How does the hotel industry cope with the current financial crisis?

Question 1: Under the influence of the financial crisis on Wall Street in the United States, hotel investors and operators in Europe, America and the Asia-Pacific region are under pressure. How much do you think the financial crisis will affect the hotel industry? Professor Ma Yong/Doctoral Supervisor (Dean of Tourism Research Institute of Hubei University): The financial turmoil has spread all over the world, and the tourism and hotel industries in many countries have been impacted to varying degrees, and the hotel industry in China is no exception. Many hotel investors and operators have already felt some pressure. However, from the perspective of China hotel market alone, the negative impact of the financial crisis on us is not great. At present, under the influence of the global financial crisis, the hotel industry in China is still struggling to survive and developing slowly. First of all, from the geographical scope of the financial crisis, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other first-tier cities in the southeast coast are relatively less affected by the global financial tsunami because of their rapid economic development and high degree of internationalization; However, due to the relatively low degree of internationalization, large areas in central and western China were relatively unaffected by the financial crisis. At present, the hotel industry in the central and western regions of China still maintains a stable trend. It can be seen that the first-tier cities and regions where the development of the hotel industry has been greatly affected are not enough to change the overall development of the hotel industry in China. Secondly, from the perspective of national policies, China government has continuously introduced various policies to expand domestic demand, so as to alleviate the negative impact of the financial crisis on China and maintain the sustained growth of the domestic economy, resulting in frequent domestic business exhibitions, which can be seen from the current high occupancy rate and profit rate of budget hotels in China. Therefore, on the whole, although the international financial crisis has done some harm to the hotel industry in China, it is not enough to hinder the sustainable development of the hotel industry in China. Question 2: Although the average house price in some hot markets in China has increased, the occupancy rate and the average income per saleable room have decreased. Do you think this is just the impact of the financial crisis? Professor Ma Yong/Doctoral Supervisor: According to Ctrip's statistics. Com, the average booking price of five-star hotels in Beijing in June ranged from 5438+0200 to 1400 yuan, and the average booking price of four-star hotels ranged from 600 to 800 yuan, which was more than 15% higher than that in September. It can be seen that in the financial crisis, the average house price in some domestic hot markets has increased, but on the other hand, the data also shows that the occupancy rate of rooms and the average income of each saleable room have decreased. The author believes that this is not simply the impact of the financial crisis. With the arrival of the global financial turmoil, the demand for hotel consumption has slowed down, and major hotel groups have launched more intense competition for more limited market resources. International Hotel Group is still accelerating its expansion in China. For example, IHG, the hotel group with the largest number of rooms in the world, signed an agreement in Wuhan on September 17 this year to manage two high-star hotels in Wuhan, a gateway city in central China. At present, more than 30 international hotel groups have entered China. At the same time, local hotel groups are also constantly competing fiercely, and the economy hotel market is also booming. Hanting just opened a luxury economy hotel in Dongdan, Beijing on June 10+06. During the trial operation, it was full every day, and the occupancy rate reached 120% to 140%. The occupancy rate of 7-day budget hotels can also reach a satisfactory level. It can be seen that although the financial crisis has slowed down the number of hotel customers to a certain extent, it has not disturbed the normal competition order of China hotel market, but brought more intense market competition. Hotel enterprises should turn this financial crisis into a driving force for the development of the hotel industry and actively explore ways and means to improve service quality and competitiveness. Question 3: In order to avoid the crisis, many hotels have actually postponed their business hours, and investors are suffering from lack of money. How long do you think the impact of this financial crisis will last? Professor/Doctor Ma Yong: As the global financial crisis continues to heat up, its adverse effects gradually spread from the non-real economy to the real economy, and the tourism and hotel industries have undoubtedly been hit hard. At present, due to the crisis, many hotels have delayed the opening time, or even stopped production or business. However, this effect is not universal. There are still a large number of hotels at home and abroad that "grow against the market" under the crisis. For example, Atlantis, the most luxurious hotel in the world, was grandly opened in Dubai on October 20th. From trial operation to official opening, the occupancy rate remained at around 80%. Investors said that the hotel belongs to the medium and long-term line. Domestic hotels in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places are also showing a good development trend due to the favorable influence of large-scale exhibition activities. Therefore, the impact of the financial crisis on the hotel industry is not absolute, which has a strong correlation with local macro-external environment, market conditions and other factors. In addition, from the general law, due to the lag of the impact of the crisis, the impact of this financial crisis may last longer than previous crises, and the industrial impact of the crisis may last for the next three to five years or even longer. Therefore, the hotel industry should be prepared for a long-term response, practice hard, change its business philosophy and mode, resist the attack of the crisis with strong vitality, and minimize the impact. Question 4: What measures do you think the industry should take to face this financial storm positively? Do you have any suggestions for the hotel industry to get out of trouble? Is it multi-channel marketing? Innovative products? Accumulate talents ...? Professor/Doctor Ma Yong: The measures taken in the face of the financial crisis can be varied. First of all, we can adjust the product structure to deal with the crisis. For example, Hanting Hotel Group began to develop luxury economy, Hanting Express, Hanting Hotel and other types of hotel formats to resist the risk of a single format and cope with the financial crisis; Second, strengthen financing and make it bigger. For example, in the case of economic slowdown at home and abroad, financial turmoil has led to a decrease in the willingness to invest in financial capital. 7-day hotel chain successfully raised $65 million in June 65438+1October 65438+June 2008 to resist risks; Third, strengthening cooperation to deal with the crisis can be a strategic cooperation between hotel enterprises or a strategic alliance between different industries. For example, the first cross-regional alliance of low-star non-chain hotels in China-"star hotels" established on July 28, 2008 belongs to the former; Fourth, change the tourism market strategy. Under the influence of the financial tsunami, high-end hotels with foreign guests are more sensitive to the financial crisis than low-end hotels with domestic guests. Therefore, we can change the concept that domestic high-end hotels have neglected the domestic market for a long time, adjust the source of tourists and adapt to the domestic and foreign markets. In addition, in the domestic market, we should also pay attention to the promotion from first-tier cities to second-and third-tier cities; Fifth, pay attention to the diversified market segmentation. Because the exclusive market is weak in coping with the financial turmoil, hotel groups should strengthen the subdivision of meta-markets, such as business conference market, sightseeing market, leisure and holiday market, and enhance their ability to resist risks; Sixth, flexible use of a variety of hotel management methods. The unique fragility of the hotel industry and the exclusiveness of assets determine that the hotel operation is easily disturbed by the external environment, and it is difficult to transform after exiting the market when the business risk occurs. Therefore, capable hotel groups should implement diversified business strategies, flexibly use leasing, acquisition and merger, entrusted management, franchising and other ways to resolve the crisis and resist risks.