Landis Taipei Hotel (台北亞都麗緻飯店) is looking at double-digit growth in revenue next quarter on the back of the high season for business arrivals and food and beverage (F&B) sales.
The five-star flagship property of Landis Hospitality Group (麗緻餐旅集團) expects business to pick up at least 10 percent during the October-to-December period from the current quarter, thanks to improved demand for banquets and rooms, Newman Yen (顏鎮國), general manager of the group’s hotel operations, said yesterday.
The fourth quarter is traditionally a high season for wedding banquets, as well as corporate and family feasts, Yen said.
Landis Taipei last month posted a year-on-year revenue gain of NT$67.39 million (US$2.17 million), up 3.58 percent from August last year, as it recovers from losses linked to large-scale renovations of its 209 guest rooms and restaurants.
The hotel stayed in the red in the first half of the year with losses of NT$0.12 per share in the second quarter, easing from losses of NT$0.52 per share in the first quarter.
The 40-year-old hotel’s focus on business travelers means that it is less susceptible to China’s ban on individual tourists visiting Taiwan, Yen said, adding that Chinese tourists account for less than 10 percent of its customers.
Its famed French restaurant on Wednesday was rebranded Paris 1930 de Hideki Takayama, after Japan’s Michelin-starred chef Hideki Takayama agreed to come on board.
French chef Clement Pellerin ended his cooperation with Paris 1930 in 2017.
“We struggled hard with whether to adjust operations, but decided to give fine dining another try as authentic French restaurants have become rare in Taiwan after Stay by Yannick Alleno and Le Mout pulled out,” group managing director Michelle Hsu (徐儷萍) said.
While Teppanyaki restaurants, shabu shabus or steakhouses might generate higher margins, its French restaurant has been a hallmark of Landis Taipei and is what set the hotel apart from its rivals over the years, Hsu said.
Paris 1930 was around long before the hotel’s Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓), he added.
Under Takayama’s leadership, the French restaurant would continue to serve French cuisine, but with Japanese elements, with prices from NT$1,200 per person for lunch and NT$2,400 per person for dinner, Hsu said.
Profit maximization is not a priority for the restaurant, which aims to break even with a monthly revenue of NT$40 million and enhance the hotel’s culinary reputation, group food and beverage manager Gary Lo (羅明威) said.
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