The five star deluxe hotel is due to be constructed as a 30-storey tower with a completion date envisaged in April 2006. The hotel will comprise 500 state of the art hotel rooms, extensive conference facilities and food and beverage outlets geared toward both the discerning international and domestic travellers. Furthermore, the hotel foresees extensive leisure and recreational facilities with its distinctive bar and entertainment area in addition to the high level health club including swimming pool and fitness studio. The hotel is designed by the renowned Zhejiang Province Construction Design Research Centre. The hotel will be managed by Hong Kong based Park Lane Hotels International Group.

The city of Ningbo is located in the province of Zhejiang on the northeastern coast of China. With a population of 5.5 million, the city has maintained its historical position of being a very important trading centre, with its port ranking as the 20th most important in the world to becoming one of China�s leading manufacturing centres. The province of Zheijang is known to be one of the leading regions of China attracting foreign investment in the fields of pharmaceuticals, electronics and chemicals. Through the current construction of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, travel time from the province to Shanghai will be reduced from 4 to 2 hours by road.

Chen Shang Guong, owner of the Golden Tulip Grand Ningbo Hotel, states: �We are very proud to be one of the first hotels in Ningbo to partner with an international brand and I am very pleased with this opportunity to franchise with Golden Tulip. The concept of �International standards, Local flavours� gives my hotel the opportunity to compete on an international level, while maintaining our own Chinese hospitality and atmosphere.�

Hans Kennedie, president and CEO of Golden Tulip, comments: �We are delighted and very excited to welcome the Golden Tulip Grand Ningbo Hotel as our first hotel in China. It is our goal to have a Chinese network of 200 hotels across the country in the medium to long term and we are proud to be able to enter with such a landmark property. We compliment Mr Chen on his foresight to develop this hotel and very much look forward to the opening of this flagship hotel.�

Golden Tulip recently also signed up with 4oceans, an electronic distribution specialist opening the doors for Chinese travel agents to book Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts worldwide.

Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts is a privately owned franchise company with its head office based in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, franchising some 260 hotels across 41 countries, with the majority of hotels being located in urban destinations across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

Ms Rachna Taneja - Strategic Development Director
Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts
Tel: +31 33 2544 804
Email: [email protected]