Riding on its economic growth, Ningbo is drawing more local and international corporations to the city, stimulating demand for hotels and serviced suites.
The pace of growth for international hotels was nearly dormant in 2010 and last year, but seven new hotels with 3,000 rooms are opening this year. These include the Westin Ningbo, opened in January, and the Pan Pacific, InterContinental, Howard Johnson and Park Hyatt, which will open later this year.
The 310-room Westin Ningbo is located in the heart of the city centre. The property is branded as an upscale business hotel, with the majority of its guests coming from corporate meeting groups, government events and leisure travel, according to Sara Liu, its director of sales and marketing.
She says hotels in Ningbo may have a tough time due to the opening of more new hotels, but in the long run the whole industry will benefit as this will attract more meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) business.
'Ningbo needs more international four-star and five-star hotels to raise the hospitality level of the city to support its development,' Liu says.
A spokesman for the 333-room Ningbo Marriott Hotel, which opened in June 2008, says the opening of new hotels is putting some stress on manpower availability. 'Today's candidates strive to be successful and insist on joining the best company, so we need to communicate with potential candidates the benefits of working with us,' he says.