Friday afternoon at the Bulgari Hotel, Beijing, one of the glossiest hotels in the capital city, the typically tranquil lobby lounge hummed with energy. Nearly every table was topped with a multi-tiered tray loaded with pastries and savory treats alongside flutes of Champagne. The midday party extends into the adjacent bar before spilling out onto the leafy, river-facing terrace. It’s a little early, but the vibe is what you would expect at a happy hour in Manhattan or an aperitivo in Milan—not a high-tea service.
China only loosened its Covid-related restrictions in January 2023. Before that, for nearly three years, there were stringent rules about leaving and entering the country. So for China’s travel industry, it was strictly a domestic market, and the last few years have taught many hotels that the Chinese population of 1.4 billion is enough.
“Thanks to our Chinese guests, we’ve remained fairly busy,” says Jackie Hoo, general manager of the 119-room Bulgari Beijing, noting that she only “needs less than 1 percent of the top-spending locals to flood the hotel.”
Even during the peak of the pandemic, the hotel’s sister property, the 82-room Bulgari Hotel, Shanghai, was bustling with local customers, general manager Matthias Terrettaz says. “I never changed anything. The music was on, the lights were on,” he explains. “2021 is our busiest year to-date. We weren’t running half-full or lowering our rates.”
But as Chinese travelers return to the skies, aiming for Europe and other parts of Asia, hotels are once again aiming to lure back foreign visitors. The Chinese government helped matters when they waived the visa requirement for nearly a dozen European nationals, as well as Malaysians and Australians. U.S. citizens are still required to apply for a visa but no longer need to have pre-arranged travel plans in order to get approved. Still, Hoo says “[travelers from] Italy, Spain, Germany, Malaysia, Switzerland—they’re not coming in as quickly as we want them to be.”
A point of friction is that without any foreign visitors, there was no need to speak in English for nearly three years. Even with amenities like a massive spa and a Michelin-starred restaurant on offer, preparing staff to welcome foreign visitors efficiently in English is a major focus, Hoo says.
But for new-to-the-market hotels, there’s been a decidedly more strategic approach. Singapore’s Banyan Group, which opened an armada of luxury hotels all over the mainland in the last two years (including Banyan Tree Dongguan Songshan Lake and Banyan Tree Suzhou Shishan), is relying on China’s cultural and natural cache to bring international tourism roaring back.
“For us in China, we watch and analyze the data on what drives international visitors, particularly the U.S.,” says Philip Ding, vice president and head of regional operations for Banyan Group in China. “I believe that cultural attractions are the key drivers. So we really focused on building these new products with that in mind.”