With the theme of “Love & Money: How To Do Both” threading through WiT Indie held in Penang on March 15, it was interesting to hear the responses from speakers when asked to choose one or the other.
Benjamin Liao, chairman of Taiwan’s Forte Hotel Group, created laughter when he said, “I’m a third generation (hotelier), so it’s about the money.”
Rina Teoh: Bringing something new to the hospitality industry with the Edison hotel brand
Rina Teoh, executive director of The Edison Hotels, Malaysia, was all for love but added “it changes every day, so it has to be both”.
Both hoteliers are in the family business with Teoh the daughter-in-law of The Edison Hotels, Malaysia’s founder, veteran hotelier Eddie Tan, and Liao carrying on the company founded by his grandfather.
“My family has a history of 50 years in the hospitality industry; with that kind of knowledge we need to bring something new, a disruption to the hospitality industry, so we came up with the Edison hotel brand – basically a more boutique concept to try to enhance the hotel stay, the local experience and give people a sense of place,” Teoh said.
The group’s flagship, the 35-room The Edison George Town, is a beautifully restored former Hokkien tycoon’s mansion built in 1906. Before its ‘rejuvenation’ and reopening as a hotel in mid-July 2016, the building was the iconic budget Cathay Hotel that operated from the 1950s and closed down in late 2013.
While maintaining the historical features of the 117-year old house, the family introduced modern touches to the rooms and interiors as “travellers still need comfort even when they stay in old historical properties”.
Liao’s grandfather started in the hospitality business in the 1940s, a difficult time in Taiwan’s history with high inflation and unemployment. “He was always thinking about the family and he went into the hospitality business as he wanted to give jobs to everyone in my family and the community.”
In 1984, the family founded Howard Hotels, which is now the largest five-star hotel chain in Taiwan. Noticing the growth in budget travel, Benjamin’s father, Michael, founded the Forte Hotel Group in 2004. The latter operates 10 hotels across Taiwan under three brands – Orange Hotel, Forte Hotel and Green Garden.
On how they manage reinvention in a family business and if there were often disagreements, Liao admitted to “arguments between my grandfather and father, between him and his father and with his daughter”.
“But it’s a healthy process – we have to be very clear and prepared about what we want and as long as we get the points through, it’s alright.”
(Image credit: The Edison George Town)
Edison’s Teoh said although she is married into the business, she and her team “call the shots because we are bringing new ideas to the table”.
“Now it’s very different way of doing business as it’s all about the personal experience, not just a hotel stay.”
The Edison George Town, which is affiliated to the Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), gets 30% of its business direct. For Forte Hotel, it is about 20%. Both would like their direct business to be higher, of course. Edison works with various digital channels while Forte Hotel is doing it the traditional way through working with travel agencies and participating in events and trade shows.
Despite the rise of alternative accommodation, both Teoh and Liao are not duly worried about the trend. “It’s just another choice for travellers, and we just have to deal with it,” said Teoh.
Benjamin Liao: Looking into investing in alternative accommodation and startups.
Liao, though, is interested in the concept of co-living and is exploring how the “space as a service” ideas will affect the company’s real estate business and hospitality business. “We’re looking into investing in alternative accommodation and startups.”
As for what they see is the biggest opportunity ahead of their family business right now, Teoh said, “The coming together of the living and working space” while Liao said the company was looking at expanding outside Taiwan. “We’re talking about collaborations with different people, different industries and also different locations. We’re a favourable size in Taiwan, but business is becoming very global and we have to make a lot of friends.”
When Liao was asked if he planned to build a hotel in Penang, he said he was exploring different places, and that it was important to do a lot of homework before making any commitment as “a hotel is a very local business”.
“We know our business in Taiwan, but when you go out you have to make friends, you have to partner, you have to understand that you are an outsider. … Everyone is looking at the business from a global perspective, so you really have to align yourself with different people. I think that’s the way of the future, you have to be humble and find ways to put in different values.”
The Edison group meanwhile is looking to expand to other cities in in South-east Asia. “Currently, we’re actually going to Vietnam,” Teoh disclosed.
• Featured image: WiT’s Yeoh Siew Hoon in conversation with Forte Hotel Group’s Benjamin Liao (left) and The Edison Hotels, Malaysia’s Rina Teoh (right)
