Roxas real estate unit goes into budget hotels

MANILA, Philippines - The boom in local tourism has opened up a new opportunity for the Roxas family’s real estate unit which has become  the newest entrant to the country’s budget hotels business.

Roxaco Land Corp., a subsidiary of Roxas & Co. Inc., has partnered with Singapore-based Vanguard Hotels Pte. Ltd. to put up at least five new Go Hotels branches in the next two years.

“The value hotel project will redefine the future of tourism in Asia, with the Philippines being the best model for the booming domestic travel market,” said Roxaco Land chairman Pedro E. Roxas.

“The five-hotel project will cater to the growing number of local tourists, business travellers and to some extent, foreign visitors looking for quality hotels that meet their budgets,” he added.

Roxaco Land is the company behind Fuego Hotels, which manages the 88-hectare premiere luxury seaside resort Club Punta Fuego in Batangas; the Terazzas de Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Batangas; 7 Stones Boracay Suites and Boracay Gems in Boracay, Aklan; and Camaya Coast in Bataan.

“The segment for local travellers has risen by 700 percent over the last five to seven years with about 40 million local tourists against five million inbound travellers last year,” said Roxaco Land senior vice-president Santiago R. Elizalde.

“Given this promising opportunity, we are confident that this new venture into the value hotel space will succeed,” he said.

Roxas said the five new Go Hotels will significantly contribute in meeting the 7,000 rooms needed in 2014 given the record-breaking 37.5 million domestic trips in 2012.

The Department of Tourism earlier estimated that more than 20,000 new rooms must be built by 2016 to serve the growing tourist market.

For Vanguard Hotels CEO Bruce Musick, the Philippines represents the best market for value hotel projects in Southeast Asia over the coming decade.

“We have studied the Philippine market for over three years now and remain bullish about the prospects for growth in the sector,” he said.

Vanguard Hotels operates several hotels in Southeast Asia including Go Hotels, the budget hotel chain of property developer Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC).

“Go Hotels is ramping up its expansion program as plans are underway for RLC to expand the brand all over the Philippines to respond to the national demand for quality accommodations at better prices,” RLC said.

On top of the partnership with Vanguard Hotels and Roxaco Land, Go Hotels is opening three new branches nationwide this year and next, boosting its room capacity to 1,200.

The 198-room Go Hotels Ortigas Center will start operations this quarter, followed by the 102-room Butuan branch in the first quarter of 2014 and the 167-room Go Hotels Iloilo late next year.

To date, there are 700 rooms available in the six existing branches: EDSA-Mandaluyong, Tacloban, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa and Otis-Manila.

In 2010, RLC launched the first Go Hotels in the Philippines. The Gokongwei family’s RLC is also the company behind hotels Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza Galleria.