Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) yesterday signed a contract to manage its first resort hotel in China, in addition to existing contracts.
The 151-room Millennium Hangzhou Resort is situated in a forested hillside in Jiuxi Ping Feng or Nine Creek Mountain in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
“This is in line with M&C’s strategy of expanding its footprint in China by owning, or managing hotels in the world’s fastest growing economy and potentially the largest global tourist market,” said M&C Chairman, Kwek Leng Beng
Since its entry into China in 2006, M&C has expanded its footprint with six other properties, namely the Millennium Hotel Chengdu, Millennium Harbourview Hotel Xiamen, Millennium Hotel Wuxi, Copthorne Hotel Qingdao and the luxury Grand Millennium Beijing Hotel. It also operates the 329-room serviced apartment complex Millennium Residences Beijing Fortune Plaza.
Over the next three years, M&C will continue its expansion into China with management contracts at the M Hotel Chengdu in Sichuan Province (194 rooms), and Millennium Fuqing in Fujian Province (510 rooms). M&C also announced that it will also expand in Taiwan soon when Millennium Vee Hotel Taichung opens there next month.
At the signing ceremony, Kwek also disclosed that M&C was committed to refurbishing its major properties as part of its global strategy to stay ahead of the competition. M&C expects to spend more than US$300 million in refurbishing several of its global properties.
“M&C’s refurbishment plans together with other asset management initiatives will help the Group sustain and improve on our strong financial performance,” he said.