Two years after China’s reopening, luxury travelers haven’t fully returned. Still, the country’s five-star hotels aren’t worried.
Friday afternoon at the Bulgari Hotel, Beijing, one of the glossiest hotels in the capital city, the typically tranquil lobby lounge hummed with energy. Nearly every table was topped with a multi-tiered tray loaded with pastries and savory treats alongside flutes of Champagne. The midday party extends into the adjacent bar before spilling out onto the leafy, river-facing terrace. It’s a little early, but the vibe is what you would expect at a happy hour in Manhattan or an aperitivo in Milan—not a high-tea service.
China only loosened its Covid-related restrictions in January 2023. Before that, for nearly three years, there were stringent rules about leaving and entering the country. So for China’s travel industry, it was strictly a domestic market, and the last few years have taught many hotels that the Chinese population of 1.4 billion is enough.
“Thanks to our Chinese guests, we’ve remained fairly busy,” says Jackie Hoo, general manager of the 119-room Bulgari Beijing, noting that she only “needs less than 1 percent of the top-spending locals to flood the hotel.”
Even during the peak of the pandemic, the hotel’s sister property, the 82-room Bulgari Hotel, Shanghai, was bustling with local customers, general manager Matthias Terrettaz says. “I never changed anything. The music was on, the lights were on,” he explains. “2021 is our busiest year to-date. We weren’t running half-full or lowering our rates.”
Since Covid, China’s top hotels, like the Bulgari Beijing, have relied solely on the domestic market
Courtesy of Bulgari Hotel, Beijing,
But as Chinese travelers return to the skies, aiming for Europe and other parts of Asia, hotels are once again aiming to lure back foreign visitors. The Chinese government helped matters when they waived the visa requirement for nearly a dozen European nationals, as well as Malaysians and Australians. U.S. citizens are still required to apply for a visa but no longer need to have pre-arranged travel plans in order to get approved. Still, Hoo says “[travelers from] Italy, Spain, Germany, Malaysia, Switzerland—they’re not coming in as quickly as we want them to be.”
A point of friction is that without any foreign visitors, there was no need to speak in English for nearly three years. Even with amenities like a massive spa and a Michelin-starred restaurant on offer, preparing staff to welcome foreign visitors efficiently in English is a major focus, Hoo says.
But for new-to-the-market hotels, there’s been a decidedly more strategic approach. Singapore’s Banyan Group, which opened an armada of luxury hotels all over the mainland in the last two years (including Banyan Tree Dongguan Songshan Lake and Banyan Tree Suzhou Shishan), is relying on China’s cultural and natural cache to bring international tourism roaring back.
“For us in China, we watch and analyze the data on what drives international visitors, particularly the U.S.,” says Philip Ding, vice president and head of regional operations for Banyan Group in China. “I believe that cultural attractions are the key drivers. So we really focused on building these new products with that in mind.”
Chinese cultural experiences are an emphasis for new hotels.
To that end, Banyan Group is developing bundle promos that connect two or three of its hotels into one immersive trip. China’s high-speed trains make it easy, for instance, to do a triangle between Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.
“This way,” Ding says, “you get authentic Chinese culture plus beautiful scenery and amazing food.”
Meanwhile, Hyatt debuted Alila Shanghai and Park Hyatt Changsha in the Hunan province in 2024—now it’s updating on-property tech to match up with foreign systems (WeChat versus WhatsApp, for instance) and ensuring high English proficiency among its staff. And similar to Banyan Group’s approach, a rep from Hyatt says highlighting local culture, notably Chinese cuisine, is key to its attempt to entice visitors from the United States. For instance, at Lilan, the restaurant at Park Hyatt Changsha, you’ll find elevated takes on Hunan specialties like baked lotus leaves wrapped chicken, wok-fried pork neck, steamed tiger grouper, and pickled chili sauce. At Alila Shanghai’s flagship restaurant 500 Weihai Road, expect Shanghainese food that a doting grandma might prepare for her family: deep-fried Mandarin fish, deep-fried Halibut, and pan-seared tofu skin roll.
Unpretentious, unapologetically authentic Chinese cuisine is a major lure for international visitors.
Courtesy of Banyan Tree Suzhou Shishan
And although the return of foreign visitors may not have had a strong start, luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent, which pre-pandemic was sending 3,000 people to China annually, reports that interest is steadily rising. “In 2023, we were maybe getting one inquiry every couple of weeks,” says Gerald Hatherly, executive director of Abercrombie & Kent Northeast Asia. “Now, we’re getting them daily, and we’ll likely send about 500 travelers to China in 2024.”
Most of them are expressing interest in the types of things these hoteliers are working on: off-the-beaten destinations, cultural immersion, beautiful natural settings, and local cuisine.
“Out of nowhere, China is now A&K’s number 12 destination overall in terms of foreign bookings,” he says. “That’s a statement, because we really thought we’d have to write off China for years.”
