The Chinese metropolis is hot on the heels of the capital, Beijing, in the race for hotel investment: the two cities have 24 and 25 projects under development respectively. In Shanghai, fourteen are already under construction, mostly in the four- and five-star categories. Demand for top-of-the-range accommodation is so strong that hotels in this segment are reporting an annual occupancy rate of around 80 %. All the more reason to be covetous, given that saturation point seems a long way off.
The world's major hotel chains are making no mistake, including Conrad, the Hilton Group's luxury brand, which has just signed a management contract to open in 2008 in the Xintiandi complex. This vast 52-hectare development in the heart of the city will also be home to the HanTang Jumeirah Shanghai, a 338-room hotel managed by the Dubai-based Jumeirah hotel group.
More immediately, the planned opening this summer of the Millenium Hongqiao Shanghai, located around ten minutes from the airport of the same name, will join the recent establishments of chains such as Le Méridien, which opened its first unit in mainland China, the She Shan Shanghai, at the end of 2005, and Shangri-La, whose establishment in the Pudong district added an extra tower a few months ago...
