Regal Hotels International’s newest kid on the block, the 1,208-key Regala Skycity Hotel on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island has reported a high average occupancy rate of over 80 per cent so far this year, following Hong Kong’s resumption of inbound tourism without Covid restrictions in February.
While the five-star hotel was officially launched in late 2021, it went on to serve in the government’s hotel quarantine programme for almost a year, and only just begun its first year of normal commercial operations.
Recent months have brought healthy business, Dora Liu, vice president-sales, with Regal Hotels International, told TTGmice when she led her team to Singapore on a trade and media engagement mission.
Liu said the hotel’s location – as an airport hotel supporting Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and directly connected to AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) convention and exhibition centre – contributes to the “good performance”.
She added that it has also helped that AWE has “many events locked in and happening now”.
Regala Skycity Hotel maintains a close relationship with AWE, where it supports event organisers with accommodation.
“The hotel’s extensive function rooms can also take on spillover events from AWE and offer alternative and supporting venues for main events taking place at the centre,” added Liu.
The hotel boasts the Regala Grand Ballroom, with space for up to 76 tables and is said to be one of the largest ballrooms in Lantau, plus two other banquet halls. International events are supported by a Halal-certified central kitchen.
Other facilities in the hotel include the Sky Deck which comprises a jogging track, outdoor gym and an organic farm that supports the hotel’s farm-to-table F&B concept; five game rooms; outdoor swimming pool; gardens; three restaurants, and an assortment of themed rooms for families.
Liu believes that Regala Skycity Hotel’s work and play, rest and recharge positioning, underpinned by an array of wellness, entertainment and event facilities, gives it an advantage in courting travellers today who blend leisure and business and also expect wellness and sustainable features as part of their stay experience.
Her business optimism is not limited to the new property. She told TTGmice that the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s busy calendar of festivals for the remaining months of 2023 is a boon for the other 11 Regal Hotels International properties in the destination.
Hong Kong is set to charm visitors with events such as Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival in September; Wine and Dine Festival 2023 in October; Taste Around Town in November, during which many restaurants in Hong Kong will serve special edition menus; and the Christmas light-ups and New Year countdown parties in December.
The return of sporting events bodes well for the group too, as it has “traditionally been very supportive of sporting events”, shared Liu. The group sponsors the well-known Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, usually held early in the year, while Regala Skycity Hotel is supporting the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Half Marathon 2023 on November 19.
