This executive perspective is tailored specifically for destination management leaders, tourism boards, municipal authorities, and travel technology advisors. It delivers actionable strategic intelligence, architectural frameworks, and operational roadmaps designed to guide DMO transformation, data governance, and AI integration across local, regional, and national tourism ecosystems

The China Hotel Industry Study, jointly published by the China Tourist Hotel Association (CTHA) and Horwath HTL, is an authoritative annual statistical publication on China’s hotel industry. First published in 2003, it has been published for 24 consecutive years. In 2026, the study collected responses from 1,321 hotels, covering nearly 357,573 guestrooms and more than 437,310 food and beverage seats. The study provides comprehensive insights into hotel operating and financial performance across dimensions including star rating, management model, room rate segment, and city tier. It enables hotel operators to benchmark performance, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and support budgeting and operational decision-making. It also provides valuable market insights for hotel owners, investors, and industry professionals to inform investment and asset management decisions. Based on the internationally recognized Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), the study continuously aligns with international hotel accounting standards, supporting the development of data-driven practices and benchmarking across China’s hotel industry.

The data as published in the report is based on the economic forecast by Deloitte Access Economics for the June 2026 quarter, historical hotel performance from STR as of June 2026, as well as historical tourism data available as of March 2026, including forecasted domestic and international visitation from Tourism Research Australia (TRA) as at December 2025, which has been adjusted by Horwath HTL.

This report is tailored specifically for strategic advisors, institutional investors, developers, and key stakeholders across the hospitality, tourism, and real estate sectors. It delivers actionable market intelligence, performance benchmarks, and pipeline analysis designed to guide high-level capital deployment, asset positioning, and strategic decision-making throughout the region.

Hotel management agreements are often presented as balanced partnerships, but a closer read reveals an asymmetry of control, risk, and liability that increasingly favours the Operator over the Owner. This white paper examines that imbalance across four critical fronts – data security liability, performance test rigidity, contract duration and sunset rights, and brand proliferation – drawing on decades of industry experience and evolving market and legal realities. It argues that as HMAs face new pressures from data privacy legislation and shifting market conditions, both existing and future agreements must be renegotiated to restore genuine balance between Owner and Operator.