Shanghai, China, June 1, 2016 /Xinwengao.com/ - AccorHotels announces the opening of three new hotels under the Pullman, Novotel and Mercure branding with Wanda Group in Nanchang, as a key development of the Nanchang Wanda Cultural Tourism City, which is the largest investment project in three decades in Jiangxi Province.

Pullman, Novotel and Mercure Nanchang Wanda will form part of the biggest hotel cluster featuring 1,388 guest rooms, 4 restaurants, 3 bars and 1,310 square metres of banquet and meeting space including an 800-square-metre pillar-less ballroom in addition to wellness facilities. The three properties combined will offer the largest guest room inventory under the AcccorHotels Greater China portfolio.

“The opening of three hotels in a single day symbolizes AccorHotels’ continuous growth and development in the Greater China region,” says Michel Molliet, Chief Operating Officer of AccorHotels Greater China, “This is our first and biggest hotel project in Central China. The development of these three new hotels brings our Greater China network to 181 operating hotels and resorts across the country. The hotel cluster is strategically located at the heart of Nanchang’s landmark development, a major cultural tourist destination in its own right.”

Pullman Nanchang Wanda has 403 guest rooms including 16 suites. The rooms feature a garden and lake view with distinctive signature touches under the Pullman brand. The hotel also has an 800-square-metre pillar-less ballroom with a 9-metre high ceiling offering direct access to a lush garden courtyard, ideal for weddings, social events and evening cocktails. Dining options include Food Exchange, an all-day dining restaurant offering international buffet and a la carte menu options, whilst the Chinese restaurant Pin Xuan Ge features Cantonese cuisine, local Jiangxi dishes, Hunan and Sichuan delicacies. For an informal get-together, the hotel’s Lobby Lounge offers a perfect setting for an evening wind down. Fitness facilities include a well-equipped gymnasium and an indoor pool.

Novotel Nanchang Wanda offers all the brand’s customary multi-service facilities geared to the needs of business and leisure travellers. The 481 spacious, modular guest rooms include eight suites and a family suite. Food and beverage outlets include The Square, an all-day dining restaurant and a Lobby Lounge.  The hotel also has a gymnasium for daily work-outs.

Mercure Nanchang Wanda features 504 modern-style guest-rooms. Like all Mercure hotels, this mid-scale property combines the strength of an international network with a strong quality commitment and a distinctive local heritage.  Guests can enjoy a variety of authentic Western and Asian cuisine at the Terrace Café or an evening drink at the Lobby Bar.

Nanchang City has a history stretching over 2,200 years. In addition to its rich cultural influences, the city is renowned for its scenic views of the mountains, rivers and lakes.

The hotels are located in the heart of Nanchang Wanda Cultural Tourism City at Jiulong Lake in Honggutan District. It is only a 50-minute drive from Nanchang Changbei International Airport and a ten-minute drive from Nanchang West High Speed Railway Station. The iconic complex features Asia’s largest aquarium, a cinema, a theme park surrounding the beautiful landscaped lake, a shopping mall as well as various restaurant and bar joints.

The press release Nanchang triple hotel opening breaks new ground for AccorHotels in China’s Jiangxi Province comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.

Kunming, China, May 12, 2016 /Xinwengao.com/ - The opening of Sofitel Kunming is the latest addition in the luxury arm of AccorHotels in Yunnan province.

The 400 room property is the tallest hotel in the city of Kunming to join the Sofitel network in Greater China. Located in the city’s new business district, the hotel occupies the 27th to 52nd floor of the building tower.

“Our convenient location and panoramic views add the extra appeal to the harmonious blend of French-style hospitality and colourful local culture,” says Michel Molliet, Chief Operating Officer of AccorHotels Greater China. “We look forward to welcoming corporate and leisure guests at the Sofitel Kunming. The hotel is an ideal choice for travellers who enjoy world-class hospitality with an authentic French experience and a local touch.”

