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who says young people don’t love old hotels?

it's not that five-star luxury is unaffordable, but that the old "state guesthouse" is more cost-effective.

use the price of three to four hundred to buy a five-star luxury hotel for vacation enjoyment.

young people’s pursuit of cost-effectiveness and their love for national style are creating a number of “state guesthouses”.

meituan data shows that this year’s national day holiday is the peak booking period for state hotels, with some users even booking 170 days in advance. among users who book “state hotels” on the platform, those born after 2000 account for nearly 20%.

among them, the top ten most popular destinations for state guesthouse reservations for the post-2000 generation: hangzhou, jiaxing, shangrao, shanghai, beijing, tianjin, jinhua, taiyuan, wuxi, and nanjing.

as the beginning of china's hotel industry, the state guesthouse has similar reception institutions in every province. it is mainly used as a place for national leaders to stay and an important government reception place. it once represented the highest level of chinese hotels and was the pride of chinese hotels.

for example, shanghai xingguo hotel, shanghai xijiao hotel, hangzhou west lake state guesthouse, henan yellow river guest house, suzhou nanyuan hotel, etc. are all state guesthouses.

however, time is like a knife, lian po is old, and many old state hotels have reached the edge of life and death.

whether the short-term popularity of young people can completely change the plight of old state-owned hotels is questionable.

with the vigorous development of international hotels and local hotels, consumers have an increasing number of hotels to choose from, and the pressure of competition in the state hotel market is increasing, and they are facing unprecedented survival challenges.

nowadays, state hotels, as "old hotels", are constantly embracing new trends and trying to awaken their "second spring."

how to put "new wine" into "old bottles" has become an important issue that many state hotels continue to explore.

01

why do young people fall in love with state guesthouses?

the post-00s generation wearing hanfu and staying in the "state guesthouse" to taste tea and learn calligraphy may have become a new trend in hotels during this year's national day.

according to meituan data, among those who search for "state guesthouse", tourists from first-tier cities have the highest search volume, but searches from tourists from third- and fourth-tier cities are growing faster.

according to data from meituan, this year’s national day holiday is also the peak booking period for state hotels, with some users even booking 170 days in advance.

in the first week of september 2024, the search volume for "state guesthouse" increased by nearly 10% year-on-year, and the number of comments increased by 29%. among users who book “state guesthouses” on the platform, those born after 2000 account for nearly 20%.

meituan destination observation pointed out that the state guesthouse has become an immersive hanfu culture experience venue for the post-00 generation due to its good surrounding environment and full sense of historical stories.

on xiaohongshu, many young people share their experiences of staying in state hotels in various places.

image source | xiaohongshu

compared with five-star luxury hotels, there are no fancy marketing gimmicks and routines here, only real service and enjoyment.

why do young people suddenly fall in love with "state guesthouse"?

high cost performance is the main reason why young people seek state hotels.

"liquor management finance" checked the ota platform and found that most state hotels are between four-star and five-star hotels, with prices generally ranging from 300 yuan to 2,000 yuan.

for example, the price of a double bed room in hunan hotel on national day is 385 yuan per night, the price of a double bed room in huanghe guesthouse is 454 yuan per night, and the price in jinniu hotel is 496 yuan per night.

however, there are also luxury state hotels such as hangzhou west lake state guesthouse. the price per night generally exceeds 2,000 yuan. during the national day holiday, the price even exceeds 3,000 yuan per night and the rooms are basically full.

some state hotels even have better hardware and possibly better stay experience than luxury hotels in the same price range.

fufangyuan in building 8 of yangzhou yingbin hotel is the latest and most fashionable building after renovation of yangzhou yingbin hotel. its family suites even sold for 6,434 yuan a night on november 1.

the toiletries in the room are hermès, the hair dryer is dyson, the mineral water is evian, and the mini bar has free drinks.

secondly, most state hotels have a very good environment, excellent geographical location and convenient transportation.

the original intention of building state hotels was to receive foreign leaders and distinguished guests from all over the world. therefore, many state hotels are located in the best viewing areas of these scenic spots, and some are even built directly in scenic spots.

for example, the west lake state guesthouse in hangzhou has a true first-line lake view, and the rooms are directly facing the lake.

yangzhou guest house and slender west lake are connected together, and the hotel has direct access to yangzhou slender west lake scenic area.

kunming cuihu hotel overlooks the cuihu scenery from the room.

jiaxing nanhu hotel, the hotel and the nanhu scenic area are integrated into one. living in the nanhu hotel is equivalent to living in the nanhu scenic area.

in a sense, the state guesthouse can even be used as a leisure travel destination.

in addition, most of the chinese restaurants in state hotels are "state banquet-level" restaurants, where you can taste high-quality local cuisine.

meituan data shows that in the first eight months of 2024, searches for "jinniu hotel hot pot" increased by 124% year-on-year.

in the first week of september 2024, hangzhou west lake state guesthouse afternoon tea, taihang state guesthouse buffet, nanjing dongjiao state guesthouse regent buffet, hangzhou west lake state guesthouse buffet, ningbo qianhu state guesthouse restaurant, etc., chengguo hotel catering search hot words .

ingredients for many state hotels are centrally supplied. there are a total of 3 black pearl stores in yangzhou, 2 of which are within the yangzhou guest hotel system.

in addition, the security measures at the state guesthouse are also very strict, after all, they are all important people.

with such a high cost performance, how can young people not love it?

however, it should be noted that the short-term popularity of young people cannot completely change the development difficulties of the old "state guesthouses".

the state guesthouse once had great glory, not only because of the times, but also because of its institutional advantages.

at a time when consumption choices are becoming more autonomous, only by pleasing consumers and meeting their individual needs can we survive better.

