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The purpose of this paper is to offer an overview of the existing English literature concerning the development of China's hotel industry by means of reviewing the topic from three academic online databases.

The paper reviews published studies found in refereed journals that can be accessed online via Emerald Management Review, ProQuest Basic Search and EBSCO Host Web. A total of 66 refereed journal papers were found over the period 1984‐2007. They were grouped into four major themes: strategy and development; marketing; service quality and human resources management.

Research on China's hotel development grew rapidly with the rise of China's hotel industry, reflecting the situation, problems, challenges and opportunities affecting hotel development. Strategy and development is a dominant theme, accounting for 43 per cent of all papers.

The paper summarises research on China's booming hotel industry, offers a general review of its historic development and identifies current important issues. The authors recommend further research opportunities examining career development and job satisfaction in China's hotel industry.

This paper is one of the first to profile research related to the hotel industry in mainland China. By grouping the published studies into four major themes, this study clearly demonstrates key emerging issues in China.

Assesses the perceptions of service quality in China’s hotel industry, from the perspective of both international tourists and hotel managers. A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of 90 hotel managers and 270 international tourists who visited China and stayed at hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. A descriptive statistics analysis was used (paired t‐test and independent t‐test) to evaluate the service quality of China’s hotel industry from both the tourists’ and the managers’ perspectives, and to investigate the four gaps: between tourists’ expectations and their actual perceptions; between managers’ perceptions of tourists’ expectations and the actual expectations of tourists; between managers’ perceptions of a hotel’s service delivery and tourists’ actual perceptions of the service; and between managers’ perceptions of tourists’ expectations and managers’ perceptions of their hotel’s service delivery. The results showed that tourists’ perceptions of service quality provided in the hotel industry in China were consistently lower than their expectations and that managers overestimated the service delivery, compared to tourists’ perceptions of actual service quality, in the hotel industry in China. From the result of gap analysis, it might be concluded that Delivery Gap and Internal Evaluation Gap were the main reasons contributing to the service quality shortfalls in the hotel industry in China.

This paper aims to explore the current situation of career management in China's state‐owned hotels and to delve into employees' perceptions of such activities.

To obtain a comprehensive view of the career management situation, three qualitative research methods were applied in the study, namely, case study, focus groups, and in‐depth interviews. The results were combined to provide a better insight into career management activities in China and employees' perceptions of these activities. Based on the data collected, career management practices in China's hotel industry are grouped into four dimensions: assessment tools, career development information, professional training, and promotion system.

The findings of the study reveal that not all Western career management activities are being practised in China's hotels. The results of the qualitative research methods also reveal several career management techniques with Chinese characteristics. Although career management plays an important role in human resources management, there is a gap between hotel career management and employees' career needs. To obtain the best result, it is necessary to find a match between the requirements of the hotel and the aspirations of the individual employee.

Based on the data collected, recommendations and directions on career management practices are established and given to state‐owned hotels management. By developing the four dimensions of career management activities, the paper generates important references and suggestions for further study in the area of employees' career development.

For both hotel operators and hotel employees, the paper is the first attempt to provide comprehensive information concerning China's hotel career management. The development of the four career management dimensions may serve as a basis for future study.

Franchising develops quickly in the hotel industry with the expansion and globalization of hotel chains, as it brings about advantages and sets up a very good leverage between two parties – franchisor and franchisee. Major multinational hotel corporations have entered China, but franchising is seldom used as a tool of expansion there. The continuous increase in tourism and the structural change in the hotel industry in China afford more opportunities for the growth of franchising operations and also of indigenous hotel chains. When franchising in this specific market, quality control, ownership, connection, business tradition and franchisor‐franchisee relationships should be examined carefully in order to ensure success. A full understanding of China’s peculiar social, cultural, economic and political context is essential for foreign companies, whilst existing and new indigenous companies require greater technical and operating expertise along with the necessary business acumen to operate hotel chains.

This study aims to examine the evolution of spatial–temporal patterns in China’s hotel industry from 1978 to 2018.

A database comprising over 140,000 hotels with more than 30 rooms was created. The exploratory spatial–temporal data analysis (ESTDA) method, based on space–time cube model, was used to explore and visualize the spatial–temporal pattern of hotels.

The Chinese hotel industry can be divided into two development stages, namely, a large hotel-dominant stage before 2000 and a small–medium-sized hotel-dominant stage after 2000. China’s prefecture-level cities were clustered into four tiers. The higher the tier, the earlier the city will initiate hotel development. The Chinese hotel industry has four continuous hotspots (the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim and Sichuan and Chongqing) and some temporary hotspots.

