Four outlets have been delisted one after another within a year. Has Kempinski lost its appeal?

Even if the property owner and the brand management company are "sibling" entities based in the same city, they still could not stop the de-branding process of Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha Lake.

The aforementioned hotel has recently been renamed Beijing Sunrise Eastern Hotel. Following the expiration of the previous agreement, the property owner chose not to renew its contract with Kempinski.

It should be noted that the hotel is owned by Beijing Holdings Group, which, together with Kempinski's Greater China brand manager — Beijing Kaiyan International Hotel Management Co., Ltd., falls under the Beijing Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. This scenario of "strife between brothers" adds a new talking point to Kempinski's already slowing development pace in the Greater China region.

As a traditional German luxury hotel brand, Kempinski's performance in the Chinese market has not been particularly strong. In recent years, few new properties under the brand have opened in the market. Over the past year alone, four hotels have officially announced brand switches, with some being taken over by other international hotel brands.

Against the dual backdrop of China's hotel industry entering a stock operation era and the rapid growth of local hotel groups, international luxury brands like Kempinski may need to adopt a new mindset to re-evaluate and plan their strategies for the Chinese market.

Even Affiliated Entities Are Replacing Kempinski

Contraction has been the actual state of Kempinski's operations over the past three to five years, even though its management team may be reluctant to admit this fact.

Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha Lake, often referred to by locals as Yanqi Lake Kempinski, officially opened in 2014 and hosted the APEC conference that year.

This de-branding is triggered by the expiration of the contract, and the property owner has decided not to renew the agreement. The hotel will be renamed Beijing Sunrise Eastern Hotel.

The hotel's owner is Beijing Jinyan Hotel Co., Ltd., backed by Beijing Holdings Group. Beijing Holdings Group already operates Yanqi Island Hotel Management Company, which owns multiple self-developed brands, including the "Sunrise Eastern" brand.

It is not uncommon for property owners to choose self-operation after de-branding. However, behind the brand switch of Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha Lake, there are more noteworthy details worth exploring.

It should be noted that the property owner still has many ties to the Kempinski brand.

As is widely known, Kempinski's Greater China operations are fully managed by Beijing Kaiyan International Hotel Management Co., Ltd. — a joint venture with 50% shareholding held by Beijing BTG Group and 50% by Kempinski Hotels Group of Germany.

Beijing BTG Group and Beijing Holdings Group are "sibling" enterprises under the same municipal supervision. It would be understandable if a third-party property owner chose to terminate the partnership. However, when Kempinski is in urgent need of positive market feedback, even this affiliated entity resolutely switched brands, making the public question the brand's ability to drive revenue and value for this project.

After the de-branding of Yanqi Lake Kempinski, only Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center remains in Beijing. As the very first Kempinski hotel in China, it was once a landmark property in its surrounding business district.

Are International Hotel Brands "Dividing Up" Kempinski's Greater China Properties?

Kempinski is a time-honored German luxury hotel group, but its development in the Chinese market has been far from satisfactory.

In the decade after establishing the joint venture with BTG Group in 2001, Kempinski Hotels once enjoyed rapid growth.

However, in the following ten years, the scale expansion of Kempinski Hotels slowed down significantly. Over the past one to two years, Kempinski has experienced multiple de-branding incidents, with several international hotel brands taking over as new brand managers, making the contraction of its market presence increasingly evident.

According to statistics from *Hotel Management Finance*, within the past year, four Kempinski hotels have been de-branded and replaced by different international hotel groups.

In addition to Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha Lake, the Kempinski Residences Shanghai Jing'an was rebranded as the voco brand under InterContinental Hotels Group in February 2026; Kempinski Hotel Dalian was rebranded as the Pullman brand under Accor in early 2026; and Shuntian Kempinski Hotel Changsha was rebranded as The Westin brand under Marriott International at the end of 2025.

Earlier, in 2022, Kempinski Hotel Shenyang was rebranded as the Swissôtel brand under Accor.

It is important to note that these de-branded Kempinski hotels are by no means marginal properties; instead, they are key projects distributed across various regions in Greater China, covering East China, Central China, North China, Northeast China, and other areas.

*Hotel Management Finance* observed that Kempinski's previous peak of brand switches occurred from 2016 to 2018.

