The Fleur de Chine Hotel (雲品溫泉酒店) is expecting revenue to improve this quarter on the back of a peak season and a facility upgrade.
The hotel is the flagship resort property of FDC International Hotels Corp (雲品國際).
Occupancy at the luxury resort near Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is likely to hold steady at 80 percent, with a modest gain in room rates as well as food and beverage sales, FDC chairman Emile Sheng (盛治仁) said.
China’s ban on individual tourists to Taiwan has had little impact on the 211-room facility, as domestic travelers account for 75 percent of its clientele, Sheng said.
“While peers try hard to woo Chinese tourists, the Fleur de Chine assigns great importance to domestic travelers, in line with the hotel’s risk diversification and market expansion policies,” Sheng told a media briefing on Tuesday.
Taiwanese take 10 domestic trips a year on average, a business potential that has benefited the hotel, which has grown into a popular destination for family and incentive travelers thanks to quality food and service, coupled with hot springs and views of Sun Moon Lake, he said.
Despite an economic slowdown that kept occupancy flat, the Fleur de Chine’s room rates rose from NT$7,916 to NT$8,239 (US$260 to US$272) in the first nine months of this year.
An increase in the hotel’s share of independent tourists helped raise room charges, although the number of Hong Kong guests has plummeted, Sheng said.
Winter is the peak season for hotels featuring hot springs, with the number of guests usually rising 5 to 10 percent from the third quarter, and the Fleur de China is to receive extra support from this week from the opening of Cantonese restaurant Ken Can by Michelin star-awarded chef Ken Chan (陳偉強).
FDC had planned to add a Cantonese restaurant to the Fleur de Chine and found that the time was ripe when affiliated Le Palais (頤宮), at the Palais de Chine (君品酒店), was awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide Taipei for two consecutive years, Sheng said.
The Fleur de Chine has upgraded its rooftop lounge, fitness center, Wi-Fi connection and children’s playrooms, part of a renovation project that is to cost more than NT$100 million over three years, the hotel said.
In the first three quarters, FDC’s net income rose 2.4 percent year-on-year to NT$112 million, or earnings per share of NT$1.7.
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