Shanghai, Dec. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HNA Hotel Group and Huazhu Hotel Group signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement at 14:00 on December 19, 2014, at the Shanghai Poly Grand Theater. Under the guidance of this strategic agreement, the two parties will actively explore and experiment with sharing membership resources, integrating room inventory, complementing marketing channels, and jointly promoting brands, working together to create a new model for a China hotel alliance.
Signing Ceremony
Signing Representatives
Group Photo of Hotel Representatives
As two of the world's top 100 hotel groups, HNA Hotel Group and Huazhu Hotel Group have officially joined hands today. Guided by the principles of openness, sharing, and mutual benefit, they will fully integrate their superior resources in customers, products, channels, and operations, ultimately achieving synergistic development.
Since its establishment in 2005, Huazhu Hotel Group has rapidly grown into one of the fastest-growing hotel groups in China and has been successfully listed on the NASDAQ. With over 1,800 hotels in more than 280 cities across China, in recent years, Huazhu has built multiple hotel brands based on HanTing, providing guests with a high level of comfort and a diverse range of accommodation options.
HNA Hotel Group is a professional international hotel management company under HNA Group, with recognized expertise in the hotel operation and management industry, ranking among the top five hotel groups in China. Since its establishment in 1997, HNA Hotel Group has fully leveraged its advantages in capital, management, talent, and technology. With its outstanding service philosophy and professional management system, it has earned high trust and praise from property owners and customers. Additionally, HNA Group has acquired a stake in NH Hotels, Europe’s third-largest hotel group, becoming its largest shareholder, and will establish a joint venture in China to jointly develop and operate hotel businesses. Its portfolio includes premium hotel brands such as BOUTON, Tangla, and others, mid-range brands like Home Inn, Holiday Inn Express, and Ibis, as well as economy brands including CitiGO and other youthful hotel brands. It also operates the high-end Club Vac Joyview Vacation Club.
In October of this year,Mr. Ji Qi, founder of Huazhu Hotel Group, and Mr. Bai Haibo, chairman and CEO of HNA Hotel Group, had their first meeting, engaging in candid communication and exchange of views on issues of mutual concern. During the discussion, both parties discovered that HNA Hotel Group and Huazhu Hotel Group have a natural complementary relationship in terms of their foundational attributes. As a representative of internet-based hotels, Huazhu has clear advantages and extensive experience in internet-driven hotel marketing, customer loyalty programs, and mid-range hotel operations. HNA Hotel Group, on the other hand, excels in the operation of high-end hotels and in leveraging the modern service industry ecosystem built by HNA Group. Therefore, under these premises, collaboration between the two parties became a natural and inevitable outcome.
To accelerate the implementation of their cooperation, after thorough communication and mutual understanding, the two parties agreed on the cooperation agreement signed today. This agreement outlines deep collaboration in four areas: membership sharing within frequent guest programs, reciprocal free room exchanges based on vacant room inventory, cross-marketing through each other’s high-quality sales channels, and joint brand marketing utilizing each other’s premium media resources. Guided by the principles of openness, breakthrough, and innovation, the partnership aims to break down all artificial and technical barriers, forming a hotel alliance of tangible value that delivers convenient, flexible, and exceptional accommodation experiences for all guests.