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Some time to open a new five-star hotel
By David Maguire |
April 12, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ALL things being equal, it seemed the right time to open a new hotel in the golden strip of the Jing'an Temple area this time last year. It was five months before the Beijing Olympics and a full two years ahead of Shanghai's World Expo, time enough to bed in systems and marketing and get up steam to take advantage of a booming market.
The first anniversary of the opening of the Swissotel Grand Shanghai was clocked up yesterday but in the ensuing 12 months, not much has been very equal at all in the local or global market.
China was thrown into tragic chaos by the Sichuan earthquake the following month, the seeds of an economic downturn were being sown internationally and the Olympics didn't become the positive business driver that hotels outside the nation's capital anticipated.
Oddly enough, but quite logically, the manager of the Grand, and newly appointed vice president for China of the Swissotel group, Julian van den Bogaerde, believes that while the unique set of circumstances weren't good, the hotel was better placed than many in Shanghai to cope.
"We were careful in originally building our staff numbers through those tough times and as a result are probably facing the economic crisis in a better position than other more established hotels," the Belgium-born international hotelier said this week.
"They are probably looking to downsize due to their overheads," he added. Conversely, Swissotel was in the position of building a new business, was not fully geared to its capacity and could expand when the business required it.
The Swissotel Hotels and Resorts group started operating in China in 1990 with Swissotel Beijing. It subsequently opened hotels in Kunshan in 2007, and Shanghai and Foshan in 2008.
The Shanghai hotel - with 467 rooms including 15 suites and part of a chain operating in 25 cities of 15 countries - is at No. 1 Yuyuan Road near the corner with Nanjing Road W.
It is adjacent to the Changde Apartments which were the home of the author of the book "Lust, Caution," Eileen Chang, and on the doorstep of Jing'an Temple.
The area is an iconic tourism and hospitality cluster, boasting the established JC Mandarin, Portman Ritz-Carlton and Shanghai Hilton and promising soon the PuLi Hotel and Spa. The elephant in the room is the Jing'an Shangri-La scheduled to open in 2011.
While the new appointment gives Julian a pan-China responsibility, he is inspired by the opportunities in Shanghai, confident the market - buffeted like many by the global financial crisis and the aftermath of the Olympics - will pick up and be sustained.
"The Beijing Olympics was an amazing, spectacular event and I know Shanghai will deliver an equally impressive Expo in 2010," he said. "International events favor Shanghai because of its international exposure and access to state-of-the-art facilities.
"Expo 2010 is set to bring even more global attention to Shanghai and we believe it is critical to be an established hotel prior to this monumental event for the city."
He said the expansion of new exhibition facilities would strengthen the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) business and demand would be driven by a growing service-focussed economy.
"Growth will also come from the government's commitment to develop Shanghai's leisure tourism segment and the investment in infrastructure and urban development linked to Expo," he said. While juggling the vagaries of the international market, he also focuses on the neighborhood.
"We want to feel accessible with open arms to the local market, not just the international market," he said and counts on the group's European heritage with its point-of-difference Swiss hospitality enhanced by a series of accommodation and "discover Shanghai" packages.
All things being equal, the hotel's next 12 months should position it strongly for what promises to be Shanghai's invigorating 2010.
The first anniversary of the opening of the Swissotel Grand Shanghai was clocked up yesterday but in the ensuing 12 months, not much has been very equal at all in the local or global market.
China was thrown into tragic chaos by the Sichuan earthquake the following month, the seeds of an economic downturn were being sown internationally and the Olympics didn't become the positive business driver that hotels outside the nation's capital anticipated.
Oddly enough, but quite logically, the manager of the Grand, and newly appointed vice president for China of the Swissotel group, Julian van den Bogaerde, believes that while the unique set of circumstances weren't good, the hotel was better placed than many in Shanghai to cope.
"We were careful in originally building our staff numbers through those tough times and as a result are probably facing the economic crisis in a better position than other more established hotels," the Belgium-born international hotelier said this week.
"They are probably looking to downsize due to their overheads," he added. Conversely, Swissotel was in the position of building a new business, was not fully geared to its capacity and could expand when the business required it.
The Swissotel Hotels and Resorts group started operating in China in 1990 with Swissotel Beijing. It subsequently opened hotels in Kunshan in 2007, and Shanghai and Foshan in 2008.
The Shanghai hotel - with 467 rooms including 15 suites and part of a chain operating in 25 cities of 15 countries - is at No. 1 Yuyuan Road near the corner with Nanjing Road W.
It is adjacent to the Changde Apartments which were the home of the author of the book "Lust, Caution," Eileen Chang, and on the doorstep of Jing'an Temple.
The area is an iconic tourism and hospitality cluster, boasting the established JC Mandarin, Portman Ritz-Carlton and Shanghai Hilton and promising soon the PuLi Hotel and Spa. The elephant in the room is the Jing'an Shangri-La scheduled to open in 2011.
While the new appointment gives Julian a pan-China responsibility, he is inspired by the opportunities in Shanghai, confident the market - buffeted like many by the global financial crisis and the aftermath of the Olympics - will pick up and be sustained.
"The Beijing Olympics was an amazing, spectacular event and I know Shanghai will deliver an equally impressive Expo in 2010," he said. "International events favor Shanghai because of its international exposure and access to state-of-the-art facilities.
"Expo 2010 is set to bring even more global attention to Shanghai and we believe it is critical to be an established hotel prior to this monumental event for the city."
He said the expansion of new exhibition facilities would strengthen the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) business and demand would be driven by a growing service-focussed economy.
"Growth will also come from the government's commitment to develop Shanghai's leisure tourism segment and the investment in infrastructure and urban development linked to Expo," he said. While juggling the vagaries of the international market, he also focuses on the neighborhood.
"We want to feel accessible with open arms to the local market, not just the international market," he said and counts on the group's European heritage with its point-of-difference Swiss hospitality enhanced by a series of accommodation and "discover Shanghai" packages.
All things being equal, the hotel's next 12 months should position it strongly for what promises to be Shanghai's invigorating 2010.
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