FRANCE/CHINA. HNA Group, the Chinese tourism to aviation to financial services giant, last night hosted an extraordinary charity dinner at the magnificent Petit Palais in Paris.
The Moodie Davitt Report was the sole travel retail media at the event, at which the Chinese powerhouse announced a series of new commitments and charitable programmes for the year ahead (we will bring you full details on these projects in a subsequent report).
Besides underlining HNA’s tremendous growth story and philanthropic endeavours, the event served as the perfect retort to recent negative publicity about possible exposure of China’s banking system to acquisitional Chinese groups such as HNA and Fosun. As statements of both performance and intent go, they don’t come much more powerful than last night’s.
HNA Group is a global Fortune 500 company focused on tourism, logistics and financial services. Since its founding in 1993 it has evolved from a regional airline based on Hainan Island in southern China into a global force with approximately US$145 billion of assets, over US$90 billion in annual revenues, and an international workforce of 410,000 employees, primarily across America, Europe and Asia. In tourism, the group is vertically-integrated global player with market-leading positions in aviation, hotels and travel services. HNA operates and invests in nearly 3,200 hotels with over 380,000 rooms across major markets, and has 1,250 aircraft carrying nearly 100 million passengers to 270 cities worldwide
In April, as reported, the Hainan-based Chinese group announced that it had struck an agreement to purchase 16.79% of Swiss travel retail giant Dufry’s shares.
The HNA Charity Night kicked off the group’s Paris International Week, a series of events hosted by HNA Group to celebrate its global platform, corporate achievements, commitment to philanthropy and desire to foster cultural exchanges. The events are being held in Paris in conjunction with HNA Group’s title sponsorship of the HNA Open de France.
HNA Group Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman Adam Tan said: “As a global company, HNA Group is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring together its leadership, employees, and partners from around the world. Over the course of the week, HNA Group will host events and initiatives that are closely aligned with our core value of ‘Public recognition, public participation, public sharing and public achievement’.”
Tan said that charitable initiatives announced last night celebrated the company’s commitment to its important role as “global citizens”. The series of donations and programmes “will help people all over the world live better, healthier, and more fulfilling lives”, he said.
Other events this week include:
- HNA Open de France: HNA Group is the title sponsor for the European Tour’s flagship competition, the Open de France. The tournament will run from 29 June to 2 July at Le Golf National, with the HNA Golf Invitational Pro-Am taking place on 28 June.
- Exhibition of Jao Tsung-I: HNA Group is sponsoring an exhibition of Chinese artworks by renowned Chinese scholar and artist Professor Jao Tsung-I at the Paris Pagoda, as part of its ongoing commitment to support the arts, promote cultural exchanges between East and West, and foster an appreciation for Chinese culture.
- Dream Jet Exhibition: Deer Jet, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HNA Group, is hosting a tour of its 787 Dream Jet from 28 June to 30 June. The plane’s cabin is decorated with pieces from luxury fashion-houses Saint-Louis and Puiforcat and artworks from Galerie Dumonteil.
- ‘DNA of HNA’ Book Event: On 30 June, HNA Group will host a discussion and reading of the book, ‘DNA of HNA’, which details the company’s success story and corporate culture.
- Hainan Airline Fashion Show: World-renowned fashion designer Lawrence Xu will present his new collection of Hainan Airline uniforms on 4 July, during Paris Fashion Week. Xu’s fashion creations combine eastern and western elements, fusing the airlines’ Chinese heritage with modern aesthetics.