CHINA'S unprecedented economic boom and the upcoming Olympics and World Expo have lured a growing number of hotel and catering suppliers to Shanghai this week.
The 17th Shanghai International Hospitality Equipment & Supply Expo, or Hotelex Shanghai 2008, opened yesterday and will run until Friday at Shanghai New International Expo Center.
The largest show of its kind in Asia has boosted its total display area by 25 percent to 60,000 square meters, and attracted 800 exhibitors. Thirty percent of exhibitors are leading foreign brands.
Products on display cover the gamut from kitchen equipment, coffee and tea equipment, hotel furniture, tableware and uniforms to security and electrical equipment.
With the approach of 2008 Olympic Games and the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, hotels and caterers are developing at full speed in China and new brands keep on emerging and expanding to smaller cities throughout the country.
"HoReCa (hotel, restaurant and catering) customers are one of our core customer groups," said Philippe Bacac, general manager of Metro China Business Unit East.
The German retailer said HoReCa customers have been the driving force for sales growth. Its net revenue grew by 18.5 percent to 9.52 billion yuan (US$1.36 billion) in China last year.
Metro said it foresaw even more potential to continue to expand in China, especially in small and medium cities.
China boasted 11,828 rated hotels in 2005. The industry earned one billion yuan profit in 2005 after losing money for seven years, according to a report from Citic Securities.
More than 862 foreign-funded hotels and restaurants were established last year.