Taiwan Today

The Asia-based luxury hotel and resort operator General Hotels Management Ltd. is planning to extend its reach to Taiwan, according to sources familiar with the issue. Local department store operator Breeze Development Co. Ltd. has signed a 20-year collaboration agreement with GHM to build a 40-room super deluxe hotel, tentatively named Chedi Taipei, in Wai Shuang Xi in the northern part of Taipei City, sources said. Occupying an area of 0.98 hectares, which has been obtained by the Breeze Center, the Chedi Taipei is scheduled to begin operations in three years. Excluding the price of the land, the construction of the hotel will cost NT$930 million (US$29.28 million). The Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications gave its preliminary approval to the business proposal recently. Construction work can begin after the Breeze Center obtains a building permit from the Taipei City Government. According to MOTC Minister Mao Chih-kuo, the move represents the GHM’s bullish stance on Taiwan’s tourism industry. The bureau has approved or is in the process of reviewing projects of 51 new hotels on the island, with the total investment amount exceeding NT$98.4 billion, sources revealed. Local press said the number of foreign visitors to Taiwan has been steadily increasing thanks to the bureau’s successful promotional campaigns. The country welcomed some 4.39 million tourists from abroad in 2009. This record-high number represents 13-percent year-on-year growth despite the global financial tsunami. More than 460,000 mainlanders have set foot on the island as of the first quarter of 2010, representing a 30-percent increase over the same period last year. The booming business has resulted in a serious shortage of hotel rooms since 2009, especially in major tourist attractions. In light of this trend, a number of international hotel chains have been expanding their business on the island. Four Seasons Hotels Inc. has decided to build a 516-room hotel in Taipei’s Xinyi district, with construction slated for completion by October 2011. Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, which opened a new hotel in Hsinchu County April 3, is planning on opening a 193-room resort in Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan March or April of 2011. The Hyatt Hotels Corp. will build a 250-room hotel in Taichung City, while the Landis Group is planning on constructing new facilities in Wufeng Township of Taichung County. Both hotels will begin service in 2012. (This article originally appeared in the April 4 “China Times.”)