■ COMING SOON: SHOPPING ARCADE IN PLANTATION BAY
With shopping one of the top activities of tourists, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa saw the need to build a shopping strip. Manager notes that tourists in Lapu-Lapu City have to travel to Cebu City to access luxury shops.
Taking advantage of tourists’ interest in shopping, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa will open next month a high-end shopping arcade within the resort in Barangay Marigondon, LapuLapu City. The retail shops, selling mostly souvenir items, are meant to enhance guest experience, according to the resort’s general manager Efren Belarmino. The resort will also sell its own products in the two-level, 125-square-meter arcade. Belarmino said they are also negotiating with a jewelry company to open a boutique in the resort. With the shopping center, tourists visiting Plantation Bay won’t have to go all the way to Cebu City for their shopping needs.
By April this year, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa is set to open its new offering to the tourism market—its high-end shopping arcade that is meant to boost the guest experience.
“Construction is already 80 to 90 percent (complete). We target to open in the middle of April this year,” said Plantation Bay Resort and Spa general manager Efren Belarmino, in an interview yesterday.
Construction of the shopping arcade began sometime last year. The resort also recently completed room renovations.
The two-level, 125-square-meter shopping arcade will be occupied by a tenants selling highend souvenir items. The resort will also have its own space to sell its own products. Belarmino disclosed that they are still in negotiations with another tenant in the jewelry business.
The shopping arcade is located inside the resort’s 11.5-hectare property in Barangay Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City. Belarmino said the retail outlet is aimed at enhancing the guest experience and boosting the tourism offering for local and foreign guests.
Variety
Shopping, he said, is one of the top activities of tourists, specifically the growing number of Taiwanese visitors.
“Foreign tourists don’t only come to Cebu for leisure activities. They are also inclined toward shopping activities. Mactan
P21.7 billion Tourism receipts the Philippines earned in January alone
Island, however, doesn’t have luxury shopping centers and guests may need to go to Cebu City, where there is a high presence of bigger shopping malls,” said Belarmino.
Moreover, the general manager reported a healthy occupancy level since the start of this year. This observation, he noted, is also being felt by all resort players in Mactan Island.
Belarmino expects more tourists to visit Cebu with the additional direct flights launched since last year.
He hopes these new direct flights would translate to high revenues in rooms, food and beverage, retail and other leisure activities. “These direct flights are helping us,” he said.
Data from the tourism department showed that tourism receipts in the country generated earnings amounting to P21.7 billion in January this year.
Korea is the top spending market, with receipts amounting to P6.5 billion followed by US with total visitor spending of P3.69 billion. Japan landed in the third spot with P2.12 billion expenditure, followed by Australia at P1.59 billion and Canada at P1.09 billion.