Shimao Star Hotels Group has launched a new hotel brand, Ethos (known as Fan Xiang in Mandarin), aimed at attracting the Chinese millennial segment by evoking their sense of heritage and national identity.
The upper-mid tier lifestyle brand will be tailored for China’s millennial travellers, with China pride evident throughout the design and construction of Ethos hotels.
The group will collaborate with independent Chinese brands to develop customised products for Chinese millennial travellers, and has also partnered with emerging Chinese artists in the creation of music, custom-made statues and art installations for the property.
An Ethos hotel will feature a co-working space called Connexis, in which social activities will be regularly organised; an interactive community screen where guests can explore the local community and interact; and self-service check-in counters.
The first Ethos is expected to launch in Xiamen and Wuhan in late 2019, and the group will be promoting the brand in China’s first- and second-tier
cities and overseas.
Tyrone Tang, vice president of Shimao Group, chairman & CEO of Shanghai Shimao Hotel Management Company, CEO of Shimao Star Hotels Group said during a press conference: “As the primary force driving consumption in the Chinese tourism market, the millennial generation has always been an important customer segment. The launch of the all-new brand Ethos marks the first hotel brand that Starwood Capital co-created with a Chinese company and designed for a Chinese population.”
