Hotel and theme park operator Leofoo Tourism Group (六福旅遊集團) is giving top priority to maintaining employee morale while seeking to boost sales ahead of the year-end closure of its premier property, the Westin Taipei (台北威斯汀六福皇宮), group officials said yesterday.
“We are trying our best to retain all our employees or relocate them to affiliated facilities,” Leofoo communications director Anne Wang (王淺秋) told a media briefing.
The group also operates the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei (六福萬怡), the Leofoo Hotel (六福客棧), the Leofoo Resort (六福莊), the Leofoo Village Theme Park (六福村) and other recreational facilities.
TO-DO LIST
Newly installed Leofoo chairwoman Lulu Chuang (莊豐如) last week said that maintaining the morale of the company’s personnel sits at the top of her to-do list.
The Westin Taipei’s closure would affect Leofoo’s revenue in the short term, but might allow it to restructure its finances and become more cost-effective from next year, Chuang said.
Employees who do not wish to stay would not have difficulty finding new positions, as new hotels are scheduled to open in Taipei and other parts of Taiwan, Wang said, adding that some workers had already moved on.
The five-star facility would offer discounts to shore up its occupancy rate, as well as its food and beverage sales, Wang said.
DISCOUNTS
Guests who stay at the Westin Taipei from now to Nov. 30 are to receive one free night and enjoy a 25 percent discount at all dining facilities, Wang said.
The campaign might push up the occupancy rate by 400 rooms, she added.
The group expects a 10 percent increase in mooncake sales this year, compared with NT$10 million (US$325,034) last year, Wang said.
Food and beverage sales have been the group’s strength, Wang said, adding that it had no intention of giving that up.
Before the closure, the group would relocate its central kitchen from the Westin Taipei to the Marriott Taipei in the city’s Nangang District (南港), she said.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent