Incoming Marco Polo GM confident of hotel’s future

Even with new hotels sprouting in Cebu, the next general manager of Marco Polo Plaza Cebu is confident that the five-star hotel’s brand will keep them competitive.

Julie Najar, currently the resident hotel manager, will officially be taking over as general manager of the hotel by January 1 next year.
She will replace outgoing general manager Hans Hauri, who will move to a higher position.

The Marco Polo brand speaks for itself and will let the hotel remain competitive in the years to come, said Najar in an interview yesterday.

“In the past nine years, we have made a reputation in terms of service and offerings. Among the new hotels coming in, we are confident that we will still be competitive. With the existing properties now, I think the competition is healthy,” she said.

She also cited the opening of the Marco Polo hotel in Ortigas, which will further strengthen their brand and their offerings as it now makes them a property with presence in all the three main regions of the country — Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Marco Polo Plaza Cebu media relations manager Kyra Cabaero said that they are now developing  cluster promotions for all their properties.

“This one is targeted for Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and expositions). If you have a meeting in Davao, you also get discounts in our Cebu and Ortigas properties. We are just finalizing this and will be introducing this soon,” said Najar.

According to Najar, the Cebu hotel has enjoyed 73 percent occupancy rate since January this year.

She said the market is a balance between leisure and business or the Mice market.

“We want to grow further the business or the Mice market because Cebu has a large potential to cater to this segment. Cebu has the city and the beach to offer within  30-minutes travel time compared to Manila where you need to ride a plane to get to Boracay,” said Najar.

For now, Cebu still don’t have a large venue that can accomodate from 3,000 to 5,000 people for a major convention, which, Najar said, is one of the reasons why the big conventions and expositions are still not held here.