Cathay Hospitality Management Co (國泰商旅), a subsidiary of Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設), yesterday opened its third hotel in the nation, with plans to expand to eight by the end of 2018.
“We aim to expand the company’s hotels to eight in five years, with the total number of rooms reaching more than 1,400,” Cathay Real Estate chairman Chang Chin-kuei (張清櫆) told reporters after the formal opening ceremony for Madison Taipei on Dunhua S Road.
The 124-room Madison Taipei is targeting business travelers and independent tourists from the US and Europe with a room rate of NT$6,500 per night.
Cathay Hospitality expects an average occupancy rate of 70 percent for Madison Taipei, which has seen an average rate of about 50 percent since it launched trial operations in January.
The company operates two other hotels under the brand Hotel Cozzi (和逸) in Taipei, with an average room rate of NT$4,500 and an occupancy rate of above 70 percent.
Cathay Real Estate is investing in the hotel industry to raise its fixed income and serve as a buffer for its construction business during an economic slowdown.
Cathay Hospitality general manager Phyllis Chuang (莊琬華) said the company’s next step is to open three more hotels under the Hotel Cozzi brand — one in Greater Tainan and two in Greater Kaohsiung.
Two other hotels currently under plan will be international brands, Chang said. One will be launched in Taipei, bearing the brand Courtyard under license from US-based Marriott International Inc, and the other in Taoyuan City, named Crowne Plaza Hotel & Resorts under license from InterContinental Hotels Group.
The firm’s ambition fits in well with its wealthy parent company, Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), as the financial conglomerate’s life insurance subsidiary — Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) — owns abundant retail and office buildings in prime locations nationwide for the hospitality arm to choose.
Other than Taiwan, Cathay Hospitality aims to enter China in the future by licensing its Hotel Cozzi brand and management model there, Chuang said.
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