Boutique hotels, townships, rural-urban centers take the spotlight this year
(Third of a series)
THE YEAR of the monkey will be witness to the continued rise of the hotel industry, townships and new rural-urban fringe areas.
8 More hotels in resort destinations. In its top 10 predictions for 2016, Colliers International Philippines Research said that hotel developments will focus on resort destinations.
“As the hotel market in Metro Manila becomes more crowded, the development of 4- and 5-star hotels in resort destinations will be more visible in 2016,” said Colliers in a statement provided to INQUIRER Property by Julius Guevara, Colliers International Philippines’ director for research and advisory services.
Colliers added that new airport infrastructure would also be essential to increase local and foreign tourism.
“While service at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport continues to deteriorate until an alternative airport location is identified, the development of international airports in major destinations such as Cebu, Boracay and Bohol will allow foreign tourists to bypass Manila,” said the report.
Colliers said it foresees that “established branded hotel chains will come in to take over old, locally managed resorts that are in excellent locations but are past their prime. Branded condotel investment models with defined revenue-sharing schemes will be more popular than leisure home investments with no clear program on how to maximize the investment.”
Enrique Soriano, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory, expects domestic tourism to increase amid the surge of different types of hotels: boutique hotels in pro- gressive growth cities, and lifestyle hotels in tourism areas.
“These types of hotels appeal to the mid-scale to luxury markets, are design-centric and occupy less than 1,000 square meters (sqm),” he said.
Soriano also sees the increased demand from domestic tourism, and that “gaming will continue in a big way.”
Jones Lang LaSalle’s Philippines Property Market Monitor in December 2015 reported that the Erawan Group, a Thai-based company, has revealed plans to expand its Hop Inn hotel brand in the Philippines, with one in Metro Manila planned to be launched by December 2016. Hop Inn is an economy hotel that targets local tourists seeking a place to stay in an accessible location. According to the company, it has decided to do its first international venture in the Philippines due to the continued positive economic growth of the country.
JLL reported that Best Western Hotels and Resorts opened Best Western Plus Hotel Subic, the first internationally branded mid-scale hotel in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The hotel offers 77 rooms with rates ranging from P3,300 to P7,150 per room per night. Best Western Plus Hotel Subic is the seventh Best Western Plus Hotel in the Philippines.
9 Growth in rural-urban fringe areas. Property portal Lamudi Philippines, in its 2016 forecast, said that as a direct effect of tight sup- ply of land in Metro Manila, rural-urban fringe areas, otherwise known as the outskirts, are best described as locations where the urban and rural transition into each other. Developers have begun exploring rural-urban fringes for developments, embarking on mixed-use projects in these areas in 2015, which will continue into 2016.
“The growth in these fringe areas is projected to constitute more than a third of the annual new office supply on average for the next three years alone, indicative of the increased importance these locations have for local real estate, and making them very beneficial to those investing now or in the next year,” said Lamudi.
10 More townships across the country.
Colliers said that despite a slowdown in the residential condominium market in Metro Manila, developers will continue to pursue township developments in and outside Metro Manila.
“Townships offer a better value proposition compared to stand-alone projects since they offer mixed-use developments that make them more attractive to residential buyers,” according to Colliers.
It added that with the various issues plaguing Metro Manila, such as overpopulation, worsening traffic, flooding, lack of good mass transportation systems and public infrastructure, township developments are seen to evolve further into mini cities, where developers take the lead in providing public infrastructure and other services in order to spur growth in their developments.
However, township developments will not be true to their name and will remain to be glorified office parks with condos for the upper classes unless they provide affordable housing options. Development progress here will also be slow, unless decent jobs are created. Exploring affordable housing and apartment leasing business models is essential, as it will attract highly skilled labor from established metropolitan areas to move to their developments and sustain their office projects.