Taipei-based L’Hotel de Chine Group (LDC, 雲朗觀光) on Tuesday last week launched Hotel Pin (品文旅) in Yilan County’s Jiaosi Township (礁溪) to target young, budget-savvy travelers.
The new property with 178 guestrooms aims to achieve an occupancy rate of 60 percent in its first year of operation, with room rates averaging NT$4,000 (US$126.90) per night, LDC said.
The expansion reflects the group’s positive outlook for the tourism market, especially in the township known for hot springs and scenic views, it said.
Tourist visits to Jiaosi approach 700,000 a year, suggesting room for revenue growth, it said.
Hotel Pin is the second franchise contract that LDC has inked with Got More Co (佳茂化學), a manufacturer of plastic bricks and toys, after Maison de Chine Jiaosi (兆品酒店礁溪) last year.
A multi-brand strategy helps market differentiation and boosts market share, as Maison de Chine is courting family travelers, LDC said.
The business approach appears to be effective, as Maison De Chine has occupancy rates of more than 60 percent, it said.
Hotel Pin is offering room rates from NT$2,888 during soft operations through its opening sometime next quarter, it said.
Three more hotel brands plan to enter Yilan with total investments of NT$4.8 billion, the Tourism Bureau said.
However, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) said in a report on Friday that business sentiment in the local service sector weakened last month, as some securities houses incurred losses from proprietary operations and worse-than-expected hotel, retail, and food and beverage businesses.
The composite index for service sector, which measures market sentiment, fell 0.53 points from a month earlier to 96.09 last month, the institute said in the report.
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