As part of its efforts to attract Southeast Asian and Muslim customers, Taipei Garden Hotel (台北花園大酒店) is to host a month-long Malaysian food festival, starting next week.
The hotel hopes the festival, which is to open on Monday and run through May 11, will boost revenue at La Fusion (六國餐廳) buffet restaurant by 10 percent to 20 percent, as well as promote appreciation of Malaysian food, chief food and beverage operating officer Steven Shih (石益鳴) said.
“We agree with the government that the industry should diversify its source of customers and reach out to Southeast Asian and Muslim guests to remain competitive and profitable,” Shih said on the sidelines of a news conference.
La Fusion’s revenue last year totaled NT$80 million (US$2.63 million), Shih said.
The number of travelers from Southeast Asia to Taiwan grew 16.2 percent from 1.42 million to 1.65 million last year, with the number of Malaysian visitors increasing by 20 percent, assistant director of marketing and communication Blythe Chao (趙芝綺) said, adding that those numbers warranted a shift of attention to travelers from Southeast Asia.
Malaysian chef Shahrom B. Sarri last month joined Taipei Garden to lead the food festival, which will highlight 40 popular dishes from different parts of Malaysia.
The Malaysian festival buffet has been priced at NT$699 per person on weekdays and NT$899 per person on weekends.
The hotel has two other restaurants, a lounge bar and several function rooms with food and beverage generating 54.95 percent of its overall revenue in February, Tourism Bureau data showed.
Occupancy rates reached 89.83 percent in February with daily room rates standing at NT$2,064, bureau data showed.
Taipei Garden, part of the Cosmos Hotel & Resorts Group (天成飯店集團), aims to achieve a 90 percent occupancy rate this year, Chao said.
The group, which operates Cosmos Hotel Taipei (台北天成大飯店), Sun Dialogue Hotel (天成文旅-繪日之丘), Bee House (蜂巢) and ICASA (回行旅), is aiming for a 3 percent increase in revenue this year after last year’s flat performance, Chao said.
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