Monthly Archives: March 2017

March 9, 2017 · 5:53 pm

Gervois Hotel Rating releases today its 2017 ratings of the finest hotels in the United States

The Gervois rating system is a new hotel rating system created by Pierre Gervois, a NYC based media entrepreneur, Publisher of the iconic luxury travel STC magazine. Pierre Gervois has an extensive experience in luxury hotels and has reviewed countless properties all around the world for the last twenty years.

“Over the years, I have been disappointed by the numerous existing hotel rating systems” said Pierre Gervois. “Too often, there is a tendency to give too generous ratings to hotels members of luxury hotels chains, and to underrate independent boutique hotels”, he added.

Based on these facts, Pierre Gervois created an entirely new hotel rating system, purely based on the sole merits of each property, considered alone, regardless of its association to a hotel chain, an affiliation program, other rating systems, or online reviews. Every hotel is rated professionally and independently, without any preconception about the property.

“Most of existing hotel rating & reviewing systems are produced by companies having a direct financial interest in bookings from the hotels they are rating, hence overly positive ratings and an inflation of stars, diamonds, laurels, gold medals and awards that do not always reflect the reality” added Pierre Gervois.

In order to achieve a complete independence from the hospitality industry, Gervois Hotel Rating do not receive any advertising revenues or commissions on rooms bookings from hotels, hotels chains or online travel agencies.

“Gervois Hotel Rating is on the discerning traveler’s side, not on the hotel booking business’ side” concluded Mr Gervois.

The Gervois Hotel Rating rate hotels according to five essential criteria: Location, Building, Atmosphere, Dining and Service, each rated on a 20 points scale. The addition of the points give the final rating, on a 100 points scale.

This rating system allows a greater precision and flexibility in the complex task of rating a hotel that might have many highlights but also some flaws that need to be clearly designated for a transparent information.

84 U.S. properties have been curated and rated over a one year process, through inspections carefully conducted by a small group of international frequent travelers, all reviewed and validated by Pierre Gervois.

“Chinese travelers are incredibly discerning now, and we’ll soon launch a Chinese Mandarin version of our ratings”concluded Mr Gervois.

The 2017 Gervois Hotel Ratings are available on http://www.gervoisrating.com

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China-U.S. tourism on growth trajectory

Chinese family at beach - China elite focus China-U.S. tourism is on a growth trajectory and can help promote closer people-to-people links between the two countries, CEO of China’s top online travel service provider Ctrip has said.

Ctrip sees huge growth potential for Chinese tourists traveling to the United States, Jane Sun said at Columbia University Business School’s Chazen Institute of Global Business.

Last year, a record of 1.3 million people booked air tickets to the United States on Ctrip, she said. The company served in 2016 more than 160,000 Chinese tourists who traveled to the U.S. by providing package tours and other tour products, she added.

“People are entrepreneurial in China and want to explore opportunities in other markets. That’s why there is a lot of demand for travel from China to Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the U.S. along with other areas,” said Sun, who was recently rated by Forbes China as one of China’s most powerful business women.

Ctrip made strategic investment in three U.S. tour operators to support the demand by Chinese for trips to the United States last year.

Sun said that there was still room for growth and that her company wanted to further expand its market share.

“I have lived in both the United States and China and I cherish the friends I have in both nations. Travel can be a bridge between the two countries,” she said.

Gervois magazine - Marriott Hotels Ctrip, which had an initial public offering on the Nasdaq in 2003, is an industry heavyweight with over 30,000 employees and market valuation of about 25 billion dollars.

“Ctrip is doing a great job to promote the U.S. as a luxury leisure destination” added Pierre Gervois, CEO of China Elite Focus Magazines LLC, a New York based publishing company specialized in luxury travel magazines in Chinese Mandarin. “I have a lot of admiration for Ctrip’s business model. When I was living in Shanghai, I have been one of their customers for all my plane tickets reservations”

Statistics showed that the number of Chinese tourists traveling to the U.S. jumped by 14.7 percent in the first three quarters of last year from a year earlier, while the number of American tourists traveling to China increased by 7.3 percent during the same period.

Source: Xinhua

With more Chinese tourists traveling abroad, hotels expand their chains in the U.S.

Chinee couple - China Elite Focus More and more Chinese tourists are visiting the US and other foreign destinations and hotels in China are also expanding their chains in these places. In 2015, more than 2.5 million Chinese came to the US, and that figure rose significantly in 2016, which was designated “2016 China-US Tourism Year”.

One hotel group aiming to cash in on this rising trend of Chinese tourists visiting abroad like never before is Shanghai-based Green Tree Hospitality Group, which has five hotels in Arizona and California in the US. Kevin Brooks, a co-managing director, said the company operates more than 2,000 hotels in China that range from budget or limited-service options to five-star designations. He said that a Green Tree budget or limited-service hotel in China is similar to a Holiday Inn Express in the US. To quote Chris Petroff, co-managing director, “About 18 months ago, the company decided to expand in the US; and last year, we converted five hotels to our brand. In 2017, we have embarked on franchising.” Petroff said that the company is hoping that existing franchise operators in China will aim for US location to spread the brand name.

Driven by an increasingly growing middle class, Chinese outbound tourists are expected to reach 150 million in 2020 from 122 million in 2016, with an estimated average annual growth rate of 5.09 percent, according to the China National Tourism Administration. Another growing segment of Chinese overseas travelers are parents sending their children to study in the US. Alex Xu, the founder and chairman of Green Tree, envisions the company as a global brand, “We are also exploring other countries in Asia and Europe for expansion.” In addition to traditional inns, online marketplaces like Airbnb, which enables homeowners, renters and others to offer accommodation to travelers, are also expected to benefit from rising Chinese outbound tourism.