Langham Hotels, the hotel arm of Great Eagle Holdings of which you had perhaps never heard, plans to open 50 hotels in China within the next ten years.
Langham is looking to invest about US$1.5 billion in ten hotels and manage 40 hotels out of the envisaged 50 hotels. Which shows clearly the two areas in which hotels operate. First as owned hotels, then as franchised hotels which share the same standards and name but are owned and financed by some other organization.
The company has announced that it is on the verge of sealing the agreements for five developments in key gateway cities in China.
4Hoteliers states that currently, Langham manages one hotel in Shanghai while three hotels, two in Beijing and one in Guangzhou, are under development.
Great Eagle Holdings, is a Hong Kong company where the principal activity is hotel operation. There are currently seven properties with over 4,000 rooms, including Langham Hotel and Eaton Hotel in Hong Kong and five luxury hotels in London, Toronto, Boston, Melbourne and Auckland.
The Group is also involved in leasing of properties and furnished apartments held for investment potential, which makes the extension into China logical and comprehensible.