The CEO of IHG Hotels and Resorts, Elie Maalouf, expressed his optimism on China's market potential amid the country's efforts to roll out measures to boost domestic demand and attract overseas visitors.
As the global hospitality company marks its 50-year milestone in Greater China, its top executive said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday that the company remains optimistic about the future and will strengthen its presence in this vital market.
"We're very proud to have completed 50 years in Greater China, but we're looking forward decades and decades ahead. China is the second-largest economy in the world. It's the second-largest population in the world. It's a very large domestic travel market, the second- or third-largest outbound travel market. So there's really no way to be a great hotel global company like we are and not be very strong in China," said Maalouf.
He added that China's visa-free policies have boosted travel both into and out of China.
"It has affected in both ways. One, there's been a surge of inbound travel from nearby markets, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia. We even hear people from the Middle East coming, not so much from North America yet, a few more Europeans. And then there's also been outbound Chinese travelers, because the visa-free is reciprocal, to, again, the same countries, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Middle East," said Maalouf.
The CEO also stressed that the demand for hotels in China remains stable.
"We see that domestic travel is pretty stable at the mid to upper levels. Hotels are busy. Occupancy is pretty stable. I'd say that room rates are down, and we saw that in 2024, impacted a little bit by consumer confidence. But the total volume of travel continues to grow, which is encouraging," he said.
Maalouf said he has also observed an interesting shift in Chinese consumer preferences toward travel in a trend that spans generations.
"What we're seeing is people preferring experiences over products, over goods. And so we see that also in China. Many hard goods sales are down, but experiences are up, apparel purchases are up, travel is up. So people are choosing experiences over products. And younger people are more interested in traveling and they are prioritizing travel over other spending. But then at other end of the age curve, you have the older people. The 'silver economy.' They have time. They've saved a lot, and they want to spend some of it, and they're traveling too," the executive said.
IHG CEO optimistic about China's tourism market potential