Kunming city has earned its reputation as the City of Eternal Spring in China. Historical and scenic attractions such as Nanping Walking Street, East and West Pagodas, Green Lake, Dianchi Lake and shopping district made the city a popular leisure and business destination. The hotel is easily accessible to Kunming International Convention & Exhibition Centre and New Kunming Dianchi International Convention & Exhibition Centre and it is a 35 minute drive from Kunming Changshui International Airport.

The 400 guest rooms including 42 contemporary suites offer views of the city skyline. Room décor features unique design of a peacock, an iconic symbol of Yunnan’s Dai minority with hand-crafted leather wall coverings. The rooms are furnished with luxurious amenities, wireless audio system, Wi-Fi access and an exclusive Sofitel MyBedTM, which is specially designed to give guest a relaxing and restorative sleep.

The hotel’s restaurant and bar are one of the hottest venues in Kunming. Located on the 49th floor is the hotel’s signature restaurant Kwee Zeen, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of the city. Sitting on the 50th floor is the hip Parisian Voyage Bar which serves the hotel’s signature cocktails and wine while Le Chinois Chinese restaurant offers local Yunnan cuisine and Cantonese dishes as well as Sichuan delights. Its rooftop open-air Sky Garden overlooks the beautiful mountains and surrounding lakes.

Kunming’s scenic and cultural attractions make it a popular MICE destination choice for incentive events and corporate meetings. The meetings and conference spaces at Sofitel Kunming provide state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment with a pillar-less Grand Ballroom and eight meeting rooms offering 2,100 square metres floor space and can accommodate more than 1,400 guests. Bridal couples can also choose to hold their wedding banquet in either French or Chinese theme.

For a luxurious retreat, So SPA with L’OCCITANE offers holistic treatments that combine ancient wellness traditions from around the world with the refinement and skills of modern French cosmetology. Work outs can be done at the hotel’s So FIT gym and the heated indoor pool.

The press release Sofitel Kunming Stands Tall In Yunnan Province comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.

Kunming, Yunnan, December 28, 2015 /Xinwengao.com/ - Sofitel, the luxury hotel brand of AccorHotels has announced the opening of Sofitel Kunming, the latest addition to its portfolio in Greater China. The 400-room hotel is the only international luxury hotel in Kunming city centre, a dynamic emerging city that serves as a gateway between South East Asia and Yunnan province’s picturesque and culturally diverse destinations that includes Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna and Shangri-La.

Located in the Central Business District of Kunming, the hotel, located from 27th to 52nd floor, offers travellers a unique hospitality experience that incorporates French elegance and art de vivre combined with distinctive elements of Yunnan’s colourful ethnic cultures and traditions.

“The opening of Sofitel Kunming marks a period of swift expansion in China for AccorHotels, as we continue to strengthen our commitment to bringing world-renowned, exquisite French hospitality to discerning Chinese travellers,” said Paul Richardson, Chief Operating Officer, AccorHotels Greater China. “Set to become the luxury benchmark in the gateway city of Kunming, the hotel is an ideal choice for travellers who enjoy world-class hospitality with an authentic French experience.”

Sofitel Kunming is located within the precinct of various popular tourist attraction sites such as Nanping Walking Street, East and West Pagodas, Green Lake, Dianchi Lake and shopping district. The hotel is also easily accessible to both Kunming International Convention & Exhibition Centre and New Kunming Dianchi International Convention & Exhibition Centre and it is a 35-minute drive from Kunming Changshui International Airport.

The 400 guest rooms including 42 suites offer guests unrivalled views of the city skyline and the rooms are furnished with the Sofitel MyBedTM, an exclusive bedding concept that provides guests a restorative sleep throughout the night, wireless audio system, large-screen TV, and WiFi access. The rooms feature unique designs inspired by a beautiful peacock which symbolises Yunnan’s Dai minority, and handcrafted leather wall coverings that conjure a chic Parisian apartment in the centre of Kunming.

The hotel is also home to three restaurants and two bars. Le Chinois Chinese Restaurant serves authentic Yunnan, Cantonese and Sichuan dishes. Featuring a 360 degree view of the city skyline, Kwee Zeen showcases a selection of Chinese, international and French favourites with live cooking stations.

