Hilton and China’s Country Garden Hotels Announce Strategic Partnership

WHY IT RATES: The alliance between one of China's largest property developers and the global hotel company is designed to convert hotels to Hilton's market-leading brands. —Janeen Christoff, TravelPulse Senior Writer

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Hilton and Country Garden Hotels Group have announced a strategic partnership that will see numerous Country Garden hotel properties managed by Hilton, primarily with its DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn brands.

The partnership, formalized during a signing ceremony attended in Shanghai by Hilton CEO Christopher J. Nassetta and Country Garden vice president Xie Shutai, sees an initial six hotels owned by Country Garden now trading as Hilton branded properties or in the pipeline.

As one of China's largest property developers, Country Garden has an existing portfolio of over 120 hotels in trading, under construction, and in planning.

"Country Garden is a widely admired property developer and we are thrilled to be extending our partnership with them," said Nassetta. "Ultimately, our goal is to provide exceptional experiences to our guests wherever they may be, and through this partnership, we have an opportunity to bring Hilton's signature hospitality to even more locations across the country."

A Country Garden Hotels Group representative said, "Country Garden, as the practitioner of China's new urbanization process, has been striving to meet peoples' demands for increased quality of education, tourism, and life as a whole."

In cooperation with Hilton, Country Garden built two highly regarded benchmark city hotels in Wuhan and Foshan, Hilton Wuhan Optics Valley and Hilton Foshan. These have now become the best choices for local tourists to do business and spend their vacation in comfort.

In pursuing the same vision of promoting China's tourism and leisure industry, Country Garden Hotels Group and Hilton will work together to deepen cooperation, share their individual advantages, and bring more regions and consumers quality tourism and accommodation experiences.

New hotels included in the partnership deal include DoubleTree by Hilton Hainan Lingshui, DoubleTree by Hilton Guangzhou Zengcheng and Hilton Zhengzhou Xingyang.

Hilton currently has 470 hotels either trading or under development in China, with 266 being actively under construction.

SOURCE: Hilton press release.