中國經濟型酒店擴張海外生意

Following in the footsteps of the Chinese companies that bought high-end tourism assets abroad, China's budget hotel chains are beginning their own overseas push to serve the country's swelling numbers of international travellers.

追隨赴海外收購高端旅遊資產的中國公司的腳步，中國的經濟型連鎖酒店開始了自己的海外擴張之旅，主要目的是爲本國日益增多的出境遊客服務。

Anbang, the conglomerate, was among the investors making headlines in the sector when it bought New York's Waldorf Astoria for $1.95bn in 2014. Now it is the turn of the low-cost hotel groups.

安邦集團就是旅遊行業登上新聞頭條的投資者之一，該公司在2014年以19.5億美元收購了紐約的華爾道夫酒店。如今，輪到了低成本的酒店集團走出國門。

With some 2,500 hotels in China, the 7 Days Inn is a mainstay of budget travel in the country. As its home market slowed, the brand opened locations in Austria's Linz and Salzburg last year, while a 95-room "7 Days Premium" hotel will this week open in Vienna with easy connections to the Schonbrunn Palace. Other 7 Days Premium hotels are due to open in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig and Venice in the next 12 months.

在國內大約擁有2500家酒店的"7天連鎖酒店"是中國經濟型旅遊行業中的主要品牌。隨着國內市場放緩，該品牌去年在奧地利的林茨市和薩爾茨堡市開設了酒店，同時，擁有95個房間的"7天優品酒店"將於本週在維也納開業，從該酒店可以很方便地前往"美泉宮"。今後12個月內，柏林、慕尼黑、萊比錫和威尼斯等地的"7天優品酒店"也將陸續開業。

Another budget hotel chain, GreenTree Inns, has opened branches in the US, Thailand and Vietnam since 2015, while rival Huazhu Group formed an alliance with French company Accor last year aimed at international expansion.

另一家經濟型連鎖酒店集團格林豪泰自2015年以來在美國、泰國和越南開設了酒店，同時其競爭對手華住酒店集團去年與法國公司雅高結盟，尋求進行國際擴張。

"We started with a brand that was totally unknown in Europe," says Tomasz Janczak director of distribution for the European office of Plateno, which owns 7 Days. When Chinese travellers "see the brand they know from the home market they are definitely going to choose that one," he adds.

鉑濤歐洲業務分銷總監托馬什·揚恰克表示："我們的品牌最初在歐洲默默無聞。"7天酒店隸屬鉑濤旗下。他補充稱，當中國遊客"看到在國內熟悉的品牌，他們當然會選擇這家酒店入住"。

After it bought a majority stake in Plateno and acquired French budget chain Louvre Hotels, state-run and Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Group became the fifth-largest hotel chain in the world last year.

在收購鉑濤多數股權和法國經濟型連鎖酒店盧浮酒店之後，上海錦江國際酒店集團去年成爲全球第五大連鎖酒店。錦江國際是一家在香港上市的中國國有企業。

The number of budget hotels in China leapt from fewer than 500 to more than 16,000 in the decade to 2014. But the sector has become less profitable since 2011, and 7 Days put a freeze on new openings in top tier cities amid reports of overcapacity. "The explosive growth period is gone," says Kiki Yang, a Hong Kong-based partner at consultancy Bain, with brands "looking for a hedge".

在截止2014年的十年間，中國經濟型酒店數量從不到500家猛增至逾1.6萬家。但自2011年以來，經濟型酒店盈利能力下降。隨着有報道稱市場已經過剩，7天酒店不再在一線城市開設新店。貝恩諮詢公司駐香港合夥人楊奕琦表示："爆炸性增長的時代已經結束"，品牌正在"尋求防範措施"。

But over the same period, Chinese outbound travel has grown, with some 40m overseas trips made last year. Plateno operates in locations in Thailand, the most popular Chinese tourist destination, and Malaysia. Jin Jiang has two budget hotels in the Philippines, and plans a dozen more.

但在同一時期，中國出境旅遊業務大有發展，去年出境遊達到約4000萬人次。鉑濤在泰國和馬來西亞運營酒店——泰國是最受中國遊客歡迎的旅遊目的地。錦江國際在菲律賓有兩家經濟型酒店，並計劃再開十幾家。

"There's a general feeling that it's time for the Chinese hospitality industry to go more global," says Mitch Presnick, a founder of Super 8 China, the only major foreign group in China's budget hotel market.

速8酒店中國創始人柏力表示："人們普遍感覺，中國酒店業現在是時候走向全球了。"該公司是中國經濟型酒店市場上唯一的主要外國集團。

Macy Marvel, an analyst at research group Mintel, says that expansion of Chinese budget brands overseas makes sense as outbound tourism increases. But she adds: "Asian destinations are more suitable for Chinese budget hotel expansion, because they attract higher volumes of Chinese outbound tourists."

研究集團英敏特分析師梅茜·馬弗爾表示，隨着出境遊增多，中國經濟型酒店在海外擴張是明智的。但她補充稱："亞洲旅遊目的地更適合中國經濟型酒店擴張，因爲它們吸引了更多的中國出境遊客。"

China's budget hotel chains are maintaining an asset-light approach overseas. "We are using some of the experience that we developed in China," says Roland Paar, Plateno Europe's vice-president. "We don't own the hotels, but we operate them ourselves."

目前中國經濟型連鎖酒店在海外採用"輕資產運營"的方式。"我們採用在中國取得的一些經驗，"鉑濤歐洲副總裁羅蘭·帕爾表示，"我們不擁有這些酒店，但我們自己來運營它們。"

Chinese hotels have been leaders in online bookings. Plateno says 75 per cent of its customers use its in-house reservation system. European 7 Days branches can be booked easily on Chinese websites and paid for with social networking software WeChat, which claims 700m Chinese users. In contrast "the majority of hotels in Europe don't know about WeChat," Mr Paar says.

在線上預訂方面，中國酒店一直走在前面。鉑濤表示，75%的客戶使用其內部預訂系統。人們可以輕鬆地在中國網站上預訂歐洲的7天酒店，並通過社交網絡軟件微信付款，後者號稱有7億中國用戶。帕爾表示，相比之下，"歐洲多數酒店不知道微信"。

The company plans to take over existing hotels in eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic, which are hosting rising numbers of Chinese tourists. "We are much more flexible in our approach, the western brands are stricter in terms of where they can go," says Mr Paar.

該公司計劃在捷克共和國等東歐國家收購現有酒店——這些國家接待的中國遊客數量越來越多。帕爾表示："我們的做法要靈活得多，而西方品牌更加墨守成規。"

But he emphasises that the European branches are aiming for a "budget-premium" experience, a step above their domestic equivalents — where convenience noodles and bundles of disposable slippers come as standard.

但他強調，旗下歐洲酒店旨在提供"經濟型優品"體驗，標準要高於國內——在國內經濟型酒店，方便麪和一次性拖鞋包是標準配置。

"Western companies have always had problems attracting Chinese clientele. In the past, we thought you put congee on the buffet and slippers in the room, and that was it," Mr Paar says, adding: "A lot of Chinese travellers want a hearty breakfast."

帕爾表示："西方公司在吸引中國客戶方面總是存在問題。在過去，我們認爲在餐車上擺上粥、在房間裏放上拖鞋就行了。"他補充稱："現在許多中國遊客想要豐盛的早餐。"