Shangri-La chief executive and managing director Giovanni Angelini says Hong Kong's "spirit of optimism" makes it such a vibrant city

Hotel room revenues account for HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) of Hong Kong's HK$60 billion (US$7.8 billion) tourism revenues. With a "booked out" fourth quarter expected due to the opening of Disneyland in September, hotel capacity by 2006 is expected to increase by 20 – 25 per cent

About 14,000 new hotel rooms will come on stream by early next year, enhancing Hong Kong's luxury image, and taking the total to more than 50,000. These include the first Four Seasons brand hotel – opening in Central later this year as the largest Four Seasons Hotel in the world – and Mandarin Oriental's new boutique hotel Mandarin Landmark.

"Luxury hotels create a higher destination image," said James Lu, executive director of Hong Kong Hotels Association. "Hong Kong is a city with the best in airport, airlines, aviation and business infrastructure. With the addition of Four Seasons and several others in the luxury hotel category due to open in the next five years, our industry will continue to offer some of the best in the world in luxury accommodation and quality service. This will go a long way towards building a unique reputation for Hong Kong."

A measure of global confidence

Robust results in Hong Kong are spearheading the global expansion of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Asia's leading upmarket hotel chain. Riding on 10 per cent occupancy increases at both its Hong Kong hotels, the group has announced plans to open 10 hotels in key cities in the UK, Europe and North America. The first Shangri-La hotel in London scheduled to open by 2009.

Tourism continues to boom in Hong Kong, with latest figures showing the best March result on record, taking cumulative growth for the quarter to 10.8 per cent. Shangri-La chief executive and managing director Giovanni Angelini said this was a measure of international confidence in Hong Kong's rebounding economy.

"Our two hotels in Hong Kong have very different clienteles - the Island Shangri-La for the financial industry and Kowloon Shangri-La for the garment and trading industries.  These industries represent two of Hong Kong's largest sector," said Mr Angelini. "As occupancy levels of the two hotels increase, it reflects the resurgence of confidence of the international world in our economy.  In addition, we also see increased activity in our hotel restaurants, which is always a good indicator of the confidence of the local economy."

Mr Angelini added that Hong Kong and its people are always quick to react to market conditions and find opportunities. "It is the spirit of optimism - that Hong Kong will always come out of any adverse situation - which makes Hong Kong such a vibrant and versatile city."

Economy on a roll

The hoteliers' optimism is underscored by an upbeat business survey released in June, showing economic conditions in Hong Kong have recorded the sharpest improvement in 13 months. According to the Brunswick Purchasing Managers' Index, the seasonally adjusted composite index to measure the overall health of the private sector economy achieved a reading of 54.4. This is the fifth consecutive month of growth and reflects an acceleration of new order books and workforce expansion.

Commenting on the results, Brunswick Hong Kong partner Ray Bashford said: "These findings show clearly that the rate of economic improvement is growing momentum. A significant feature is that employment opportunities are increasing for the people of Hong Kong. For example, the report concludes that staffing levels increased by their fastest rate for 13 months with demands from new business."

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