Can Home Inns maintain its strong position in Beijing?

Can Home Inns maintain its strong position in Beijing?

Recently, reporters learned from Hanting Hotel Group that its low-cost hotel brand "Hi Inn" will be located in Beijing in the future. The group has already begun research and site selection. As specialty inn products have become a new hot spot for online travel bookings, the Beijing inn community is growing day by day. Homeinns Hotel Group, which was included in the Global Quote section of the Singapore Exchange on October 22, has always been the leader in budget hotels. However, in recent years, none of the Home Inn chain brands has entered the northern market. The industry believes that its low-end market may face the impact of many "inn" brands. As budget hotels set off a wave of brand segmentation, it will be difficult for Home Inns to maintain its leading position.

Family inns have begun to challenge Home Inns

Star-rated hotels have been the mainstream of the domestic market for a long time. In recent years, while budget hotels have developed rapidly, family hotels have also begun to challenge Home Inns. The inn also started to come to the stage. Inns have the advantages of personalization, good atmosphere, and local characteristics. Most of them are located in the core area of ??local culture. The service is warm and thoughtful, and they are gaining momentum. Some inns have even begun to shout the slogan "If you don't stay at home, stay in an inn."

The reporter found that many large online travel websites have begun to integrate inn resources and launch inn travel products, and the prices are less than 100 yuan. At the 161 Inn in Dongsi District of Beijing, a tourist from Dongguan told reporters that he saw this inn on a travel booking website and felt that the small inn in the alley was very warm and closer to Beijing city life. The price For example, hotels such as Homestay are much cheaper. When the reporter asked about the competition with Home Inn, the staff working in the inn told the reporter that the first is the price advantage. There is also a wide range of marketing and a certain number of overseas customers. However, it is difficult for budget hotels such as Home Inn to promote the market abroad and be recognized by foreign tourists.

Hanting Inn comes to Beijing and meets Home Inn on a narrow road

Recently, reporters learned from Hanting Hotel Group that its low-cost hotel brand "Hi Inn" will be located in Beijing in the future. At present, The group has begun research and site selection. According to the industry, whether it is a small-scale inn operated by an individual or a branded inn developed by a group, its strong sense of fashion and high cost performance are enough to attract young consumers.

It is understood that the Home Inn chain hotel currently covers 141 cities across the country, with 727 hotels opened. Its operating profit in the second quarter of this year was 173.9 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 156.9%. The total revenue in the third quarter of this year is expected to be 875.0 million yuan, leading other brand economy hotels. However, in terms of occupancy rate, other brands are currently leading Homeinn. In the second quarter of this year, the occupancy rate of Hanting reached 98%, surpassing Homeinn's 96%.

Industry insiders analyze that the Home Inn chain hotel chain, which has always been known for its cheap and fast hotels, may encounter competitors in the northern market, and its low-end market may face impact. Statistics show that budget hotels in the United States are generally priced between 30 and 65 US dollars, and based on the income and price levels of the corresponding classes of domestic residents, China's budget hotels should be priced around 120 yuan, which is more reasonable. The reporter learned that "Hiyou Inn" generally starts at 79 yuan and goes up to 139 yuan. The reporter saw on the Homeinn website on October 23 that the current price of Homeinn Express Hotels in urban areas of Beijing is between 200-300 yuan, and the prices in suburban stores are between 150-200 yuan. The spread of Hanting's low-end brand "Haiyou Inn" may seize the young and low-end consumer groups if it gains a foothold in the northern market, which lacks inn brands.

It is understood that when the Hanting Hotel chain was founded, its positioning was slightly higher than Home Inns, with business people as the main customer group, and there would be no conflict with Home Inns. And after several years of operation, consumers have realized that the price of Hanting is higher than that of home, and the grade is also slightly higher than that of home. And its founder said that there would be no conflict between Hanting and Homeinns and they were partners. However, as the brands were subdivided, the two met on a narrow road. As China's economy hotels listed in the United States, Home Inn and Hanting Hotel are multi-brands. Hanting Hotel Chain Group currently owns "Hanting All Seasons Hotel", "Hanting Express Hotel" and "Hanting Hi Inn". A series of brands, these three brands are positioned at three levels: "mid-range", "economical" and "cheap". From then on, Hanting began to develop in both "upward" and "downward" directions, creating an intersection with Home Inns.

“Home Inn Copycats” Damage Home Inn’s Reputation

The reporter saw on the website that “Home Inn” and “Home Inn” in Yunnan, Shanxi and other places have advertised, and When the reporter called his phone number, the other party said that this "Home Inn" was not the other "Home Inn", it was just the same name. A consumer whose online name is Patti told reporters that she had seen a "fake Home Inn" hotel in a small northern city. The exterior decoration was similar to Home Inn, which could easily confuse people. However, the service level cannot be compared with regular Home Inns. There is no pre-sale condition for credit cards, and phenomena such as service staff playing cards at the front desk will greatly annoy passengers. Since she used to stay at Homeinns, it can be seen at a glance that it is fake, but people who are not familiar with Homeinns may not be able to detect it easily. Such "copycat Home Inn" will make consumers mistakenly think that Home Inn is really not good.

