Ascott unveils new Chinese brand, Tujia Somerset

Ascott, the Singapore-based serviced apartment company, has unveiled a new brand for the Chinese market.

Tujia Somerset has been formed as part of a joint venture company with Tujia.com International, the Chinese apartment sharing platform which has been labelled “China’s Airbnb”.

The two companies have already sealed contracts for six serviced residences under Tujia Somerset brand, with a total of 1,005 units. This is expected to rise to 2,000 units by the end of 2016.
Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s CEO, unveiled the new brand at a ceremony in Shanghai.

“Ascott’s investment in Tujia is providing us with a new pipeline to manage apartments for a growing number of Chinese corporate asset owners as well as individual homeowners with multiple properties,” he said. “By leveraging our Tujia Somerset brand, we will be able to spur the growth of Ascott’s management and franchise business in China.

“With Ascott’s expanded suite of products and services in the country, we will be in a stronger position to cater to the varying needs of property owners and guests, and rapidly increase our scale in China with the new Tujia Somerset brand along with our established Ascott, Citadines and Somerset brands,” Lee added.

The formation of Tujia Somerset forms part of Ascott’s broader expansion plans in China, where it is already the largest serviced apartment operator with more than 15,000 units in 85 properties covering 25 cities. It has a target of growing to 20,000 units in China by 2020.

Two of the six Tujia Somerset serviced residences, the 76-unit Tujia Somerset Baiyue Dalian and 355-unit Tujia Somerset Xinhui Shenyang, are already in operation. The other four properties are the 154-unit Tujia Somerset West Coast Haikou, 140-unit Tujia Somerset Shining City Wuxi, 102-unit Tujia Somerset Weilian Tianjin and 178-unit Tujia Somerset South Nanjing.

“China’s middle class is estimated to make up over 70% of its 1.39 billion population by 2030, consuming nearly US$10 trillion in goods and services – these are potential guests for Tujia Somerset,” commented Kevin Goh, Ascott’s managing director for North Asia.

“Ascott’s current three brands cater to the top tier of the serviced residence market in China, generally targeting customers with rental budgets of above CNY10,000 (approx. US$1,530) per month.

“Our Tujia Somerset brand of serviced residences will primarily cater to the burgeoning mass market segment in China, focusing on overseas and local expatriates as well as corporate travellers with budgets in the region of CNY10,000 per month or lower. Guests at Tujia Somerset can enjoy services such as housekeeping and breakfast at great value,” he added.

Beijing-based Tujia’s apartment sharing site, which valued at more than US$1 billion, features more than 310,000 apartments covering 388 Chinese locations and international destinations including Bangkok, Singapore and Tokyo. As part of the joint venture, some of Tujia’s serviced apartments in China will be converted to the Tujia Somerset brand.