news

during this national day holiday, in addition to popular scenic spots, more small counties have become the first choice destinations for people to travel. when choosing accommodation, many people find that mid-to-high-end chain hotels such as jiji and atour have also begun to appear in the county, gradually replacing the places where home inn and 7 days inn once stood.

as for the mid-to-high-end chain hotels that enter the county town, in addition to maintaining their original style and services, more importantly, they need to find the most suitable connection point to enter the county town ecology.

text | song chunguang

edit | Yang

operations | kojiro

high-end hotel chain explores county towns

in order to "escape" beijing briefly during the national day holiday, li yuan, a 27-year-old content industry practitioner, chose xiapu, a county town in ningde, fujian, a small seaside town with a unique tidal flat landscape.

when choosing accommodation, li yuan was surprised to find that there were actually two atour hotels and an all seasons hotel gathered in this small county. all seasons and one of the atour stores are located in the center of the city, while the other atour store is located on the seaside, with the option of sea view rooms.

in the past, when traveling to the county town, li yuan chose homestays the most, which were spacious, cheap, and had more local characteristics. but recently, there has been a lot of news on the internet about b&b owners selling candid videos at high prices. for safety reasons, li yuan decided to trust the brand chain.

when checking the prices, li yuan saw that from october 1st to october 5th, the prices of several hotels had increased to more than 600 yuan. the highest price appeared on the 3rd and 4th, for the superior king bed room of the all seasons hotel. the price is 820 yuan, and the elegant double bed room in atour hotel is priced at 920 yuan. after the national day holiday, the average daily price of basic room types in the three hotels dropped back to 200 yuan to 400 yuan.

▲ during the national day, the prices at two atour and one all seasons hotels in xiapu are generally twice the daily prices. picture/ctrip travel app

li yuan was a little surprised by the hotel's premium. she also checked the room price of atour hotel in sanlitun, beijing on october 3. the elegant double room was booked for 650 yuan, while the superior double room was priced at 779 yuan, which was one price cheaper than the atour hotel in xiapu. more than 100 yuan.

writer sun linlin came to xiapu during the mid-autumn festival this year. she stayed at the atour hotel on the seaside. at that time, the price per night was about 400 yuan. as a professional who travels frequently, sun linlin has stayed in many hotels. she prefers atour's humanistic atmosphere, such as the book corner set up in the hotel, which will update the book list in a timely manner.

after staying at atour in xiapu, sun linlin found that the facilities in the hotel here were downgraded compared to those in first-tier cities such as beijing. for example, in atour hotels in first-tier cities, the refrigerator contains atour's own mineral water, but in xiapu it has other brands.

jiuzi is a native of xiapu and runs a tourism company in this county. in jiuzi's observation, more and more mid-to-high-end hotels have appeared in xiapu county in the past two years. he remembered that the first well-known hotel in the county was only the royal view, and then the haiyatt hotel was opened. in 2019, the old dijing hotel joined the holiday inn brand of the international hotel group intercontinental hotels and was upgraded to dijing holiday hotel. in 2021, the all seasons hotel xiapu will open, and in 2023, two atour hotels will open one after another.

in contrast, in recent years, xiapu has gradually become an internet celebrity tourist destination. the beaches that can be easily photographed and the islands similar to those in the classic game "the legend of zelda: breath of the wild" are attracting more and more tourists. this small town with a permanent population of less than 500,000 received 10.212 million tourists in 2023.

“there are still some star-rated hotels under construction in xiapu,” jiuzi said. “as foreign tourists’ demand for high-quality accommodation increases, there is a market foundation for opening mid- to high-end hotels here.”

even if the vacation price premium is serious, it is still more cost-effective to choose a mid-to-high-end chain brand hotel compared to the higher-end five-star hotels in xiapu. according to the online travel service platform, the royal view holiday hotel, also located in the old city, opened earlier. the price of a superior twin room on october 3 was 1,198 yuan, which was 100 yuan to 300 higher than the price of biadot and all seasons. yuan.

like xiapu, more and more counties are beginning to welcome their first mid-to-high-end chain hotels like jiji and atour.

this summer, a photographer from rushan, shandong province discovered that an all seasons hotel had opened in his county. in the night scene he shot from the entrance of the hotel, the entire building was decorated with neon light strips, with dynamic lights flashing from bottom to top, and text: the all seasons hotel is really beautiful at night, with gorgeous lights, as if you are in a big city. who would have thought that this is a hotel that rushan, a small county on the 18th line, can have.

