Sun, Oct 16, 2016 page3

• Taipei hotel occupancy rate could drop to 68%

  CUTTHROAT COMPETITION: Aggressive expansion and falling numbers of Chinese tourists and business travelers have caused an oversupply of hotel rooms in the capital

  • By Hsu Yi-ping, Kao Chia-ho and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  Hotel occupancy rates in Taipei might cap out at 68 percent this year, marking the lowest yearly occupancy rates since the SARS outbreak in 2002, according to research by global real-estate consultancy Knight Frank.

  The number of tourists visiting Taiwan grew by 8.9 percent in the first half of this year, Frank Knight Taiwan market research associate director Andy Huang (黃舒衛) said, but added that occupancy rates dropped 4 percentage points, leaving them barely above the 70 percent occupancy range.

  In July and August, the “hot” season for travel, occupancy rates in the city dropped to 64.14 percent and 68.38 percent respectively, Huang said, adding that occupancy rates for the year would average 68 percent.

  One of the most-visited tourist destinations in the nation, Taipei’s occupancy rates have never dropped to less than 70 percent in the past decade, Huang said, adding that this was indicative of a large supply influx in too short a time.

  Hotel room capacity grew by 709 rooms late last year, due to the opening of two hotels, Zhongshan District’s (中山) Marriott and Nangang District’s (南港) Courtyard by Marriott, Huang said.

  The opening of the Mayfull Hotel earlier this year meant that by the end of the first half, Taipei had 28 international brand hotels with 9,258 rooms, a 10 percent increase in just one year, Huang said.

  Taipei expects an additional 3,000 rooms over the next few years from various expansion plans by development companies and hotel chains, Huang said.

  Taiwan requires 90,000 rooms to host 10 million visitors per year, staying for an average of seven days with two people per room, said one hotel operator, who asked to remain anonymous.

  However, as of late 2014, Taiwan boasted a total of 170,000 rooms — without factoring in an additional 20,000 to 30,000 rooms at hostels nationwide — the operator said, adding that even without the declining number of Chinese tourists, Taiwan’s hotel industry would have had to face cutthroat price competition eventually.

  In related news, the Tourism Bureau said the number of business travelers has dropped by nearly one-quarter, falling from nearly 1 million to 760,000 per year over the past five years.

  The number of tourists has over the past five years grown from 3.63 million to 7.51 million last year, with the increase primarily attributed to Chinese visitors, the bureau said, adding that business travelers had over the same period dropped from 980,000 to 760,000.

  Business travelers usually have greater daily average expenses — the average business traveler spends at least US$260 per day, compared with less than US$230 daily for tourists — and bring the possibility of greater economic stimulus, industry sources said, adding that instead of “begging” China to not reduce the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, the nation should instead consider methods to attract business travelers.

  The number of Chinese tourists allowed to visit Taiwan is determined by the political needs of Beijing, the sources said, adding that the government would be better off promoting the meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions sector, which could create significantly more profit for hotels.

  Additional reporting by Wang Yi-hung
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