Hilton to Manage Country Garden Hotels in China and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Leading today’s roundup, the world’s second-biggest hotelier is forging a partnership with China’s top real estate developer by sales to manage hotels across the mainland. Also in the headlines, the former chairman of Anbang Insurance is appealing a fraud conviction that sealed the downfall of one of China’s most aggressive overseas real estate investors. And there’s news from Myanmar, where investors may have misjudged the appetite for hotel rooms, and India where co-working leader WeWork is eyeing expansion into new cities. Read on for all these stories and more.

Hilton Partners with Country Garden for China Hotels

Hilton has entered into a strategic partnership with Country Garden Hotels Group to manage the Chinese property developer’s hotels primarily under its DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn brands. The partnership will include an initial six hotels owned by Country Garden now trading or in the pipeline as Hilton-branded properties.

New hotels included in the partnership deal include DoubleTree by Hilton Hainan Lingshui, DoubleTree by Hilton Guangzhou Zengcheng and Hilton Zhengzhou Xingyang. Country Garden has an existing portfolio of over 120 hotels in trading, under construction and in planning. Hilton currently has 470 hotels either trading or under development in China, with 266 being actively under construction. Read more>>

Anbang’s Wu Xiaohui to Appeal 18-Year Jail Sentence

Wu Xiaohui, former chairman and general manager of Anbang Insurance Group, will appeal the court verdict that sentenced him to 18 years in jail on May 10, Wu’s lawyer said Wednesday. Wu was also deprived of his political rights for four years, and had RMB 10.5 billion ($1.6 billion) of his assets confiscated, according to the court sentence.

The court found that since January 2011, Wu, having concealed his shareholder status, used Anbang and other companies as a financing platform and directed others to cheat the insurance regulator to gain approval and extension of insurance products with fake documents. Read more>>

Myanmar Grapples with Hotel Glut as Tourism Falls Short

Myanmar is currently grappling with hotel oversupply as a swathe of properties continue to open while tourist arrivals fall short of the country’s target. Su Su Tin, managing director of Sanctum Inle Resort and Yangon Excelsior Hotel – slated to open in July – said the limited room supply during the sudden tourist boom between 2011-2013 triggered a surge in interest from investors looking to fill the gap.

The influx in investment was further fuelled by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism’s (MoHT) announcement in its 2013 tourism master plan to attract 7.5 million international visitors by 2020. However, Yangon International Airport welcomed 5.9 million passengers in 2017, of which 66 per cent were international. While this represents an 8.5 per cent increase year-on-year, it is far from the predicted growth of arrivals. Read more>>

WeWork India Eyes Growth in Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad

The coworking industry in India is expected to grow to 10 million square feet by 2020. Shared workspace giant WeWork entered India with a launch in Bengaluru, and, in its short lifespan, has already established itself in three metro cities. Now, it is eyeing other cities across the country with a high potential for collaborative workspaces.

WeWork India, the Indian arm of the New York-based coworking unicorn WeWork, launched in India in association with the Embassy Group. It is currently headed by Karan Virwani, CWeO, WeWork India. “The growth trajectory of WeWork in India signifies the increasing market demand and we are trying to meet the requirements of more India creators. We plan to enter new markets like Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad next year,” said Karan Virwani, CWeO, WeWork India. Read more>>

China’s Jatenergy to Open Kid Centre in Zhengzhou Mall

Monetising Chinese retail shoppers is turning from a distribution to direct shopper experience for cross-border goods company Jatenergy. Jatenergy has signed a binding agreement to open a retail outlet, which it intends to call ‘JAT Maternity and Children’ within the 80,000 square metre Hui Yue Shopping Mall, to open “in the next few months.”

Jatenergy says the kid’s section of the shopping complex will be the largest indoor children’s themed shopping centre in Zhengzhou spanning 18,000 square metres over three levels, called “Kid’s City”. The expansive Chinese-based company has said it intends to open a “cornerstone retail outlet” within the shopping complex, that caters for mums and children within ‘Hui Yue Kid’s City’, a dedicated “one-stop shopping destination” in the capital city of Henan province. Read more>>

Australia to Invest $15B in New Airport City in Western Sydney

Federal, state and local governments will invest A$20 billion ($15 billion) into a new airport city in Badgerys Creek, fast-tracking infrastructure for Western Sydney’s new airport precinct touted as the state’s “newest economic zone”.

The significant public funding, focused on a 10,000-hectare greenfield site around the new airport, will encourage jobs in health, education, transport and logistics in western Sydney and could create more than 120,00 jobs in the region. Read more>>

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