Food and beverage sales at Illume Taipei (茹曦酒店) have been growing rapidly after FDC International Hotels Corp (雲品國際) in November last year took over operations of its buffet restaurant and banquet facilities.
The hotel in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) said it expects a full recovery to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels next year, when disease prevention measures are fully rolled back.
The hotel last year announced the collaboration with FDC after months-long renovation efforts and reducing the number of rooms from 730 to 312, saying the measures are part of efforts to boost space efficiency and save costs.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Food and beverage revenue grew threefold in the past five months, while occupancy rates returned to 60 percent, Illume Taipei marketing and communications director Tyler Wang (王品勳) said yesterday.
Room occupancy rates are 50 to 60 percent on average, up from 10 to 20 percent before the FDC deal, while average daily room rates increased from NT$2,000 to NT$4,500 (US$66 to US$147), he said.
Wang said the hotel has hosted guests from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, but domestic travelers continue to account for about 70 percent, as global business travel is expected to resume slowly.
Meanwhile, FDC expects stable business growth this quarter after a rapid recovery from a COVID-19 slump in the second half of last year.
After strong showings during the Lunar New Year holiday, food and beverage sales continued to receive support from spring gatherings, the company said.
Revenue in the first two months of this year increased 28.17 percent year-on-year to NT$475.84 million, while the room occupancy rate rose above 80 percent at Palais de Chine Hotel (君品酒店) near Taipei Railway Station over the 228 Memorial Day holiday, the company said.
Its flagship Fleur de Chine Hotel (雲品溫泉酒店) near Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County is undergoing renovation, but is expected to lend support to FDC’s growth momentum after it reopens, it said.
FDC is seeking to benefit from an expected boom in domestic tourism spurred by the government’s distribution of NT$6,000 tax rebates to Taiwanese and some foreign residents.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs. Unlike their mass-produced cousins, the tough garments crafted at the small Momotaro Jeans factory in southwest Japan are designed to be worn for decades, and come with a lifetime repair warranty. On site, Yoshiharu Okamoto gently dips cotton strings into a tub of deep blue liquid, which stains his hands and nails as he repeats the process. The cotton is imported from Zimbabwe, but the natural indigo they use is harvested in Japan —
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
RSS