Why China’s high-end hotels are setting up food stalls outside their doors

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The queue for roast duck and roast meat at Zhengzhou’s Noble International Hotel’s food stall.

ST PHOTO: MICHELLE NG

Summary

• High-end hotels in China are setting up food stalls to combat declining revenues due to economic slowdown, frugality campaigns, and oversupply, adapting to a consumption downgrade.
• Hotels are hitting the streets, aiming to attract younger customers and maintain luxury appeal amid fewer weddings and tighter corporate budgets.
• Hotels face competition and must adapt to survive, as domestic tourism remains below pre-pandemic levels.

AI generated

ZHENGZHOU, Henan – On a sweltering 36 deg C evening, a man stood under a makeshift tent outside his hotel, scooping a Chinese summer delicacy into takeout boxes – piping hot xiao long xia, or crayfish – selling for just 38 yuan (S$6.80) per 500g.

Next to the man, who is the hotel’s general manager, chefs in tall white hats carved up roast ducks – 35 yuan for half and 60 yuan for a whole – for the streams of bargain-hunting customers.

The bustling scene outside the five-star Noble International Hotel, which has gone viral on Chinese social media, stood in sharp contrast to the subdued atmosphere inside the premises.

Although it was nearing dinnertime, the in-house restaurant offering an all-you-can-eat buffet for 258 yuan drew barely a handful of diners. In the marble-floored lobby, most of the people there were either seeking respite from the heat outside or digging into their takeaway meals.

Across China, from Hangzhou to Changsha, more high-end domestic hotels are