Vol. XXI, No. 159 [ Business World Online ]
Thursday, March 13, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Taal Vista to be expanded; new hotels to rise in Cebu and Pasay
SY-LED SM Investments Corp. has lined up three projects worth P5.65 billion this year, including the expansion of the landmark Taal Vista Hotel, the company’s Hotel Investment Group Senior Vice-President Merril Yu told BusinessWorld.
SM’s hotel division plans to expand the landmark Taal Vista Hotel, which now has 128 rooms, by another 133 rooms. Other projects include new hotels in Mactan, Cebu, and at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay.
Mr. Yu said projects confirmed for the year are the P650-million expansion of Taal Vista Hotel, a P2.6-billion hotel in Cebu City located right next to the SM City Cebu Mall, and the P2.4-billion upscale Radisson Hotel and Regent Hotels & Resorts within the SM Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay.
"[The projects are] going to be [financed by] a combination of debt and internally generated funds. We remain bullish on the tourism industry here. The Philippines continues to get more recognition from overseas and international tourists in terms of attraction. We are still very optimistic it will be a very good year and a fast one," he added.
The SM Hotel Investment Group expects to complete the expansion of 128-room Taal Vista Hotel by the third quarter.
"We are adding 133 more. We are adding four meeting rooms and a ballroom that can accommodate about a thousand," he said.
Last month, SM Investments entered into a management agreement with Singapore-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide Asia Pacific.
This allows Carlson to operate and manage two new hotels under the Regent and Radisson brands, the structure for which will be finished by SM subsidiary Hotel Specialists, Inc. in late 2009. Construction of the hotel will start middle of this year with KKS International Pte. Ltd. as the project’s architectural designer.
The project showcases a "hotel-within-a-hotel" design, with the two hotels sharing the building. The Regent Manila Bay City will housed within the Radisson Hotel Manila Bay City.
The two hotels, however, will have their own separate driveways, entrances, lobbies, guest facilities, and staff.
The Radisson will have 500 guest rooms, while the Regent will offer 80 large suites, including a 400-square-meter presidential suite. The two hotels will have business centers, swimming pools, fine-dining restaurants, and function rooms.
The P2.8-billion five-star hotel in Cebu will be carrying the Sofitel brand after SM Investments signed a contract last year with European hotel management firm Accor to operate the 400-room hotel in Mactan Island. It will open by the end of this year, Mr. Yu said.
Sofitel is Accor’s high-end brand. The European leader in hotels and tourism, Accor operates over 3,800 hotels with 450,000 rooms in 90 countries.
The Hotel Investment Group is being touted by the SM conglomerate as a "progressive development group that will optimize multiple investment vehicles in travel and tourism, and consequently, add value to the existing businesses of SM Investments.
SM Investments hiked is 2007 profit by 14% to P12 billion with revenues going up across all divisions.
Aside from tourism, the Sy holding company has interests in banking and finance, retail merchandising, and mall operations. — Ruby Anne M. Rubio
