Hangzhou Love Hotel (Photo : Hotel.com)
Chinese businessmen seeking good money should consider investing in love hotels. Current operators said they feel no competition because of the large market versus the limited number of such establishments.
According to English.cri.com, across China, there are only 300 to 500 love hotels that have romantic themes compared to regular hotels. Given that the country has more than 1 billion people, the number of themed hotels is only a drop in the bucket, according to Wang Fang, manager of the Tian E Lian Love Hotel.
In contrast, there are over 30,000 love hotels in Japan, which have been popular in the country among married and unmarried couples for decades now. The industry was recording a $40-billion growth per year in Japan even during hard times.
The shortage of rooms in love hotels in China was especially felt on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, when pairs – married and unmarried – check-in to spend the day in love hotels. Long lines were seen at the reception of a love hotel in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province.
The bulk are young unmarried couples who want new romantic experiences beyond the traditional hotel room. The couples have different themed rooms to select from that would feed their fantasies. The rooms usually offer circular beds and Jacuzzis, while some even have sex toys and items for sado-masochistic lovers such as whips and chains.
The boom in love hotels is fueled by changing attitudes toward sex as young Chinese marry later, but have sex and love affairs earlier, according to Xinhua News Agency.
And for the growing number of affluent Chinese, because of the limited number of love hotels in the country, many travel to Japan as early as the first week of February to try the love hotels in their Asian neighbors. Japan Today reported that at the start of the Lunar New Year, Chinese tour groups were renting entire love hotels in Japan. Buses are seen parked outside the themed hotels with the sign “kash-kiri” that means the establishment is reserved or chartered, meaning off-limits to walk-in guests.
