Brand performance of Chinese domestic vs. international hotels: Perceptions of operators as well as domestic and foreign guests

Abstract

The significant differences in financial performance between internationally branded hotels and domestically branded hotels
in China inspired this study. As part of the research, we surveyed hotel operators and guests on their perception of brand
performance of the hotel they managed and stayed at, respectively. Results showed that managers of internationally branded
hotels were more positive about their brand performance than the guests were, whereas managers of domestically branded
hotels had a similar, or sometimes lower, assessment of their brand performance. Surprisingly, from the guests’ perspective,
domestic hotels received higher ratings on brand choice intention and brand loyalty, while receiving similar ratings on all other
brand-related measurements, as compared to international hotels. Significant differences were also found in brand quality, trust
in management, and reliability among the sub-samples. Chinese guests rated these components lower for both internationally
and domestically branded hotels, while foreign guests showed stronger intentions of choosing the same domestic brand in the
future. We discuss the implications for both international and domestic hotel operators.