Interstate signs agreement to manage hotels in China
19 April 2010
Interstate Hotels & Resorts announced that it has signed a joint venture agreement with Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Company Limited (“Jin Jiang Hotels”), Chinese hotel operator and developer, to create a platform to pioneer third-party hotel management in China. The joint venture, called Interstate China Hotels & Resorts, has already entered into discussions with prospective clients.
Interstate China Hotels & Resorts will open an office in Shanghai and has begun a search for a chief executive officer to lead the joint venture. “We will build a similar platform to ones we have successfully established in Moscow, Mexico and, most recently, India,” said Thomas F. Hewitt, Interstate’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We have already begun putting the infrastructure in place to support our planned growth in China, one of the most dynamic hotel markets in the world, and we continue to expand our existing third-party business in the Americas and Europe.”
Mr. Yu Minliang, chairman of Jin Jiang Hotels, noted, “We believe this will be a milestone in the development of the services sector in Shanghai and China. Interstate will be the first independent hotel management company in China, which will give it a competitive advantage over companies that follow in its footsteps. We expect the Sino/U.S. collaboration will be mutually beneficial to both parties.”
