Rosy future awaits Phl hotel industry
From 2022 to 2024, Colliers expects an annual average completion rate of 2,650 hotel rooms in the capital region, up from the average of 930 rooms delivered annually from 2019 to 2021.
More hotel rooms are expected to serve the influx of tourists in the coming months as the global pandemic enters its tailwind, with 2023 forecasted to be the year of revenge travel.
Quoting a forecast report by Skift, a travel, airline, and hotel news organization, in the next couple of years, Manila would add about 2,650 hotel rooms a year, nearly double its current pace, while the Philippines will enjoy more inbound tourism.
The country’s tourism industry has proven this, saying in a report that the holidays have delivered further gains for the Philippine tourism industry as it breached its 1.7 million targets by year-end with 2.65 million international visitor arrivals as of 31 December 2022, translating to P208.96 billion or $3.68 billion in tourism revenue, a 2465.75 percent from the same period last year.
The new record has nearly one million additional visitors entering the country than the year-end target.
This was based on the monitoring conducted by the Department of Tourism from the time the country reopened its borders for all types of travelers in February until 31 December 2022, when Filipinos abroad were expected to flock back to the country for the annual Christmas and New Year celebrations as well as visits from foreign tourists who chose the Philippines as their holiday destination.
Of the 2.65 million international visitor arrivals last year, 628,445 were returning Filipinos. At the same time, the bulk of 2.02 million tourists were foreigners from the country’s top tourist markets from the United States (505,089), South Korea (428,014), Australia (137,974), Canada (121,413), the United Kingdom (101,034), Japan (99,557), Singapore (53,448), India (51,542), Malaysia (46,805), and China (39,627). Chinese visitors are also expected to crowd the country after they scrapped quarantine requirements in December 2022.
Hotel players bracing In a report, diversified professional services and investment management company, Colliers said that it recommends that developers in the Philippines line up various hotel projects to capture the surge in local and foreign tourists.
It said that from 2022 to 2024, Colliers expects an annual average completion of 2,650 hotel rooms in the capital region, up from the average of 930 rooms delivered annually from 2019 to 2021.
About 40 percent of the new rooms to be completed will carry a foreign brand, Colliers said.
Meanwhile, Alliance Global Group, Inc. said it would fast-track its development in the country, launching hotels in new tourism areas and additional townships with largescale integrated real estate offerings.
On the other hand, Seda of the Ayala Land and Resorts said in a recent statement that they have already bounced back in the postpandemic era and will soon add another 550 rooms to its portfolio by mid-2023.
New development sites include Nuvali, Manila Bay, and the EDSA gateway to the Makati financial district.
In a recent interview, Cecille May Kimpo, the director of Sales and Marketing of Crimson Hotel Boracay and Spa, run by Filinvest Land, said they have already regained momentum regarding foot traffic of guests.
“Tourists are starting to arrive in this recovery stage. I am glad to inform you that our weekly arrivals are currently at 2,000 or in the pre-pandemic. It’s positive since we don’t have an international market right now, and it’s all local, and records are now hitting the 2019 figures. We only have a minimal number of foreign guests because the traditional markets here in Boracay are Chinese and Korean. But since Chinese tourists are still barred from traveling due to a surge of cases in their country, we don’t have the biggest bulk of foreign arrivals, which is Chinese,” she said in an interview last November 2022.
And with the continuous arrivals of foreign and balikbayan tourists, especially last Christmas Season, real-estate developer Century Properties Group Inc. said they are taking advantage of this after opening Novotel Suites Manila at Acqua in Mandaluyong City last 15 December.
Besides tourist arrivals, CPGI president and chief executive officer Marco Antonio said the increased number of multinational companies based in Taguig and Makati also allows their company to accommodate the demand for intimate gatherings and meetings, given our strategic location.
Novotel Suites Manila marks the first hospitality venture for CPGI, a company historically known for its high-rise condominiums. Recently, Century forayed into affordable housing through PHirst Park Homes and premium low-density developments with Century Nuliv.
Conceptualized in partnership with hotel powerhouse Accor and wholly operated by CPGI, the hotel is housed in the sixth and final tower of Acqua Private Residences.