DEMAND is soaring for new basic hotels throughout China. Mr Robert Chambers, a director of hotels and leisure at Colliers Jardine, believes most construction in the future will be for two-and three-star facilities to cater for the growing domestic market. Until now, foreign developers have concentrated mainly on hotels in the four-and five-star range. But Mr Chambers was confident the trend was changing. ''There is a strong indication that two-to three-star hotel developments will be the thing of the future,'' he said. ''There has been a great deal of interest from overseas investors going into China looking for opportunities to get into that market. ''We are very much involved in these types of developments at the moment.'' Mr Chambers said China's economic growth was leading to more local people needing to travel to do business. But the top range hotels - built for the rich foreign investors in the 1980s - did not appeal to the average Chinese businessman. He added: ''This market is specifically catering for the Chinese person travelling within China. ''They cannot afford, or don't want, to stay in one of the four-or five-star properties. ''The hotels which are being built are Chinese hotels for Chinese people. ''They are offering the facilities and services required by the Chinese businessman.'' Foreign-backed projects for smaller scale ventures would also help the tourism industry. Analysts believe more are needed to cope with the growing number of visitors to the country, especially in areas where there is a shortage of five-star hotels. According to Mr Chambers, there is also great potential to upgrade existing lower class hotels. ''In terms of accommodation infrastructure, there is a great need for major refurbishment and for new accommodation in the two-to three-star market. ''That is where the demand is coming from,'' he said.
