As travelers seek experiences in less visited places, Songtsam Hotels, Resorts & Tours, a China-based boutique hotel group, finds itself with a rapidly growing collection of luxury properties in locations far from traditional destinations.

With 12 hotels open in eastern Tibet and China's Yunnan province, the company has 32 more projects in the pipeline, many with extraordinary locations — including one property that is 13,000 feet above sea level. Expansion plans include other regions of China and even outside the region to places such as Uzbekistan.

According to Florence Li, director of international sales and marketing, Songtsam — which means “paradise” in Tibetan — has no direct competition. While there are other tour operators in the region, they don’t own hotels. In fact, Songtsam owns all of its properties so that “we can guarantee consistency, service quality and quality of facilities,” she said.

Songtsam was started by Baima Duoji, Li’s father, a Tibetan documentary filmmaker who wanted to share his country’s culture and traditions. While attending the Cannes TV festival in France more than 20 years ago, Duoji became familiar with the concept of boutique hotels and decided to create similar properties where guests could feel and experience local culture.

In 2000, while still working as a filmmaker, Duoji converted his ancestral home into the first Songtsam property, Songtsam Shangri-La Lvgu Lodge, in the town of Shangri-La in Yunnan province. From the architectural techniques to the decorative style, it was infused with Tibetan architectural and craft elements to create a “home away from home” hidden in the Himalayas.

By 2001, Baima decided to devote himself entirely to working on expanding the collection, but because of where his hotels are, he broadened his perspective to bring in the entire destination, Li said. He brought together nature, outdoor adventure, village life and local countryside customs to form two “circuits” — geographically connected groups of properties that create a foundation for a multilocation trip.

In March, the company opened the Songtsam Lodge Namcha Barwa located in Dalin Village in Tibet. The property features a view of the Namcha Barwa snow mountain, called the Father of Tibetan Mountains, which rises 25,531.5 feet above sea level. To promote local development, Songtsam has committed to contributing $30 from every room night sold to the village to help improve the village’s living standards and support local development.

While all Songtsam properties are in scenic locations, the company divides its properties into lodges and retreats. Retreats have more facilities like gyms and restaurants, providing guests with the opportunity to participate in more activities.

Songtsam’s architectural design philosophy includes using local materials, adapting to local conditions, and living in harmony with nature. Most of Songtsam’s lodges are brick-wood structures, with wood recycled from abandoned buildings or from trees that have naturally fallen, due to Tibet’s logging ban. Architecture and design fits into the often untouched local environment and each building is filled with the founder's private antique collection and locally produced art works.

All properties are relatively small, Li said. Most guests will stay in more than one during their trips, which is why Songtsam started a tour operator division. That division provides guests with an opportunity to curate their own trips by combining stays at multiple locations.

International clients fly into Shanghai or Beijing and are then picked up by Songtsam representatives. Once a guest has landed, Li said, “we take care of everything, including meals, activities, guides and drivers.”

Typically, guests stay one or two weeks. It is, however, possible to book a room for a single night. Songtsam is also active in seeking clients to grow its business for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, she said.

Li said Songtsam's hotels are ideal for what she called “family adventure,” in other words accessible to most travelers with no heavy hiking or need for unusual physical fitness. Despite the “adventure” label, Songtsam is more of a luxury product, she said. For example, Michelin-starred chefs from Europe have been brought into hotels to train culinary staff.

Songtsam has almost 700 employees, 92% of them from local villages. Currently, the founder's family is the major shareholder, but several independent investors who began as “fans” of the product have joined, Li said. While Songtsam is “not really open to major investment” right now, Li did not rule out that possibility in the future.

Before the pandemic, said Li, Songtsam saw a growing number of North American guests, and while that market is on hiatus, she said she expects a strong return when travel restrictions are lifted. Songtsam had been on a strong growth pattern and was headed for record revenues in 2020, she added.

In anticipation of the region opening to travel from North America by 2022, Li said the company is taking preliminary bookings for next year.

“We are in a good position,” she said, “because of the unique and authentic experience we offer.”

Songtsam works with several booking channels to drive business from North America and Europe. It has relationships with Virtuoso and Traveller Made, both networks of travel advisers that appeal to upscale travelers. And representatives attend industry trade shows to drive awareness. Li herself is based in North America and she and her colleagues can respond directly to email bookings.