Part 1: A Hotel Group in Expansion Mode
The rise of China as an economic superpower has without doubt been one of the hot topics of the last decade. While the Western world continues to grapple with its ongoing economic crisis, the Chinese powerhouse continues full-steam ahead on its course towards further growth and development. ‘Full steam ahead’ could also be the motto for Gloria Hotel & Resort, one of China’s leading hotel management groups.
Instead, the group’s A Good Place to Be! slogan is well-known to many Chinese consumers

as Gloria has left a distinct mark on the Chinese hospitality landscape over the past decades.
2012 marks the 20th Anniversary of Gloria Hotels & Resorts and in many ways the story of Gloria Hotels & Resorts stands for the many things that China has moved towards as a country over the past 20 years. Development, openness and hospitality, all flavored with a distinct international yet resiliently Chinese outlook are the hallmarks of Gloria Hotels & Resorts as much as they are the hallmark of modern China in the year 2012.
What underscores Gloria’s strength as a Chinese hotel management group with an international outlook is its understanding of Chinese traveler expectations and requirements, coupled with a great understanding of what it means to manage first-class and deluxe properties at international standards.
Operationally, this translates into great hotel locations in key cities across China, a diversity of top Chinese and Western food franchises that cater to Chinese and non-Chinese tastes alike, as well as hotel hardware that need not hide behind the facilities and amenities of international hotel brands. Hardware of course isn’t everything. With the founding of its own Gloria Training Center and Gloria Hotel Management School, the Gloria group is working hard to ensure that it nurtures its own talent and that all services and products are delivered with both Chinese flavor and international perspective.

When the group was founded in 1992, the Chinese hotel industry was still in the very early stages of developing into a full-fledged service industry. At the time, Gloria Hotels & Resorts was one of only a few companies venturing into the highly promising but difficult hospitality market in China. The group originally started off with its 4-star Gloria Plaza Hotel brand and slowly but steadily developed as a hotel management group, with most of its properties originally located in Northern China. Other Chinese destinations, such as Shanghai followed suit and Gloria Hotels & Resorts was one of the first hotel management groups to open up the resort market on Southern China’s Hainan Island, also known as the ‘Hawaii of the Orient’.
Gloria’s core brands – “Gloria Grand Hotels , Gloria Plaza Hotels, Gloria Resort Hotels” have successfully stood the test of time and continue to enjoy a great degree of trust in the minds of Chinese consumers. However, this year will also see the launch of two new Gloria brands, the ‘GtEL’, a mid-scale business design hotel brand and ‘The Merlin’, Gloria’s luxury boutique hotel brand, which will make its debut in Shanghai this summer.
With a portfolio of over twenty 4-star Gloria Plaza Hotels and 5-star Gloria Grand Hotels, a fast growing portfolio of 4- and 5-star resorts and almost 20 new projects in the pipeline, the group’s rapid expansion across all of China is well on its way.

In addition to its domestic expansion plan, Gloria is also eyeing the European market in countries such as Germany or the UK, where it is currently looking for partner hotels for its Affiliate Member Hotel program. The rise of China as a global economic superpower has brought with it the rise of a huge Chinese middle class, which is eager to travel and explore the world in its own way and with its own expectations and lodging requirements. Gloria’s Affiliate Member Hotel program was conceived as a support program for independent, stand-alone hotels that want to capitalize on this rapidly growing Chinese outbound market and at the same time utilize Gloria Hotels & Resorts’ understanding and expertise in reaching Chinese travelers. Given these strategic considerations it seems that Gloria’s executive team is employing all the right instincts when it comes to thinking local and acting global. Hotel management companies such as Gloria Hotels & Resorts attest to the notion that China’s homegrown hospitality sector is not to be dismissed and will undoubtedly help shape future trends in traveling and lodging.

In the next part of our China Feature: Gloria Hotels & Resorts we will talk to Willie Ooi, Executive Vice-President of Gloria Hotels & Resorts about his thoughts on China’s hospitality industry and the future of his group.
some Impressions: