US hotelier Howard Johnson added a new outlet in Shanghai yesterday in another move to expand his network of five-star hotels on the Chinese mainland.

A new five-star hotel, Howard Johnson Caida Plaza, opened yesterday in Yangpu District, where the hotel market is still awaiting development.

The 272-room hotel was jointly invested by its land supplier Shanghai University of Finance & Economics, Shanghai Chunda Group and the Howard Johnson Hotel Management Group.

"Howard Johnson is mainly in charge of management in the hotel," said Daisy Xu, Marketing Communications Manager of the hotel.

"The hotel targets foreign guests and offers a base for the university to conduct education communication," Xu said.

However, the company refused to reveal its investment in the hotel.

"The hotel is competitive in Yangpu District as few five-star hotels have set foot here," Xu said.

The hotel, with easy access to Fudan University, Tongji University and Wujiaochang business center, is part of the largest expansion of Howard's top plaza brand in China.

As a brand under the Wyndham Hotel Group, Howard Johnson planned to open 30 more five-star hotels across the Chinese mainland in the next two years. It already has 18 hotels of this kind, Xu said.

(Shanghai Daily by Winny Wang January 3, 2008)