▲ “the top hotel in a small county on the 18th line - all seasons hotel.” picture/xiaohongshu blogger @photographer mr. ermu

in erdaobaihe, the town closest to the changbai mountain scenic area, a villa-like atour hotel is preparing to open. it is only a 6-minute walk from the changbai mountain north slope distribution center. according to the online travel service platform, this is one of the few mid-to-high-end chain brand hotels in the changbai mountain area and is very competitive.

in the traditional hotel industry, hotels are divided into grades from one to five stars based on the service levels provided by different hotels. mid-range hotels and mid-to-high-end hotels are located between three stars to four stars, and four stars to five stars.

at first, most of the chain hotels that appeared in the county were economical, such as 7 days inn, super 8 hotel, etc. with the development of the county's economy, the number of budget hotels has been decreasing year by year, replaced by mid-to-high-end chain hotels with more advantageous services. all seasons is a mid-range hotel brand incubated by huazhu group in 2010. at first, it was called the "upgraded version of hanting" by the outside world; atour hotel was born in 2013, featuring spiritual culture, and has always been relatively high-end. route.

jin hui, ceo of huazhu group, mentioned in an interview with the media last year that third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas will become a new blue ocean for competition in the accommodation industry, especially in the county economy, which has huge room for development. our goal is to expand huazhu to all counties in the next five to eight years.”

▲ all hotel brands under huazhu club. picture/huazhuhui official website

go to a place with more traffic

the trend of tourism popularity shifting from first- and second-tier cities to smaller places has become more and more obvious this year. data from qunar.com shows that from july to august this summer, hotel bookings in fourth- and fifth-tier cities and counties under their jurisdiction increased by 113% month-on-month compared with before the summer, and the increase was higher than that in first-tier cities.

in the field of social public opinion, "lying down" and "going crazy" have become ways for some young people to relieve themselves. the successive popularity of "small places" also hints at the travel orientation of young people. the appeal of crowded classic tourist landmarks has become less , niche and unpopular places with cost-effectiveness are more attractive to explore.

the preference for small places has also brought traffic to many third- and fourth-tier cities and county areas. in february this year, tianshui, gansu province became popular on the internet. fresh vegetables, chewy vermicelli, and spicy red chili noodles, a bowl of spicy hotpot has made this once fifth-tier town popular, and many tourists come to check in. according to reports, tianshui city received a total of 4.64 million tourists in march and generated revenue of 2.7 billion yuan.

tianshui is not the first area to become popular because of a specific food. in 2023, zibo, shandong also attracted attention because of its extremely cost-effective barbecue. for a time, "going to zibo for barbecue" became a travel guide for many tourists.

▲ during the may 1st holiday in 2024, "re-baking in zi" is still popular. picture/visual china

the sinking of tourist destinations has accelerated the entry of mid- to high-end hotel chains into county towns.

in addition to local hotel brands, there are also established international high-end hotel groups such as marriott, hilton, and intercontinental that are also planning to enter the sinking market. at the beginning of this year, marriott announced the list of hotels to be built in china in 2024. 30% of the newly opened hotels are located in third-tier cities and below. among them, third- and fourth-tier cities such as huzhou nanxun and xuancheng jingxian are also on the expansion map.

on social platforms, there have also been many requests for help from people who want to join mid- to high-end hotels in local counties. in the second half of this year, jiang haoping, the founder of the hotel chain brand, saw a post on a social platform. the other person said that he wanted to join a hotel chain in the county. he didn't know whether to choose all seasons or atour. jiang haoping left a message to the other party and suggested analyzing whether the local county has enough resources to support the size of the chain brand hotel.

