IH&RA TO LAUNCH EMERAUDE HOTEL PROGRAM AND CHINA CONGRESS

The president of the International Hotels and Restaurants Association (IH&RA), Ghassan Aidi, has signed an agreement with Han Ming, president of the China Hospitality Association (CHA), to hold its 53rd congress in Hangzhou, where G20 met for their summit in September 2016. The CHA, which is a hospitality industry leader in China, will launch the certification process for most of the association’s 100,000 hotels and apply the sustainable development criteria of the IH&RA’S exclusive label, ‘The Emeraude Hotel’. The process will take between one and two years. In line with the launch, the IH&RA will set up an office in Beijing. “We will certify most of our members before 2020,” said Aidi. He added that the major step CHA was taking towards sustainability in China would serve as a great example for other Asian countries. “We have signed contacts for The Emeraude Hotel program with Croatia and Bosnia, and we are trying with Lebanon too,” he said. China will also propose franchising or operation and management initiatives for thousands of hotels to hotel management companies. “This is a great opportunity for all hotels chains, whether medium sized or smaller ones, to come to China and start operating hotels in the country,” Aidi said. Another issue set for negotiation is the partnership between major Chinese restaurants and international investors, which aims to introduce the world to Chinese gourmet food.