This study lacks quantitative investigation, which could show the underlying mechanism of the evolution of the Chinese hotel industry.

This study is the first to investigate China’s hotel evolution over 40 years by applying big data and the ESTDA method. The systematic and evolutionary exploration will enable hotel researchers to understand the spatial–temporal nature of hotel distribution better. Introducing the ESTDA method into tourism and hotel research also provides an additional tool to researchers. Hotel investors and operators, city and tourism planners and market regulators can learn from the evolution of location patterns to make better where and when decisions.

Based on the operation results of Chinese hotels from 1991‐2000, this paper analyzes problems facing the Chinese lodging industry and proposes solutions. Chinese hotels’ performance, in terms of both revenue and profit, has been deteriorating since the early 1990s. While overcapacity has undoubtedly contributed to the poor performance, declining operation scale and low efficiency on the part of domestically‐owned hotels have aggravated the situation. To improve its operation results, the Chinese lodging industry should grow prudently, tap into the domestic tourist market, close the efficiency gap between domestic‐ownership and foreign‐ownership hotels and pursue economies of scale.

The study aims to provide an inventory of the existing English and Chinese research on service quality in China’s hospitality and tourism industry. The study aims to identify the reasons for the lack of research on service quality in China’s hospitality and tourism industry and the ignorance of the Chinese language literature in the field.

A synthesis review is conducted of 31 articles published in 11 leading Chinese and English academic journals from 1998 to 2013.

Popular research themes are service quality management and evaluation in the hotel sector. The majority of the reviewed articles are empirical studies that adopt quantitative methods, and none of the English articles use qualitative methods. Recent studies tend to use sophisticated statistical techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Changes in disciplines, publication trends and statistical techniques are observed. The theoretical and practical contributions of the Chinese and English publications are compared, and recommendations are made for future research.

This study is one of the first to review and compare the existing publications in the leading Chinese- and English-language journals. It provides a platform for scholars, especially non-Chinese literate researchers, to understand the research on service quality in the China hospitality and tourism industry.

The purpose of this research is to investigate general managers' (GM) demographic characteristics and career paths in China's indigenous economy and budget hotels.

A questionnaire was chosen as the most appropriate means of obtaining information from 104 general managers in Guangdong Province, China.

The data from this study indicate that the majority of general managers are between ages of 31‐51, predominantly males with three‐year vocational college educations, and trained in either a hospitality/business‐related major or totally non‐business‐related major. The career paths of younger general managers show more similarities with their counterparts on the international market. However, some unique differences are identified. General managers in China have more years of non‐hotel experiences and pursue more diversified experiences. Experience in marketing and sales and human resources are considered particularly important in qualifying them for the GM position.

Non‐random sampling was used, and it only focused on GMs in one region of China.

The study shed some light on the demographic characteristics of GMs and the change of career paths over the past 20 years in China. The knowledge obtained from this study will help foreign hotels operating in China effectively select the right leaders and partners. Most importantly, the results will offer useful information to the Chinese hospitality industry as it expands its role in China.

While an updated career development research of hotel GMs is needed, the findings have an incremental contribution to the body of knowledge on career development and a better understanding of hotel GMs in China.

The purpose of this paper is to interview Mr. Jingbang Zhang, EVP of Yagao Meihua Hotel Management Co., Ltd & CEO of Madison Brand based in Shanghai, China, regarding the impact of COVID-19 on China’s hotel industry and potential post-COVID-19 trends.

Interview with hotel group CEO and industry leader in China.

Several effects of COVID-19 and potential trends are discussed from a hotel CEO’s perspective.

Tourism and hospitality stakeholders will acquire a better understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on China’s hotel industry and possible post-COVID-19 adjustments

This paper is based on findings from a two‐year MPhil research project that aimed to examine the development of hotel chains in China since 1978 and to recommend policy and operational guidelines for their further expansion. The study confirmed the unique nature of the hotel industry in China, existing as it does in a country moving from a centrally planned economic system that is strongly influenced by communist dogma towards a Western‐style market economy. This paper identifies and discusses four main categories of barriers to chain development, namely: economic and political systems; hotel ownership; hotel management capability and resources; and competition between local and foreign firms. Massive growth in China’s hotel industry is forecast, and this presents a great attraction for hotel companies. However, the need to understand and appreciate these barriers is recommended to any company, local or foreign, contemplating doing business in this unusual but potentially very large market place.