Luxury hotels eye smaller cities

Growing middle class population driving demand for hospitality

Buoyed by the rapidly expanding middle class and their growing tastes, international luxury hotel chains are now eyeing growth through expansion in the second- and third-tier cities of China.

Several leading hotel chains such as JW Marriott and Sofitel have already charted plans for new hotels in the country's second- and third-tier cities, said experts. The tiers refer to the characteristics of a city or region, generally cities with population and economic development below leading cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.