“hotels are an asset-heavy investment industry,” jiang haoping said. “it’s easy to invest millions or tens of millions, so we need to consider the big cycle, such as analyzing the county’s population structure, tourism resources, customer needs, etc. ”

whether it is the expansion of hotel chains or the operation of independent hotels, the county's own tourism resources are important considerations. especially for mid-to-high-end hotels such as ji ji and atour, if there is no stable source of foreign tourists, it will be difficult to bear the hotel's operation and maintenance costs.

for example, many mid- to high-end hotels have settled in xiapu, which is inseparable from the county’s rich tourism resources. before the situ islands became popular on the internet, xiapu had long been famous at home and abroad for its unique tidal flat landscape. tourism is an important industry in this county. in 2023, xiapu's tourism revenue is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan.

▲ ningde city, fujian province, xiapu gaoluo beach is crowded with tourists. picture/visual china

jiang haoping's own hotel chain also pays special attention to the characteristics of the city when selecting locations. "we opened a store in yulin, guangxi last year. yulin is not a particularly economically developed city, but it has a unique and interesting culture. for example, this is the first place in the country to in the jeans production base, we have designed hotel rooms with jeans as the theme. the sofas, lamps, and pillows you can see are all made of denim fabric.”

in addition to local tourism resources, increasingly developed transportation has also paved the way for mid- to high-end hotels to enter the county.

in late may this year, beijing white-collar zhao tong and his friends agreed to meet in his hometown in chongqing. originally, zhao tong didn't know where to place his friends - although they belong to chongqing, the district and county in his hometown are still some distance away from chongqing city, and the hotels in the county are relatively old.

while searching for an address, zhao tong was surprised to find that an all seasons hotel had opened in his hometown. due to work reasons, zhao tong often travels on business, and all seasons hotel is her regular choice. the standardized space and service level are reassuring. so she and her friends booked a suite at all seasons.

in 2023, the subway from chongqing city to my hometown district and county was finally completed. in the past, if you went to the city, you had to take a bus at the station, but now you can get there directly by subway. zhao tong believes that this may be the main reason for staying in his hometown county all season long. the convenient transportation can share some of the tourists spilling from chongqing's urban area.

when operating a chain hotel in a county town, "down-to-earthness" becomes increasingly important.

when zhao tong and her friends arrived at the hotel, the front desk told them that the suites had two room types, one with a mahjong table and one without a mahjong table, and asked them which one to choose. mahjong playing can be said to be the soul sport of the people of sichuan and chongqing. when she and her friends heard about it, they immediately chose a room with a mahjong table. after arriving in the room, the four people fought bloody battles until four o'clock in the morning.

as a frequent guest at the all seasons hotel, zhao tong had never heard of the mahjong table option elsewhere before.

"chain hotels in the county test more about the ability to manage relationships between people," jiang haoping said, "for example, with local units and local residents."

even in counties rich in tourism resources, there are peak seasons and off-seasons. if there are no worries about tourists from first-tier cities in the peak season, then in the off-season, hotels need to show their talents to find and manage stable customer connections.

▲ picture/visual china

after discovering that hotel chains in xiapu had serious price premiums, li yuan began to search for ways to book rooms at a discount on social platforms. she added a salesperson from atour hotel and asked about the room price for the night of october 3. the other party replied that the price was 100 yuan cheaper than booking online. although the price was still higher than usual, she paid half of the deposit and booked the room considering it was the golden week holiday after all.

the hotel salesperson was enthusiastic. li yuan mentioned that she prefers to eat kelp. the other person immediately introduced xiapu as the hometown of kelp. she could buy specialties from the local commercial street and send them directly back. she also told her that when she came to xiapu, she could see the continuous seaweed. pier, these are local customs and very distinctive.

hotel sales is a somewhat complicated profession. judging from the recruitment needs of major hotels, most positions are responsible for not only entertaining customers, but also expanding and maintaining customer resources.

jiang haoping said that in the past, business demand across the country was strong, and receiving business travelers from fixed groups and companies was an important task for hotel sales. however, in the past two years, many activities and meetings have been moved online, requiring less frequent meetings and business trips, which has naturally affected hotel orders.

after arriving in the county seat

as mid-to-high-end hotels move to the county, some existing hotels in the county that sell for less than 100 yuan are finding it difficult to do business.

in october last year, a netizen named "manman" shared a post about running a small hotel on social platforms, leaving records of everything from opening the hotel to renovating it. the name of her hotel is "jinwang bin building". at the request of guests, the bath towels and face towels were replaced with disposable ones, and a hair dryer was installed later. however, the hotel's occupancy rate is still low.

