When you get right down to it, it's not really something to boast about. According to the R.O.C. Tourism Bureau, the annual growth rate in travel to Taiwan dropped from 9.9 percent in 1988 to 3.6 percent last year and is forecast to dip to just 0.2 or 0.3 percent this year, or practically zero.

The 35 percent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar in recent years, combined with the boom in domestic real estate prices, has jacked up the consumer price index and scared away many Western tourists. Only tourists from Japan, where prices are even higher than in Taipei, still seem as eager as ever to flock to Taiwan.

It's said that per diem allowances for business trips to Taipei are even higher than they are for Tokyo.

In contrast, the number of R.O.C. citizens traveling abroad during the first four months of this year jumped a full 42 percent over the figure for the same period last year. According to conservative estimates by the Tourism Bureau, R.O.C. citizens will make more than 2.7 million trips abroad this year, involving one out of every ten people on the island. Flights to Taiwan are packed with returning tourists, and foreigners sometimes have to cancel trips here for want of a seat.

Despite the grim statistics, word has continued to go round in recent years of a dearth in hotel rooms. As Shu-jing Yeh, a marketing planner in the Hotel, Travel and Training Division of the Tourism Bureau, points out, however, "That only happens in the peak seasons." Japanese tourists make up half the visitors to Taiwan, and the island's hotels are full whenever there is a long holiday in Japan. Outside the peak seasons of March/April and October/November, the occupancy rate at Taipei's international hotels runs about 50 or 60 percent.

Be that as it may, first-class hotels have been opening up left and right. Three five-star international-class tourist hotels are debuting in Taipei this year, providing nearly 2,000 rooms among them, a move that others in the industry are watching closely.

The Grand Hyatt, which is owned by the Hong Leong Hotel Development, Ltd. of Singapore and operated by the Grand Hyatt hotel group, got a jump on the other two by opening on March 8. The Sherwood, owned by the Sherwood Incorporated, is scheduled to open in July, and the Regent, owned by Tuntex Group and operated by the international Regent hotel group, sometime this summer.

Other leading hotels, such as the Taipei Hilton, the Lai Lai Sheraton, the Ritz Taipei and the Hotel Taipei Miramar, have been remodeling and redecorating inside and out to spiff up their looks and increase their ability to compete.

The birth of the three new hotels poses a threat to all of Taipei's five-star hotels but particularly to the Ritz, which is located near both the Regent and the Sherwood and is aimed like them at Western businessmen.

The increased attention paid to business travelers is a source of mixed emotion to the hotel's general manager, Patrick Su. The Ritz was the first hotel in the country to cater exclusively to business guests, and Su recalls how they were laughed to scorn by their competitors when they first opened: "They won't last six months," they said. Eighty percent of the hotel business at the time came from tour groups, and not accepting them was considered a form of economic suicide. But six months later the hotel was not only still in business but positively flourishing, and the Lai Lai Sheraton, the Howard Plaza, and the Hotel Royal soon saw the light and followed suit.

In time, however, along with the development of Taiwan's economy and changes in its industrial structure, a major change has occurred in the business travelers that come here. Simply put, "buyers have turned into sellers," Patrick Su says. Purchasing agents are the coddled darlings of domestic manufacturers, so even if they are low in rank and dress poorly, they are still pampered like royalty, but salesmen are trying to wheedle cash out of other people's pockets, so they have to dress better and are usually higher in rank.

"There are fewer people wearing jeans or weird outfits," Su remarks. "The new guests are all gentlemen in smart business suits."

For just that reason, despite the outflow of Taiwan investment and an emerging trade deficit, the three new hotels are still brimful of confidence.

Richard Chapman, general manager of the Regent, elaborates, "Our sales department made a market survey in Silicon Valley this March and found that many high-tech companies would like to invest in Taiwan. High-level managers from around the world are just the clientele we're aiming for, and not the mid-level businessmen that are leaving along with the basic industries, so the effect overall has been minimal."

Situated in the center of the financial and commercial district on Minsheng East Road, the Sherwood is even more favorably located. Says general manager Rolf Pfisterer, "The financial and insurance industries in Taipei are booming, and the foreign banks provide us with our best basic clientele. Also, the traffic in Taipei is getting worse and worse, and if travelers stay here they can solve their lodging and transportation problems in one step."

Many investment firms think that investing in a hotel entails a high initial cost with a slow return and is not as profitable as investing in an office building. But as Chapman points out, "Office buildings have a good short-term return but they depreciate in time, while a well-managed and well-operated hotel is worth more the older it gets and may even double or triple in value."

In addition, hotels in Taiwan take in a large proportion of their receipts from their restaurant operations. Hotels in Europe and North America are run mainly for the rooms, but people in Taiwan think that a large hotel is the only place for a really swanky dinner, so income from food and drink makes up an important source of their revenue. All the international-class tourist hotels understand how it works and are joining in the game.

No large hotels have opened in Taipei for many years, and the industry has become rather conservative in its operations and ways of thinking. The new hotels are bound to intensify competition and introduce new management concepts and techniques.

"The competition in the tourism industry between various areas is greater than the competition within each area. Domestic firms all understand this," says Chun-hwa Tuo, a section chief in the Tourism Bureau's Planning and Research Division. "The birth of the new hotels will help raise standards in the hotel business and will give travelers greater room for choice."

The most important thing for hotel operators should be how to make the pie bigger and not how to snatch away someone else's piece.

[Picture Caption]

Hotel service begins at the door. The first step is a friendly smile.

A romantic ambience is indispensable for honeymoon suites. First-class tourist hotels pay attention to all the details.

Fresh flowers add life and a touch of distinction to elegant yet cozy surroundings.

Paintings are an important part of interior decoration in international tourist hotels.

Bright, cheery and stylish are Hyatt trademarks and part of its "assets" that attract travelers.

In Taipei, where real estate prices are sky-high, a bathroom this size is a rare sight indeed.

First-class hotels are even particular about the brand of soap they set out. You can see how intense the competition is.

Don't turn up your nose at the fittings on the toilet paper dispenser. They're pure 18-carat gold.

Articles from 1930s Shanghai are displayed like antiques to add to the restaurant's nostalgic atmosphere.

On their feet all day long in the lobby serving guests, and in high heels yet. You really need patience for a job like this.

A live band spells ambience and class.

Hotel service begins at the door. The first step is a friendly smile.

A romantic ambience is indispensable for honeymoon suites. First-class tourist hotels pay attention to all the details.

Fresh flowers add life and a touch of distinction to elegant yet cozy surroundings.

Paintings are an important part of interior decoration in international tourist hotels.

Bright, cheery and stylish are Hyatt trademarks and part of its "assets" that attract travelers.

In Taipei, where real estate prices are sky-high, a bathroom this size is a rare sight indeed.

First-class hotels are even particular about the brand of soap they set out. You can see how intense the competition is.

Don't turn up your nose at the fittings on the toilet paper dispenser. They're pure 18-carat gold.

Articles from 1930s Shanghai are displayed like antiques to add to the restaurant's nostalgic atmosphere.

On their feet all day long in the lobby serving guests, and in high heels yet. You really need patience for a job like this.

A live band spells ambience and class.