Hotel industry thriving despite challenges in tourism

AMID the turbulent first half of this year brought about by threats to public safety all over the country, the Philippine hotel industry continues to thrive with the opening of more properties in areas outside Luzon.

Elizabeth Gregorio, general manager of Summit Hotels and Resorts, the hospitality unit of the Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC), said there are a lot of players in the sector and that it is always a good sign that a lot of new hotels are being opened.

“The government is very optimistic about tourism, especially foreign visitors. There’s also a lot of domestic tourism traffic, with Filipinos visiting other parts of the Philippines,” she told reporters on the sideline of the grand opening of Summit Galleria Hotel Cebu last Saturday.

Strategically located at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City, Summit Galleria is RLC’s second property in the metropolitan and joins its sister hotel Summit Circle Fuente.

The hotel is the developer’s fourth property under the Summit Hotels and Resorts brand, the others being Summit Ridge in Tagaytay and Summit Hotel Magnolia in Quezon City.

Of the hotel’s 220 rooms spanning 32 square meters to 40 sqm., only close to 90 are operational, but Gregorio said to have all rooms ready by the end of September.

It has an all-day dining restaurant with a 120-seating capacity which transitions into a meeting place after breakfast and a bar when the evening comes. The restaurant is managed by the Raintree Hospitality Group.

The hotel ballroom can also accommodate 500 guests.

Gregorio said they also have different-themed suites inspired by Cebuano culture, two of which are named after Lapu-Lapu and Sinulog.

She said they cater to the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibits) market, those who come here for business or leisure, as well as locals who are looking for a place to “staycation” within the city.

“We always have to be cautious, but we are very optimistic that we can make a contribution by opening more of our brands of hotels,” she said.

The country’s tourism industry faced great hurdles earlier this year when the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) tried to infiltrate Bohol, which was later exacerbated by the Maute Group taking over Marawi City and eventually the arson-shooting incident in Resorts World Manila.

Despite all this, Gregorio said the number of foreign visitors in the Philippines continues to increase, especially in Cebu.

She said Cebu is very popular to Japanese, Chinese, and Korean tourists.

“A lot of Japanese tourists are coming to this property (Robinsons Summit Galleria),” Gregorio said.

RLC started operations in March this year with only very few rooms available, but they have been getting a lot of guests from Japan and China in big groups since.

Gregorio said Cebu is in a “very good spot for tourism.”

As a sign of its strong commitment to promote tourism and Filipino hospitality, Gregorio said they are set to open more hotels in the coming years.

She said they have many properties in the Visayas, particularly in Dumaguete, Bacolod, Tacloban, and Iloilo.

RLC has also signed a deal with Thailand-based global hospitality group Dusit International to open a 271-room beachfront luxury hotel resort on Mactan Island, Cebu by 2019.

Gregorio said that aside from the Summit hotel and Dusit Thani project, they are also open to putting up a Go Hotel in Cebu should the opportunity present itself.

While Summit carries full-service hotels, Go banners essential service properties that provides travelers low-cost options for value lodging.