Lan Pan Asian Restaurant offers guests authentic South East Asian cuisines, as well as a Japanese robata grill and soba noodle kitchen. Located on the 50th floor is the hip Parisian style lounge, Voyage Bar, offering spectacular views of the city skylines in the evening or simply relish over a cup of freshly brewed coffee or exquisite cocktail concoction and fine Valrhona chocolate cake at the Lobby Bar.

From corporate events, gala dinners, wedding celebrations to meetings, the hotel boasts a state-of-the-art pillar-less grand ballroom, which can accommodate up to 800 guests and eight meeting rooms. Its unique outdoor garden and rooftop venue on the 52nd floor offer breath-taking mountain views and surrounding lakes making it ideal for distinct cocktail events, soirées and fashion shows, and perfect for couples seeking to tie the knot in an open and romantic setting with a trellised garden.

For a complete rejuvenation, guests can also relax in the luxurious So SPA with L’OCCITANE that offers holistic treatments using L’OCCITANE products, or for a total work out, simply sweat it out in the hotel’s So FIT gym studio followed by a refreshing dip in the indoor heated pool that sits right beneath a glass ceiling panel.

The press release Sofitel Kunming Debuts In Yunnan Province comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.

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Participating hotel name list:
Intercontinental Beijing Beichen
Intercontinental Beijing Financial Street
Crowne Plaza Beijing Wangfujing
Crowne Plaza Park View Wuzhou Beijing
Crowne Plaza Beijing International Airport
Crowne Plaza Sun Palace Beijing
Crowne Plaza Beijing Zhongguancun
Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town
Holiday Inn Beijing Focus Square
Holiday Inn Beijing Temple of Heaven
Holiday Inn Central Plaza Beijing
Holiday Inn Chang An West Beijing
Holiday Inn Beijing Downtown
Holiday Inn Beijing Deshengmen
Holiday Inn Beijing Haidian

About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global company operating seven well-known hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites . IHG also manages Priority Club Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with 58 million members worldwide.

IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms and IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, a portfolio of over 4,400 hotels and more than 652,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world.

IHG has more than 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline and expects to recruit around 160,000 people worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at http://www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com.

About IHG Project Hope Fund
In November 2007, IHG set up the IHG Project Hope Fund and became an official partner of the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF). The transparently managed fund is dedicated to supporting young dropouts in poverty-stricken areas through Hope Schools, vocational education and scholarship for college/university students. As the first charity fund in China connecting hotels, guests and donors, it not only prolongs the mission of IHG to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, but also promotes the concept of social responsibility among a wider group of people. The creative approach of “donating RMB 5 upon check-in” provides hotel guests with easy opportunities to contribute to worthy causes. The programme has won great support from the nearly 150 IHG hotels in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

As of 31st May, 2011, RMB 10,380,698.47 has been collected for IHG Project Hope Fund, with which, 13 IHG Hope Schools in 10 provinces have been built or are currently under construction. Other charity activities by the fund include donating Earthquake Relief Schools with ‘Happy Music Classrooms’ in Sichuan, establishing IHG Service Classes in BN Vocational Schools in Beijing, Chengdu and Sanya, and launching scholarship programmes in 17 IHG Academies.

The China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) is a national non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in March 1989 in Beijing. The CYDF works to develop Chinese youth through education, science and technology, culture, physical education, health and environmental protection. The CYDF is best known for launching and managing its largest programme to date, “Project Hope” . Project Hope has sought to help school dropouts in poor remote regions return to school and complete at least an elementary education.

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Crowne Plaza Park View Wuzhou Beijing
  Marketing Communication Manager Katherine Fang
  Tel: 86 10 6481 7039
  Email: Katherine.Fang@ihg.com

The press release 2011 IHG Beijing Hotels Wedding Fair comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.

This year the IHG Beijing Cluster Hotels will host their 7th Charity Golf Tournament on the 3rd of September at the Oriental Pearl Golf Course. The event will commence with an 18-hole round of golf, with snacks and refreshments served on the course. The game will be followed by a gala dinner and charity raffle at the wonderful clubhouse.

We appreciate your support and look forward to your continuous generosity.

