The industry has reached an inflection point, and the stock market pattern of mid- to high-end hotels has changed again.

The reform of the hotel industry has spread to the high-end hotel stock market.

In 2020, the black swan caused China's hotel industry to press the pause button. Until 2021, it has not fully recovered.

The epidemic has led to a trough in the industry. According to some people in the industry, this is also another "catalyst" for industry reshuffle after the country launched the "only rent, not sell, own properties" policy in 2017. From the perspective of overall development, China's hotel industry has experienced more than 40 years of development, and the market share of hotel properties is approaching saturation. Forward-looking economics pointed out that the growth rate of the number of hotels in my country's hotel industry market slowed down from 2017 to 2019. Compared with 7.9% in 2017 and 2.8% in 2018, it further dropped by only 2% in 2019.

Today, although China's hotel industry has not yet entered the mature hotel market stage of developed countries such as the United States, due to factors such as the scarcity of core properties, it is gradually entering the stock era from the past incremental era.

Zhang Rungang, vice president and secretary-general of the China Tourism Association, once publicly stated: "The economic hotel market is becoming more and more saturated, and the space for future growth is relatively narrow. High-end brand hotels may become the next development of the accommodation industry. "The trend may be true. According to public data, mid- to high-end hotels account for about 27% of the hotel industry in my country, while budget hotels account for 65%, and the chain rate is less than 22%. The proportion of mid-to-high-end hotels in the United States reaches 50%, economic hotels account for 30%, and the hotel chain rate exceeds 70%.

Compared with the past when the hotel industry continued to explore the budget hotel market, in 2020 the turning point of China's hotel industry has arrived.

The battle for the stock of brand chains

In recent years, the domestic middle class with nearly 400 million has upgraded their consumption, and although the epidemic situation has still firmly blocked outbound travel, However, the domestic tourism economy has started an "internal circulation" model, and the return of high-end outbound tourism consumption will also drive potential demand in the domestic high-end hotel market. During the Golden Week, high-end hotel orders with four stars or above on Ctrip accounted for nearly half of the total orders.

At the same time, unlike chain hotels, which have high risk resistance, independent hotels have been hit hard by the epidemic. Some industry experts pointed out that due to the epidemic, the process of independent hotels being chained by hotel groups has been pressed forward, and there may even be the possibility of mergers and reorganizations of small and medium-sized hotel chains.

The smell of gunfire has also begun to spread in the stock market of mid- to high-end hotels in first- and second-tier cities. In the transformation of the high-end hotel stock market, foreign brands have the advantage of being the first movers by relying on their experience, technology and management concepts in deeply cultivating the high-end hotel market. Even in 2020, Hilton Group is expanding dozens of high-end hotels in China.

In the same year, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced that its high-end hotel brand voco brand would officially enter China. In mid-September, the first hotel of the voco brand, Minghao Voco Hotel, officially opened in Hangzhou. Wang Lin, chief marketing officer of InterContinental Hotels Group Greater China, once explained to the media: "In the first half of 2020, InterContinental Hotels Group's stock conversion projects accounted for a quarter of the total number of contracts signed. Therefore, in the current environment, we believe that now It is the right time to introduce the voco brand. ”

At the same time, InterContinental’s high-end boutique hotel brand EVEN Hotels also has 12 hotels under construction in China.

Foreign-funded hotels continue to penetrate into the hinterland of the Chinese hotel market, and are destined to inevitably face a head-on confrontation with domestic brands. Although Huazhu is trying to achieve "thousands of stores in thousands of cities" by relying on hotels in the sinking market, it has not stopped moving in the high-end hotel market. Ji Qi, founder of Huazhu Group, has publicly stated that Huazhu will continue to increase the number of high-end brand stores in the future. The layout of 500 stores will be completed in 2023.

However, it is worth mentioning that most hotel groups pursue the development of diversified brands, resulting in a dazzling number of chain brands in the Chinese hotel market. The "China Hotel Management Company (Group) 2019 Annual Development Report" shows that the top 70 hotel groups own 492 brands. The brands of hotel groups are complicated, and competition among brands has become increasingly fierce.

The crossroads of independent hotels

In the context of chain brand hotels constantly competing for the existing market, investors in independent hotels are also making choices. They have long been in the domestic market After conducting various inspections and comparisons among chain brands, choosing a suitable hotel brand to join is one of the most important things for them at present.

The COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 has caused hotel investors Mr. Liu and Lao Wu’s independent hotel profitability to deteriorate. They had all considered it again and again for various reasons and ultimately failed to join the hotel chain. But now, the decision to join the chain didn't take them long.

Mr. Liu, an investor in Atour X Hotel in Dalang Commercial Center, Longhua, Shenzhen, came into contact with Atour during a business trip and stayed in a hotel. He was moved by Atour's rich humanistic temperament and warm accommodation experience. , I came up with the idea of ??building a warm hotel, and then I considered joining Atour during the initial renovation of the hotel. However, maybe the opportunity did not come, and I missed Atour due to various reasons.

