US hotels and Chinese travelers who feel at home
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:25 am
Andres Romero
CEO and Project Manager
June 21, 2016
In a growing number of North American hotels, fried noodles and congees are joining bacon and eggs on the breakfast buffet. Chopsticks are lined up next to forks and staff are being trained to say “huanying” as well as “welcome.”
Chinese travelers are flocking to the United States – where they are being welcomed with open arms particularly since a 2014 visa agreement that extends tourist and business visas from China to the United States (and vice versa) from one to 10 years.
The US government is aiming to incentivize Chinese travel to the United States to help boost the tourism sector, as well as the economy at large. And for good reason – Chinese ghana email list
travelers are predicted to spend $85 billion in the United States through 2021 .
A taste of China in the United States
Many Chinese travelers are coming to the United States for the first time, and while they want new experiences, they also want to feel at home.
“Some first-time Chinese travelers to the United States or Europe have similarities with American travelers in Paris 20 years ago who would stay at the Marriott or Hilton and order a burger,” says Pierre Edouard Vintrou, senior vice president of JLL hotel asset management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The trick for hotels, particularly luxury brands, is to attract Chinese tourists who traditionally prefer to spend lavishly on shopping trips and spend less on accommodations.
What the big luxury chains, such as InterContinental, Hilton, Starwood and Marriott, are doing to attract this burgeoning market involves creating an atmosphere that caters to Chinese travelers, making them feel more at home.
InterContinental is training its staff to speak Mandarin as part of its Zhou Dao program (Zhou is the Chinese name for the hotel, and Dao can refer to the road one travels on). The hotel group also accepts Chinese UnionPay bank cards, offers Chinese TV channels, and serves Chinese tea.
Hilton, under its Huanying (welcome) program , provides Chinese guests with slippers, Chinese television programs, electric kettles, and congee (rice porridge), fried dough dumplings, and dim sum for breakfast.
Starwood, as part of its Starwood Personalized Travel Program , added Chinese selections to its breakfast buffet such as noodles and porridge as well as Chinese menus. The program also offers slippers, in-room teapots, and translated welcome materials for its Chinese guests. Meanwhile, Marriott has joined forces with Alipay (a Chinese payment app) to make payment easier for Chinese travelers.
The local experience
CEO and Project Manager
June 21, 2016
In a growing number of North American hotels, fried noodles and congees are joining bacon and eggs on the breakfast buffet. Chopsticks are lined up next to forks and staff are being trained to say “huanying” as well as “welcome.”
Chinese travelers are flocking to the United States – where they are being welcomed with open arms particularly since a 2014 visa agreement that extends tourist and business visas from China to the United States (and vice versa) from one to 10 years.
The US government is aiming to incentivize Chinese travel to the United States to help boost the tourism sector, as well as the economy at large. And for good reason – Chinese ghana email list
travelers are predicted to spend $85 billion in the United States through 2021 .
A taste of China in the United States
Many Chinese travelers are coming to the United States for the first time, and while they want new experiences, they also want to feel at home.
“Some first-time Chinese travelers to the United States or Europe have similarities with American travelers in Paris 20 years ago who would stay at the Marriott or Hilton and order a burger,” says Pierre Edouard Vintrou, senior vice president of JLL hotel asset management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The trick for hotels, particularly luxury brands, is to attract Chinese tourists who traditionally prefer to spend lavishly on shopping trips and spend less on accommodations.
What the big luxury chains, such as InterContinental, Hilton, Starwood and Marriott, are doing to attract this burgeoning market involves creating an atmosphere that caters to Chinese travelers, making them feel more at home.
InterContinental is training its staff to speak Mandarin as part of its Zhou Dao program (Zhou is the Chinese name for the hotel, and Dao can refer to the road one travels on). The hotel group also accepts Chinese UnionPay bank cards, offers Chinese TV channels, and serves Chinese tea.
Hilton, under its Huanying (welcome) program , provides Chinese guests with slippers, Chinese television programs, electric kettles, and congee (rice porridge), fried dough dumplings, and dim sum for breakfast.
Starwood, as part of its Starwood Personalized Travel Program , added Chinese selections to its breakfast buffet such as noodles and porridge as well as Chinese menus. The program also offers slippers, in-room teapots, and translated welcome materials for its Chinese guests. Meanwhile, Marriott has joined forces with Alipay (a Chinese payment app) to make payment easier for Chinese travelers.
The local experience