China Hotel Global Forum opens in Guangzhou

The 17th China Hotel Global Forum, jointly sponsored by Asia Pacific Hotel Association (APHA), China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce (CRECC), and the China Hotel Industry Celebrity Club, opened in Guangzhou on March 21.

Zhang Haiyan, director of the Quality Supervision and Management Department at the National Tourism Administration, attended and addressed the opening ceremony held at the Ritz-Carlton.

Zhang said that during the upgrading and transformation of China’s economy, the tourism and hotel industry in China enjoyed rapid development and still faces opportunities as well as challenges. The 17th China Hotel Global Forum is expected to provide a platform showcasing Chinese services, improving Chinese quality, and building Chinese brands.

According to estimates, Chinese hotels have welcomed about 3 billion guests in 2016, with total revenue of nearly 1 trillion. However, tourist complaints regarding service quality in 2016 also increased a lot relative to the previous year.

Zhang said that thanks to the drive of the shared economy, integrative development trends featuring cross-boundary, cross-regional and cross-industries in the tourism industry will become increasingly apparent.

High-quality, personalized, customized and experienced tourist products will become more and more popular. Non-traditional hotels such as homestays and apartment leases will become the new business trends in the industry.

Zhang hoped that the Chinese tourism and hotel industry could grasp the opportunity and make greater achievements in the future.