However, in the final presentation of the hotel, some traces of Atour can be seen, so "in this business district of Dalang, although the hotel is not the most expensive, it has good customer recognition and repurchase rate." Mr. Liu said.

The sudden COVID-19 epidemic has changed all this. Mr. Liu and his co-investors made some calculations. If they still follow the strategy of independent brand hotels, it will be difficult to achieve profitability under the current circumstances. Joining a strong chain system is the conclusion they came to.

After many trade-offs, Mr. Liu finally joined hands with Atour because of its brand concept, management output capabilities and huge membership system.

In the hotel industry in the South China market, many investors hope to build a hotel brand of their own. However, there is always some distance between reality and dreams.

Unlike Mr. Liu, who is new to the hotel industry, Lao Wu, who is called "Qifulu Xie Xiaodong" by his friends, is a veteran in this industry. Ten years ago, Lao Wu ran a self-branded boutique hotel on Qifu Road in Guangzhou. In his words, he was full of pride when he mentioned the grand opening of the hotel. With the rise of surrounding business districts and other hotel brands, Lao Wu's hotel business is not as good as before.

Remodeling and upgrading was the best way that Lao Wu thought of, and the style of Atour’s room at that time also became the main reference direction for the renovation. What Lao Wu didn't expect was that the combination of hotel renovations and the COVID-19 epidemic had brought the hotel's business to a freezing point, and some rescue measures were of no avail. Just when he was at a loss for his hotel business, a friend recommended "Atour X Hotel". "We also inspected many hotel brands at that time and found that the brand Atour's tonality and bargaining power in Shenzhen are really good." Convinced of the Atour brand and service, Lao Wu knew it was time to join the Atour family. In October last year, "Guangzhou Qifu Road Atour X Hotel" was launched.

During the process of transformation, Lao Wu deeply felt the "warmth" of Atour.

Previously, the bathroom sewer pipes in Laowu Hotel used straight pipes. Every time the bathroom was used, the vibration caused by the water flow hitting the pipe wall would produce a lot of noise, which would affect the stay experience. During the renovation of Atour X Hotel, Atour's construction supervisor discovered this problem and insisted on changing the straight pipes to spiral pipes, which greatly reduced the noise. Not only that, in order to create a better stay experience for users, they also thickened and soundproofed the walls...

During the conversation, Lao Wu recalled how Atour has served users since its opening. The pursuit of details is both emotional and admirable. Da Ben, the general manager of Atour's store, showed the author this set of data: "Atour X Hotel on Qifu Road, Guangzhou" opened in mid-October last year, and its rating on Ctrip has climbed from 4.2 to 4.8.

New forces enter the market

As a "player" in the transformation of the new high-end market stock, Atour relies on its unique life philosophy to give the brand a higher premium capability, through products and services Form a distinct market and user awareness, thereby promoting brand value enhancement. Atour has now been deployed in more than 170 cities across the country, and has won the title of "China's High-end Hotel Chain" for three consecutive years since 2018 by the China Hotel Association.

At present, Atour has entered the high-end stock market by promoting the new brand "Atour X Hotel". So far, it has launched four hotels in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Xiamen.

“As the highest quality non-standard brand in China, we allow personalization and diversity of hardware styles, but soft services and user experience need to maintain the consistency of Atour Group. This epidemic has many It should be said that the overall recovery speed of boutique independent hotels is much lower than that of chain brands. In particular, the rapid recovery of Atour Hotel business has given independent hotel investment owners great confidence. There are many high-quality boutique hotels taking the initiative to find Atour. , I hope to join the Atour family," said Feiyu, President of Atour Hotel BU.

It is understood that most of the independent hotels currently inquiring about joining Atour are relatively high-quality local hotels, and some are even built according to five-star hotels and the decoration time is relatively short. "If you join a standard product like Atour or Atour S, you will definitely have to smash it and make it again. This is a waste." Feiyu pointed out, "Atour X hotel is built for this type of hotel, with a lighter investment. It can meet our Atour’s user experience standards requirements, coupled with Atour’s well-known quality and operational capabilities, it will help these hotels greatly improve their original stay experience and business data.”

In addition, In the post-epidemic era, the top priority factor for independent hotel franchise brands is whether the hotel brand can bring accurate and rapid return on assets. Feiyu said that Atour's revenue closed loop has now taken shape, and Atour Hotel's consumer repurchase rate is 30% higher than that of hotels of the same level in the same industry.

Entering 2021, Atour will expand the strategic layout of Atour X hotels nationwide.

However, no matter what factors lead to changes in the form of the hotel industry, hotels' loyalty to user needs is the only rule that has not changed since ancient times.

As Ye Luyin, founder and CEO of Atour Group, once said at a product trend conference: “The standard for defining a hotel should be what needs the hotel can meet users.

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