Intelligence Integration and Green Upgrade: Hotel Furniture Industry Enters a New Transformation Cycle - On-site Observation of 2025 China Hotel Furniture Industry Development Forum

       The "2025-2030 Global Hotel Furniture Market Development Report" released at the forum shows that with the recovery of global tourism, the hotel furniture market is ushering in structural growth. It is expected that the global market size will exceed 48 billion US dollars by 2030, and the Chinese market size will reach 160 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of more than 12%. Notably, intelligence, greenization and customization have become the three core engines driving growth, and their proportion in total demand is expected to rise from 32% in 2024 to 58% in 2030.

the revenue proportion of the company's intelligent furniture has reached 35%, an increase of 18 percentage points compared with last year. "Previously, the R&D investment accounted for only 2%, but now it has been increased to 4.7%. Without technological innovation, it is impossible to retain customers at all."

       The requirements for green environmental protection are forcing the upgrading of the industry supply chain. At the forum, the EU EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) certification became a high-frequency term. It is understood that the new EU regulations have included the carbon footprint of hotel furniture in the scope of mandatory disclosure, which means that products without relevant certification will be difficult to enter the European market. "It took us 8 months to complete the EPD certification last year. Although we invested a lot of costs, the orders in the European market have increased by 23% this year," Chen Min, person in charge of Foshan Green Environment New Material Technology Co., Ltd., displayed a set of tables and chairs made of bamboo fiber composite materials. "This material is 30% lighter than traditional solid wood, has a 2-fold higher wear resistance coefficient, and the cost has decreased by 26%. Now it has been supplied to many resort hotels in Southeast Asia."

        In addition to intelligence and greenization, customized service capabilities have become the core competitiveness of enterprises. Wang Lin, Director of Procurement at InterContinental Hotels Group in Hangzhou, said that high-end hotels now pay more and more attention to the cultural expression of space, and the demand for customized furniture is becoming more and more personalized. "For a new Zen-themed hotel we opened in Hangzhou, all furniture is customized according to the proportions of the Song Dynasty's 'Yingzao Fashi' (Treatise on Architectural Methods), and the proportion of tables and desks strictly follows the golden ratio of 3:7:10. Such customized demand was rare before, but now it has become the standard configuration for mid-to-high-end hotels." She revealed that in the group's furniture procurement budget this year, the proportion of customized products has increased from 14% in 2019 to 18%.

        In the roundtable discussion session of the forum, "stock renovation" became a hot topic. Data shows that the renovation cycle of global mid-to-high-end hotels has shortened to 4.7 years, a decrease of 1.3 years compared with 2015. The total renovation investment of China's star-rated hotels in 2023 exceeded 38 billion yuan, of which furniture renewal accounted for 28% of the total investment. "Stock hotel renovation has high requirements for furniture installation efficiency, and modular design is the key," Zhang Jingfu explained. The logistics cost of detachable furniture is 38% lower than that of traditional products, and it can greatly shorten the construction cycle. "Now many enterprises are laying out modular product lines to meet the needs of emerging formats such as stock renovation and short-term rental apartments."

enterprises will increase from 31% to 45% in the next five years; small and medium-sized enterprises need to focus on segmented scenarios and develop differentiated products. "For example, developing antibacterial coating furniture for health and wellness hotels, and designing safe anti-collision furniture for parent-child hotels. There is still a 13% profit margin in these segmented fields," said Wu Tao, an industry analyst.

       At the end of the forum, Foshan Furniture Industry Association announced that it will jointly build an Intelligent Innovation Center for Hotel Furniture with local universities and enterprises, focusing on the research and development of IoT access standards and environmentally friendly new materials. "Foshan has complete industrial chain advantages. We hope to promote the transformation of the industry from 'manufacturing' to 'intelligent manufacturing' through industry-university-research cooperation," said Luo Qing, Secretary-General of the Association.

      As night fell, many enterprise booths still had an endless stream of negotiators. Li Jianjun's mobile phone kept receiving consultation messages from customers. He sighed: "The industry is changing too fast, but as long as we follow the trend and make products well and refined, there will be opportunities." This dynamic industrial hub is witnessing the Chinese hotel furniture industry entering a new development cycle.

Forum Overview

Held in Foshan (accounting for 58% of China's customized hotel furniture production capacity), the forum gathered over 300 representatives from hotel furniture enterprises, chain hotel brands and industry institutions. It focused on the transformation path and future opportunities of the hotel furniture industry in the post-epidemic era.

Market Growth Data

• Global hotel furniture market size is expected to exceed $48 billion by 2030, with China's market reaching 160 billion yuan, maintaining an average annual growth rate of over 12%.
• Intelligence, greenization and customization have become core growth drivers; their proportion in total demand is projected to rise from 32% (2024) to 58% (2030).