The two-star Hotel Central in the city centre officially reopened its doors to the public yesterday, and Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said on the sidelines of the hotel’s grand opening ceremony she believed that the increasing number of budget hotels, i.e., two-star or low-cost accommodations, in Macau’s old quarters, could “divert” tourist flows to the city’s different districts to visit their attractions and spend money there.
She said: “Macau has long been dominated by three-, four- and five-star hotels, but we have seen in recent years that we have instead seen a rise in the number of budget accommodations in the city’s old quarters, even though they are still not as many as the number of luxury hotels,” adding that budget hotels may look simple but boast their own characteristics, providing basic accommodation services to meet tourists’ general needs, such as internet facilities: “Some, like the revamped Hotel Central, are decorated with Portuguese tiles, while others, such as those having less historical and cultural features as Hotel Central, focus only on providing basic accommodation services”.
According to the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC), as of May, Macau had 143 hotels with 46,908 guestrooms, of which 67 providing 3,097 guestrooms were budget accommodations rated as two-star or low-cost hotels.
Senna Fernandes also said she believed the ongoing increase in the number of budget accommodations in the city’s old districts would make it more convenient for tourists to travel around the city’s old quarters: “Our licensing team also keeps explaining the licensing procedures to potential investors in the hope that their licensing requirements can be prepared early so that the whole licensing process can be smoother”.
The tourism chief pointed out that “the revitalised Hotel Central is an important landmark and historical building in Macau”, adding she believed the hotel would help tourists gain a deeper understanding of the relevant history and its surrounding cultural features.
Hotel Central reopens after years of dormancy
Meanwhile, the 11-storey Hotel Central on the city’s main thoroughfare, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, commenced trial operations back in May, and Lek Hang Group’s founder and chairman Simon Sio Chong Meng told reporters after yesterday’s grand opening ceremony that the hotel’s occupancy rate last month had “already” exceeded 90 percent, which he expected to be maintained throughout the summer holidays, with 70 percent of the hotel’s guestrooms already reserved.
Sio told the Post in an interview earlier this year that Hotel Central would be positioned as an integrated retail, dining, accommodation and entertainment complex, and he told the media yesterday that the hotel currently offers 114 guestrooms, with its commercial segment still being in the process of investment: “We expect to find businesspeople who share the same vision and theme to provide more diversified services to visitors through cooperation”.
According to Sio’s speech delivered during the ceremony, the revamped hotel, featuring a large mural displaying the city’s old quarters, a “historical corridor” and sightseeing promenade, aims to become a bridge for interaction among Macau’s six revitalisation districts being developed by the city’s six integrated resort (IR) operators, giving full play to the hotel’s historical heritage and central location, while adding more attractions to the city’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic centre.
The hotel’s room rates are currently standing at around 1,000 patacas a night.
Sio also said that his team, in conjunction with the Macau Historical Architectural Culture Research Association, has been working on a raft of initiatives to promote the upcoming 100th anniversary of the hotel’s opening, including the publication of a history book and the launch of a 90-minute TV documentary, which were slated to be released by December 20 as a tribute to the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland.
Hotel Central, whose Chinese name means “New Central Hotel”, opened in 1928. It was once the tallest building in Portugal and its colonies, and it initially housed Macau’s top casino. It was also the first building in Macau to have a lift, according to official records, when it was the city’s most luxurious hotel.
Yesterday’s ceremony was officiated by Edmund Ho Hau Wah, a vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), as well as several government officials and members of the business community.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes speaks to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s grand opening ceremony of the revamped Hotel Central on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. – Photo: Yuki Lei
Simon Sio Chong Meng (sixth from right), founder and chairman of Lek Hang Group and guests, including Edmund Ho Hau Wah (centre), vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); Kou Hoi In (sixth from left), president of the Legislative Assembly (AL); Bai Bing (fourth from right), director of the Department of Publicity and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macau Special Administrative Region; Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes (fifth from right), director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO); Leong Wai Man (fourth from left), director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC); Zhong Yi Seabra de Mascarenhas (fifth from left), vice president of the Board of Directors of the Macau Foundation (FM); José Tavares (third from left), president of the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM); Chan Tze Wai (third from right), deputy director of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT); Vincent U U Sang (second from left), president of the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM); Zhu Qiangbiao (second from right), vice-president of the Bank of China Macau Branch; and Hong Kong actor Simon Yam Tat-wah (right), pose during yesterday morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony during the grand opening of the revamped Hotel Central.\ – Photo: Lek Hang Group