At that time, Kempinski Hotel Harbin was rebranded as the JW Marriott brand under Marriott International at the end of 2018; Kempinski Hotel Wuxi was rebranded as the Crowne Plaza brand under InterContinental Hotels Group in 2018; Kempinski Hotel Xi'an was rebranded as Jin Jiang International Hotel in 2016; Kempinski Hotel Yixing was rebranded to a local hotel brand in 2016; and Kempinski Hotel Sanya Haitang Bay was rebranded as Wanda Vista Hotel in 2016.

The year 2016 marked the 15th anniversary of the joint venture, and most of the brand switches back then were tied to contract expirations.

Currently, Kempinski is facing a new minor peak of de-branding. Between these two timelines, China's hotel industry has undergone tremendous changes.

Why Is Kempinski "Contracting Nonstop" Despite Its Stated Expansion Goals?

De-branding and brand switching are normal phenomena in the hotel industry. But for Kempinski, there has been little news about new hotel openings or contract signings in the market in recent years.

After the listed company BTG Hotels disclosed information about Kempinski in its annual reports, the number of properties under this brand has not increased. From 2023 to 2025, the total number of Kempinski hotels remained at 21.

Among the upcoming projects, *Hotel Management Finance* could only find records of the Kempinski Hotel Yangzhou and Kempinski Hotel Xiong'an projects.

With more de-branding cases and fewer properties under preparation, the number of Kempinski hotels may face its first decline in BTG Hotels' 2026 annual report.

This situation runs completely counter to Kempinski's overall development plan for the Greater China region.

In the first half of last year, Kempinski and BTG Group announced plans to add 200 new hotels across China over the next five years. However, this target does not only cover the Kempinski brand, but also includes Bristoria, Nuo, and other affiliated brands.

It should be noted that globally, Kempinski operates fewer than 80 open hotels, and the total number of properties across all its brands is estimated to be less than 100. Adding 200 new hotels in five years will undoubtedly be an extremely challenging task.

On one hand, de-branding incidents keep happening repeatedly; on the other hand, the brand is loudly advocating expansion. What exactly is happening to Kempinski in the Greater China region?

In fact, Kempinski has long adhered to a deliberate, slow-paced store-opening strategy. It follows the principle that "the total number of hotels worldwide shall not exceed the number of years the hotel group has been in operation".

The 21 open hotels in the Chinese market by the end of 2025 already represent the largest scale Kempinski has ever achieved in any single market across the globe.

However, China's hotel industry has now entered a stage of rational investment, where every hotel project prioritizes return on investment. Kempinski's relatively small number of properties and slow development pace have inevitably brought about many practical problems.

For example, issues related to how its membership system drives traffic to individual properties.

Relatively speaking, Kempinski's membership system and global distribution channels are not as competitive as those of leading international hotel groups such as Marriott, InterContinental, and Hilton. There are also significant gaps between Kempinski and these top-tier groups in terms of localized operation and management systems.

At the same time, consumers have become more rational and mature, greatly reducing the premium power of many international luxury brands; in addition, the rise of local hotel brands in service quality and guest experience has also captured a portion of the high-end hotel customer flow.

Under the combined effect of multiple factors, luxury hotel brands from non-leading international hotel groups have suffered huge operational impacts in China.

However, the high management fees, system usage fees, and other related expenses charged by international hotel brands appear particularly conspicuous and incompatible in the current environment where property owners are carefully calculating every cost.

In addition, a growing number of new international hotel brands, including luxury brands and luxury soft brands, have entered the Chinese market, offering high-end hotel property owners more options than ever before.

Another non-negligible factor is that China's domestic hotel industry has entered a stock operation era. Leading hotel groups have one or more brands targeting high-potential existing properties and old building assets suitable for luxury hotels. Comparatively, Kempinski's brand influence in this segment is relatively weak.

In a market where progress is the only way to avoid falling behind, Kempinski not only needs to continuously expand new projects, but also guard against competitors "poaching its market share from behind". After all, the past minor peaks of de-branding may not be the last ones.

*Hotel Management Finance* believes that Kempinski's current situation is a warning sign that all luxury brands under non-leading international hotel groups need to heed.

When a brand can no longer bring substantial investment returns and asset appreciation to property owners, the mere reputation of being an international luxury brand loses much of its value. Only by focusing on improving operational capabilities and service quality, implementing more localized adjustments, and respecting and prioritizing the Chinese market, can the brand secure greater room for growth in this fiercely competitive environment.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Hotel Management Finance", written by Lao Dian, and published with authorization from 36Kr.