Economy Hotels in China: A Glocalized Innovative Hospitality Sector

While economy or budget hotels have been popular in western countries since the end of the Second World War, they have only emerged as a sector in their own right in China since the mid-1990s. Indeed, as a new service industry sector, economy hotels in China demonstrate important characteristics which can be used to illustrate and help explain China’s current economic progress more generally.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the economy hotel sector in China. It covers macro-level social-cultural, economic, environmental, geographic and development issues, alongside micro-level consideration of the budget hotel companies’ innovative management and marketing procedures, business expansion strategies, general hotel management and operation issues, as well as an analysis of some leading entrepreneurs in the sector, and in-depth case studies examining the most successful economy hotel companies in China. Huang and Sun argue that the rapid development of budget hotels in China demonstrates how, under the influence of globalisation, Chinese businesses have become more innovative as they apply successful western business models to China. In turn, they show that the China model is fundamentally different in terms of its driving force, which lies purely in its domestic travel market, fuelled by China’s continued economic growth. There is therefore much to explore about both China’s market situation and business practices in the economy hotel sector and this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of China’s new business environment.

Based on extensive fieldwork and investigation, Economy Hotels in China will be welcomed by students and scholars of tourism, hospitality, business studies and Chinese studies, but it will also appeal to practitioners of business management in these sectors who are interested in China’s development and business opportunities in China.

Songshan (Sam) Huang is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management in the University of South Australia Business School.

Xuhua (Michael) Sun is a PhD scholar in the School of Management at the University of South Australia Business School.