Filinvest Hospitality Corp., the hotel operator of Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp., projects to more than double its portfolio of 1,800 hotels in the next five years, mostly in areas where tourists gather.
FHC president Francis Nathaniel C. Gotianun said the company is adding 2,000 more room keys in places like Boracay, Palawan, Bohol, Baguio, Clark or Cebu.
“There’s a lot of focus on the number of keys but we’re really focusing on creating a collection of hotels in the right locations so that when we go out into the market, we can sell all the best of the Philippines,” Gotianun said at the sidelines of a forum organized by the Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines Inc.
He said the key areas will have its Filipino brand of hotels.
According to him, the tourist numbers have strengthened, especially the domestic ones, although the international arrival number is still a bit low.
“But we think we’ll catch up. The government is very supportive of the tourism industry (being) one of the key industries. We see that support,” he said.
The company has two projects in Baguio that Gotianun said will help address the strong demand for tourist accommodations.
“There have not been many new hotels that opened in Baguio in recent years so we feel there’s pent-up demand in the market,” he said.
Filinvest in June topped-off its latest hotel development, the P2.7 billion Grafik Hotel Collection within Camp John Hay in Baguio.
The project marked the official launch of the Grafik Hotel Collection, a new line of hotels looking to deliver guest experiences that inspire stories about Filipino culture and heritage, the company said.
The company, having won a six-year lease contract with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, is also set to develop a 730 square-meter property at Camp John Hay in Baguio.
Located along Sheridan Drive, the property is a stone’s throw away from Grafik Hotel Collection Baguio.
Data show the hospitality business contributes three to four percent of total revenue at FDC that Gotianun acknowledged is “pretty small.”
“We’re looking to grow that and it should grow as more and more of the hotels come online and mature,” he said.
Its portfolio of hotels include the 290-key Crimson Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu; the 345-key Crimson Hotel at Filinvest City in Alabang; the 192-key Crimson Resort and Spa at Station Zero in Boracay; the 427-key Quest Hotel and Conference Center in Cebu City; and the 303-key Quest Plus at the Filinvest Mimosa+ in Clark, Pampanga.