In this regard, industry insiders analyzed that due to the low prices and good quality of Home Inns, its brand has a great influence in the market, so there has been fraud and the borrowing of the Home Inn brand. Some "fake home" decoration styles, conditions and facilities are very similar to real homes, and consumers are easily confused. It's time for Home Inn to maintain its own brand. In addition to vigorously promoting membership, it should also clarify its brand identity.

The unclear concepts of Home Inn’s multiple brands lead to a narrow market

When investigating the inn market in Beijing, the reporter saw the words “Home Inn” on a hotel reservation website. After calling the number, I learned that it was the store of "Home Inn" located in Sanlihe. When the reporter asked the staff why they used the name "Home Inn", they said there was no difference and it was actually an express hotel. After verification, the reporter learned that Homeinns does not have an "inn" brand. This move was done by the hotel booking website, possibly to attract consumers' attention.

In this regard, industry insiders believe that perhaps the booking website has realized the market prospects of inns, so they can’t wait to give Home Inns the name “inn”. However, the challenges faced by inns and inns are Markets are different. For budget hotels like Home Inn that have already established their market positioning and have cultivated a stable customer base, they still have to stick to the market positioning of "express hotels".

In addition, Home Inns and Home Inns and Home Inns Seven Stars Business Hotel brands are often seen on the market, but neither consumers nor industry insiders can tell which part of the market they are targeting, and The names of Hemei and Qiduxing do not appear on the website of Home Inns Hotel Group. However, there are currently a large number of Home Inns and Home Inns on the market, Home Inns Seven Stars Hotels, and even the phenomenon of two names appearing on the website and other booking websites of one store can easily confuse consumers. Netizen Patti said: "You can often see the names of Home Inn Harmony Hotel and Home Inn Seven Dou Stars Hotel on hotel booking websites in Beijing. I have also stayed at Home Inn Harmony Hotel in Shenzhen, which is actually a Home Inn Express Hotel. Even the staff couldn't tell you. There is no difference." This will only make consumers' concept of Home Inn's quality and price more and more blurred.

Perhaps Homeinns is eager to expand the market, so it is not feasible to make one brand "multifunctional", or it is not feasible to conduct unified marketing of multiple brands, which can only make consumers blur the concept of the brand. For the already strong Home Inn brand, relying solely on a single "express hotel" brand to develop may lead to an increasingly blurred market positioning of the original brand due to competition, leading to a narrow market. Especially for Home Inn, which has 727 stores across the country, it needs to rely on brand segmentation to enter other levels of the market. Business Daily reporter Shi Xing/The text and pictures are file pictures

Expert advice

Learning from Accor's market segments is the way out

Home Inns is faced with enemies from both sides and it is difficult to maintain its leading position. What should we do? To get rid of the dilemma, Li Xinjian, director of the Tourism Management Department of Beijing International Studies University, believes that brand segmentation is an inevitable requirement for market development. Take the AccorHotels Group as an example. Its other economical brands also have their own division of labor. Ibis is positioned as a business hotel; Formule I is positioned as a private travel destination with parking lots and lower prices; Mercure is an apartment brand with small kitchen. Each brand develops in response to different markets, allowing it to firmly occupy the market. As of now, Accor's hotel network in China has reached more than 90, covering various market segments.

As for Home Inns, in addition to "Home Inn Express Hotels", Home Inn Hotel Group has also launched the mid-to-high-end hotel brand "Hotel Inn". However, it currently only has stores in Shanghai and Hangzhou, and the northern market is still blank. In this regard, experts said that in addition to Hanting, budget hotel chains such as Orange Hotel have also launched segmented brands to target different markets. In particular, Starway Hotel Group has extended its tentacles of the mid-range hotel brand "Starway Boutique" to Beijing, and its second store in Beijing is about to open. Shao Bing, CEO of Starway Hotel Management Co., Ltd., said that Starway Hotels, as a mid-range chain, has now launched a mid-to-high-end "Starway Boutique" hotel brand, and currently mainly relies on online media for promotion. In the long run, it will inevitably operate as an independent brand and will not always be attached to the Starway brand.

Li Xinjian said that from the perspective of cultivating segmented brands, on the one hand, we should pay attention to the selection of relevant channels, especially the media selection preferences of the target group, and push relevant brand information based on the preference characteristics; On the one hand, we must pay close attention to the surging new media power. We need to use various communication methods based on Internet technology, such as SNS websites, Weibo and other related channels, to design brand information that conforms to the characteristics of these media and promote the effective establishment of brands. Of course, brand cultivation is not just about carrying out a few marketing activities, but a systematic project. The design and arrangement of any marketing activities must be consistent with the brand's personality and positioning, and you cannot just do whatever attracts attention.

;