some netizens in the comment area believed that this slightly outdated hotel could not attract young customers and brainstormed many renovation suggestions, such as whole-house decoration, overall visual design, etc. as a result, the cost of renovation will be much higher. a netizen commented to her about the hotel where she stayed in chengdu for 290 yuan a night. the attached photo showed the log-style design was very neat. she replied: "i get 80 yuan a night here, which is not even a fraction of what other people pay."

lower investment costs mean that independent hotels in county towns cannot be as standardized as chain hotels. when mid-to-high-end hotels such as atour and all seasons are opened in county towns, they are even more "dimensionality reduction blows" in terms of vision and experience.

▲ pei county, jiangsu province, the bright and spacious lobby of atour hotel. picture/xiaohongshu blogger@sticky orange

"some single-time tourists from first-tier cities may be more willing to choose all-season hotels than independent hotels like ours," ma ning said. she runs her own independent hotel in chongli, zhangjiakou, with an unfashionable name called "hongxiang hotel".

chongli was originally a county seat in zhangjiakou city, but was later removed from the county and established as a district. in order to host the 2022 beijing winter olympics, chongli has built a new urban area, and ma ning's hotel is located here.

ma ning has been thinking about the decision for two or three years to open a hotel in the county. she is an outdoor sports enthusiast and likes to hike and climb mountains with her friends. in addition to chongli’s well-known ski resources, the mountainous landscape is also a popular choice for many cross-country enthusiasts. .

for outdoor sports enthusiasts, the cost-effectiveness of accommodation is even more important. for example, during the five-month snow season in the north, many snow enthusiasts want to find a long-term rental residence near the ski resort so that they can come to the ski resort at any time. it was after observing this demand that ma ning decided not to join a chain but to open his own store.

hotel chains will adjust prices based on peak and off-peak seasons, and sometimes the premiums can become exaggerated. an all seasons hotel opened in 2022 is across the street from maning's hotel. this location is very close to the popular local ski resort fulong ski resort and has convenient transportation. comparing the whole-house intelligence and elegant design of ji hotel, ma ning feels that his advantage is that the price will not change much and he can make his own decisions, which allows customers who pursue cost-effectiveness to have choices.

for single-trip guests who mainly want to experience skiing, ma ning believes that independent hotels like his may not be their first choice. "for example, in the off-season, the full-season room type sells for more than 200 yuan, and mine sells for more than 100 yuan. for a single traveler, this price gap cannot widen the gap." she said.

so in more than a year of operation, ma ning figured out a way of playing for independent hotels: keeping in touch with fixed customer groups. ma ning will communicate with almost all guests staying in the hotel and learn where they want to go when they come to chongli, where they can avoid pitfalls, and where they are more worth visiting. she believes that the business model of mid-to-high-end hotel chains is difficult to provide nearly "customized" services like hers.

in fact, hotels of different levels in the county serve different types of customers. in june 2024, the luxury hotel chongli intercontinental hotel opened. ma ning didn't feel much sense of crisis after hearing it, because it was not in competition with her own hotel. "it's good that more and more high-end hotels are opening in chongli," ma ning said. "this means that the development of the county is getting better and better."

▲ the newly opened intercontinental chongli hotel in 2024. picture/xiaohongshu blogger@sloth on the road

according to public data, there are currently 2,844 county-level administrative districts in china, and there is still enough room for mid- to high-end hotels to explore business models in county areas. this is an education in accommodation standardization, and it also comes with challenges. jiang haoping believes that for hotel chains, what is more important is the choice of location, rather than blindly sinking.

during the few days after returning to his hometown, zhao tong discovered that there were more bloggers visiting restaurants in the county town.

they usually hang out in specialty restaurants that are not yet known to outsiders, set up selfie sticks, and use their mobile phones or cameras to record and share the delicacies of their hometowns. the opening of the all seasons hotel is an iconic symbol, representing that her hometown county seems to be ready to welcome the traffic baptism that will come one day.

(li yuan, sun linlin, zhao tong and ma ning are pseudonyms in the article)

the article is original for daily people

infringement will be investigated