Affected by the epidemic this year, the hotel industry has suffered a greater impact, but the pace of expansion of budget hotels has not slowed down. On November 5th, Hanting, a budget hotel under the Huazhu Group, announced the opening of its first 3.5 flagship store in Beijing, and will further promote the expansion of the North China market. It is understood that since the Hanting 3.5 version was released in July this year, it has been deployed in Chengdu, Lanzhou and other southwest and northwest markets. Hanting said that in the future, Hanting will further promote the layout of Beijing and North China. In fact, when talking about hotel expansion, Hanting CEO Xu Haochun also said that Hanting will accelerate the sinking of the market in the future, and is expected to expand the number of hotels to 10,000 in 2028. However, some industry insiders said that from the current situation, various hotel groups are also actively expanding, and the competition for budget hotels in the future will also become more intense.
It is reported that the first 3.5 flagship store in Beijing launched by Hanting is located in Wangfujing, and the price is about 500 yuan a night. The hotel is equipped with "Hua Shopkeeper" self-service equipment, welcoming and delivery robots, self-service luggage lockers, self-service washing machines, self-service vending cabinets and other intelligent service equipment. In addition, the hotel has also improved the basic functions of budget hotels such as sound insulation and bedding. Xu Haochun said that the setting of these self-service facilities further saves labor costs and helps save the operating costs of basic services. He further stated that, at present, Hanting 3.5 has achieved more than 90% of the industrialized prefabricated construction, and through mass production and processing, the overall construction period of the hotel has been shortened by nearly one third compared with the conventional one. Speaking of operating data, Xu Haochun also said that in the month since the opening of the Wangfujing Hanting 3.5 flagship store, the RevPAR was up to RMB 451.3, an increase of more than 30% from before the renovation, and the occupancy rate during the National Day period reached 98.2%. After the upgrade of the old version, the Hanting 3.5 flagship store also attracted many franchisees to consult about specific franchise matters.
The relevant person in charge of Hanting also introduced that the current 3.5 version has been deployed in 15 domestic companies. "Currently, the number of 3.5 versions is not very large, and the main products are still 2.7 and 3.0 versions. In the future, Hanting plans to roll out the 3.5 flagship store as the main product of Hanting nationwide. However, the current 3.5 flagship store in Beijing is due to The price is still relatively high due to the geographical location and the premium of new products. As the supply chain further runs-in and the cost of renovation will be controlled within a relatively ideal range, the price of the room will also be reduced accordingly." The relevant person in charge of Hanting said.
In fact, before deploying to the North China market, Hanting had already started its expansion with 3.5 stores. At the beginning of July this year, Hanting settled its first 3.5 flagship store in Chengdu, laying out the Southwest market; in mid-August this year, Hanting opened another 3.5 store in Lanzhou in the northwestern region. Talking about future expansion plans, Xu Haochun also said that Hanting currently has more than 2,600 hotels nationwide, and Hanting Hotels will expand at a rate of 800 hotels per year. "Specifically in the Beijing market, with the opening of Universal Studios next year and the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing’s wine tourism market still has high growth potential. Taking this opportunity, the number of Hanting Hotels in Beijing will also increase by 165 next year. To 200, and all Hanting hotels in Beijing will be upgraded to version 2.7 and above within three years." The relevant person in charge of Hanting also said.
In fact, not only Hanting, which is a subsidiary of China Lodging Group, but also other hotel groups are also engaged in "horse racing". Recently, according to the financial report for the first three quarters released by BTG Homeinns, the hotel group opened 298 new stores in the third quarter, of which 33 were budget hotels. According to industry insiders, the expansion of hotel groups, including Shangmei, has once again intensified competition in the budget hotel market. However, Xu Haochun also bluntly stated that Hanting will focus on improving quality and ensuring quality in the subsequent development process to avoid barbaric expansion.
According to Zhao Huanyan, Chief Knowledge Officer of Huamei Consulting Group, as the number of hotels expands, competition is inevitable. However, there is still room for the current budget hotel market. "First- and second-tier cities are relatively saturated, but third- and fourth-tier cities and county-level cities have great potential for development in terms of hotel scale and chain level. If Hanting sinks into county-level cities, it may not be impossible to increase the scale of expansion." . However, he also bluntly said that with the large-scale expansion of hotel chains in the future, cost and customer experience will become the focus of competition.
