 80% of the newly signed hotels of Holiday Inn Express are in the "franchise+" model. Behind InterContinental's "Franchising+": Operational Thinking and Brand Strategy for Hotel Owners|Business Review focuses on its model innovation and highlights - maintaining flexibility to get a cake, professional + customized local operations, and a strong communication mechanism linked by training and training.
Away becomes home
For example, the NBA, CBA, the Chinese Super League, and the five major leagues are all leagues based on the home-and-away system. The "Devil's Home Stadium" vividly illustrates the huge advantages that come with playing at home – creating the atmosphere of the game, selling merchandise, and building close relationships with fans, which is one of the charms of sportsOn the other hand, if you play away, you will face pressure from these aspects.
Entering the Chinese market, international hotel groups are like playing away games. However, the author observes the development process of international groups in China and finds that InterContinental Hotels Group is one of the few international groups that "plays away games as home games", especially the classic phrase "in China, for China". The five-hearted solution released simultaneously with the opening of Holiday Inn Express Greater China and the milestone event of 500 hotels under construction is more like a home release.
InterContinental Hotels Group once again emphasizes its commitment to investors, adhering to the concept of "five hearts" to empower brands, Holiday Inn Express helps owners stand out in the highly competitive market environment with a one-stop five-heart solution composed of sincere cooperation, satisfactory investment, brand confidence, product confidence and worry-free operationto stay competitive. These include:
Sincerity – IHG adheres to the unwavering commitment of "In China, for China", promotes the steady growth of Holiday Inn Express through the dual mode of franchising and entrusted management, respects and encourages the autonomy of owners, demonstrates authentic services combined with international standards, and builds the most down-to-earth international hotel group and brand.
Satisfaction — Control and optimize the cost of a single room, and use forward-looking investment cost performance and InterContinental's professional team to provide investors with full-cycle support and help improve investment returns.
Confidence – As the world's largest single-brand hotel, Holiday Inn Express offers a mature and stable business growth model that has won the trust of investors around the world. IHG One Rewards' strong membership resources provide a solid backing for brand growth.
Rest assured - Adhering to the product strategy of long-term concept, Holiday Inn Express emphasizes high quality, durability and classicism, while constantly iterating and innovating from the aspects of design, breakfast, space, guest rooms, etc., to provide owners with personalized customization and efficient opening support, including an open procurement platform and integrated design and construction services.
Worry-free — The original industry-leading owner sailing communication meeting, full-cycle training system and platform provide comprehensive training and support for owners and operation teams. In addition, a one-on-one performance expert support and system platform is set up for owners to ensure that the hotel can operate efficiently after opening and easily respond to market challenges. In addition, Holiday Inn Express has an industry-leading marketing system to ensure that the brand message is effectively conveyed and the customer supply is continuous, laying a solid foundation for stable performance.
These five core advantages will consolidate the brand competitiveness in multiple dimensions, and provide owners and investors with one-stop hand-in-hand support, as well as refined professional services at all stages. IHG highlighted that Holiday Inn Express' franchise model has further enhanced operational capabilities and accelerated brand growth by setting up local support teams for franchised hotels to ensure that owners receive continuous and in-depth systematic support throughout the hotel's lifecycle.
This is a kind of companionship growth for the owners, the group checks, and the owners do not lose their autonomy. The owner of Holiday Inn Express shared for example that the selection of the hotel general manager is selected by the owner and IHG through a joint interview, and the hotel general manager certified by IHG's training system is better in the market in terms of business ability and management ability, and can take charge of anything on his own.
When a brand continues to grow and develop, it will inevitably face the development problem of "how to globalize the brand" and then "localization of the international brand". Among them, the localization of international brands refers to the customized product development and marketing strategies of international brands when they enter different countries and regions to adapt to local market demand and cultural characteristics. This concept has gradually emerged around the world in recent years, and has become one of the effective strategies for many international brands to enter emerging markets and increase market share.
However, the story of "international brand localization" is not easy to tell, and it is even more difficult to land.
When it comes to localization, probably the stories we hear the most are consumer-facing. After so many years of practice, international brands have become adept at how to communicate their brands in a narrative that Chinese consumers know and love. But very few brands really bother to understand our hotel owners. And in fact,For wine management companies, the business of To B cannot be ignored. Only when the owner and Holiday Inn Express reach the same heart-to-heart synchronization, the hotel investment business can be truly revitalized. Some hotel investors humorously said that only by turning the away away into the home stadium can we empathize, and only by creating a five-star friend can we create a five-star friend.
Big items attack
Looking back on the modernization of China's hotel industry, international brands have drifted in with the spring breeze of reform and opening up. They have brought advanced brand standards and management experience to the Chinese market, and have experienced decades of rapid development by virtue of influential brands and group operations.
With the advent of the stock era and the rapid growth of local hotel enterprises, the development of international groups in China will enter the first era. Industry insiders pointed out that the advantages of large chain groups are still the competitive strength of international brandsBut at the same time, it must also be seen that in some fields, they must also be able to participate in the market competition and compete with local brands in some areasAs the so-called ** era looks at the scale of the group, ** era looks at the single product out of the circle.
The typical track is the mid-to-high-end market. According to incomplete statistics from the MBI index, there are more than 400 chain hotel brands in this field, covering international brands, local brands and mixed Chinese and Western brandsAmong them, the number of branded hotels has already exceeded 1,000. According to incomplete statistics from Milestone, mid-to-high-end hotels are also the main force in signing contracts for monthly openings, and in the past November, mid-to-high-end hotels accounted for more than 38%.
In the wave of store opening, how can international brands continue to bet on the Chinese market?The next stop is to see the attack of classic big items. In the author's opinion, for international groups, mid-to-high-end hotel brands are classic items. So, how should they punch?
Holiday Inn Express has stepped out of the paradigm of single product attack: first, to establish brand reputation with quality operation, especially the high-quality operation and high performance income of each store, in order to aggregate into a brand good market reputation;Second, leading the market trend with innovation and iteration, and product innovation that keeps pace with the times is a compulsory course for explosive monomersThe third is to do a good job in development services with the owner's thinking, development is also a part of the brand image, and the owner is also the scorer of the brand reputation.
It is worth mentioning that when international brands enter the deep water area of localization, the more they must learn to fly close to the ground and find a Chinese-style innovation path that suits them.