Participating Hotels (by brand)
Intercontinental Beijing Financial Street
Intercontinental Beijing Beichen
Crowne Plaza Beijing Wangfujing
Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town
Crowne Plaza Beijing Sun Palace
Crowne Plaza Beijing Parkview Wuzhou
Crowne Plaza Beijing Zhongguancun
Crowne Plaza International Airport Beijing
Holiday Inn Beijing Focus Square
Holiday Inn Down Town Beijing
Holiday Inn Central Plaza Beijing
Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven Beijing
Holiday Inn Beijing Deshengmen
Holiday Inn Beijing Chang An West
Holiday Inn Beijing Haidian
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Temple of Heaven
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Dongzhimen
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Minzuyuan
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Zhongguancun
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Wangjing
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Huacai
Holiday Inn Express Beijing Shangdi Beijing

About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, over 4,500 hotels and more than 650,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised and respected hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club Rewards with 52 million members worldwide.

IHG has 1,300 hotels in its development pipeline, which will create 160,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit our online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media

About IHG’s School Project with the China Youth Development Foundation
The China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) is a national non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in March 1989 in Beijing. The CYDF works to develop Chinese youth through education, science and technology, culture, physical education, health and environmental protection. The CYDF is best known for launching and managing its largest programme to date, “Project Hope” . Project Hope has sought to help school dropouts in poor remote regions return to school and complete at least an elementary education.

By the end of 2009, Project Hope had raised over RMB 6 billion in donations, helped 3.5 million children from poverty-stricken rural families continue their schooling, built 16,355 Hope primary schools, presented the Hope mini-library series to 14,636 village schools in remote areas and trained over 60,000 village primary school teachers. As a result of consistent effort by staff and supporters alike, Project Hope has become one of the best-known and most successful charity programs in the country.

In November 2007, IHG set up the IHG Project Hope Fund and became an official partner of the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF). The transparently managed fund is dedicated to supporting young dropouts in poverty-stricken areas through Hope Schools, vocational education and scholarship for college/university students. As the first charity fund in China connecting hotels, guests and donors, it not only prolongs the mission of IHG to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, but also promotes the concept of social responsibility among a wider group of people. The creative approach of “donating RMB 5 upon check-in” provides hotel guests with easy opportunities to contribute to worthy causes. The programme has won great support from the nearly 150 IHG hotels in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

As of December 1st, 2010, RMB 6,582,229.38 has been collected for the IHG Project Hope Fund, and RMB 5,920,000 has been used or slated to be used. The 11 IHG Hope Schools in Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shanxi, Gansu, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei and Shandong provinces have been built or are currently under construction, with four out of 11 officially in use. Other charity activities by IHG include donations to Hope Classmate for Earthquake Relief Sichuan, investment in vocational education and the IHG Academy Scholarship.

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Feng WANG
  Marketing Communication Manager of Holiday Inn Beijing Focus Square
  Tel: 86 10 6473 3333 – 6909
  Email: feng.wang@ihg.com 

The press release 2011 IHG Beijing Cluster Charity Golf Tournament comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.

On July 7, 2011, the 7th IHG Annual Charity Cooking Competition was held at Crowne Plaza Beijing International Airport. Chefs from 15 hotels of InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands competed in seven categories: Sweet Coffee Break, Cold Appetizer, Laksa, Cocktail, Coffee Barista, Black Box and Chinese Cold Dish 6 Combinations (which is a new competition item of this year’s event.) The most exciting part is “Black Box” competition, where every participating team cooked one dish with the materials given by the organizing committee within one hour. Judges scored by criteria of presentation, creativity and team effort.

After 6 years of enormous success in our charity drive, and having opened 5 schools which in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Hebei province, IHG hotels in Beijing had joined hands once again to provide funding support for “Project Hope” , which is a public welfare undertaking, initiated and organized by the CYDF (China Youth Development Foundation).

During the awarding celebration gala dinner, Mr. Roland Steiner, Regional General Manager, on behalf of IHG Beijing Cluster donated the RMB400,000 check to CYDF to build the 6th Project Hope school. “IHG BN Love Choir” , which is title sponsored by IHG Beijing hotels, also came to the stage and performed charity songs to express their appreciations to all the generous sponsors.

