A single membership card, with two "identities," allowing the enjoyment of benefits and discounts from both memberships at the same time — this vision has been realized first by the two hotel brands, Yuan Hotels and City Celebrity Hotels.
On September 12, the strategic cooperation signing ceremony between Yuan Hotels Group and City Celebrity Hotels Group, as well as the celebration of Yuan Shangqi Membership surpassing 1.5 million members, was held at Zhejiang Sanli Yuanming Mansion Hotel. Attendees included Du Juexiang, Secretary-General of the Zhejiang Hotel Industry Association; Chen Miaolin, Chairman of Yuan Tourism Group; Chen Canrong, President of Yuan Tourism Group; Chen Miaoqiang, General Manager of Yuan Hotels Group; Tan Shousheng, Chairman of the Board of City Celebrity Hotels Group; and Zhou Qian, Vice President of City Celebrity Hotels Group. The two sides explored brand alliance marketing, breaking traditional marketing models and building a hotel operation platform.
The year 2013 was referred to in the industry as the "cold winter" for the high-end hotel market. Since the introduction of the central government's "Eight-point Regulation" policy at the beginning of the year, various types of consumption at high-end hotels have sharply declined, forcing the traditional hotel industry to adapt. As one of the largest hotel groups in China, Yuan Hotels Group has also been seeking a breakthrough.
Chen Miaoqiang, General Manager of Yuan Hotels Group, delivered the opening speech. He stated that under the new industry landscape, hotel development requires complementarity and innovation, and brand alliance marketing represents a new starting point — especially in the "Internet era," where it will become a trend. This alliance differs from other loosely formed brand partnerships, as it is based on information sharing and centered around a marketing system. It realizes system data integration between both parties, optimizes guest experience, and truly achieves resource sharing and complementary advantages.
In terms of spatial strategic layout, Yuan Hotels currently covers regions including East China, North China, Central China, South China, Northeast China, and Southwest China, having largely achieved nationwide coverage. With the strategic alliance with City Celebrity Hotels Group, more effective outreach will be established in regions such as Southwest and Central-South China.
"Yuan Hotels Group is our crucial strategic partner. The signing between City Celebrity and Yuan Hotels Group is an essential step in the era of big data and collaboration in the 21st century," said Zhou Qian, Vice President of City Celebrity Hotels Group, during her speech. She added that the strong partnership between the two, through resource restructuring and positive interaction, will surely achieve a win-win development where 1+1>2.
At the signing ceremony, Fu Quanyong, General Manager of Zhejiang Jinshanzi Network Technology Co., Ltd., and Zhuang Wenjin, Executive General Manager of the Operations Center of City Celebrity Hotels Group, officially signed the strategic cooperation agreement on behalf of their respective companies. Both parties will make full use of technologies such as the Internet and big data analysis to build a hotel operation platform. They aim to create integrated online and offline operations in areas such as membership services and privileges, room bookings via proprietary customer channels, regional joint sales, and brand promotion collaborations. Currently, Yuan Hotels Group, commissioned by Jinshanzi Technology, along with the technical department of City Celebrity Hotels Group, has completed data integration for systems such as membership and reservation centers. Next, they will gradually complete data integration for channels such as official websites and apps, providing guests with more bookable hotels and more attractive promotional offers.
Additionally, to reward loyal customers, a membership club — Yuan Shangqi Club — has seen its membership exceed 1.5 million. Over the past decade, Yuan Shangqi has continuously innovated and strived to deliver personalized services. Currently, the Yuan Shangqi Club and the "Mingren Club" platform of City Celebrity Hotels Group together have gathered over 2 million members. A guest who holds a membership with either Yuan Hotels or City Celebrity Hotels can automatically obtain the corresponding membership level with the other brand without re-registration, enjoying the associated membership benefits and privileges. In this way, a single membership card holds two "identities."
"From an Internet perspective, customer sources belong to the world and to everyone. Only through cooperation can we achieve mutual success. As more alliance members join, this platform may become a shared electronic platform for mid- to high-end hotels across China in the future," Chen Miaoqiang said in an exclusive interview with major media outlets.
Industry insiders believe that the brand alliance between the two major groups to build a hotel operation platform will enrich their respective hotel offerings, optimize user experience, make business trips, vacations, and travel more convenient for guests in different cities, expand customer reach, attract more visitors, and create a "same-city effect" of regional tourism market complementarity. This will open up a new paradigm of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes both online and offline.
After the ceremony, Chairman Chen Miaolin and Chairman Tan Shousheng, representing their respective companies, celebrated the successful partnership by popping champagne.