Hotel owners urge caution

THE Government should exercise caution in releasing sites for hotel development to guard against over-supply of hotel rooms, Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners chairman Lui Che-woo says.

Commenting on reports that the Lands Department planned to allocate 20 sites for hotel development, Mr Lui said if the Government did not carefully plan the timing for the release of the sites they could lead to an over-supply of hotel rooms.

He said the federation agreed that Hong Kong needed about 2,000 to 3,000 additional hotel rooms each year to meet the growing demand.

He said there was no shortage of five-star hotel rooms although the supply of three-star hotel rooms might be a bit tight.

The recent trend to redevelop hotels into more lucrative office blocks was not a problem, Mr Lui said, because there would be a steady supply of new hotel rooms.