The 27th “Overseas Taiwan Business Panshi Award” winner, Kitty Lo, founder of Manhattan Hotel Group, has successfully expanded the hotel industry’s footprint across both sides of the East and West through professional management and cross-regional replication strategies. At its peak, she owned 14 hotels with managed assets exceeding 1 billion USD. Recently, she shared her observations on the investment areas and future strategies for the U.S. hotel industry, revealing her next stage of development direction.
Lo believes that urban cores and transportation hubs are still the preferred choices for hotel investment in the United States. “Near airports and city centers, with stable sources of business and transit passengers, the occupancy rate can be controlled,” she analyzed. Through professional management and brand differentiation, she believes that even in intense competition, high profitability can be maintained.
Furthermore, Lo also sees long-term potential in resort-style hotels, especially those that combine local cultural experiences and leisure facilities: “Family and long-stay guests are a high proportion, ensuring stable revenue.” Her past investment cases indicate that major cities on both coasts such as New Jersey, New York outskirts, and Los Angeles outskirts remain high-value markets.
Lo believes that hotels are not just accommodations but an extension of lifestyle. She plans to integrate elements of “accommodation + lifestyle + local culture” into new hotel investments to enhance guest loyalty and brand added value. She said, “Investing in hotels should focus on long-term returns and brand sustainability, rather than simply pursuing short-term profits.”
The next step for the Manhattan Hotel Group will focus on investing in the high-end boutique market. Lo plans to standardize operational models, data analysis, cost control, and marketing strategies of existing hotels into a management template for output to new investment areas.
Lo stated that this systematic model can not only reduce costs of managing multiple properties but also help improve overall operational efficiency. She also targets second-tier cities and emerging markets, especially regions with clear demands for short-distance business and weekend leisure, as the next focus of expansion.
Lo’s investments have always been cautious and precise. She believes that although the Southern California market is mature and competitive, there are still high-value investment opportunities. The diversified demand in Southern California, ranging from international business travelers to family vacations and short leisure trips, makes it possible to maintain stable profits through professional management, brand differentiation, and data-driven operations. By optimizing pricing strategies, cost control, and precise marketing, even in the face of high rent and labor costs, profitability can be maintained.
Lo believes that many inland cities or secondary tourist areas in Southern California have development potential, especially those locations with growing tourist demand but lacking high-quality accommodation supply. She mentioned that in the future, she may introduce the management system and standardized brand model of Manhattan Hotel Group into these areas to replicate successful experiences.
Overall, her investment strategy focuses on precise site selection, professional management, branding operations, and data-driven decisions, aiming for long-term stable returns rather than blind expansion.
Lo’s strategic layout indicates that U.S. hotel investments are moving towards a direction of stable returns in urban cores and innovative experiences in emerging markets. Her strategy not only continues the past success of Manhattan Hotel Group but also gradually outlines the hotel distribution map of the group in Southern California.