Participating hotel name list:
Intercontinental Beijing Beichen
Intercontinental Beijing Financial Street
Crowne Plaza Beijing Wangfujing
Crowne Plaza Park View Wuzhou Beijing
Crowne Plaza Beijing International Airport
Crowne Plaza Sun Palace Beijing
Crowne Plaza Beijing Zhongguancun
Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town
Holiday Inn Beijing Focus Square
Holiday Inn Beijing Temple of Heaven
Holiday Inn Central Plaza Beijing
Holiday Inn Chang An West Beijing
Holiday Inn Beijing Downtown
Holiday Inn Beijing Deshengmen
Holiday Inn Beijing Haidian

About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global company operating seven well-known hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. IHG also manages Priority Club Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with 58 million members worldwide.

IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms and IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns, through various subsidiaries, a portfolio of over 4,400 hotels and more than 652,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories around the world.

IHG has more than 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline and expects to recruit around 160,000 people worldwide over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at http://www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards programme at www.priorityclub.com. For our latest news visit www.ihg.com/media, Twitter or YouTube.

About IHG Project Hope Fund
In November 2007, IHG set up the IHG Project Hope Fund and became an official partner of the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF). The transparently managed fund is dedicated to supporting young dropouts in poverty-stricken areas through Hope Schools, vocational education and scholarship for college/university students. As the first charity fund in China connecting hotels, guests and donors, it not only prolongs the mission of IHG to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, but also promotes the concept of social responsibility among a wider group of people. The creative approach of “donating RMB 5 upon check-in” provides hotel guests with easy opportunities to contribute to worthy causes. The programme has won great support from the nearly 150 IHG hotels in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

As of 31st May, 2011, RMB 10,380,698.47 has been collected for IHG Project Hope Fund, with which, 13 IHG Hope Schools in 10 provinces have been built or are currently under construction. Other charity activities by the fund include donating Earthquake Relief Schools with ‘ Happy Music Classrooms’ in Sichuan, establishing IHG Service Classes in BN Vocational Schools in Beijing, Chengdu and Sanya, and launching scholarship programmes in 17 IHG Academies.

The China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) is a national non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in March 1989 in Beijing. The CYDF works to develop Chinese youth through education, science and technology, culture, physical education, health and environmental protection. The CYDF is best known for launching and managing its largest programme to date,  “Project Hope” . Project Hope has sought to help school dropouts in poor remote regions return to school and complete at least an elementary education.

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Margaret Li
  Marketing Communications Manager
  Crowne Plaza Beijing International Airport
  tel (86) 10 5810 8888
  e-mail margaret.li6@ihg.com

The press release 7th Annual ‘Cuisine For Charity 2011’ By IHG Beijing and “Project Hope” comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.

Sichuan, China (May 25, 2011) /Xinwengao.com/ — A high-powered delegation of Marriott International executives led by President Arne Sorenson recently visited the Pingwu County of Sichuan Province in China to see for themselves the first-year performance of its “Nobility of Nature”
programme – an ambitious fresh water conservation programme. The Marriott senior executives acknowledge that it is essential to build on the project’s current success and provide bigger support to the fresh water conservation endeavors of China.

Announced in Spring 2010 at the World Expo Shanghai, the “Nobility of Nature” is a collaboration between Marriott International and Conservation International to support fresh water conservation and assist rural communities with sustainable business that put less stress on the environment.

Marriott International has been investing USD500,000 seed money to the “Nobility of Nature” programme. The fund is used to provide grants, training, resources and community development for local villages in Sichuan Province where the world’s largest water source is located. The Guanba Village in Pingwu was one of the first sites to receive the support of “Nobility of Nature”. The funding helped provide bee hives, state-of-the-art bee farming knowhow and other infrastructure for the Guanba Bee Farming Cooperative.

