Five-star living: business and leisure travellers can choose from a wide range of high-end hotels

With 19 five-star hotels sprinkled across Xiamen and at least a score more on the way, this compact subtropical destination offers a broad range of upscale hotels catering to business and leisure travellers.

While the number of annual guests edged up in the past year and luxury hotels did better than most, tourism revenue has been flat recently, according to local tourism officials. The majority of Xiamen’s international tourists come from Asia, but Europe and the Americas are both well represented.

David Katemopoulos, Le Meridien Xiamen general manager, hosts a significant number of business guests at his hotel. “We get more of a corporate crowd, primarily business, although meetings and incentive travel is a bit of a long haul for European guests,” he says.

Business developments in the city are driving changes in guest composition. “In the past two years I see more Europeans coming because of the free-trade zone; there’s more European investment and more guests,” says Millie Tsui, general manager of the Marco Polo Xiamen. “Before, we saw more Americans, now the Europeans are a growing percentage of our guests.”

The Pan Pacific Xiamen draws a significant number of guests from within Asia because of its regional reputation, according to Nelson Tan, general manager of the Pan Pacific Xiamen. “We have Japanese, Taiwanese and a lot of Southeast Asian guests because of our brand,” he says.

Tan adds that the city also draws a large share of leisure tourists from within China, particularly in winter and during national holidays. “Xiamen is seasonal and … because of its reputation, we are seeing more domestic travellers, who are especially interested in places like Gulangyu and Xiamen University,” he notes.