Elong Hotel Technology and Tongcheng Research Institute have jointly released a report on the Chinese Hospitality Industry Development and Consumer Trends in 2021.
Property number decreased, but more have joined chains
The number of accommodation properties had reduced by 26.5% in a year, from over 608,000 at the beginning of 2020 to around 447,000 in early 2021. The number of hotels decreased by 17.4% to about 279,000, while that of alternative accommodations was down by 37.8% to around 168,000.
At the same time, more hotels had joined chain brands – the number of economy hotels (one-star or two-star) in chains went up from 20.9% to 25.3%; that of mid-scale hotels (three-star) increased from 34.7% to 39.5%, while the number of chained upscale hotels (four-star) increased from 22.5% to 31.8%. However, the number of chained luxury hotels (five-star) decreased by 3.4 percentage points to 53.2%, according to the China Hospitality Association.
New business patterns emerging
Driven by diversifying consumer needs, Chinese hoteliers continued to innovate in business patterns, expanding from accommodation to leisure, entertainment, social and other verticals. Many have introduced themes such as e-sports, films, wellness and role-playing detective games.
Data from Tongcheng Travel showed that bookings for e-sports hotels in 2020 increased by 165.6% over 2019, and the booking number for the first six months of 2021 was already 17% higher than the whole year of 2020.
Other themed hotels were also gaining popularity among the younger generation. Those new patterns which meet social needs tend to attract more repeat guests.
Local consumption gaining traction
Data showed that from 2020 to 2021, local guests accounted for the bulk of the hotel bookings in first-tier cities and other popular destinations. Shenzhen ranked the top with 54.4% of bookings from local customers, followed by Suzhou (48.8%), Shanghai (44.5%), Guangzhou (44.2%) and Beijing (37.6%).
For non-economy and star-rated hotels, local bookings made up for an average of 46% of the booking volume.
A staggering 94.3% good-review rate in 2021
Despite the impact of Covid-19 on the hospitality industry, more accommodations had received good reviews, up from a 91.2% overall approving rate in 2019 to 94.1% in 2020, and 94.3% in 2021.
Data from the first 10 months of 2021 showed that 96.6% of the reviews about villas were positive, followed by rural homestay (95%) and star-rated hotels (94.5%).
