Sunday, July 26, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Nancy R. Cudis
WATERFRONT Cebu City Hotel & Casino (WCCHC) is planning to renovate its facilities and add more amenities to get a bigger share of the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) market.
The flagship hotel of Waterfront Philippines Inc. (WPI)—a Filipino hotel chain owner and operator with properties in key cities in the country—received instructions two weeks ago to pursue improvement plans of its rooms and lobby.
WCCHC will also create more facilities, including a 65-square meter “urban” spa, additional conference rooms, gym and an in-house call center with 10 seats to support WPI’s reservation system.
WCCHC general manager Marco Protacio said the hotel is re-focusing its energies on getting more business travelers.
However, the global financial crisis has prompted several big companies to downsize their budgets for conventions, conferences and even parties.
Missing conventions
“People are holding on to their money now. While (arrival) of business travelers to Cebu remain stable, Cebu is missing some big conventions,” Protacio observed.
This prompted the 561-room WCCHC to embark on a renovation plan, which will be implemented in phases starting at the end of the year. The last time it underwent renovation was before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in 2007.
WCCHC plans to build 10 new conference rooms to cater to the small and medium enterprise market that usually holds meetings for 20 to 50 persons.
WCCHC started offering free wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) in its rooms this month to provide convenience to business travelers who will be arriving in Cebu during peak season for the Mice market, which is from September to November.
“Being the largest and one of the oldest hotels in Cebu City, we want to keep up with the (trends). We have more than enough rooms; it is a challenge to fill them up,” Protacio said.
Apart from the global financial crisis, he noted that the development of additional hotel rooms in Cebu City that came as a result of the province’s growing tourism industry is also posing a challenge to WCCHC.
The hotel reported an average occupancy rate of 75 percent this year. It aims to increase its share of the Mice market by 30 to 40 percent this year.
Protacio said WCCHC wants to be prepared for the rebound of the Mice market next year and for the possible business opportunities of the 2010 national elections, even though it is apolitical.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on July 27, 2009.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
