ABSTRACT
Only 16 percent of China’s hotels are chain operated, most of those being in the three-star or above categories (Li and Feng, 1997). This is in contrast to many other countries. For example, as long ago as 1987 it was estimated that 64 percent of hotel rooms in the United States were affiliated with hotel chains (Leonard, 1987). As explained in the Introduction to this chapter, a conservative estimate would indicate that globally at least a third of all hotel rooms have some sort of chain affiliation. Compared to the world situation, the potential for extensive hotel chain development in China is great.
