Singapore Hotel Tycoon Ho Kwon Ping To Double Banyan Tree’s Branches As China Reopens

Singapore Hotel Tycoon Ho Kwon Ping To Double Banyan Tree’s Branches As China Reopens

otels across Asia will see the return of Chinese tourists starting in the second quarter, with a "real surge" expected during the country's Labor Day holiday in early May, according to luxury hotelier Ho Kwon Ping. "Air fares are still very high and the availability of flights is limited, so while we all expect—and are already seeing—a pick up in Chinese arrivals, we expect that it will really take off after Chinese New Year and probably in the second quarter onwards," says Ho, the founder and chairman of Singapore-based and -listed Banyan Tree Holdings. "The May holidays will see a real surge." The journalist turned hotelier has steered his luxury hotel chain through plenty of ups and downs during his almost three decades at the helm. And now, he's busy preparing Banyan Tree for the return of the international tourism market to its pre-pandemic levels—which got a sudden boost recently when China abruptly started rolling back its zero-Covid policy. Ho says his Banyan Tree is on track to grow its portfolio to 100 hotels and resorts by 2025, almost doubling what it owned and managed just a year ago. In 2022, the company added 8 hotels across China, Indonesia, Japan,