A view of Nanhai hotel, managed and operated by Hilton, on February 5 Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

As domestic tourism sector slowly recovers, global hospitality giant Hilton has announced it will introduce Home2 Suites by Hilton to China, teaming up with Chinese property developer Country Garden.

The company said in an agreement signed on June 23 that Funyard Hotel Investment (Asia) Ltd will be responsible for the Home2 Suites' marketing in China. 

Home2 Suites by Hilton was established in 2009, developing middle and high-end long-stay hotels. It currently has about 400 hotels in the US and Canada, and more than 450 hotels are under construction.

Home2 Suites is the 10th hotel brand Hilton has introduced into China, and both parties hope to expand the scale of the domestic Home2 Suites to 1,000 within 30 years, according an announcement sent to the Global Times.

"The virus will not change our long-term target, although it could make the time longer. We care more about the opportunities," said Qian Jin, Hilton's president for China and Mongolia, adding that Hilton still plans to manage 1,000 hotels in China by 2025, and Home2 Suites will be one of the important components.

Alan Watts, Hilton's president of Asia Pacific, said that in the past five years, room supply in the high-end hotel market has increased by more than 10 percent annually, although this number has recently stalled. But he said he is confident in the future, and expects room supply in this segment to rebound to similar levels to the past after the pandemic.

Qian said Home2 Suites by Hilton will be targeted at second and third tier-cities in China. Ji Hongjun from Funyard said that with the promotion of urbanization in China, second and third-tier cities will be key driving forces for the Chinese economy.