Heritage of Serving Communities
The members of the Marriott delegation include Arne Sorenson, Asia Pacific President and Managing Director, Simon Cooper; Asia Pacific COO Craig Smith; Regional Vice President – Marketing, Dominic Sherry; Executive Vice President Global Communications & Public Affairs, Kathleen Matthews and Managing Director of JW Marriott Hotel Beijing Robert Fabiano, as well as eight associate representatives from the Marriott hotels in mainland China and Hong Kong. The group visited the Guanba Village as well as the Wanglong wild panda conservation park in Pingwu.

“As I travel the world, I see how important social responsibility is to our guests, customers, associates and of course to our communities,” said Sorenson. “The Nobility of Nature programme in China is a great example of this approach. Marriott International extends its ‘Spirit to Serve’ concept practiced in our hotels for some eight decades, to embrace the integration of social responsibility and sustainability in our business strategies.”

Sorenson added that it was important to engage eight associates from Marriott hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou and Hong Kong in this visit. “They will become the ambassadors of the Nobility of Nature to promote the importance of water conservation to their colleagues, guests, family members and friends,” he continued.

Sweet Taste of Success
For generations the bee farmers of Guanba village adopted the traditional methods of bee farming which were not very efficient. For instance, a bee hive could only produce 10 kg of honey a year. In addition, the farmers could only sell the honey to local wholesaler at a cheap price of about RMB16 per kg because of a lack of marketing know-how.

With the assistance and grant offered by the “Nobility of Nature” programme, the Guanba Bee Farming Cooperative replaced most of the old-fashioned one-piece type of bee hives with the advanced multi-slide ones. The new hive can produce 20 to 25kg of honey every year.

The Cooperative has also appointed a full-time patrol inspector to ensure that the water resources nearby are well protected. According to its farmers, clean water is pivotal to the well-being of floral plants which in result will lead to quality honey. The Guanba honey is made from some 15 different kinds of flowers and is sweeter than those produced in other areas.

In order that the Guanba honey can be marketed at a price that matches with its exceptional quality, Marriott International advised the Cooperative to apply for organic food certification last summer. It also invited Wuxi Chengbao Foods Co. Ltd, Marriott International’s preferred juice vendor in China, to support this initiative. Chengbao offered the Cooperative with counsel on certification application and helped design a trendy packaging for the Guanba honey for free.

In October 2010, the Guanba honey in a brand-new outlook was available for retail sale in the entire hotel network of Marriott International in China. The newly designed packing of Guanba’s honey features a stylish jar, a wrapping strip highlighting its 100% organic nature, as well as a tag that details the story of Nobility of Nature and the Guanba Bee Farming Cooperative.

“Marriott International has an enormous network of some 60 hotels in China, more importantly, our guests also support sustainability. Through marketing the Guanba honey in our hotels, this helps ensure our first Nobility of Nature project a huge success,” said Simon Copper. “It turns out that our guests are very pleased to take part in this meaning initiative, and enjoy this sweet, 100% organic and quality honey.”

The proceeds of selling the Guanba honey in Marriott hotels are used to provide further support to the development of the Cooperative. When meeting the Marriott International senior executives, the Guanba villagers had a nice surprise as they were told that part of the proceeds would be used to purchase a truck for them. The truck will bring a lot of mileage in increasing the operation efficiency of the Cooperative.

Marriott International and Conservation International are now reviewing the application of a second project target to be supported by the “Nobility of Nature” program.

About Marriott International, Inc
Marriott International is a leading lodging company with more than 3,400 lodging properties in 70 countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, the Autograph Collection, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; licenses and manages whole-ownership residential brands, including The Ritz-Carlton Residences, JW Marriott Residences and Marriott Residences; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA and had approximately 137,000 employees at 2009 yearend. It is recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the best companies to work for, and by Newsweek magazine as one of the greenest big companies in America. In fiscal year 2009, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of nearly $11 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com For the latest company news, please visit www.marriottnewscenter.com

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Rachel Liu
  Paradigm Communications
  Tele?10 – 85800783 – 16
  Fax?10 – 85800753
  Mobile?13810518539
  Email?rachelliu@paradigm.com.hk

The press release Marriott International’s Nobility of Nature Makes Strides After First-Year Debut comes from Xinwengao.com press release distribution and journalist media database service in China.