Hanok – Traditional Korean architecture style with various roof types, including thatches, shingles and tiles. Generally understood today as a tile-roofed house. Many are maintained as national cultural heritages. The Hanok house is not only the tradition of the past but also an effective architectural style in modern times. – Korea Tourism Organization
SOUTH KOREA. In major breaking news, Hotel Shilla has won long-awaited Seoul government approval to build a traditional Korean Hanok hotel on its Jangchung site in Seoul.
The site, located in the renowned and beautiful Namsan mountain nature preservation area (and near the famous Fortress Wall of Seoul), currently houses Shilla’s flagship hotel (the new facility will be positioned nearby). The application had been the subject of numerous earlier rejections and the breakthrough comes as a tremendous boost to the company.
Not only will Shilla get a new hotel (expected to open in 2020) but the associated expansion of its flagship downtown duty free store (adjacent to the existing hotel) has also been approved.
It is reliably understand that Hotel Shilla will immediately start planning for the extended store. It will offer an approximate +40% increase in space over the current 6,910sq m shop. That represents a more modest expansion than the desired near doubling of space but the self-imposed limit is widely seen to have helped in gaining planning approval.
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Shilla’s flagship hotel in Seoul is a landmark of the capital but for years the company has aspired to build a new property on site encompassing traditional Korean design and virtues |
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Hotel Shilla Co shares, which had been wallowing in recent weeks not far above a 52-week low, soared +5.21% in early trading on today’s news.
South Korea’s leading travel retail analyst Regina Hahm (Equity Analyst , Cosmetics, Hotel & Leisure, Fashion for KDB Daewoo Securities Co) told The Moodie Report: “Since most of the MERs effect has gone now, I think the stock is still severely undervalued, largely due to negative sentiments towards the whole industry, not by its fundamentals.
“I expect Hotel Shilla to continue to strengthen its market leadership in 2016, collaboratively with HDC Shilla Duty Free.
“Hotel Shilla will continue to strengthen its bargaining power and grow economies of scale, which will allow the company to enjoy better gross margins. This point has not been well appreciated in the market, which will leave hidden value for the stock.”
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On the move: Today’s news brought welcome progress for Hotel Shilla’s under-pressure stock price; Source: Reuters |
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The Shilla Duty Free store, which has been operating under severe constraints due to mounting Chinese visitor numbers, will now be expanded by around +40%, allowing a much-needed space increase for Korean brands in particular |
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