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Dec. 28 (NBD) -- The first British Museum authorized Lano Hotel opened in east China's Qingdao on Thursday.

The new hotel combines the renowned museum's intellectual property (IP) of art works with the brand value of Lano Hotel, owned by tourist & hotel chain SUNMEI Group. The British museum and Lano Hotel expect to display art to the public in the hotel space in diversified, young and innovative ways.

The two sides are still exploring proper forms of cooperation, said Lai Liangrui, co-partner of Alfilo Brands, licensing agent of the British Museum in China.

The museum first will offer 1:1 copies of some of the premium art works for permanent display in the hotel. Small exhibitions, as well as cultural lectures and art salons will also be introduced. The new hotel is to open a window for young Chinese to learn about the British Museum and the development and future of the world and human civilization.

Apart from art collections, smart home facilities are another highlights. Guests can control some lights, electric curtains, and other equipment without inserting a room card. The energy-efficient smart experiences enhance interaction between the hotel and guests.

Wang Yuanxiang, senior vice President of SUNMEI Group, revealed that the company forged partnership with JD.com in the field of smart devices, but there's possibility of cooperation with other brands.

In the next three years, 30 British Museum x Lano art hotels will be landed every year, which are mainly located in first- and second-tier cities in China.

London's museum is not the first brand that make foray into the hotel field.

Swedish-founded IKEA will build a complex in Changsha that includes shopping mall, IKEA store, office building, apartment and hotel. The facility is scheduled to start operation by the end of 2019.

On January 18 this year, the world's first Muji Hotel opened in Shenzhen.

Besides, tech firm NetEase's e-commerce site Yanxuan teamed with Atour Hotel to set up an e-commerce hotel in Hangzhou.

The IP contents of such hotels could hold appeal for guests who check into the room. Before leaving the hotel, they may purchase IP derivatives in the brand store in the hotel.

When commenting on the British Museum's cross-border attempt, Zhu Xudong, co-founder of real estate transaction service provider E-House, held that the culture itself is not good at making earnings, but the combination of culture and other business forms will create great marginal profits. The museum x hotel mode is a new practice for cultural operation.

Those hotels naturally lead offline traffic to IP brands and the hotel, in turn, can gain more guests and increase sales per unit area by selling authorized IP products, added Zhu.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn