Luxury hotel chain Shangri-La has disclosed plans of its extensive and confirmed development. The chain, which currently has 49 hotels and resorts in its portfolio has revealed that it has confirmed locations to open 40 hotels in the next five years.
The chain, which does prefer the owner-operator model for its hotels, but does go down the management contract route if the location is right ” revealed that China is still the group”s main source of expansion. Of the 50 planned new openings, about 20 of these will be in China. ”China will always be a priority,” Chief Marketing Officer Martin Waechter told media representatives including ABTN.
”we went into China very early in the 1980s and as such we are in a fairly dominant position. Heading further into the West is significant because we are an Asian brand with high ambitions in the region.”
Waechter admitted key openings will be in Paris and London (pictured above). ”These are key business travel destinations.” Shangri-La Paris will open in 2008 and London in 2010 ”in time for the Olympics”. The Paris location will be ”like a palace, and this will be very different to that of our London location, which will be a tower”.
Waechter revealed the brand is scoping locations in Frankfurt and Vienna. ”The timing is perfect. We are growing interest in our part of the world across all industries.”
In other news, the hotel chain is planning to open three Traders Hotels ” its business class only chain. Waechter admitted that only rarely will the company open a Shangri-La and a Traders in the same location. ”I don”t foresee us taking Traders to Europe,” he revealed.
Click here for Shangri-La”s complete list of confirmed openings so far, up to 2011.