MELIÁ Hotels International and China’s Greenland Group have launched Qube Frankfurt as part of a pact to target inbound Chinese travellers to Europe.
Formerly run under Meliá’s Tryp brand, the 177-room, four-star Qube Frankfurt was launched on May 14, marking the first joint-venture hotel between Meliá and Greenland.
Situated in the centre of Germany’s financial capital, alongside the city’s international exhibition centre, the hotel was refitted to cater for Chinese travellers, with services including Mandarin-speaking staff and Chinese cuisine.
Meliá plans to open hotels in major European cities with air connections to China. Although no calendar has been drawn up, potential cities include Munich, Berlin, London, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona. “The intention is to continue with the Qube brand,” said a Meliá spokeswoman.
Greenland Group president, Zhang Yu Liang, has touched on possible openings in Spain to help attract more Chinese.
But the agreement – signed last December – also leaves room for opening five-star properties under Greenland’s Primus brand or “to operate jointly with Meliá brands”.
At the same time, Greenland-owned, Meliá-managed hotels will be rolled out in China, with the first to launch in Jinan this October and another in Tianjin in 1H2014.
Zhang said that Meliá’s decision to expand in China would influence the Chinese tourist’s decisions when he travels to Europe or other destinations and “have a major effect on the brand”.
Greenland Group already boasts some 60 properties in its hotel portfolio, including projects in Australia and South Korea, with plans to reach 100 hotels in the next three years.
