Gateway to south-west China

AMONG its many distinctions, what tops Chengdu's list is that it's the gateway to south-western China. The city of some 15 million is ranked the fourth most populous in China. Things are looking to get more luxurious as major brands move in for a slice of the city's economic pie.

The Starwood Group's first St Regis marque to open in that part of China is an indication of the ultra-luxury services becoming more common in the Sichuan Province and further west. The group now has six St Regis properties in China with eight more in the pipeline, doubling their brand portfolio in the near future, says Paul James, global brand leader of St Regis, The Luxury Collection, and W Hotels Worldwide.

This is in anticipation of the growing demand for luxury travel in Greater China, and especially in the south-west, where the silicon valley of China is located. It's the era of the "GenLuxury" travel set now, says Mr James, with generations X and Y dominating the luxury travel scene. The new global elite is now averaging 48 years old, 61 per cent male, and 42 per cent second home owners. While luxury travel used to comprise 80 per cent American travellers, it's now only 50 per cent American. "So it's about developing hotels in locations that the GenLuxury set want to go to."