Chinese hoteliers' take on hotel co-branding in China

Purpose – This paper aims to explore Chinese hoteliers’ perspectives on co-branding between hotels and products of other industries or sectors.Design/methodology/approach – A survey with both structured and open-ended questions was distributed to 300 Chinese hotel executive level hoteliers attending the 2009 International Forum on China Hotel Brand Development.Findings – The results of the 72 surveys indicate benefits as well as drawbacks for both hotels and their potential co-branding partners in the Chinese hospitality industry, the most important being the lack of brand awareness for both Chinese and Western brands.Originality/value – The paper contributes to the existing literature by adding the Chinese hospitality industry context into the much studied Western industry context: the research is timely given the position and significance of the Chinese market in the world tourism arenaSchool of Hotel and Tourism Managemen