The Spanish hotel company Melia Hotels International and Greenland Group, one of the largest real estate groups in China, have reached a strategic agreement on 13 December to join forces to pursue their international growth, inside and outside China, respectively.
For Greenland Group, an immediate impact of the agreement will be the launch of its urban hotel brand in Europe, through the adaptation and re-branding of a Melia operated hotel in the city of Frankfurt (Germany), which was chosen because of its dynamism in the business travel segment.
In the short and medium term, Greenland Group will continue to develop its urban brand in Europe and China, as well as cooperating with Melia Hotels International in developing additional properties over the coming years.
In 2010, Melia inaugurated its first hotel in Shanghai – the Gran Melia Shanghai – and is currently finalising work on the construction of the spectacular Gran Melia Xian and Melia Chongqing. In the short term, this agreement will allow the company to open two new Melia hotels in Jinan, scheduled for 2013, and Tianjin, two fast-growing cities located along the corridor between Shanghai and Beijing. In the medium term, the alliance foresees the evaluation of numerous hotel development projects for the most successful Melia brands, such as Innside and Melia in the city hotel business, and even Paradisus in the emerging resort hotel business in China.
The Greenland Group and Melia hotels international partnership also entails cooperation in the areas of training, global hotel distribution systems and procurement, as the result of the mutual need for developing and implementing best practice as regards management systems and for increasing their international customer base and heightening awareness about the hotel brands operated by both groups in the complex Chinese and European markets.
Greenland’s expertise in Chinese cuisine and culture will help Melia to excel in providing services to Chinese guests, currently the largest outbound market for Europe, as well as offering the local market an authentic Chinese dining experience.
Mr. Gabriel Escarrer, vice-chairman and CEO of Melia hotels International, stated: "In the new global tourism paradigm, China will soon become the largest market on the planet for both in and outbound travel. The presence of the Melia brands is therefore central to our success in the Asia-Pacific region and for our business and resort hotels in the rest of the world. Given the unprecedented dimensions of this change in a business which is already complex and specialized, global hotel chains and the country’s powerful business groups must seek partnerships if we are not to miss the boat and want to continue to grow in a win-win scenario."
The Greenland Group is one of the first Chinese hotel groups to open a hotel under its own brand in Europe, and aims at becoming a benchmark for European and Chinese business and leisure travellers in both continents.
Greenland Group, one of the largest real estate groups in China
