In 2018, China was the largest market for luxury hotels in the world registering year-over-year (YOY) growth of 18.3% in revenue. Continuing the momentum, China dominated the market in 2019, maintaining a YOY growth rate of 10.2%, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s industry report: ‘Global Luxury Hotels Market to 2023’, reveals that the outlook for the Chinese luxury hotel industry is anticipated to remain positive due to the growing number of inbound and domestic arrivals in the coming years. However, inbound growth in the business segment may be difficult to predict with the ongoing US-China trade war.

Ralph Hollister, Travel and Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, commented: “An increase in luxury hotel usage has been driven by the growing number of affluent Chinese consumers. Their demand for personalized and unique accommodation experiences has become more specific.

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Market growth is supported by an increase in demand for wellness retreats, red tourism and glamping. The country accounted for the highest share of luxury hotel rooms in the region in 2018 with 422,561 rooms. The market is expected to offer 658,248 luxury rooms by 2023.

Recent reports indicated that the number of high-net worth individuals (defined as those with personal investible financial assets of 6 million yuan ($864,804) or more) in China, is fast approaching one and a half million. This growth of high yielding citizens increases the likelihood that domestic tourism may be contributing to the lion share of revenue yielded by the luxury hotel sector in China.

Hollister continues. “In China, Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Intercontinental Hotels Group account for a major share of luxury hotels in pipeline. Hilton plans to build 1,000 hotels in China by 2025 which illustrates the profitability it associates with the Chinese market.

“Chinese destinations which regularly host large events provide favorable local investment policies and attract large influxes of leisure and business travelers will continue to be attractive investment opportunities for multi-national hotel chains.”