ALI to expand El Nido Resorts

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is pursuing a gradual expansion of its El Nido Resorts in Palawan starting next year.

The sustainable expansion program will allow the company to cater to more guests as tourist arrivals are still on the rise, an official said.

“The intent is to continue to add more rooms in the area but done in a very responsible way. I think we will start something next year,” said ALI chief operating officer Bernard Vincent Dy.

The gradual increase in rooms will ensure that the resort project will continue being respectful of the environment, Dy said.

Last month, ALI said subsidiary AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts Corp. secured full ownership of El Nido Resorts, three years since first buying a majority stake into the tourism project.

AyalaLand Hotels signed an agreement to acquire Asian Conservatory Co.’s 40-percent stake in El Nido Resorts. In 2010, ALI bought ACC’s 60-percent stake in El Nido Resorts for P2 billion, marking the property firm’s third foray into the resort and leisure industry.

Given the full ownership, ALI can freely pursue its plans for El Nido Resorts. ACC, through its subsidiaries under the Ten Knots Group, owns and operates the famous El Nido Resorts in Lagen and Miniloc Islands in Northern Palawan. The El Nido Resort won the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Award in 2009 and was one of 15 Favorite Green Hotels recognized by Travel+Leisure magazine in 2007.

Dy said occupancy rate in El Nido Resorts is already close to 100 percent during peak season.

“When you talk about the tourism arrivals, it’s very good for our hotels business that’s why we continue to build up the number of rooms we have,” Dy said.

The Department of Tourism targets to attract 10 million foreign tourists by 2016 while encouraging investments in hotels and tourism-related infrastructure.

So far, the hotel portfolio of AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts include Fairmont and Raffles Hotels, Intercontinental Manila, Cebu Marriott, El Nido Resorts, Raffles and Fairmont Makati, Holiday Inn and Seda Hotels. By the end of 2013, the property group will have 2,000 rooms, which will double to 4,000 rooms in 2015.

In 2007, ALI first ventured into the resort and leisure segment by starting P4 billion the development of the 320-hectare Anvaya Cove in Bataan.

In January to September, the hotel arm’s revenue surged 62 percent to P2.93 billion from P1.81 billion in the same period last year.