In 1999, the International Horticultural Exposition was held in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in China. Recognised as an international exposition by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the event was organised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), based in Paris, France. It was the first international mega-exposition hosted in China, and had strong support from Kunming's local government agencies. The six-month long exposition (Expo Garden) attracted more than 9 million visitors from around the world with a daily average of 49,000 park visitors and hitting a peak of more than 110,000 visitors in a single day. After the exhibition ended, Kunming government decided to continue to keep the venue open as a tourist destination, and major transformations were made to Expo Garden's management structure and business operations. A decade later, Expo Garden had lost its position as a prime tourist destination in Yunnan, as other destinations such as Dali, Shangri-la and Lijiang became the top tourist draws. During this time, domestic tourists emerged as the main engine of growth in Yunnan's tourism industry. In 2012, the group that owned and managed Expo Gardens, Yunnan Tourism Co. Ltd, a state-owned company listed in the Shenzhen stock exchange, needed a turnaround strategy to enhance the attractiveness of Expo Garden, its major asset. The aim was to: transform Expo Garden into a major player in Yunnan Province's tourism industry; and to boost Expo Garden's income growth substantially and improve the financial performance of the company.

The owners of the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel planned a grand 4+ star hotel in a prime location, just a five-minute walk from the airport terminal. It would feature 612 guest rooms, multiple food and beverage outlets, meeting facilities and the largest ballroom in eastern Bangkok. The property was co-owned by three Thai government corporations and was set to open on 1 October 2006. Bangkok hotel operator Universal Hospitality Group and French hotel and leisure company The Accor Group submitted a joint bid for the management contract when it was opened for tender in September 2004. In February 2005, the hotel's owners awarded the management contract to the Accor-Universal management group. This was after the hotel's design had been finalized and construction had begun. The management consequently felt they had no meaningful input in the development process. Furthermore, the hotel had been built on a turnkey basis. Hence, when the management group assumed responsibility for the hotel in April 2006, they discovered many operational challenges stemming from what they felt was a misalignment of the hotel's development, construction and operation. The management group spent the first few months grappling with those challenges and seeking solutions.