Huazhu Hotels Group

Huazhu Hotels Group Ltd (simplified Chinese: ??????; traditional Chinese: ??????; pinyin: Huázhù Ji?diàn Jítuán), is a hotel management company in China. It was previously known in English as China Lodging Group Limited (Nasdaq: HTHT). The company head office is in Changning District, Shanghai.

Video Huazhu Hotels Group

History

The China Lodging/Hanting Inns business was established in 2005. The original company, Powerhill, was established in 2005, and the current Huazhu company was established in 2007. Ji Qi (C: ? ?, P: Jì Qí), the founder, stated that he got the idea to start the chain by reading a book discussing Accor Hotels. As of 2012 the company had four brands and about 1,000 properties in China.

In May 2015 the company announced that former President Jenny Zhang was to be appointed Chief Executive Officer. In 2017, Huazhu Hotel Group acquired Crystal Orange Hotel Group for CNY3.65 billion.

Maps Huazhu Hotels Group

Operations

The company brands include Hanting Inns and Hotels (S: ??????, T: ??????, P: Hàntíng Liánsu? Ji?diàn) including Hanting Express (S: ????, T: ????, P: Hàntíng Kuàijié); Hi Inn (C: ????, P: H?iy?u Ji?diàn); JI Hotel (C: ????, P: Quánjì Ji?diàn), Starway Hotel (C: ????, P: X?ngchéng Ji?diàn), Joya Hotel (C: ????, P: X?yuè Ji?diàn), and Manxin Hotels and Resorts (C: ??????, P: Mànx?n Dùjià Ji?diàn). The company classifies Joya and Manxin as upscale brands, JI and Starway as midscale, and Hanting and Hi Inn as economy brands. Previously the sub-brands of Hanting Inns and Hotels were Hanting Seasons Hotel and Hanting Express Hotel, and Hanting Hi Inn.

Jiazhen Huo and Zhisheng Hong, authors of Service Science in China, wrote that the Hanting brand is promoted to be "similar to youth' [sic] hostels so as to meet the customer demands lower than its former market positioning."

References

Ruetz, David and Macy Marvel. "Budget Hotels: Low Cost Concepts in the U.S., Europe and Asia." In: Conrady, Roland and Martin Buck. Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011 (Volume 0 of Trends and Issues in Global Tourism). Springer Science & Business Media, February 4, 2011. Start p. 99. ISBN 3642177670, 9783642177675.