On May 8, 2019, mid-scale hotel brand Qianxun revealed that it would provide an industry-wide 100 million yuan “Ride the Wind” Fund to collaborate with suitable hotel owners in jointly creating new mid-scale hotels. A month earlier, Qianxun’s parent company, Shell Youjia, announced the completion of an equity acquisition backed by the Chinese arm of OYO — the global unicorn in the hospitality industry, OYO China Investment Co., Ltd. (based in Shanghai), with both parties stating that Qianxun will continue to operate independently.
As a rising star in the industry, Qianxun has been highly active since its launch. In its first month, it expanded to ten cities, simultaneously entering markets such as Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Wuhan, Hefei, Taizhou, and Jining, while launching three products — Qianxun Qingshe, Qianxun Hotel, and Qianxun S — catering to different styles and room scales.
Today, Qianxun once again announced that it will provide a 100 million yuan “Ride the Wind” Fund to the industry, joining hands with hotel owners committed to building new mid-scale hotels to refine product quality and enhance operations and services.
Zou Weigang, CEO of Qianxun, stated that intensifying competition is driving mid-scale hotels toward a more premium direction, thereby promoting continuous improvement in the industry’s products and services, and cultivating consumers’ higher-level spiritual and cultural needs. The Qianxun brand is creating a new mid-scale hotel tailored to China’s emerging travel accommodation landscape, focusing on inheriting Chinese culture through a national trend (guochao) approach, meeting the higher-tier experience demands of end consumers (C-end), and also introducing a completely new approach from the perspective of property owners (B-end). It has brought in a sales support team poached from top-tier internet companies such as BAT and TMD to help each newly opened hotel develop full-city corporate clients, safeguard the growth period, and boost performance metrics.
“Within one month of listing, the occupancy rate hit 90%, and RevPAR surpassed 200 yuan, whereas last year the annual RevPAR didn’t even reach 100 yuan,” said Li Guo, the manager of Suzhou Qianxun Hotel. Since March, when owner Mr. Ye and Qianxun jointly upgraded the hotel, the data in April soared. Li Guo noted that the renovation mainly focused on cultural and stylistic packaging, and Qianxun’s online and offline marketing also significantly boosted demand.
Zou Weigang stated that the “Ride the Wind” Fund aims to partner with entrepreneurial allies to help 300 economy hotels complete stock upgrades within the year, using new business thinking to create new mid-scale hotels and drive the overall advancement of the industry.