Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd., which runs luxury hotels, said China will become its fastest-growing market in a global expansion plan aimed at cutting dependence on the flagship Thai resort.

Singapore-based Banyan Tree has more employees assessing opportunities in China than anywhere else, Chairman Ho Kwon Ping said. At the company's new resort in Yunnan province, almost half the clients paying more than $400 for a night's accommodation are Chinese nationals, he said.

Banyan Tree is focusing its expansion, which includes 24 new resorts from Greece to Mexico in the next three years, on China as the country's economic growth swells salaries and boosts consumer spending. That may cut reliance on the Phuket hotel in Thailand that brings in the bulk of group income.

"It's in line with the plan to reach out to a more global market," said Singapore-based Tan, who has a "buy'' rating on Banyan Tree stock. "China should be a very big market to go into, but it should take some time."

China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, expanded 11.3 percent in the second quarter.

Globalization Drive

Banyan Tree's Ringha resort and the Lijiang site, which opened this year, are both in the southern Yunnan province, northeast of Myanmar. At the company's Shanghai venue, a 90- minute spa session costs $100.

"China will probably grow faster than any other location that we're presently in," Ho said. "We definitely are on a globalization drive."

Source:佚名