In March 2024, Hotel & Shop Plus – Shanghai International Hotel & Commercial Space Expo opened with great fanfare at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Boasting an impressive scale, this year's expo spans 19 major halls with a total exhibition area of 210,000 square meters. It brings together over 2,000 leading domestic and international brands and attracts more than 120,000 trade buyers. Running concurrently with the expo are over 80 forums, competitions, and award ceremonies, alongside 10 creative special exhibitions. These events comprehensively cover the entire industry chain, including hotel engineering design and supplies, smart hotels, commercial spaces, and cleaning and property management, providing the industry with an efficient platform for business matchmaking and trend exchange.
The opening ceremony officially commenced at 9:30 a.m., hosted by Zhang Xueqiang, General Manager of Shanghai Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co., Ltd. Fan Jun, President of the China Department Store Association; Sun Ziyuan, Vice President of the China Tourist Hotels Association; Liu Shengping, Executive Director of the China Association of Lighting Manufacturers; and Brant, Chief Global Education Officer of ISSA – The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, delivered speeches in turn. Fan Jun pointed out that China's department store retail industry is currently in a period of overlapping strategic opportunities, emphasizing the need to adopt an ecosystem mindset to forge a new ecosystem and build new models. He also noted that major events such as the 21st China Department Store Retail Industry Annual Conference will be held during the expo. Sun Ziyuan highlighted that the accelerated recovery of the domestic tourism market has driven up the hotel market sentiment index, and the expo has become the premier platform for project procurement. Liu Shengping shared data showing that in the first two months of 2024, China's lighting industry achieved exports worth 7.2 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%. With Southeast Asia emerging as a key destination market, he called on enterprises to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces. Brant emphasized ISSA's global mission to advance the cleaning industry and support over 20 million cleaning professionals, and highly praised the industry value of CCE Shanghai Cleaning Expo. Subsequently, Cheng Meihong, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, along with other government, enterprise, and association leaders and guests, jointly activated the lighting pillar to officially launch the event. Wang Mingliang, founder of Shanghai Sinoexpo, then led the guests on a venue tour.
At the exhibition venue, over 2,000 enterprises made a spectacular debut. Hall E1 focuses on sanitary ware and comprehensive solutions, with brands such as TENNE, German COSO, Rose Island, and Lens showcasing innovative products across all categories. Hall E2 displays ceramics, flooring materials, and whole-home customization, where brands like Jumeijia, Feiniao Zhu, and Power Dekor introduce eco-friendly new materials. Hall E3 covers wall materials and boutique design, with Langsheng and Eger presenting prefabricated and standardized whole-home solutions. In the Huazhu E-Purchase Pavilion in Hall E4, Xiezhu Technology, in collaboration with Huawei Whole-Home Intelligence, has created a 360° smart new experience, while OPPLE Lighting unveils its next-generation intelligent hotel lighting solutions. The Smart Hotel Zone in Halls E5-E6 features Future Living, Jinma Technology, Hisense, TCL, and Philips, showcasing full-scenario intelligent solutions. The Lighting and Intelligent Guest Control Exhibition Area in Hall E7 presents Gree Electric's commercial HVAC solutions, while HDL and Hongyan demonstrate whole-home intelligent control. The Hotel Furniture and Wellness Intelligence Zone in Halls W1-W2 features Mingyao Furniture, King Koil, Serta, and Precor, offering high-end customization and spinal-support sleep solutions. Halls W3-W5 and the outdoor halls bring together linen and hotel amenities giants such as Carnation, Qianjin Hongfan, M&H, and Jiaomu. The Cleaning Equipment Exhibition Area in Halls N1-N3 showcases highly efficient and safe cleaning technologies and embodied AI large model applications by brands like Lebaimei, Hako, COSCO Heavy Industry, and Youlu Robotics.
This year's expo features 10 special exhibition zones, driving new industry trends. The Hotel Investment & Franchising Zone and Hotel Showroom Appreciation Area showcase the latest design concepts from groups such as IHG, Wanda, and Huazhu, while the Non-standard Accommodation Procurement Platform gathers leisure and vacation brands like iMBox and Huji Tourism. In collaboration with LIFENESS magazine, the expo has created the "Healing Garden for a Secure Home" to explore inner healing during travel. The Esports Hotel Special Exhibition helps owners get on the fast track to profitability. In the Design Clinic, Zhu Weiwei, founder of Shanghai Green Building Architectural Design Firm, shared a case study on timber structure buildings. Taking the multi-function hall of the Yijing Garden at the Shanghai Xijiao State Guest House as an example, the entire building uses approximately 212 cubic meters of timber, with a potential total carbon emission reduction of about 557 metric tons. Among this, 57.81 cubic meters of SPF composite materials are used for roof and wall infill, and 108.57 cubic meters of Douglas fir are used for the main frame, vividly interpreting the advanced concepts of green construction and sustainable development. In addition, Modern Fashion Design Week and the Environmental Sanitation Technology & Smart Cleaning Exhibition Area also provide visitors with immersive experiences.
Running concurrently with the expo are five major themed events: "Shanghai Architecture and Interior Design Week," "Hotel Culture Week," "Rhythm of Light, Heart of the Craftsman Lighting Forum Series," "Mall Universe: Commercial Intelligence Showcase," and "Intelligence and Craftsmanship Cleaning Series." Industry elites from across the country in commercial real estate, architectural design, and hotel groups gathered together. Against the backdrop of sustained boom in cultural and tourism consumption and steady innovation in the retail industry, this expo not only provides comprehensive solutions for end buyers, but also comprehensively enhances the integrity and resilience of the industry chain through the exploration of new values and the creation of new scenarios, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of the hotel and commercial space ecosystem.