Home Inns is the Howard Johnson of China and theygave an interestingview of Chinese spending patterns.
“We didn’t see a very significant impact by the economy, global economy or the slow-down of the Chinese economy…Forthe first months of the fourth quarter, we are still seeing the same trend the third quarter.”
“Four to five star hotels occupancy and revenue have gone down since August. I think mainly it’s caused by a globaleconomy… and also the very strict Olympics visa issue… I think in 2009 the high-end; like four, five-star hotels willbe impacted by the high-end customer reductions. But budget hotels… still haven’t seen any… significant change in themarket.”
In the U.S., we might refer to this as the Wal-Mart trade but what it means is that the high end is suffering whilebudget brands are thriving.
