The latest Market Insight report from Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services indicates that the hotel industry in the Philippines is likely to keep growing over the next five years as investors and hotel brands pursue expansion projects.
“The Philippines is actually doing better than most countries in Southeast Asia,” Pinnacle said.
What's behind the appeal? Tourism to the Philippines is up, with arrivals last year reaching 5.4 million—a growth of 11 percent. On top of that, airfares are down. As such, occupancy rates for guests staying for at least two days at Metro Manila hotels averaged 67 percent in 2015.
Growth Plans
Manila-based Filinvest Group is increasing its hotel portfolio and expects to reach 5,000 guestrooms by 2020 from its current count of 1,063 guestroomsin Alabang and Cebu. The Group’s Chroma Hospitality management branch is reportedly investing P2.6 billion into a 228-room Canvas Hotel in Cubao and a 185-room Canvas Hotel in Mactan.
“Filinvest is also bringing to the market a Crimson Hotel in Boracay; Quest Hotels in Dumaguete and Tagaytay; Canvas Hotels and Resorts in Cubao, Mactan, and Cebu City; and a Serulyan condotel in Mactan. These hotels will open between 2018 and 2019,” Pinnacle said.
In June, we reported that the hotels unit of SM Investments, the Sy family's holding company, is looking to expand outside of Metro Manila. To that end, SM Hotels and Conventions earmarked $370 million to build five hotels and a convention center in the next five years. Locations for development include Iloilo City in the Visayas; Naga City; and San Fernando, Pampanga, north of Metro Manila.
The plan includes opening a business hotel beside the country's largest mall, SM North Edsa, in Quezon City. Construction is set to start in the third quarter of this year.