Shangri-la to complete refurbishments by 2013

Triple-a Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort & Spa is set to complete its P718 million threephase refurbishment project by early 2013, following the completion of the first phase providing 75 luxurious room in the Shangri-la Wing.

Competition and the increasing demand for more sophisticated accommodation facilities in Cebu has pushed the posh international resort chain to spend for the threephase refurbishment project which started in July last year.

In an interview with Shangri-la’s Mactan director for sales and marketing Agnes C. Pacis, she said that by May or June this year, another 123 new refurbished rooms will be opened, while another 144 rooms at the resort’s main wing will be closed to start off the third-phase of the program.

Operating a total of 530 posh room accommodations, Shangri-la’s Mactan Island is running at an average occupancy rate of 70 percent, led by guests from Korea, Japan, and the domestic corporate market.

With the new refurbished rooms, Pacis said the resort has added a new accommodation category, the Veranda and the Casa suites, to satisfy the growing demand for suite facilities. At present, the resort has a total of 30 suite rooms, which also gained interest from sophisticated guests especially those long-staying vacationers from other countries.

The newly completed 75 luxurious rooms in the ShangriLa Wing, is purposely designed bringing the theme “ocean- to- shore”, by renowned design firm Ara Design Asia.

“The addition of a fresher and a more contemporary guest room product coupled with our legendary Shangri-la hospitality are sure to delight our loyal and first-time guests. These new rooms also promise to raise the bar, so to speak, of the level of accommodation on offer in Cebu,” added Pacis.

According to Pacis, aside from the top three nationality guests’ profile— Korean, Japan, and Filipinos, the resort observes significant increase of Russian guests.

Despite the presence of newer resorts around the island, Pacis is confident that “competition is still healthy”, as their presence in Cebu could also help promote the province further in the international market.

In general, she said Cebu resorts are not really competing again steach other, but they are on stiff competition with resorts in Phuket, Thailand, and other tropical destinations in Asia.

Thus, the resorts’ refurbishment project, will not only attract more guests to come to the resort, but it will also push interest for foreign travelers to come to Cebu, having more choices of internationally- at- par accommodation facilities.

For global brands, for instance, like Shangri-la, it is continuously implementing attractive packages that are also promoted in their respective sister hotels and resorts all over the world.

In fact, with the new circular sent by the Department of Tourism (DOT) asking tourism stakeholders to support the new Philippine tourism tagline “It’s More Fun in the Philippines,” Shangri-la is on its way to formulate exciting events and promotes in line with the new promotional campaign.

Best known, as Cebu’s largest and sophisticated fivestay family resort, Shangri-la Mactan vows to introduce more events geared towards attracting the “family market” both domestic and international, Pacis said.

Hong Kong- based Shangri- La Hotels and Resorts currently owns and/ or manages 72 hotels under the Shangri-la, Kerry and Traders brands with a room inventory of over 30,000.

Shangri-la hotels are five-star deluxe properties featuring extensive luxury facilities and services located in Australia, Canada, mainland China, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.