02

the “second entrepreneurship” state guesthouse

need to change the way of living

for a long time, as a state-owned enterprise, state hotels have not had to worry about profitability, no matter how well they operate.

after the reform and opening up, state hotels in the new era changed from state-owned units to companies that were responsible for their own profits and losses. they suddenly left the greenhouse. many state hotels were relatively slow in changing their concepts and found it difficult to adapt to market competition.

many old "state guesthouses" have closed down or been auctioned or had their licenses changed due to poor management, aging facilities, unclear market positioning and other reasons.

in 2019, beijing zhaolong hotel announced that it would suspend operations and reopen after introducing jdv, an independent brand of hyatt.

in 2020, hualong tourism industrial development co., ltd., beijing btg real estate group co., ltd., and hainan btg investment holding co., ltd. listed on the beijing equity exchange to transfer 100% of the equity and related claims of hainan sanya state guesthouse co., ltd.

in the same year, suzhou zhuhui hotel introduced kimpton, a luxury boutique hotel brand owned by intercontinental, and changed its brand to suzhou kimpton zhuhui hotel.

in 2022, liuzhou xijiang hotel will cease operations and withdraw its license, and change its license to european mediterranean hotel.

in 2023, yujiaaoshan villa, known as the "state guesthouse" in zhoushan, was put up for auction for the third time, with a starting price of 68.05 million yuan.

in the same year, haikou shangri-la (state guesthouse) and dalian hotel also completed their respective license renewals.

industry insiders believe that there are three reasons why the state guesthouse, which was born with a golden key, is in trouble in transformation:

first, market competition has intensified, and emerging hotel brands have rapidly emerged to seize market share with innovative service concepts and advanced operating models;

the second is the change in consumer demand. with the continuous development of the tourism market and the increasing diversification of consumer demand, the traditional services of the old "state guesthouses" can no longer meet the needs of modern consumers;

third, operating costs have risen. various operating costs, including labor costs, rental costs, energy costs, etc., have continued to rise, further compressing the profit margins of established "state guesthouses."

it is not difficult to find that the aging of their own mechanisms and the constant impact of new forces have put many old "state hotels" in a situation of "internal and external troubles".

however, some long-established "state guesthouses" are not "old stubborns" who don't know how to adapt. many state guesthouses in slow development zones have begun to seek ways to break the situation.

first, introduce a new brand and entrust a professional wine management group to manage and operate it.

at present, there are two main situations for brand renewal of well-established “state guesthouses” in china. one is to choose an international hotel, and the other is to choose a local brand.

in 2007, diaoyutai state guesthouse joined hands with mgm international hotels group to jointly establish diaoyutai mgm hotel group, which develops and operates diaoyutai, bellagio, mgm, mgm fantasy, mgm grand, and mgm maymax selects six hotel brands.

in 2023, haikou shangri-la (state guesthouse) will be rebranded as haikou fairmont hotel, and dalian hotel will be rebranded as dalian hotel fairmont.

the jiangxi provincial state guesthouse (qianhu guesthouse) is completely developed and constructed by greenland group and managed by shanghai hengshan hotel management company.

secondly, it is self-renovation and transformation.

the renovation of the state guesthouse does not require a license change. you can also complete a comprehensive upgrade of your own property.

for example, haiyue villa, shantou state guesthouse, and yangzhou guest house have all been renovated and re-entered the market with a new look.

west lake state guesthouse and suzhou nanyuan hotel have gone a step further and carried out digital renovation.

in particular, suzhou nanyuan hotel has accelerated its development since it proposed digital transformation in 2019, using digital innovation to empower operations and marketing management.

its hotel revenue in 2023 is 105 million yuan, exceeding the same period in 2022 by 114.6% and exceeding the same period in 2019 by 42.8%. the occupancy rate in 2023 is 73.82%, the average room price is 826.7 yuan, and all operating indicators have reached record highs.

however, ginger is spicier when old, and wine is fragrant when old. in the fierce market competition, old hotels also have old charm.

as a witness of history and culture, this is something that other emerging hotels do not have.

instead of competing with emerging hotels in terms of hardware and decoration, the established "state guesthouse" might as well make a "new" statement in the word "old", introduce the old and bring out the new, and compete with emerging hotels in terms of connotation, culture, and service, so that it can still compete.

recently, the evaluation work of china's national brand hotel expert review team has just concluded and divided china's national brand hotels into three levels from high to low: "zhi zun", "golden zun" and "silver zun".

it is worth mentioning that many of the first batch of "china national brand hotels" were local state hotels.

image source | china civil trade, culture and tourism working committee

in this regard, an observer in the wine and tourism industry said,every old hotel has its own content that is old and strong. brand culture is the brand charm of every hotel that cannot be copied. the old "state guesthouse" must have its own recognizability, and more importantly, it must find the points of difference to satisfy consumers. an immersive and meaningful interactive experience.

government reception capabilities and the responsibility of state-owned enterprises are just professional qualities. stimulating management innovation, service innovation, technological innovation, and product innovation, establishing core competitiveness, and polishing the golden sign of "national brand" may bring new vitality and innovation to the state guesthouse. a round of competitiveness.