Syria’s Cham Palaces and Hotels Group, the largest travel agency in the Middle East, on Friday said it will open hotels in China to capitalize on the burgeoning tourism market there.
Cham plans to buy and renovate a string of local Chinese hotels, and in on track to set up a Beijing office by the end of 2005. The group will buy in Beijing first, in a bid to capture increased tourist traffic associated with the 2008 olympic games.
The company nominated China's rapidly-liberalizing economic policies and stable social order as elements in its investment decision. Cham will be the first Arab hotel chain on the Chinese mainland, and the Beijing hotels will primarily provide accommodation for business people from the Middle East.
The emergence of budget airlines, the expansion of China's inter-provincial road network, and the deregulation of computerized reservation systems in China are contributing to a hotel development boom throughout the world’s most populous country.
After opening its Beijing office, Cham plans to market Syria as a tourist destination to China’s estimated 40 million tourists. A tourism co-operation agreement signed between Syria and China in June 2004 could pave the way, leading to non-stop flights, shared tourism information, and joint promotional activities between the two nations.
The company has not yet identified a partner, and it will need to bear in mind the olympics only last for two weeks, with the associated risk of a property bust after the games end. Cham also says that finding good staff is a challenge, because of China’s rapid growth.
At present, Cham has 25 hotels in Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, and has regional head offices in the United States and France. The group also has branch offices in Lebanon and Egypt.
Cham is a collection of tourism businesses, which includes the group's Damascus-based tour operator, 600-strong rental car fleet, and a catering arm that runs out of Damascus airport. The company has no plans to expand these associated operations into China.