Homegrown Hotel 101 to rise in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’
After enjoying great success in the Philippine hospitality space, Hotel 101 will soon inaugurate in a new location—in Japan. Yes, the brand is headed to the Land of the Rising Sun.
After launching nine hotels following the successful opening of Hotel 101-Manila, the company is ready to become the first Filipino hotel brand to expand overseas.
“Other countries have their homegrown hotel brands exported to other parts of the world, but the Philippines as of now do not have any. There is just no reason why it shouldn’t since the Filipinos are known to be hospitable people,” said Edgar “Injap” Sia II, chairman of Double Dragon Corp., the real estate company to which Hotel 101 belongs.
“We strongly believe that Filipinos have what it takes to export their own Filipino brand all over the world, too,” he added.
Specifically, we will soon see the Hotel 101 logo in the Hokkaido Prefecture, in the northernmost part of Japan. Double-Dragon subsidiaries DDPC Worldwide Pte. Ltd and Hotel 101 Worldwide Pte. Ltd recently completed the purchase of a prime 9,000 sqm land in Niseko area, southwest of Sapporo, the city Filipinos know from the 2017 blockbuster film, “Kita Kita.”
The new location, which will be known as Hotel 101-Niseko, is expected to generate some P8.1 billion in hybrid condotel pre-sales alone.
Niseko is famous worldwide for receiving the world’s best powder snow throughout winter. In Kutchan town, where the Hotel 101 property is, the snow can reach 13 m on average. That ensures a long ski season, commencing in late November and ending in early May.
At that point, the landscape transforms for the summer months. It becomes conducive to a relaxed outdoor lifestyle, and activities like golfing and hiking. Summers remain cool in Hokkaido, averaging out at 20 degrees Celsius.
Owing still to Niseko’s location on the map, guests can enjoy cuisine made with topnotch agricultural produce.
People are free to take a dip in some of the cleanest rivers across Japan, and even fish or kayak there. They can visit any onsen to soothe their aches. The summer experience would be incomplete without photo-ops with the flower fields!
Niseko is just two hours from Sapporo, where one can fly regularly to and from Manila. All the experiences above just become more attainable to Filipinos with Hotel 101 there, reassuring them and even stoking pride. After all, the brand hopes to capture the Filipino market, on top of other foreigners and even domestic travelers.
The upcoming Hotel 101 will have about 518 rooms, none of which will be alienating to Filipino patrons because they share the same size and look as those back home. The business model allows greater efficiency. It also helps DoubleDragon generate income twice, from preselling units and then through hotel operations.
With the concept currently up for global patent, Sia asked: “Wouldn’t it be great for all of us to eventually be able to see and actually check in a truly Filipino hotel brand in over 100 countries around the world?”