Hopewell, top landlord in Wan Chai, ventures into hotel in bet on tourism, conference demand

Hopewell Holdings, one of the largest commercial landlords in Wan Chai district, is banking on its new hotel venture to prosper with more tourist arrivals from mainland China and Southeast Asia, as well as rising demand for big conferences in the city.

Hopewell Hotel, located next to Hopewell Centre on Kennedy Road, will provide 1,000 rooms with over 70,000 sq ft of column-free meeting and convention spaces, the company said at a media briefing on Tuesday. Recent government incentives, including the introduction of multiple-entry visas for Shenzhen residents, should attract more mainland visitors, it said.

“This hotel will also be the next place in the city to house people from all over the world for conferences, as we have many auditoriums, large and medium-sized venues,” said Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, the group chairman. “There is a great demand for large-scale new conference facilities in Hong Kong.”

Wu, 89, is confident in the city’s hotel sector outlook. The city should see an influx of travellers from the two regions on the back of higher national income. It will be a long haul, Wu said, as the hotel venture is likely to take more than a decade to break even.

Wu said the land and construction cost amounted to about HK$15 billion (US$1.9 billion). At an annual borrowing cost of 5 per cent, it will take about 11 to 12 years for the project to start making a profit. As such, it may be too costly for other players to compete.