
Louvre Hotels' Campanile and JinJiang Inn signed a partnership to tap into each other's feeder markets.
Louvre Hotels which so far has three hotels in China, has set an objective to open 25 midscale or luxury hotels in the Shanghai region within five years.Louvre Chairman Pierre-Frédéric Roulot, Didier Laporte, Marketing Products & Internet Director of Louvre Hotels Group, and Mr. Li Yukai, Vice President of Jin Jiang spoke at a news conference in a Campanile near Paris' Chinatown, where Louvre Hotels and JinJiang unveiled new co-branded budget hotel "Campanile & JinJiang", the result of a branding partnership sealed in November to attract clients both in France and China.The move follows initiatives from international hoteliers such as Hilton Hotels and Resorts (with their Huanying programme) to tap into the Chinese feeder market by catering to Chinese consumers' specific tastes.The brand partnership with JinJiang encompases 15 Campanile hotels in five French cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Nice) and 15 JinJiang Inn hotels in the three Chinese cities (Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing).At the time being, Jin Jiang Inn customers are now able to make reservations for French Campanile hotels from China, mainly using Jin Jiang Inn’s website, and can benefit from specific offers. During the press conference, Mr. Yukai stated through an interpreter that both companies will share distribution channels, and that the commissions will be largely inferior to OTA commissions.During an interview with Hospitality-on, Mr. Yukai reports that Starwood Capital was the bridge when they chose Campanile as a partner in the west. The reported 94 hotels in the pipeline (all in Chana), averaging 11,280 rooms. Cultural exchange27 middle and high level representatives from the Chinese group have come from China to attend the ceremony and two managers will take partin a four-week exchange programme in France. The French hotels will provide Chinese brochures, signs, telephone assistance, buffet food and TV channels. The JinJiang Inn hotels will have similar services targeted to European guests, such as French coffee, croissants and TV5 (in addition to BBC and CNN, as foreign television channels)."Within four to six months we will decide if we extend the partnership to a larger number of hotels," Mr. Roulot stated. He also stated that there would we the possibility to extend the partnership to Golden Tulip, but it would be too soon to talk about a collaboration.