Deepening Digital Marketing: Grand Formosa Regent Integrates Three Major Brands to Enhance Comprehensive Hotel Services

▲ Grand Formosa Regent (Photo / Courtesy of Grand Formosa Regent official website)

Text by Dai Guoliang, Director of Industrial & Economic Research Office, and Researcher Gao Xiaoci

With the rise of digital sales in merchandise, traditional industries such as tourist hotels are also placing increasing emphasis on digital marketing. On one hand, they aim to find the most scientific methods to retain loyal customers, while also attracting new clients to generate more business opportunities. Unlike other hotel operators, Grand Formosa Regent can be said to be the fastest in the industry in terms of digitalization. Its digital marketing department has been established for as long as 10 years, utilizing digital marketing strategies to align with the internet-dependent habits and online booking behaviors of consumer groups.

Enhanced Services and Offers Boost Repeat Visit Rates
 Three years ago, Grand Formosa Regent began encouraging frontline staff to input basic customer information as a standard operating procedure, thereby allowing the digital marketing department to utilize membership data to meet customer needs and provide the most appropriate services.

Chen Shengcan, Manager of the Digital Marketing Department at Grand Formosa Regent, stated that before the implementation of Taiwan’s Personal Information Protection Act in 2012, the hotel had accumulated about 500,000 members. However, due to the regulations, the data collected over the years could no longer be used. Starting from October, the hotel began anew, establishing new membership records by seeking consent from consumers through various hotel departments including the reservation department, seven restaurants, festival event product reservations, online members, Silks Club members, Regent Galleria boutique members, Mulan Spa members, and YOURS Club (secretary club) members.

Chen emphasized, “Starting over is tough, but it is essential to respect consumers and comply with the law.” Currently, the hotel has several thousand membership records and has gradually begun providing different types of e-newsletters and promotional information based on varying member profiles.

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Chen noted that implementing comprehensive membership data collection greatly helps improve service quality. “If a department manager is unavailable, other staff can track and serve customers based on their consumption and dining patterns, such as Customer A preferring medium-rare steak or Customer B liking to sit by the window.”

Furthermore, through email marketing, the hotel achieves good results in member return rates. For instance, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the promotion of “Regent Mooncakes” and “Regent New Year Dishes” for Chinese New Year saw online orders account for 20% of product revenue, with holiday-related orders generating around NT$30 million in annual sales.

Optimizing Website and Managing Social Media Go Hand in Hand
 In addition to using customer data to serve Regent members, the digital marketing department also enhances online booking rates through website optimization and social media advertising on major search platforms, while maintaining a loyal customer base via active social media management.

Chen pointed out, “Previously, consumers booking hotels online would typically use large third-party booking websites, which charge hotels commission fees, resulting in higher booking costs. Therefore, we actively worked on optimizing the Regent Hotel website so that both domestic and international customers can book directly through our official site. This not only reduces costs but also allows us to offer more benefits to customers.”

▲ Grand Formosa Regent develops digital mobile services, enabling hotel bookings via smartphones (left), while optimizing the official website is part of its digital marketing strategy (right). (Photo / Reporter Chen Shichang)

Currently, online bookings account for about 20% of total reservations at Grand Formosa Regent, while travel agency bookings make up 40%. Due to the hotel’s location in downtown Taipei, its guests primarily consist of international business travelers and Japanese tour groups. This year, the hotel aims to increase its online booking rate to 30%.

It is worth mentioning that Regent’s budget hotel brand, Just Sleep, has also achieved a 20% online booking rate through website optimization, with its main clientele being backpackers from Singapore and Hong Kong.

Online bookings can be made not only on the Grand Formosa Regent official website but also via dedicated English-language booking pages tailored for international customers accessing the site through smartphones and iPads.

Chairman Pan Siliang Fully Supports Digital Marketing
 Chen stated,“Chairman Pan Siliang has repeatedly emphasized that whether a hotel is new or old, the most important thing is service. The chairman places great importance on customer feedback, believing that customers’ voices are the most genuine.” Grand Formosa Regent sends out customer satisfaction surveys via email to guests after their stay to understand their opinions on room cleanliness, dining satisfaction, and service quality. The hotel treats post-stay suggestions and comments as a crucial aspect of its operations to genuinely listen to customer voices and formulate improvement measures..” Grand Formosa Regent sends out customer feedback forms via email to guests after their stay to understand their satisfaction with room or restaurant cleanliness, dining experience, and service quality. The hotel regards post-stay suggestions and comments from customers as one of the most important aspects, ensuring that they truly listen to their guests’ voices and formulate improvement measures accordingly.

One of Grand Formosa Regent’s goals this year is to maintain and enhance the image and overall service quality of the Regent Regal International Hotel Group. This year, the hotel introduced a new customer relationship management system from Singapore to jointly manage membership data for Grand Formosa Regent, as well as its domestic brands Regent Regal Hotel and Just Sleep, enabling shared access to membership and group information.

Digital marketing is now actively underway, with ongoing efforts to integrate membership management and website optimization to achieve strategic goals. Chen believes that “the smooth and steady progress of the digital marketing department is attributed to the support and unique vision of Chairman Pan Siliang, as well as the early implementation of inputting customer data as a standard procedure to build a membership database.”

This year, Grand Formosa Regent hopes to leverage new platforms, marketing channels, and genuine customer feedback to provide better membership services and enhance service quality, thereby consolidating the corporate image of the Regal International Hotel Group and achieving improved customer relationship management and business growth.