In August, the top 10 international premium hotel brands on the leaderboard were Sheraton, Hilton, Westin, Amani, Shangri-La, St. Regis, Marriott, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, and Luxury Collection.
In August 2015, according to incomplete statistics from the China Tourism Academy's MTA (迈点旅游研究院) on international premium hotel brand indices, the top 10 international premium hotel brands on the leaderboard for the month were Sheraton, Hilton, Westin, Amani, Shangri-La, St. Regis, Marriott, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental, and Luxury Collection.
I. Overview of the Development of the International Premium Hotel Industry in August
1. Latest Industry Developments
(1) On August 6, it was reported that domestic hotel giant Wanda Hotels & Resorts plans to launch its first mid-to-high-end hotel brand—Jinhua. However, the launch date has not yet been confirmed. Currently, Wanda operates three high-end hotel brands: Ruihua, Mandarin, and Jiahua.
(2) On August 10, it was reported that Hilton Worldwide recently released its second-quarter financial results. Its sales revenue increased by 9.6% year-on-year to $2.92 billion; comparable RevPAR (revenue per available room) rose by 5.2%; and overall occupancy rate increased from 78.4% to 79.2%. The 2015 profit forecast was revised upward from $0.79–$0.83 per share to $0.80–$0.84 per share.
(3) On August 19, Beijing Jinyu Sheraton Hotel announced that it has become China’s first hotel to be upgraded to a “Sheraton Grand.” As part of the “Sheraton 2020” initiative, Starwood plans to develop 50 Sheraton Grand hotels globally by the end of this year, increasing to 100 by early 2017. The first batch of 10 selected hotels includes, besides Beijing Jinyu Sheraton Hotel, Sheraton Grand Bengaluru, Sheraton Grand Dubai, and Sheraton Grand Edinburgh Park.
(4) On August 23, it was reported that InterContinental Hotels Group recently launched a new self-service robot at its Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley. This robot can independently move between floors and efficiently deliver snacks, toothbrushes, and other hotel amenities to guests.
II. Analysis of the Influence of International Premium Hotel Brands in August
1. Top 20 International Premium Hotel Brands Leaderboard
2. Summary of Brand Changes
Overall, compared to July, the brand indices of 44 international premium hotel brands increased this month, while those of 1 brand remained stable and 23 declined.
Specifically, in terms of month-on-month growth in brand index, Manhattan saw the most significant increase in August, rising by 211.11%; Marriott Deutschland ranked second with an increase of 182.98%; and the third to fifth places were taken by Amani, Raffles, and Gran Meliá, with increases of 130.72%, 105.70%, and 81.82%, respectively.
In terms of month-on-month decline in brand index, Andaz experienced the largest drop in August, falling by 48.48%; Peninsula and Wellesley ranked second and third with declines of 46.52% and 30.00%, respectively; ranking fourth and fifth on the decline list were Vistana International and Meliá, with decreases of 20.73% and 12.50%, respectively.
In August, among the changes in ranking on the international premium brand index leaderboard, Amani delivered the most impressive performance. This month, Amani’s brand index was 41.53, ranking 4th, up 15 places from last month’s 19th, making it the biggest gainer in the ranking. At the same time, its brand index increased by 130.72% month-on-month, achieving third place on the index growth leaderboard. The rise in Amani’s brand index and ranking this month was mainly due to a significant increase in its operational index, which stood at 29.57 this month, up 22.69 from last month. Additionally, Amani’s media index rose from 1.38 to 2.15, showing a notable improvement. Both search index and sentiment index also saw slight increases.
Appendix: August 2015 International Premium Hotel Brand Index Ranking List
III. Report Summary
1. Introduction to the Brand Development Report
The China Hotel Industry Brand Development Report is an analytical report exclusively released by the China Tourism Academy's MTA (迈点旅游研究院), based on MBI (Meadin Brand Index) data. This report conducts comparative analysis across eight brand categories: international premium hotels, domestic premium hotels, boutique hotels, full-service mid-scale hotels, limited-service mid-scale hotels, economy hotels, budget hotels, and serviced apartments.
Each report is divided into three sections: the first section provides an overview of the tourism and hotel industry for the month, covering the macroeconomic environment, newly issued tourism and hotel industry policies and their impacts, industry trends, and developments; the second section releases the monthly brand leaderboard and an overview analysis of index changes; the third section analyzes the brands that showed the greatest improvement and those receiving special attention on the leaderboard.
Note: The brand leaderboard regularly ranks over 100 monitored brands, and is published once a month, providing a clear reflection of monthly trends in brand index changes.
2. Introduction to Meadin Brand Index MBI
The Meadin Brand Index MBI (for hotel brands) is an exclusive indicator released by HowToTrip (迈点网) that reflects the influence of hotel brands on the internet and mobile internet during a certain period. It serves as a reference for enterprises and industry professionals in analyzing brand communication and marketing management. The MBI primarily evaluates brand influence across four dimensions: search index, sentiment index, operational index, and media index. This is a free data analysis service provided by HowToTrip based on its independently developed “Meadin Brand Index Monitoring System” (MBIMS).
3. Calculation Formula for Meadin Brand Index MBI
MBI = a*SI + b*PI + c*OI + d*MI
Note: MBI refers to the Meadin Brand Index data for a specific brand; a, b, c, d refer to the weighting coefficients in the system; SI (Search Index) is the search index; PI (Public Sentiment Index) is the sentiment index; OI (Operation Index) is the operational index; MI (Media Index) is the media index.
Note: Enterprises or individuals may use brand index data to monitor and forecast brand development, but the Meadin Brand Index cannot be equated entirely with actual brand development.
Search Index: The weighted sum of positive searches for brand keywords on major search engines over a certain period.
Sentiment Index: The user review sentiment for hotels under this brand over a certain period.
Operation Index: The operational performance of the hotel brand on the internet and mobile internet during a certain period, such as official website traffic, app downloads, and Sina Weibo search volume.
Media Index: The number of news reports related to the brand keywords from 126 media outlets (including 102 mass media and 24 industry media) over a certain period.