Quest reports higher income

Quest Hotel facade.

Developer Filinvest Land, Inc. reported a 3.2-percent increase in revenues from Quest Hotel and Conference Center Cebu in the first quarter of this year.

Karen Mendoza, Quest executive assistant manager, said they earned P72,000 for an average of 22-square meter space, 30 percent higher than the P55,000 recorded last year.

Mendoza said she was optimistic that 2015 will be another good year for the property given the initial positive figures.

Occupancy rate was high at 87 percent, with guests staying an average of 2.5 days in the condotel.

“Most of our guests are Filipinos who were here for business and leisure. They are followed by the Koreans, some Europeans, Japanese and Russians,” she said.

The Chinese market also started to pick up during the first quarter. They came here for the Chinese New Year, according to Quest financial controller Flordarose T. Daarol.

Daarol said the first quarter is traditionally a peak season for hotels in the city because of at least two major events – Sinulog and Chinese New Year.

While competition in Cebu has clearly picked up as indicated by the opening of several establishments, Mendoza said the hotel’s strategic location was also key to their good performance.

“Our proximity to one of the economic centers here in the city is key coupled by the service that we also offer to the guests,” she said. Quest is located across the Ayala Center Cebu mall.

Karen Mendoza, Quest Hotel executive assistant manager (above, right) and Flordarose Daarol, Quest Hotel’s financial controller, give a rosy picture of the hotel’s first quarter earnings. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

This year, she said they will be focusing more on the MICE or meetings, incentives, conventions and expositions market.

“We are looking at MICE because as we know some of the meetings for the APEC Summit are also happening here this year as well as the (International) Eucharistic Congress early next year. We will be doing our best to get a slice of this market,” she said.

Of the 427 rooms, the hotel has blocked off 150 rooms for the APEC Summit.

“They did ocular visits to the hotel already but have yet to make an actual booking. We have 150 rooms soft blocked for now,” she said.

Allan G. Alfon, Filinvest Land, Inc. vice president for Visayas, said they will continue to adopt measures that will help them achieve high revenues for their stockholders.