Vol. XXII, No. 71 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Monday, November 3, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
CEBU — SM Investments Corp. is targeting to complete its first hotel in Cebu by March next year.
Hans T. Sy, first executive vice-president of SM Investments, said they have started recruiting staff for the 400-room Radisson Hotel Cebu.
This will be the first Radisson hotel in the country. A second Radisson hotel will open in 2010 at the SM Central Business Park in Pasay City.
"We have given the marching order to finish [the hotel] by the end of March," Mr. Sy said in an interview. SM Investments is spending P2.8 billion to build the 20-storey hotel.
SM signed in September an agreement allowing Singapore-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide-Asia Pacific to manage the hotel. Carlson will also manage The Regent Manila Bay and Radisson Manila Bay, both of which will open in 2010.
The Radisson Hotel Cebu, which will be the second biggest in Cebu City next to Waterfront Hotel, was reported to be carrying the Sofitel brand. Accor and SM, however, agreed to cancel their deal.
Mr. Sy also confirmed that they were looking into the construction of a convention center near the hotel, which is located near SM City Cebu at the Cebu north reclamation area.
Merril Yu, senior vice-president of SM Hotels Corp., earlier announced in a briefing SM Investments’ plan to build a smaller version of the SMX Convention Center near the SM Mall of Asia.
The SM group is also looking at buying a 20-hectare property at the South Road Properties, a 300-hectare reclaimed area in the southern part of Cebu City. The property will host another shopping mall, hotel and information technology buildings.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sy said the global financial crisis was no excuse to be pessimistic. He said the company was relying on the families of Filipinos working abroad to continue to drive growth. Money sent in by Filipino workers abroad reached a record $14.45 billion last year and the figure is expected to go up this year. — M.S. Villamor
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