Richard Gere, the esteemed actor and passionate innkeeper of the Bedford Post, has been named the 2011 Ambassador of Relais & Châteaux.

The charming eight-bedroom Bedford Post, located about an hour north of New York City, owned by Gere, his wife Carey Lowell and their business partner Russell Hernandez, is a new addition to the Relais & Châteaux family.

He succeeds the author Douglas Kennedy in 2009, and the wine grower and actress Carole Bouquet in 2010.

LuxuryMart09, an annual luxury business-to-business event will be held in Shanghai next Thursday (January 15th) and is set to welcome over 50 of the world’s top luxury brands including Bentley, Princess Yachts, Cartier, Bank of China and Relais & Chateaux.

The premier event for luxury brands targeting China’s fast-growing affluent sector, is now in its third year and is the leading annual platform for brands to exchange ideas and collaborate on marketing products and services for high-end Chinese consumers.

China is the world’s fastest-growing market for luxury brands, expected to rank second only to Japan by 2015.