Members of the House of Representatives inspect the progress of the new Mactan-Cebu International Airport Terminal 2 in this August 2017 photo. The new terminal, when completed in 2018, is expected to increase the passenger capacity of the airport from 4.5 million to 12 million.
CDN FILE PHOTO
Property developers continue to ride Cebu’s tourism wave
As the local tourism industry continues to grow, helping fuel Cebu’s robust economy, developers are also lining up to get a share of the island’s huge tourist market.
According to a partial report released by the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7), Cebu welcomed close to 1.5 million visitors between January and April 2017, up by 4.16 percent from 1.43 million visitors during the same four-month period in 2016.
This is to say that the island province continues to enjoy the patronage of both foreign and domestic guests despite tourist arrivals in the whole region dipping by 3.02 percent in the covered period due to travel advisories and security threats that came up earlier this year.
Banking on Cebu’s robust tourism industry, several local and national developers have already begun work on projects due to be finished in the next two to five years, which are seen to further expand Cebu’s inventory of tourist facilities and infrastructure.
Cebu projects
The Ascott Limited is planning to open Citadines Cebu City in 2019 and Somerset Gorordo by 2021; Ayala is building a 214-room Seda hotel due to be completed in 2019 while Double Dragon has disclosed plans of building Jinjiang hotels in the city.
Other notable projects include Rockwell’s Aruga resort; Duros Land’s 23 Minore Park Hotel; Grand Land and Dusit International’s Dusit Princess Hotel; and Megaworld’s hotels under the Belmont brand.
Meanwhile, Colliers earlier predicted that the impact of travel advisories issued by a number of countries will have a short-term effect in the influx of tourists and that long-term growth of tourism in the area will be hinged on the swift resolution of safety issues by the government.
Hotels, benefits
DOT-7 Director Joshur Judd Lanete II said they are pleased with the growing hotel industry in the region as it creates employment for the locals as well as opportunities for forward-and-back linkages.
“To ensure the quality of accommodation facilities and services, we continue to campaign that they get accredited with the DOT. Capacity development activities are also provided to our accredited tourism enterprises,” he told Cebu Daily News.
In terms of bringing more tourists to stay in the hotels, he said the regional tourism office continues to support the marketing and promotional efforts of both the DOT and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB).
Occupancy rates
According to Colliers International Philippines, Cebu houses a wide range of accommodation facilities that cater to both young urban professionals on a weekend getaway and investors on short business trips.
With the increase in tourist arrivals, overall occupancy rate improved to 68 percent in 2016 from 65 percent in 2015.
Robust occupancy rates of Deluxe and First Class hotels indicate the continued influx of high-spending tourists, Colliers added.
“Cebu’s rising attractiveness as a tourist spot and growing competitiveness as an investment destination should support a 15 percent to 20 percent growth in tourist arrivals over the next 12 months,” said Gerard Padriga, general manager of Colliers International’s Cebu office, in an earlier statement.
This should sustain hotel occupancy of between 65 percent and 70 percent across Metro Cebu in 2017.
Available rooms
Based on available data from the DOT-7 obtained by CDN, there have been a total of 21,570 rooms available in the province of Cebu as of 2014. This may have increased over the last three years.
Of this figure recorded in 2014, 10,724 were in Cebu City, 4,646 were in Lapu-Lapu City, while 1,148 were in Mandaue City.
The DOT-7 will once again survey existing accommodation establishments in the region by October to update its inventory.
HRRAC’s take
Carlo Suarez, president of the Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants Association of Cebu (HRRAC), said the province’s tourism industry is expected to grow even further with the opening of the new international airport terminal in June 2018.
“With this, we are expecting more direct flights from other countries and cities. It is already starting to show as there is an increase in the number of bookings coming in from our guests from China and Taiwan,” he said.
Cebu’s top markets Korea, Japan, China, Australia and Taiwan all clocked in positive growth rates during the first four months of 2017.
Suarez said that the HRRAC is also excited to collaborate with the new DOT-7 regional director and that they give him all their support for his upcoming projects.
For the whole 2016, Cebu attracted some 3.46 million domestic and foreign tourists, up by 12 percent year-on-year, making the province the most visited destination in the Philippines.
The continued surge of tourists here should provide impetus for developers to ramp up construction of hotels and resort-oriented condominium projects, Colliers said in its report.
New MCIA terminal
The new passenger terminal at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is set to increase the gateway’s capacity to 12 million passengers every year from the current 4.5 million.
Cebu serves as the jump off point to other destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao, making the expansion a necessary undertaking.
The city of Lapu-Lapu, where the hospitality sector continues to enjoy tremendous growth to the point of attracting foreign investors and local players such as Costabella Tropical Beach Hotel, is optimistic that this will greatly benefit the industry.
Int’l properties
Marita Alvarez-Arambulo, Costabella general manager, said in a previous interview that prospects of having international properties built in the city do not bother them.
“It is good for the destination. International properties building in Cebu gives us a stamp of approval, meaning Cebu is great market. What benefits them also benefits us,” Alvarez-Arambulo said.
Affordable rooms
Hembler Mendoza, Lapu-Lapu City tourism officer, said local players would not be affected once foreign players come in because there is a need for more fast-moving or affordable rooms in the city, which is being positioned as a destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Events (MICE).
Higher-category rooms are not much in demand because of budget constraints among tourists, particularly those who come in large tour groups or are individual travelers, Mendoza added.
He said that the number of rooms in the city was projected to increase by 2,500 to 3,000 two to three years from now, with the city’s room inventory currently standing at 5,000 rooms per night.
Mandaue’s NRA
Mandaue City, meanwhile, is also seeing a huge expansion in its hospitality sector, with the opening of new accommodation establishments such as the Bai Hotel at the city’s North Reclamation Area (NRA).
Alfred Reyes, vice president for operations and general manager of Bai Hotel, earlier said he believes this part of Mandaue will be the next “Cebu Business District” in the next three to five years due to its strategic location.
Reyes said he was very positive because Mandaue is already very progressive and with more developments sprouting all over the city, he was certain more investments will come.