Yesterday (November 20, 2008) the Swatch Group Ltd., the world’s largest watches manufacturer, held a ground breaking ceremony for the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. This hotel is a new joint project of the Swatch Group and Jin Jiang Group which is one of the Chinese biggest hotel chains. CEO of the Swatch Group Nick Hayek said the hotel is part of the development of the Swatch brand.
“We continue investing heavily not only in our production facilities or our distribution network, but also into new innovative projects such as this one,” Hayek said.
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel is situated in the Bund district which is the former business centre of Shanghai and present biggest recreation area in the city. According to the project the building will not serve only as a hotel but also as a cultural centre and a shopping mall. There the Swatch Group is planning to hold exhibitions of modern art, different cultural events and actions. What is more in the building of the hotel there will be a special area for boutiques of the most prestigious brands of the Swatch Group: Breguet, Blancpain, Omega and others.
The renovation work will try to keep the original look of the century-old hotel, such as the coloured glaze windows and wooden staircases, the Shanghai Morning Post reported today.
The hotel is expected to be ready by May 2010 to host the arts and working artists of the Shanghai EXPO.
Technorati tags:watch, wrist watch, Swiss watch, chronograph, tourbillion, Armitron, Cartier, Casio, Citizen, Longines, Omega, Seiko, Swatch, Tag Heuer, Tissot, news
Share This
