Minor Hotels partners with Funyard Hotels & Resorts to develop projects in China

Minor Hotels has announced a hotel management joint venture agreement with China’s Funyard Hotels & Resorts.

The announcement follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two groups in January 2021 and officially comes into force on June 29, 2021.

As a leader in experiential luxury travel, Minor Hotels is expanding in the Chinese market at a crucial time, ensuring that the joint venture is offering the new kind of sophisticated product to meet the evolving needs of the domestic traveller. Owing to the breadth and depth of Minor’s portfolio, the new business entity with Funyard Hotels & Resorts is uniquely placed to offer a wide variety of products, ranging from classic luxury to serviced apartments to experiential brands, each time creating a personalised product for a specific consumer niche.

Among the brands that Minor Hotels is planning to bring to China as part of the partnership are the Millennial-minded Avani; design-centric nhow; NH Collection with its unique brand of eclectic elegance in landmark buildings; and Oaks, a serviced apartment and resort accommodation chain predominantly operating in Australia and New Zealand. Oaks will debut in China with the opening of a property in Hangzhou.

Bangkok-headquartered Minor Hotels is one of the top 20 largest hotels companies with more than 540 properties globally. The group’s portfolio of luxury brands includes the home-grown, experience-centric Anantara; Tivoli, a heritage European brand dating to 1933 and offering comfortable luxury at the most prestigious addresses across Europe; and the renowned Spanish hotel brands NH Collection, NH and nhow. Anantara already has a Chinese presence, in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan and Guiyang, Guizhou, with Chengdu Tivoli in the final stages of pre-opening.

“Growing our presence in China has always been one of the top priorities for Minor Hotels,” reveals Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels. “The strategic partnership with Funyard Hotels & Resorts is the perfect opportunity for us to bring quality hotel experiences and exclusive lifestyle products to Chinese consumers just in time for the post-epidemic travel boom. We look forward to creating outstanding travel experiences across China together.”

“We were quick to notice a growing demand for high-quality hospitality and tourism projects, with Chinese consumers increasingly expecting a more personalised experience,” comments Mr. Ji Hongjun, President of Funyard Hotels & Resorts Group. “To successfully meet the demands of China’s modern-day traveller, the hotel sector must diversify its market segmentation by offering a wider choice of brands. As Minor’s brands originate in parts of the world as diverse as Asia, Europe and Australia, they each offer unique positioning, brand concept and core values, which makes the group the perfect partner to deliver on our joint vision.”