Leofoo Tourism Group (六福旅遊集團) yesterday held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new hotel in Tainan as it seeks to expand into the south, unfazed by the lukewarm market.
The new facility, part of a development project owned by Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) in Tainan, is to have 350 rooms under the Leofoo Resort (六福莊) brand, intended to tap into the city-resort market, group chief operating officer Lulu Chuang (莊豐如) said.
“With total hotel revenue of NT$6.47 billion [US$211.49 million] last year, the market in Tainan has expanded for the past six years and appears to have more room for growth,” Chuang said.
The hotel is expected to start operations in 2020, after Nan Shan completes construction of the mixed-use Nan Shan Tainan Plaza in 2019.
The life insurer has increased its stakes in real-estate properties across Taiwan to generate rental income and better utilize idle funds, company officials said, adding that a total of eight large development projects are under way, including the Nan Shan Taipei Plaza at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 2.
The Tainan project is on a 1.69 hectare plot on the intersection of Simen and Lisian roads, near two night markets, Nan Shan president Ernest Chan (陳潤權) said.
The new building is to have 12 floors above ground and two basement floors covering a total floorspace of 20,700 ping (68,430m2), part of which would be reserved for office space, Chan said.
The complex is intended to revive the neighborhood, create new job opportunities and boost tourism revenue by taking advantage of Leofoo Group’s experience in the industry, he said.
Leofoo Group operates the Westin Taipei, the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei, the Leofoo Hotel, the Leofoo Resort, the Leofoo Village Theme Park, the Leofoo Water Park and other entertainment facilities.
The Leofoo Resort Tainan is to be the largest five-star hotel in the southern city, Chuang said.
The facility is targeting wealthy travelers who want to explore Tainan’s history, culture, urban scenery and food in a leisurely fashion, she said.
The group has been able to expand despite a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists because it has a diversified portfolio, Chuang said.
Taiwan received 3.46 million tourists in the first five months of the year, a 7.1 percent decline from the same period last year, according to tourism bureau statistics.
That depressed hotel revenues nationwide 5.6 percent and their food and beverage sales by 1.8 percent over the period, government data show.
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