China Tourism Accommodation Industry Development Report 2025 released online

On March 26th, our institute hosted the "Annual Iconic Achievement Release Conference of China Tourism Research Institute" and released a total of 8 landmark research achievements. Dr. Yang Honghao, Director of the Industry Research Institute of our institute, on behalf of the research group, released the "Report on the Development of China's Tourism Accommodation Industry 2025- Quality and Efficiency Improvement, Transformation and Upgrading".

The report pointed out that the growth of the tourism accommodation industry has slowed down, but the outlook is optimistic. In 2024, the growth rate of the tourism accommodation industry will slightly decline and stabilize from the high base in 2023. In 2025, as the country expands domestic demand in all directions, policy dividends are released, and consumer confidence increases, service consumption led by cultural and tourism consumption will be boosted, and the development of the accommodation industry will be stable and rising. However, the market differentiation brought about by diversified demand will lead to structural growth in the accommodation industry, rather than consistent growth. This requires companies to study consumption trends, identify effective demand, focus on new growth points, and match corresponding product supply.

How to activate the stock assets of the accommodation industry has become a focus of attention. As China's hotel industry enters the stock era, the renewal and transformation of stock assets has become the key. Old hotels and vacant buildings have been renovated, hardware facilities upgraded, brand image reshaped and digitalized, giving old hotels a new lease of life. At the same time, hotel mergers and sales transactions are active. In the international market, private equity funds such as KKR and Blackstone Group have acquired hotel assets on a large scale. In the domestic market, R&F Properties' hotel assets have changed hands, Fosun Tourism Group has sold Sanya Atlantis Resort, and Blue Ocean Hotel Group has gone bankrupt and reorganized, showing that asset restructuring and optimal allocation in the hotel industry have gradually become a trend. In addition, the new Reits policy brings new opportunities to the hotel industry. The new regulations allow supporting hotels in scenic spots, hotels that are inseparable from consumer infrastructure, and hotels that are inseparable from single buildings in the park to be included in the underlying assets of Reits, relax the entry threshold, cancel the hard indicator of net cash flow distribution rate, and emphasize the stability of operating income. This will enrich hotel asset management methods, attract long-term capital investment, and promote the Chinese hotel market into a virtuous cycle, providing strong support for the revitalization and high-quality development of hotel assets in the stock era.

New demands lead to new supply. With the rise of new consumer markets, the accommodation industry is leading the new direction of industrial development through business innovation. Among them, new business formats such as lifestyle hotels, health and wellness sports hotels, special resort hotels, cultural theme hotels, low-carbon and environmentally friendly hotels, and cross-border fusion hotels are booming. Lifestyle hotels have become a hot spot in the industry. Hyatt Hotels Corporation has successively acquired two small lifestyle hotel groups, and InterContinental Hotels Group and Atour Group have launched new lifestyle brands. Health and wellness sports hotels conform to the change of health concepts, integrating multi-sensory art, outdoor sports and professional fitness into hotel experience, providing consumers with a unique experience combining health and sports. Special resort hotels such as urban resort hotels, wild luxury resort hotels, and light luxury parent-child resort hotels meet consumers' pursuit of in-depth vacation experience. Cultural theme hotels provide consumers with immersive cultural experience through the integration of intangible cultural heritage and regional characteristics. Low-carbon and environmentally friendly hotels meet consumers' expectations for sustainable development through carbon neutrality, green buildings and environmentally friendly operations. Cross-border fusion hotels such as e-sports hotels and car-themed hotels break through traditional accommodation functions and provide consumers with a new experience. The development of these new business models has not only reshaped the service content and core value of the accommodation industry, but also injected new vitality into the industry, and promoted the hotel industry to move towards diversification, personalization and sustainability.

Business models are innovative and innovative. In the development of new business models, innovative models such as shared accommodation, soft brands, timeshare and C2B models have shown strong vitality and future potential. Airbnb and other shared accommodation platforms have achieved significant improvement in profitability through globalization strategies and user experience optimization, especially consolidating their market position in the rapid growth of emerging markets. Through standardized management and differentiated competition, the brand has attracted a large number of independent hotels to join, formed a mature business model, and occupied an important position in the luxury hotel market. The timeshare model has broad application prospects both at home and abroad. Although it still needs to be standardized and cultivated in China, its fit with the paid vacation system indicates huge market potential. The C2B model meets the personalized needs of consumers through "private customization" products and prices, bringing new vitality and opportunities to the hotel industry. In the future, these new business models will continue to promote innovation and change in the hotel industry. Especially driven by the trends of globalization, personalization and digitalization, the hotel industry will pay more attention to user experience, brand building and industrial chain extension to achieve sustainable development.

Strengthen operations to improve quality and efficiency. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the hotel industry is gradually becoming the core driving force for improving operational efficiency and customer experience. Through AI empowerment, hotels have achieved significant innovations in customer service, operational management and personalized experience. For example, the introduction of voice assistants, concierge robots and intelligent service systems has not only improved service response speed, but also reduced manual pressure and optimized operational processes. At the same time, AI-driven data analysis and machine learning technologies help hotels accurately grasp customer needs, achieve dynamic pricing and personalized services, and thus improve profitability. The comprehensive application of AI technology also faces challenges such as high technical costs, data privacy and security, especially small and medium-sized hotels are under great pressure in hardware upgrades and system integration. In addition, AI's intelligent services may deviate from the psychological expectations of some customers, and it is necessary to find a balance between intelligence and humanity. At the same time, the value of data assets in the future hotel industry is becoming increasingly prominent, and the application of big data technology enables hotels to optimize operations and marketing strategies through data-driven decision-making. The reuse and redevelopment of data assets brings potential value to hotels, such as establishing an internal credit system and discovering potential transaction opportunities. However, the application of data assets also needs to solve issues such as data rights confirmation, privacy protection and security. Data security management must be strengthened to ensure the compliance of customer information and avoid the trust crisis caused by data leakage. Overall, the application of AI technology and data assets has brought unprecedented opportunities to the hotel industry, but it has also put forward higher requirements for technical capabilities, management level and data security. Hotel companies need to find a balance between technological innovation and risk control to achieve sustainable development.

International development is going in both directions. The localization process of international hotel groups in the Chinese market has been significantly accelerated. Through diversified brand strategies, innovative cooperation models and the application of digital technologies, the integration with the Chinese market is continuously deepened. For example, Marriott International Group promotes the development of the Chinese market with the "3+2+1" strategic structure, and InterContinental Hotels Group introduces InterContinental Design Innovation Space and other measures to achieve localized innovation of brands and services. At the same time, international hotel groups have turned their attention to China's vast county market and regard it as a new business growth point. For example, 30% of Marriott Group's newly opened hotels in 2024 are located in third-tier and lower cities. In addition, while international hotel groups actively cooperate with domestic hotel groups, they have also reached strategic cooperation with airlines and China UnionPay. Domestic hotel groups have also ushered in a new era of "going overseas". Huazhu Group has re-planned its overseas market development policy and began to enter markets such as Singapore and the Middle East. Jinjiang Hotel Group has promoted the large-scale overseas expansion of five brands and landed in six countries in Southeast Asia. Delong, Shangmei, Yilong Hotel Technology, etc. also attach great importance to the new round of opportunities to go overseas. The way Chinese hotels go overseas has evolved from acquiring international hotel groups to exporting brands, realizing the transformation of hotel groups from heavy asset expansion to light asset operation model.

Contributor | "China Tourism Accommodation Industry Development Report 2025" Research Group Editor | Liu Xin Source | China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the source for reprinting