Singapore-based Hong Leong Hotel Development Ltd (豐隆大飯店股份) yesterday said it has extended a management contract to ensure the continued presence of the Grand Hyatt brand in Taipei, ending rumors that the two sides were parting ways.
“We are pleased Hyatt is able to come to terms on the extension of the management contract of Grand Hyatt Taipei,” said Kwek Leng Beng (郭令明), executive chairman of City Developments Ltd (城市發展) and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Ltd (千禧國敦酒店).
Hong Leong Hotel Development is a subsidiary of Millennium, and both fall under the Hong Leong Group (豐隆集團).
Photo courtesy of Grand Hyatt Taipei
The Grand Hyatt Taipei (台北君悅大飯店), owned and built by Hong Leong Hotel Development and affiliates, earlier sought to end cooperation with US hotel chain Hyatt Hotels Corp, which in 2018 inked a pact with private equity fund Riant Capital Ltd (子樂投資) to launch two sister brands nearby — Park Hyatt and Andaz, local media reported.
Hong Leong was reportedly worried that there would be excessive competition among similar brands.
Riant Capital now favors developing office spaces rather than hotel rooms for its upcoming Taipei Sky Tower (台北天空塔) project, which is where CTBC Financial Holding Co’s (中信金控) headquarters used to be, local media said.
Rent rates for office space have increased significantly in Taipei’s prime Xinyi District (信義), as there is no new supply, while there is solid leasing demand from international technology and financial companies, property analysts have said.
Grand Hyatt Taipei, which turns 30 next month, was the nation’s first international hotel brand and remains the largest by number of rooms at 850.
Hong Leong has committed to the local government and community by investing in the hotel’s staff and its physical assets, as evidenced by its renovation of facilities, Kwek said.
“Grand Hyatt Taipei has become an icon and we are confident it will continue to shine and serve local and international guests well,” he said.
Situated near Taipei 101, the hotel has witnessed the growth and prosperity of Xinyi as it has evolved into a central business district in Taiwan and the region, he added.
David Udell, Hyatt’s group president for the Asia-Pacific, said that the Grand Hyatt brand aims to offer captivating and theatrical experiences for all guests.
“We are grateful for our partnership with Hong Leong and look forward to continuing to bring the Grand Hyatt experience to local and international guests for many more years to come,” Udell said.
The hotel would continue to be a preferred venue for hosting large-scale events and weddings, Udell said, adding that the facility is also famed for its award-winning dining outlets.
Micron Memory Taiwan Co (台灣美光), a subsidiary of US memorychip maker Micron Technology Inc, has been granted a NT$4.7 billion (US$149.5 million) subsidy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs A+ Corporate Innovation and R&D Enhancement program, the ministry said yesterday. The US memorychip maker’s program aims to back the development of high-performance and high-bandwidth memory chips with a total budget of NT$11.75 billion, the ministry said. Aside from the government funding, Micron is to inject the remaining investment of NT$7.06 billion as the company applied to participate the government’s Global Innovation Partnership Program to deepen technology cooperation, a ministry official told the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s leading advanced chipmaker, officially began volume production of its 2-nanometer chips in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a recent update on the company’s Web site. The low-key announcement confirms that TSMC, the go-to chipmaker for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware providers Nvidia Corp and iPhone maker Apple Inc, met its original roadmap for the next-generation technology. Production is currently centered at Fab 22 in Kaohsiung, utilizing the company’s first-generation nanosheet transistor technology. The new architecture achieves “full-node strides in performance and power consumption,” TSMC said. The company described the 2nm process as
POTENTIAL demand: Tesla’s chance of reclaiming its leadership in EVs seems uncertain, but breakthrough in full self-driving could help boost sales, an analyst said Chinese auto giant BYD Co (比亞迪) is poised to surpass Tesla Inc as the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) company in annual sales. The two groups are expected to soon publish their final figures for this year, and based on sales data so far this year, there is almost no chance the US company led by CEO Elon Musk would retain its leadership position. As of the end of last month, BYD, which also produces hybrid vehicles, had sold 2.07 million EVs. Tesla, for its part, had sold 1.22 million by the end of September. Tesla’s September figures included a one-time boost in
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
RSS