Cathay Hospitality Management Co (國泰商旅), an affiliate of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), yesterday launched the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei Downtown (台北國泰萬怡酒店), saying it hopes to break even in three to five years.
The goal requires annual revenue of between NT$142 million and NT$233 million (US$4.6 million and US$7.55 million) as the company has invested NT$700 million in the property.
“Despite the challenges, the target is achievable,” hotel general manager Kathy Chen (陳玫安) told a media briefing.
Cathay Hospitality, which runs five hotel outlets in different parts of Taiwan under the Madison Taipei (台北慕軒) and Hotel Cozzi (和逸) brands, decided to partner with Marriott International Inc to take advantage of its vast membership from across the globe, she said.
With 200 million members, the Marriott network could supply up to 45 percent of clientele, easing Cathay Hospitality’s burden of having to fill 60 percent of its 227 rooms in the first year, Chen said.
The strategy appears to have paid off as the hotel is almost sold out for New Year’s, she said.
The hotel on Minsheng E Rd Sec 3 is part of an urban renewal project, with guestrooms occupying the 14th to 20th floors and the remaining floors set aside for public and office space, Chen said.
Its location near Xingtian Temple MRT Station and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is expected to make it a first choice among young foreign business travelers, as well as for corporate meetings, conferences and other gatherings, she said.
With daily room rates of NT$5,500 and NT$6,000, the hotel is targeting technology-savvy business travelers between 30 and 40 years old, Chen said, adding that office buildings in the neighborhood should support its business.
With health-oriented menus, food and beverage sales could generate 40 percent of revenue with a buffet restaurant, a lounge bar and an executive bar led by chefs formerly working at the Lalu Sun Moon Lake (涵碧樓), she said.
“An increasingly crowded field poses the biggest challenge, but a new hotel with quality service is always an attraction in itself,” Chen added.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last