PHILIPPINES: Global Hotel Brands Will Boost Philippine Tourism

With leading international hospitality brands to foray in the Philippine market, helping Manila add a record number of rooms this year, the tourism industry of the country is all set for a rosy take off, media reports said.

First-timers in the Philippines, Accor Group’s Novotel and MGallery, Hilton Worldwide’s Conrad, and Wyndham Worldwide Corp’s Tryp, will be contributing to the majority of the 4,612 rooms opening in Manila this year, Gulf News reported.

That number is more than double the rooms added last year and four times the average increase in the last four years, according to Colliers International Philippines. Manila is one of the most active locations in the region in new hotel openings, Romeo Arahan, a research analyst at the real estate services firm reportedly said.

The number of additional rooms is expected to exceed 3,500 annually in the next two years, mostly in Manila’s integrated resorts, helping the capital city address its chronic shortage of quality accommodation.

The imminent entry of Genting Singapore’s Crockfords Tower, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts’ Savoy and Hotel Okura’s flagship brand will also help draw visitors accustomed to luxury travel, the report said.

However, just having large number of rooms is not enough to boost tourism, it added.

The archipelago nation suffers from a lack of airports to serve travelers hopping from island to island. Official data shows the country’s 2014 foreign tourist arrivals were slightly below a target of five million, already low by Southeast Asian standards, the report pointed out.

The government expects overall visitors to reach six million in 2015, the report said.

Aileen Clemente, president of the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines, was quoted as saying by Gulf News that she expects 10 million foreign visitors next year, sticking to a target set by the government.

“Attracting tourists is a problem because you have a government that is very ambitious in targets, but infrastructure is insufficient to achieve the numbers,” Colliers’ Arahans reportedly said.